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Did Roger Semi-Tank Montreal Final to Zverev?
68 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Scoop
![FedCincyreturngoodSLIDER[1]](https://www.tennis-prose.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/FedCincyreturngoodSLIDER1.jpg)
Alexander Zverev is surging right now and playing the best tennis of his life. He won Washington DC last week and today he added his second ATP Masters 1000 title in Montreal, dominating soon-to-be World No. 1 Roger Federer 63 64.
The first set was close but Zverev took the early lead with his lethal serving and punishing ground strokes. Federer tried everything in his arsenal, including drop shot approaches and varied assaults that only he can create but “The Kid” handled everything the veteran maestro probed him with.
Federer had his break point chances to level the first set but failed to convert. Then in the second set, Federer was clearly battling to get the early break lead but he just could not earn that desired advantage. One such opportunity was miffed when Zverev’s desperation get-back skidded off the service line and forced Fed to net his backhand. Fed raged at that misfortune, seemingly screaming for a split-second at the line for costing him his chance.
Zverev continued to zap in big serves for aces and free points and sustained his slight baseline superiority. At precisely what point I’m not quite sure but suddenly you could sense Federer had become a bit casual and nonchalant in his body language. The points became shorter and Zverev took over the match.
What it looked like was that Federer had tried his very best but just could not knock Zverev off his tracks. It was almost as if Federer suddenly decided that the 20-year-old was just too good today and that there really was no reason to over-exert for this title, with the US Open just a few weeks away and Cincinnati next week.
I would say that Zverev’s superb play forced Federer to gear down from fourth gear to third. Trying to beat Zverev today would have cost too much energy and premium fuel and so the difficult decision was made to coast to the finish line and let the future ATP kingpin have his day. He had earned it.
But Federer has a feel and understanding now for Zverev’s new A plus level and he has time to analyze and calculate with coach Ivan Ljubicic to concoct a new gameplan for New York which it seems very likely they will probably meet again.
Zverev has now won two ATP 1000 titles this year and five titles overall. An achievement that not even Roger Federer was able to accomplish at the same age.
Federer won his first Masters Series title at age 20 in Hamburg in 2002 and then his second did not come until 2004 Indian Wells. In Fed’s 2002 season he won three total titles – Hamburg, Vienna, Sydney.
ATP · Federer · Masters 1000 · Zverev
68 comments
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« Previous 1 2Scoop Malinowski · August 15, 2017 at 8:56 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Players give cues of an injury but it doesn't mean it's a real injury, it could mean they just don't feel like playing at 100% intensity anymore. Sure, the TV announcers are quick to pick up on these subtle cues. Again, who knows for sure. If it was serious, Fed would have called an injury time out. He did not.
Scoop Malinowski · August 15, 2017 at 8:58 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Front242; Before the final Fed said his body was fine. No mention of any niggling injuries.
catherine · August 15, 2017 at 9:11 am
catherine writes:
Scoop- Not too many players mention 'niggling injuries' before a match. Even if they've got them. Then, Federer may have not called an MTO because he knew what the problem was and didn't think an MTO would necessarily help. A couple of weeks rest before USO more important.
Scoop Malinowski · August 15, 2017 at 10:47 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Catherine, not to be lost in this discussion is the truth that Zverev played a fantastic match, handled everything Fed tried to throw at him and he won his second Masters ATP 100 title. Like Zverev said, Let Fed talka botu his injury if he wants to. If not, then let's all give FULL CREDIT to Sascha Zverev for another fantastic, sensational, excellent mature win against the GOAT.
JG · August 15, 2017 at 10:57 am
JG writes:
Federer may be better off in the Grand Slams where you get a day between matches, here he played 3 in a row and maybe on a hard court thats too much, it takes longer to recover as you get older (fact of life). Sounds like not a serious injury but once you get out of your 20's it just gets harder to recover day to day and you arent going to feel great on court every day no matter who you are. On the flip side, there are days when you play and feel like you are 20 again, just the way it goes–i can see Federer being completely ready for the US open and with the days off in between he's going to be tough to beat.
Scoop Malinowski · August 15, 2017 at 11:26 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Good point jg. And Zverev is young enough to be Fed's son. Still, we saw Fed throw everything and the kitchen and bathroom sinks at Zverev but the kid didn't blink. He stayed focused and came up with the goods. It was Fed who blinked first. Helluva match and what Zverev did should not be downplayed, discredited or diminished in any way.
Front242 · August 16, 2017 at 3:21 am
You don't want everyone gaining confidence before a slam by announcing an injury mid tournament. That said, he didn't even need to tell the world as it was obvious to anyone watching him in Montreal all week.
