federer for ever!

federer is the best.

Roger is the man!!!!

Delpo might take this one.... will be an interesting final. Final starts in the afternoon (local time), can Roger be ready to play a tight final?

High quality match, I was really surprised of the level of Davydenko, especially in that first set. If you compared this match to their match in Doha earlier this year, you would say it was another player. What a contrast it was.
Federer played pretty well in that first set but Davydenko was better, controlling the rallies. At 3-1 in the second set for Davydenko, Federer raised his game and Davydenko let it go a bit. Third set was very exciting but on the big points, Federer showed his true class.
This has to be an unbelievable mental boost for Roger.
Tomorrow against Del Potro, I'll definitely watch it.

clean Tennis

no PEDs & Epo ......

too bad for Davy , he didn't challenged "in ball" for break point in 3rd set

federer is a joke. Once again he was lucky today, thanks to his massive h2h lead, the other player choked in the end. Delpo will win tomorrow. 6-3 6-3

@balega,

Not sure what you mean by Federer is a joke. A win is a win and I am sure your favourite player has been lucky a few times. I am sure if Federer had lost the match you will be among those saying "he is finished","he is a joke" ad nauseam.

Well we will have to wait until tomorrow to see Delpo win 6-3, 6-3, won't win?

Good job Roger for coming through.

*We and not win.

Federe railled down from 1 set and 1 break down, not just 1 set. Basically I would say Davydedako lost in the battle of fitness but won in the battle of groundstrokes for awhile, till Fed got his form back.

that was the battle of 30+.
You can tell they're both getting aged. Good match though, since the experience talked in 3 sets.

Third set was really fun to watch, lots of great shots. Go Roger.

He won, in a match that he should have won in 2 straight sets. Woohoo.

Both these guys are old and washed up.

Third set was amazing, that's where both played really well and it could have gone either way. Davedynko once said that Federer is incredibly lucky. I'd say he must have been thinking the same today.
Will Federer regenerate for tomorrow? I have doubts about it. Del Potro has been on fire...trashing Berd-the-man who has been, actually, playing really good tennis this season (no loss in Australia until he almost took a 2:0 lead against Nadal....). Of course Roger's record indoor is phenomenal...but one of the last few guys who actually managed to beat him is Del Potro (London). My sense is that Del Potro will take it in two sets...one set will competitive and one won't at all. Del Potro is hopefully back on track. He's a fun character and a good tennis player to watch. If Soderling was around, we would have 3 giant killers (Berd, Del Potro, and Soderling) chasing the four at the top. Would be fun to have it that way.

Just returned from the match.

Hardly kept it together, it was pretty exciting in the end.

GOGOGOGOGOGO Roger!

"Getting aged"???. Wake up and smell the physiological coffee. If you present the "age" argument for George Foreman, you better prepare when he replies you- with your arms. If you present "age" for Linford Christie, he will still beat you blindfolded at the 100 m., limping even.
The age card used on Michael Jordan would probably cause you a slam dunk in your head, probabably correcting rather than damaging anything inside... ; )

So, I saw Fed Davy match, Harrison Raonic match and finally Klitcho Chisori boxing fight.....what a day....I must say I enjoyed boxing the most.

Surprisingly, Federer's forehand is failing him since Australian open Semifinal. It is falling apart in critical moments and he has been hitting horrible errors with forehand. I think that's the main reason why he lost AO SF, Davis cup match and he almost lost today for the same reason.

Another concern is that he is getting back into the pattern where he won't convert break points and then surrenders next game. I thought he was getting out of this pattern last year. But, he got back into this pattern again since AO SF match. Unless he can fix this issue, it's going to be a very rough year for him.

Nice to see Davydenko reminding us of his brilliance. Not near his best --because top shelf Nikolay almost never misses anything he takes a full swing at. (To be fair, Fed was also not at his best: too many 1st serves and non rushed forehands missed.)

