I think the main reason why Federer lost was because of his inability to win points under pressure. Isn't it becoming characteristic of Federer to crumble during pressure moments. What was more disturbing was to see him loose the last set 2-6. Once he couldn't convert those 3 BP in the 5th game, it was evident from his body language that he had given up. Is it the beginning of the end? Who knows..but if Federer wants to win the Davis cup tie for his country, he will have to dig really deep and fight it out till the end like Nadal/Nole!

Federer- Low on Mental Toughness? http://bit.ly/w1rvpN

I went to bed with Wawrinka up in the third, and I wake up to see this?!?! This kinda ruined my day, as much as I hate to admit. But, good on the US team. I'm trying to be a good sport here, but it hurts to smile through the heartbreak. <---That's probably a bit much. Ha!

Federer had no solution for the high-kick serve to his backhand. The slow clay played against him BIG time.
He completely gave up in the third. Did not look good.
Isner plays well on clay and I remember his 5 setter against Djokovic in Belgrade very well. Little John has great attitude and is an excellent competitor. Shame about his size, to 20 at best.

It was absolutely no surprise that the Swiss lost given their abysmal court selection. What else do you expect when the ball bounces into the hands of Isner and Fish every point and their serves soar over your head? The Americans could not have selected a more favorable court for them if they'd tried.

Minnie,

The problem with close minded people is that they always have their mouth open. Such a shame.

I was very impressed to see Isner play excellent return games and keep his cool under pressure. Several times he was down 15-40, or even 0-40, and still managed to hold serve. He's so much more than a big server...
Congratulations, big John!
Yesterday I thought the Americans had no chance at all...How quickly things can change...

fedfan99

Really???
The court suits the US more???

A CLAY COURT.

By far the worst surface for the whole US team.

The other team has a former Roland Garros Champion.

What would you suggest??

Hard Courts, Grass.

Would've loved to see Fedrerer and Wawrinka return Isner's serve on those courts.

I was surprised when the Swiss decided to go with a clay court, especially indoors. Fed has been (and still is considering the last two world championships) the best indoor carpet player in the world. So, what do the Swiss do? They put it on clay. I guess they felt that traditionally Americans aren't good on clay, but unfortunately clay is a great leveller and penalizes the more skilled players like Fed and even Stan.

It was a dumb, dumb decision.

Minnie,

let me guess, you must be a blonde!

PS Good work Abraxas

To

Pete, Steve, Ed, Richard and whoever that might happen to read my comment.

It is getting really uncomfortable to read some of the posts containing allegations of doping.

I'm all for free speech but there has got to be something to show how senseless, disrespectful and ignorant it is to accuse people of something with no proof of any sort.

I am hoping to see some reaction(post) from tennis.com which would try to address this.

I would say Isner is the best clay courter the US has. He is the only one to take Nadal to 5 sets at RG. He just got unlucky last year because he was unseeded at the French Open. I think he has a great shot to make it to the 2nd week at the French. Mardy Fish has a good clay court game, but I think he plays better on clay if its DC. I don't think he'll do well on clay if he is just playing for himself.

Abraxas 02/10/2012 at 04:20 PM

The problem with close minded people is that they always have their mouth open. Such a shame.

+1x10^378464

Never were truer words spoken.

GO IZZAY! Bring that monster game to Roland Garros and take out one of the favourites.

"No 1 is a Serb. No 2 is a doper. No 3 is a loser. Men's tennis has gone to the pits. Such a shame"

Haha, I am a Serb, but when I see comments like this, from brainwashed Western airheads, I feel great! It is so special to be special!

To THE MODERATOR,

I am personally starting to get very very uncomfortable reading the hateful comments on this site. I am an American of serbian descent and I am so sick of reading racist anti-serb rant after racist anti-serb rant. It's not fair, and We shouldn't have to be exposed to this.

Please take down Minnie's comment. But more importantly, I think people who make racist statements should be permanently banned from the site. Remember, if you jsut stand by and do nothing then you are essentially saying you approve of the comments.

Please show the world that Tennis.com does not endorse hatred based on ethnicity or country and stop this.

Didn't Roger just say winning didn't matter? Davis Cup was just a chance to spend time with friends? So, he shouldn't be too upset then.

Clearly you did not watch the match hitius as otherwise you would have seen this is slightly slower carpet court with a far higher bounce, not the tar sands always chosen on Spain. Now who would a fast court with a 7 foot bounce favor..

Arbiter, it's pretty awesome how you called out the ignorant tribalism displayed by one poster on this board, all the while pointing out how westerns are "air headed". Irony anyone?

