Fed is quietly playing great

[cezero]

i think fed should beat dimitrov in the final if they both make it there

but dimitrov can stand his ground on the baseline very well, and is serving well, too

i'd imagine it would be a very tight match

but his chances are much better against dimitrov than they are against nole. nole would feast on that 2nd serve, while dimitrov couldn't do nearly as much harm.

 

[cezero]

so it's going to be raonic vs fed for a spot in the final

intriguing. raonic has always played fed pretty tough. 5 of the 12 sets they've played have gone to tiebreaks, and raonic's serve is amplified on grass. tough for fed, but he really should win.

 

[Hs0022]

Fed vs Dimitrov should be ideal, but Djoko is not at full strength either or else he could have won the French.

 

[grossefavourite]

Let's hope he exits the tournament just as quietly without a trip to the winner's circle.

 

[nuraman00]

If FED gets to the Finals, I think he'd have a harder time with Dmitrov than Djokovic. FED can get Djokovic on the move earlier, while Dmitrov can counter with more variety of shots.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

so it's going to be raonic vs fed for a spot in the final

intriguing. raonic has always played fed pretty tough. 5 of the 12 sets they've played have gone to tiebreaks, and raonic's serve is amplified on grass. tough for fed, but he really should win.

Raonic owned the Aussie in 4th set yesterday, the kid had no clue what was up with the serve.

But Roger can return. If Raonic serves well he has a shot. If Roger can dial in on the serve Raonic will lose.

I really hope Dimitrov can whip Serby though. This should be the most competitive of the 2 semis.

 

[cezero]

If FED gets to the Finals, I think he'd have a harder time with Dmitrov than Djokovic. FED can get Djokovic on the move earlier, while Dmitrov can counter with more variety of shots.

completely backwards in every way.

the most important factor for fed to win is his 1st serve. djokovic is one of the best returners in history, while it's one of the weakest parts of dimitrov's game. fed's 2nd serve is something that nole can attack as well, while again, dimitrov's return is not a strength at all.

as for variety of shot, there is nothing that dimitrov does from anywhere in the court better than nole besides maybe the backhand slice, which fed has zero problems with. there's a reason nole has 6 majors despite playing in an era with arguably the 2 greatest players of all time always in the field.

the getting djokovic on the move comment is baffling. djokovic is the best defender in the game. maybe in history. he's baseline perfection, and will control most rallies, and can move from defense to offense with that backhand down the line to fed's backhand. trying to "get him to move" as a part of a winning strategy is a 100% losing proposition for fed. nole can run all day side to side, and is utterly impervious to that slicey backhand that fed has used for a decade to draw his opponents forward into net.

fed's best bet against nole is to stay as close to the baseline during rallies as possible, to hit all groundstrokes with depth to try to take time away from djokovic, and to move aggressively forward on anything nole hits short. if anything, fed needs to watch out for nole moving him around the court, and try to end points as quickly as possible. any extended rally is strongly in nole's favor.

i'm not a betting man, but i'd feel a lot more confident with fed winning a final on grass against dimitrov than nole.

 

[Hs0022]

Here is a stat comparison for you Cezero. Dimitrov is closer to Djokovic on the return game than you think. When Dimitrov looks at this comparison chart he will gain a lot of mental confidence going in this potential title deciding match. Especially the last row stat.

 

[cezero]

Here is a stat comparison for you Cezero. Dimitrov is closer to Djokovic on the return game than you think. When Dimitrov looks at this comparison chart he will gain a lot of mental confidence going in this potential title deciding match. Especially the last row stat.

i'll take a larger sample size than 5 matches, thanks

Grigor Dimitrov ? Tennis Players - Tennis - ATP World Tour
Novak Djokovic ? Tennis Players - Tennis - ATP World Tour

13% more return games won for nole (in 5 fewer matches than dimitrov)
nearly 100 more break point opportunities than dimitrov (again, in 5 fewer matches than dimitrov)

maybe rasheed and dimitrov are stupid enough to go in thinking he's close to as good a returner as nole. that will certainly make djokovic happy.

 

[bksballer89]

If you guys had to put a % on it, what are the chances Raonic eliminates Fed?

I'm really hoping for it.

Nothing to do with Fed.....Just would be nice to see another player win his first grand slam

 

[cezero]

If you guys had to put a % on it, what are the chances Raonic eliminates Fed?