Scoop Malinowski · August 16, 2017 at 8:20 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Why did n't he pull out well before the final? Why did he try so hard to beat Ferrer if he was hurt? Why did he try so hard in the first set of the final and to get the early break in the second set? You're not convincing me. But it does not matter. Zverev played a fantastic final and won his second Masters 1000 title. And he had to earn it the hard way.
Front242 · August 16, 2017 at 8:35 am
Not sure anyone would say he earned it the hard way. That was an easy one sided final against a compromised opponent. It is what it is but hard it most definitely was not.
Scoop Malinowski · August 16, 2017 at 9:05 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
I disagree. It was a great match great battle until the last ten minutes. Fed wanted it and fought hard but Zverev had all the answers. Zverev has won ten matches in a row. He has won his first two Masters 1000 titles at a younger age than it Federer to do the same. In a sense Zverev career is actually ahead of Fed's at the same age. Funny how people dont want to give Zverev the credit he deserves. Just about every time Federer loses there is usually some kind of excuse attached to the loss.
GameSetAndMath · August 16, 2017 at 8:28 pm
scoop said:
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That is a ridiculous claim. In fact most often, there are no excuses when Fed loses. Just to give one example, none of us Feddies have any excuse for his loss against Stakhovsky. Stak just did brilliant S&V which Fed was not expecting and could not control. That is just one example. In fact, there are very few losses of Fed for which something else was a factor (Note: a factor is a contributing cause and not the sole cause – that is the difference between excuse and factor). On the contrary it is actually well known to everyone that an uninjured Rafa never loses a match to anybody.
Independent of whether Fed was injured or not, AZ deserves full credit. There is no attempt here to deny him credit.
Scoop Malinowski · August 16, 2017 at 9:13 pm
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Game set and math; Fed fans are an eccentric lot. A Nadal fan was telling me in Washington DC that Fed fans go to his practice court FOUR HOURS early. And when people ask Fed fans for info about Fed's practice that day, they don't tell! She said Rafa fans are much cooler and helpful. Look, I'm not criticizing Fed. A lot of top players claim injury or subtly and non verbally HINT of something being wrong. Fed has done this with his back, knee, mono, junior slap shot (lol). It's normal for elite players to use sophisticated excuse making which the fans and media pick up the hints and trumpet them loud and clear. Not every player is 100% truthful. They have an agenda and it's their business to convince the public and the other players that they lost a certain match for a reason, not because they were outplayed. I mean no disrespect to Fed or Rafa, it's just the way I believe they conduct business.
GameSetAndMath · August 16, 2017 at 11:10 pm
That may be the general tactic of elite players (Fed included) and I can agree with that. But, the fact that Fed withdrew from Cincy, a tourney that is played on the fastest hard courts on the circuit, a tourney that he has won 7 times should bring you down to common sense from the conspiracy theory mode. Further, this withdrawal happens when he is in a tight race for YE#1 with his arch rival. Do you think that Fed found it so important to give the impression that he lost to AZ only because he is injured, that he would just donate an easy 1000 points to Rafa that too when the race is so tight. I can't understand why anyone with common sense would doubt this.
p.s.1. Yes, Fed said he is healthy going in to the finals. But, no player would say they are injured and sick before a match.
p.s.2. In Australia this year, 3000 people watched Fed practice.
p.s.3. Fed actually broadcast a live one hour practice session last Decemer from Dubai. Many of us watched it live. However, I do agree that sometimes top players want to practice in a secluded manner to retain competitive advantage w.r.t. niggling injuries and also w.r.t. new tricks being developed.
scoopmalinowski · August 17, 2017 at 6:17 am
scoopmalinowski writes:
Us open is the focus not cincy. He will get to no 1 soon.
Busted · August 19, 2017 at 2:46 am
Question for Scoop – so, in your estimation did young Sascha Zverev "semi-tank" the Tiafoe match in Cincy? Just wondering since you said players do that a lot so they can rest before a Slam. I mean, he's 20 and he had nearly 3 days of rest after the Montreal final. Surely he wasn't as "fatigued" as some outlets claimed? :lulz2:And I'm being sarcastic in case you couldn't tell…
Scoop Malinowski · August 19, 2017 at 9:30 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Bust, I only saw the highlights but I asked another tennis journalist if it looked like a semi-tank and he said Zverev "was up a break in the third but then seemed to run out of gas." Tough to say. I would guess Zverev was a bit mentally fried and Tiafoe was super intense as if playing one of the biggest matches of his life. If Zverev plays Tiafoe first round in US Open, I would think Zverev wins in four or three. But who knows? Who knows how much self belief Tiafoe picks up from this valuable win.
Busted · August 23, 2017 at 10:32 pm
scoop said:
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LOL! You took me seriously. I was "giving you the biz" as Wally used to say to Beaver… It's all good…
Scoop Malinowski · August 24, 2017 at 8:52 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
You cannot be unserious!