Counterintuitive, perhaps, given that clay has been the bane of American tennis for nearly two decades, but I agree with those who say the Swiss would have been better off picking a quick indoor carpet with a low bounce. Clay, to a certain extent, blunts the Americans' power. But it also reduces the Swiss' (especially Federer's) foot speed advantage. The slow clay enabled Isner to put a racquet on a lot more balls than he would have been able to reach on carpet. And with the high bounce you get on clay, more balls bounce up into John's strike zone -- and out of the strike zones of the Swiss, both of whom hit one-handed backhands.

This tie is far from over, though. I could very easily imagine the Swiss reeling off the next three matches.

A pale Federer without the fire, desire or the motivation to win. He was slow, defensive, tentative. Too much on his mind. This is not the Federer who would have shred Isner. I think he's going to pick his battles. But they will be few and far in between.

it's funny how people like free speech... just as long as is completely controlled by their sensibilities.

Free speech ought to be Free. I applaud tennis.com when they let it go. We can always decide for ourselves what is meant by others and agree or disagree.

if u have to censor someone, censor people who want to limit freedom--posters such as Mr. Truth and hitius. Still, i'd rather u let them babble.

And now you know why it took Novak Djokovic all of 5 sets to beat John Isner on indoor clay court in Belgrade in 2010 DC match. This is no fluke.

player,

hate speech is not protected as free speech. plus, freedom of speech is guaranteed only by the government, not by private enterprises. educate yourself.

What happened in Friborg today would be described by the Dutch as:

'Throwing stones into your own windows'

The Swiss chose a horrific claycourt against a squad who mostly relies on the one shot on which the surface has little (to none) influence: The serve.

The Swiss on the other hand, including my beloved Roger, rely on rally's, which were very difficult to establish given the worthless surface.

Carpet? Please, be serious. If a surface is not used in the regular tour,
it should not even be considered for Davis Cup.

@Player

I am in no way asking for censorship.
I just want someone from tennis.com to state how ridiculous some thoughts ARE.

Yep, the Swiss definitely chose the wrong surface to face the Americans on, just as Serbia did in 2010. Serbia did manage to squeeze by just barely. I remember Serbian players protesting the court conditions during the match, as the rallies kept ending randomly on bad bounces, and Serbia was counting on winning more than just the random share.

Indoor carpet would have been best, as it would have minimized the problems Fed has returning kick serves to the backhand. People forget that tall servers can be more dangerous on courts that have more of a bounce for returners with one-hand backhands. If you think Fed would have lost to Isner on grass or carpet, you are nuts. On clay... not so mach of a surprise.

Are people forgetting how much problems Isner gave to friggin Rafa at RG last year?

Hmmm, I really didn't see that one coming at all. I wonder whther it was just a case of Fed having a AO hangover or Isner perhaps showing that on his day he can play on the red stuff too, still the only guy to push Rafa to a deciding set at RG.

I do always wonder though about when Fed's pace at the top of the game will drop off. I was sceptical of his form at the end of 2011, and many people on here lambasted me for it. However, his performance at the AO proved me right with him being on cruise control until he played a top opponent (Delpo is a top opponent but played an awful match by his standards) and then lost.

It would be a shame to see him drop off but as much as I think that he has another slam in him, but at 30 you just never know when he will drop enough to struggle to compete with the top guys.

I have to say I agree in general about clay often being an overall advantage to the big and less fleet of foot. It taketh away some....serve speed...but serve speed isn't everything..placement, spin and kick are even more important. And, as Pete pointed out, the clay gives the big and slower more time to get to balls that would normally be out of reach.

All credit to Isner. He did what he needed to do. Roger didn't.

Never mind Federer being unfocused, and more than anything, unadjusted to clay, this win can ROCKET Isner's confidence and ranking sky high, and get near the top 10 before Roland Garros. His A game is suitable for both American hard court and European clay, and his backhand, particularly on return, improved tremendously.

Congratulations to Isner and the US, while it's a HUGE setback for the Swiss and Fed, who with Nadal and Djokovic skipping this year's DC play, had the opening to capture the one last big piece missing from his collection, but by the looks of it, his heart wasn't there. Switzerland can still turn it around, but it's the Bryans they are facing.

@Mr Truth and the MODERATOR

I totally agree with Mr Truth, the moderators need to be tighter on xenephobic comments on this forum there have been numerous posts against Serbia and Spain in the last 12 months; this needs to stop. I have also seen homophobic comments on this site too, and this should not be tolerated eithe.