So with a spiffy new Asics kit and his old magic racquet (no sponsor stenciled on there though), is Kolya the Obscure on the road back to Kolya the Mightydenko? This superfan hopes so. Long before that spectacular, pre-injury 2009-2010 run, I always viewed him as not someone who could hit with the big boys, but ONE of the big boys (albiet probably the unluckiest when it comes to picking Fed's half of the draw). For if he and Delpo can get back to being entrenched in the top 8, given the past year's shakeup, they may just have to bring out the sorting hat again. Not to mention the possibilities of some true blockbuster clashes in the QFs of the bigger tournaments.

Delpo d. Federer is my guess. It is a tough call, however. Fed whooped Delpo in straights at AO, sure -- but Delpo has been playing fairly well and is probably ready to avenge the loss. Federer, on the other hand, seems a bit shaky lately.

I like both players and won't look forward to seeing either of them lose. Let's see what happens.

Fernando happy to see Davydenko hopefully returning to for

Delpo is back. He dismantled Berd,Too much power for Maestro. Maestro will get blasted off the court tommorow. Delpo has too power and physicality for frail Maestro. Maestro wants this bad so expect a snarky Maestro Presser.

Fernando

Both players are great to watch. Davy's play today reminded me of his for at the end of the year a couple of years ago when he took out Nadal and Ferederer twice each. When things are going well - he plays so close to the baseline and combines surprising aggression on offense and defense - something we can all learn from. He is serving beautifully and is only shaky on his drop volley attempts and scraping up the Feds sharp angled back handed slices. Great drama today. Feds defense saved him as it has many times in the past.

If Federer had that much trouble against an equally ageing player like Davydenko, escaping defeat by a whisker, then he has no hope in hell against the other top players, including Delp tomorrow. I think he should retire before he declines further and gets regularly beaten by players outside the top 10.

According to the ATP site, that was Federer’s 71th win in a row against a player ranked outside the Top 20.
Amazing how some see an urgent need for his retirement basing on "escaping defeat by a whisker" (remind, it still was not matchpoint!), against an equally ageing blah blah blah. Oh, what then should we say about our young heroes, systematically escaping on match points against that old horse, or even worse, losing that old clown Davydenko from time to time...Strong logic, indeed.

I think if anyone needs to retire, it should be Nadal. A young stud in his prime losing seven finals in a row and getting bageled by a "semi-retired", "has been Federer" at the WTF.

Davydenko is a good player and can still show flashes of brilliance that is why he has a winning H2H against a certain top player.

This match should not be used as a barometer to gauge how Federer will perform the rest of the year.

A player wins, he won by a whisker,he should retire blah blah, he loses he is done, should retire etc.

Go Roger, keep doing what you love.

**oy who deleted the del potro destroying tammy berdych raquet reaction ??..sort the admin out old bean.

Fernando, tell your 'humble' boy to keep his clothes on lol ...

and perhaps we should discuss Rafa's recent matches with Kolya, hmmmm? talk about match ups, Davdy bashes those moonpies to bits on any hard court surface... and Fed beats him like a drum ...

**good comeback by woger but del potro was on fire in the qf and sf, he blew those guys off the court, it was pre injury del potro..you better watch the final its gonna be a bit special.

Fed was a little lucky today. He didnt play great, but it was good enough today.

These blogs are written by amateurs (Fernando?). Federer has been getting criticism for the past 6 years because he's been too good for too long.

cut the guy some slack.

He'll end the year #1.

It blows me away that people think someone should retire because that player isn't playing as well as an alleged tennis fan thinks they should be. (I'm talking to you Darren).

New flash. None of these players really care what others think and if they still enjoy doing what they're doing, they're going to continue to play. You aren't that important so I don't know why you think you are.

Nadal would be whitewashed by Davydenko playing like this. There's no such thing as old and washed players.