I'm really hoping for it.

Nothing to do with Fed.....Just would be nice to see another player win his first grand slam

i'd give raonic maybe a 30-35% chance

fed would have to have a bad serving day and raonic would have to have the best serving day of his life



but this is tennis, so yeah, who knows

 

[Hs0022]

i'll take a larger sample size than 5 matches, thanks

Grigor Dimitrov ? Tennis Players - Tennis - ATP World Tour
Novak Djokovic ? Tennis Players - Tennis - ATP World Tour

13% more return games won for nole (in 5 fewer matches than dimitrov)
nearly 100 more break point opportunities than dimitrov (again, in 5 fewer matches than dimitrov)

maybe rasheed and dimitrov are stupid enough to go in thinking he's close to as good a returner as nole. that will certainly make djokovic happy.

Your money on Djokovic? I think Dimitrov will take Nole out in four.

 

[cezero]

Your money on Djokovic? I think Dimitrov will take Nole out in four.

i wouldn't necessarily be surprised if dimitrov won. nole is not playing at his best right now for some reason, and dimitrov is the real deal.

i just think it's a tall order for dimitrov to beat nole if they're both at their best. nole's a much better returner, and their serves are very close.

 

[bksballer89]

So it went from a big 4 to a big 2 now?

 

[cezero]

fed hasn't won a major in 2 years. not sure what's going on with murray.

big 4, big 3, big 2, whatever you want to call it, i'm glad to see youngsters like raonic and dimitrov getting in the mix

if sock ever committed to fitness, he could be there in a couple years. we'll see if he feeds off the success of his contemporaries.

 

[bksballer89]

I heard that Murray will drop out of the top 10 when the rankings come out on Monday

 

[cezero]

I heard that Murray will drop out of the top 10 when the rankings come out on Monday

pretty sure murray will be exactly 10

 

[nuraman00]

completely backwards in every way.

the most important factor for fed to win is his 1st serve. djokovic is one of the best returners in history, while it's one of the weakest parts of dimitrov's game. fed's 2nd serve is something that nole can attack as well, while again, dimitrov's return is not a strength at all.

as for variety of shot, there is nothing that dimitrov does from anywhere in the court better than nole besides maybe the backhand slice, which fed has zero problems with. there's a reason nole has 6 majors despite playing in an era with arguably the 2 greatest players of all time always in the field.

the getting djokovic on the move comment is baffling. djokovic is the best defender in the game. maybe in history. he's baseline perfection, and will control most rallies, and can move from defense to offense with that backhand down the line to fed's backhand. trying to "get him to move" as a part of a winning strategy is a 100% losing proposition for fed. nole can run all day side to side, and is utterly impervious to that slicey backhand that fed has used for a decade to draw his opponents forward into net.

fed's best bet against nole is to stay as close to the baseline during rallies as possible, to hit all groundstrokes with depth to try to take time away from djokovic, and to move aggressively forward on anything nole hits short. if anything, fed needs to watch out for nole moving him around the court, and try to end points as quickly as possible. any extended rally is strongly in nole's favor.

i'm not a betting man, but i'd feel a lot more confident with fed winning a final on grass against dimitrov than nole.

I agree Djokovic's one of the best returners in history.

I don't like his movement on grass.

That was the key factor to me.

On the other surfaces, I wouldn't have said that about Djokovic and Raonic vs FED.

On grass, I think Djokovic struggles with the timing more.

On other surfaces, Djokovic can get to a ton of balls and it's hard to move him around, so it wouldn't apply.

I didn't make a prediction on the Djokovic vs. Dimitrov match itself, just how I thought each would fare if they faced FED in the Finals.

You're also right that FED has had zero problems with slices. I just thought that at least Dimitrov can do something different, while Djokovic usually plays the same way on any surface (which usually is good).

 

[nuraman00]

If you guys had to put a % on it, what are the chances Raonic eliminates Fed?

I'm really hoping for it.

Nothing to do with Fed.....Just would be nice to see another player win his first grand slam

I don't think Raonic has much of a chance at all, his overall game isn't as good.

I don't see him as dangerous on grass as other big serving players. < 10%.

 

[nuraman00]

Oh and I would use FED's power backhand more than the slice backhand, in a matchup against Djokovic. Just my preference.