The Moderators need to tighten up on this site.

How would you feel like if each time you try to read about your favorite tennis player someone bring up this: Sgt. Frank Wuterich massacring 24 civilian including children. Wuterich was sentenced on January 24 and convicted to forfeiture of two-thirds of pay for three months and reduction in rank to private.

Yak!

Let's talk about Mardy FIsh, John Isner after this.

That is what all those Serbs talk about, leave non tennis crap our of this!

Bone,

Only one of the Bryans is playing. Harrison is the other doubles player.

Some time ago a gentlemen with the nick "nettler" posted a comment where he claimed that Federer is a choker. Even though I am not a Fed fan at all I immediatelly called Mr. nettler "crazy".. or something... and gave him a whole bunch of arguments in Federer's defence. But after today, I tend to agree to some degree with him. Old Federer is gone. Forever. And my appologies to Mr. nettler.

Fed played fairly poor and didnt seem interested in the fourth set. He looked like he could have cared less out there which i dont get.

As far as Isner, he was playing high risk tennis that will fail more than it suceds exceeds. It worked today, but is tough to pull off day after day. Isner has a huge serve, but the rest of his game is below average and his big frame makes his movement pretty poor.

To all: As you have already seen, some of the comments on this post have been deleted. You can read our posting guidelines here, for further details and reasons why they were: http://www.tennis.com/info/posting_guidlines.aspx

We do the best we can in taking down inappropriate comments and, when necessary, banning users. We will not tolerate some of the behavior that's been seen on our comment boards. Saying that, there are a lot of comments that are posted on TENNIS.com, all the time, so please excuse us if something is up that shouldn't be, and hasn't yet been taken down.

To call someone a Serb, or a doper, or a loser is hate speech? "Minnie" clearly doesn't like the top 3, but "hate speech"? Djokovic IS a Serb, after all. Which to some people has negative connotations, but as an American I've been called far worse things in many different countries. Has the original comment been cleaned up and I missed it? Lord knows there are nasty things written every day here about Serbia and its people, but is to call someone a Serb an insult in and of itself?

Oh, never mind, the comment is gone. Oops.

To hear Justin Gimelstob prior to this match, Federer was going to "carve up this nasty clay court like a chef". Instead it was Big John carving up Federer like a piece of Emmentaler. Like most, I expected 1-1 at the end of the first day. Roger is always a quick to get that first set under his belt, but then he has those second set walkabouts that he doesn't always get out of. Fans have fondly referred to this as going to "Mirkaland". To me, this lapse of concentration is the most noticeable feature of the post-28 years.

"4 C vitamina" I think you are 100% right, it's very hard to accept Fed as a choker but it seems that we should re-think our perception of him.

I think that Fed is working against himself by pretending that he is relaxed before any competition and again being so focused in every match like never before. Those two usually don't go well along and doesn't make any sense. Great talent Ernest Gulbis is relaxed and we know the outcome. Novak and Rafa are well focused and we know result of that too.

1 week and 1 day as No1, Olympic singles medal and Grand Slam are things that Rog wishes more ...

Not sure that he is going to last the whole season under that pressure.

For what it's worth, having been at the matches I can say the court is far from being the slowest clay court I've ever seen. Perhaps if it had been really, really slow (which is what I understand was requested), Federer might have had an easier time running Isner side to side. But maybe not. Isner was tough today. Unflappable, even.

..unlucky shots...?

I like John baby-face Isner, because he seems to be a nice guy and also a very good player, who shows his potential from time to time. The arrogant Swiss DC team obviously did not see Isner's matches against Djokovic and Nadal, who are better clay-court players than Roger. Serbia and many other teams hosting USA made same mistake, choosing the surface, which does not suite Americans, and Djokovic and company made their best results on hard surface. They were lucky to beat USA in 2010 and I think it was last time they chose clay as hosts. It will be interesting to see tomorrow's doubles and I expect to see Isner with Bryan against Federer and Wavrinka.

Good job, Isner! You did what my boy Djoko couldn't accomplish last year - and that says a lot! Nice kid, has a real heart.

Ah......my two favorite players duking it out. Could it be that clay is Izzy best surface? Let's not forget him scaring the board shorts of off Nadal in last year's first round (?) match that went five tight sets. I think the slower surface actually lets John-boy catch up to balls he might normally miss and also lets his topspin serve get some major air.

Fed Fed Fed Fed.......still....odd that you would lose to Izzy. Although....I still lament that izzy's talent is being mismanaged by his coaches by trying to turn him into Delpo....but I'll let that go for now.