Hey Darren

I think you should retire from writing such nonsense. Top players including Federer, Nadal and Djokovich have made great escapes in matches throughout their careers. Folliwng your logic, Djoker hould retire since he was one point away from losing in the USO semis to an aging Federer.

I thought Fed looked shaky, but, still, he had many more break points than Davydenko had, he just didn't convert. Those saying he was lucky to win, it could have also been a straight set win for Federer, had he capitalised on more break points. His forehand and backhand looked error-prone, he hit a lot into the net. It will be extremely tough VS Delpo tomorrow, who looks to be in good form this year, if he doesn't pick his game up. But, it's not Nadal were talking about here, so, I give Federer a decent shot.

Is any one else tired of watching bunted service returns?
How boring are they getting to be?

There's no such thing as 'SHOULD retire'.

A player only gets to play if his ranking is high enough.
He can play till whenever he wants.
I can see Federer playing till hes 35.

It's ridiculous that a player must stop competing just because he's finding winning harder and chancier than earlier in his career.

You're right Hitius. Obviously no one will be able to win at an older age like they did in their prime but who are we to say anyone should retire.

Earlier in the tournament Fed mentioned playing for another 5 years and if he still enjoys playing at that time then that's what is actually important.

Come on Roger :)

<3 <3 <3 U

Good comeback win from Federer. Davydenko is capable of flashes of brilliance, no shame in struggling against him when he is on.

Should be an interesting final. Del Potro seems to be playing well, but Federer beat him at the Australian Open last month, and the indoor court in Rotterdam suits him well. So I give Federer the advantage. It will all come down to who starts better and wins the first set, I think.

That was a good fight back from Roger, who cut on the errors a lot in the third, especially the BH chip/slice return. In the first set - all of them went into the top (or bottom) of the net. In the third set, they all crossed and dipped low, sending Nico to the net, not his best spot.This had been ALWAYS an effective play against Nico, and this time was not different.

Also some great run around, down the line FH found their mark.

Good win, onward to the title. Will be very very difficult. I hope he's getting a good massage.

It's true that on a given day Delpo can take the racket out of anyone's hand. But Federer might be due for better tennis than he has shown so far. Needs to use variety to keep Del Potro off balance and not get into a strictly bash-ball duel.

If the luck is man I will kill him , as usual Federer wins with the help of general luck !!!!

Winning 3 matches against out of top 20 with very poor h2h history and walkover to reach the final it's not a great job for man some amateurs considering him the GOAT of tennis!!!

the mental age of some of the contributors here is about 12. Get over it. Federer didn't play particularly well or badly. Some moments of genius. Davy played pretty well but also made some crucial errors. This is a meaningless tournament. Paid practice for Federer. Not a big deal either way. Expect him to be more focused for Del Potro.

"He'll end the year #1." Oh really, Irish?

LOL. How can he do that, points-wise? Will he win the next 3 slams with Djokovic and Nadal losing early? Will he sweep the MS tourneys?

Rotterdam is a 250, played indoors - Roger's preferred conditions. There is no slam played indoors, and after Amsterdam, it's outdoors until late September. The rankings cushion enjoyed by Nadal and Djokovic will still be 2000+ for Nadal and 5000+ if Fed picks up the 250 from Rotterdam.

Rotterdam is 500.

Are you so afraid, Tina? Confusing 250 and 500, Rotterdam and Amsterdam..."Be quiet", OK?

250/500 points doesn't matter - still won't make a big enough dent

LOL @ Fernando:

"Delpo is back. He dismantled Berd,Too much power for Maestro. Maestro will get blasted off the court tommorow. Delpo has too power and physicality for frail Maestro. Maestro wants this bad so expect a snarky Maestro Presser."

Fernando

+++What a beauty that guy...

where is Fernando...? has he got up after falling flat on his face again... must have a bum nose by now with so many falls.. :)

@ Fernando re: Delpo prediction

Fernando is pwned.

Fernando is Fernandodo

@Fernando.

Eating Crow looser?