One thing about Isner......the guy is NOT afraid of the big stage. Even though many players have better....more reliable weapons....this guy is a fighter....and a tall one, at that.

skip - they said on TV it is at altitude. I spent a month in Fribourg long ago, and wouldn't at all describe it as being an altitude city.

Oh, for heaven's sake, Federer will certainly "last the whole season" he might even win all those indoor tourneys. But I agree that he seems to need more nagging desire - or at least skip the "Zen" approach I've seen referred to a couple of times today. Maybe being a little less "zen" will help him with his competitive fire and with that, his focus.

Fwiw, I always suspected nettler was a woman.

I felt it's coming that the USA will prevail. I hope for a 5-0 USA. We need it! The Women did it the other day!

Zen aproach, Bull-eyes!

Thank you Tina for this (not so easy exchanging opinions here with my Tarzan english)

Its apparent that Roger has no interest in the Davis Cup or his country winning. To their credit, both Nadal and Djokovic have lead their countries to titles.

This is a sad tailend to a storied career for Federer, if Swiss ends up losing to the US this weekend.

Hey Ed,

I am kinda bummed u decided to take down some posts as hate speech, but not the stuff leveled against me for lacking education. Where are my rights as an anonymous first-time poster? ;)

Also, u left plenty of hate up there in a variety of posts. For instance, look at "LetsPlayTennis" talking about Fed, "has no interest in Davis Cup or his country winning."

kinda hateful. don't u think? questioning fed's patriotism? Given his history.

if u don't think it's hateful, why don't u ask Fed such a question and see how he reacts to that assertion?

Ed, sorry to say, there's a lot left to censor. For some pointers, u might want to take a cue from Yosarian in Catch-22. He censored almost everything, to his own delight. The key is to start slow and work your way up.

it's just my opinion, but i think journalists make ideal censors. :)

Fernando says that Maestro is no longer good enough to win matches on cruise control and he no longer can ratchet up the intensity when cruise control is not getting it done like in the past. Maestro thought Isner was going away after Maestro won the first set. Didn't happen. It's a lack of respect n Maestro's part.

The Humble Bull would never say Davis cup doesn't matter like Maestro said. Rafa has too much respect.

There is no cruise control for The Bull. One speed only 100%

Fernando

The Humble Bull would never say Davis cup doesn't matter like Maestro said. Rafa has too much respect.
------------

lol...how many DC matches Humble Bull skipped already?! Even the DC finals?! Respect? To what?

you should take your brains out from your behind.

Come ON Swiss..

You can still win this thing!

@Player - no, it's not hateful. Tennis.com had an article just yesterday where Fed said winning Davis Cup doesn't matter. He prefers playing to spend time with friends he doesn't get to see or spend time with. If that's hateful, blame Fed. Those were his words.

Karlovic can't hold a candle to Big John. Maybe five years ago, when Isner first joined the tour, you could have compared their games, but now that is a big insult to John Isner.

I think it's not like Isner played good but it's Federer was not playing like he used to in the past.
It is natural that people are getting older and physical ability is decreasing.
So Federer's prime days have passed.
So if players are beating Federer now, there is no surprise.

BIG BOY played lights out tennis. ALLEZ USA :-)

I am really surprised that the U.S. is up 2-0, and I am crossing my fingers that they don't choke it away.

I give a lot of credit to Coach Courier for making Isner believe in himself. I think that is half the battle. Especially when you are playing for your country.

The court was also crazy. When the players were bouncing there balls before the serve, the balls wouldn't even bounce high enough.

So how does this work? They said on TV it would be Harrison and Bryan.
Can Courier change that at the last minute? I think Fish and Bryan would be the best pair.

i still dont get how wawrinka lost to fish on clay at home,fish is by far the worst top 10 player,talent is very limited like all american players,mentally not strong like all american players (except roddick in his heyday,before federer emerged)(all current yanks)

but how does federer lose to isner,how?isner imo is the least talented player on the tour along with karlovic,their height is the only thing going for them.i wouldnt class them as great servers with such a massive advantage as they have won nothing to date.guys like federer,roddick are great servers as they won titles with those weapons.i caught the 1st set and i thought it was in done in straights.but federer must of played like an ametuer for the remaining 3 sets.it is simple when discussing this loss federers return game is miles behind nole,murray and nadal in that order,yes you say well he is a great server but his serve doesnt matter much in his matches with these guys as he serve well below his best due to pressure and quality returns at his backhand/feet.he cant chip and block it back against them and beat them from the baseline

i think if the swiss win the doubles with is unlikely to say the least they will come back,fed v fish is nailed on and wawrinka has proven against better players he can win a 5th decider.

Ed McGrogan: To all: As you have already seen, some of the comments on this post have been deleted.

Hey! Where are Minnie’s comments?
We all left feeling there was some stink here, but couldn’t smell it.
This is not fair.
Some guy’s aching butt can be other man fun.
Why Abraxas had a chance to rail at Minnie and I missed it?
We are all surrounded by moяons. They are everywhere. In other country and in yours. In your family and among your friends. So, should we deprive them their freedom of speech?
I would say, Yes! But I’m not always fair myself.
Tennis.com should implement system with voting: when there are enough unhappy people flag the comment, it would be deleted (as at craigslist.com).
However, I would suggest not deleting but hiding the offending comments, so unhealthily curious folks could read them.
Otherwise, comments disappear like people in the dark times.
So, my slogan of the day:
Freedom of speech to every moяon on the planet. Not only to politicians and the rich.
(But let's keep them apart.)

Even if you're disappointed that John won, I see no need to say he is the least talented on the tour, along with Karlovic. Good, exciting wins by the guys, but still must keep the eyes and mind focused, as it's not over yet. I agree with the comment about not trying to make Izzy into Delpo. I want to see a more aggressive Izzy on return and at net, so as to get himself off the court quicker in matches.

The thing about Karlovic is that players don't get too many chances to play him, so they never get used to his serve. He has no backhand to speak of, but a more than decent forehand. He won in straights against Nishikori yesterday; if the tie goes to a decisive fifth rubber, will Go Soeda be any more able to handle the monster serve?

"Karlovic can't hold a candle to Big John. Maybe five years ago, when Isner first joined the tour, you could have compared their games, but now that is a big insult to John Isner."

hang on donut, since people here love to give credit to older players, and will Isner still be on tour at 32, like Karlovic is? Will Federer still be on tour at 32?

@barmaleo
I agree. Hope they stop babysitting us. But it's probably a losing cause.

I don't know about u, but i love reading moronic comments. That's one of my great pleasures in going to the comment sections. If the foolish analysis is accompanied by a self-righteous pomposity, i like it even better.

A poster earlier wrote, "i wouldnt class them as great servers." The poster Cirian20 was talking about Isner and Karlovic. Gotta love it.I guess that's why Nadal has been studying Isner's serve? Because his form sucks?

Reality is that Isner has one of the best serves on tour. There's hardly a debate about it. But that's why i like reading comments here. There's an alternate universe that cracks me up.

And where's Fernando's next missive? he filled with the Bull, no?

Federer will be on tour at 32 and Isner also might.

@ciaran20:

Your comments about Fish being the worst top 10 player with limited talent, and Isner being the least talented player on the tour along with Karlovic would not have been very insightful at any time, but after their impressive wins yesterday, they are downright surreal.

A bit more respect for them is warranted. The Swiss underestimated them and looked what happened. XD

There are no excuses in tennis. A win's a win's a win. Congratulations to a mighty USA effort.

My favorite thing about this match is that Isner could have waited to serve it out - but won by breaking instead!

John played with balls and Fed did not. Fish played great as well, congratulation to the US. team.

I found myself wondering if Fed might be suffering from "Low T".

If John improves his return game, he can win slams.

Clear. RF is on decline way. No more Grand Slams...vary rare 1000 point tournaments is on table for him. And that it... (Can`t imagine he will win at tournament where Andy, Novak and Rafa play...)

Have to agree with Fernando. Seems quite lack of respect from Federer for the Davis cup, his team and team mates etc. The DC captain being his personal coach also makes this a conflict of interest type situation.

Isner very well earned this victory, but I get a feeling Federer tanked this also. He had to play this round to be in olympics, but didnt want to have to play the next round in the olympic year. This year also represents his best chance to win a major on a court (and day) that favors him.

Seems pretty self-centered overall. I am still a fan of the Federer game, but his attitude seems quite rotten now...

And, about GOAT .....let us couple of years,,,then..I will be suppressed if any one ,,,hmmm...Ok...let us time...

My (written English) is bad, sorry. But you understand what I mean...(suppressed instead of surprised).

I think john isner has no game apart from that serve..and when I listen to those idiots in the box about john isner makes me wanna vomit...he will never win a grandslam all he has is that serve he cant move well on the court hes slow without that serve he has nothing