Roger Federer's grass-court preparation at the Noventi Open was cut short as he succumbed to Felix-Auger Aliassime 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in 1 hour and 44 minutes.

The Canadian rallied from a set down to comfortably progress into the quarter-final, where he will face Marcos Giron, who defeated Jan-Lennard Struff.

Facing Federer for the first time in his career, the twenty-year-old fired 37 winners to just 15 unforced errors, backing up his performance from Stuttgart, where he made the final last week.

For Federer, the loss represents his first-ever loss in the second round at Halle, and he heads into Wimbledon with just two matches on grass, along with a W:5 L:3 record for the season so far. 

Auger-Aliassime won the toss and elected to serve. He kicked things off with a service hold to love for 1-0.

Federer also started confidently by holding to fifteen and quickly went one better in game four, firing down a 1 minute and 7-second love hold for 2-2.

Serving at 2-3, two forehand errors saw Federer slip to 15-40, but he saved both breakpoints with some smart serving and then held for 3-3.

In the sixth game, Federer missed a makeable pass at 15-30, but in the blink of an eye, he'd rifled a forehand winner and then threaded a backhand pass down the line to break for 4-3.

The Swiss consolidated the break for a 5-3 lead and then came through a scruffy service game, saving two break points, one with a backhand drive volley to take the opening set 6-4.

Auger-Aliassime started set two with a solid hold to fifteen for 1-0, but Federer was soon level.

At fifteen all in game three, the best rally of the match looked to be going Federer's way, but the ball checked on him, and he netted the forehand passing shot that would have been a winner had it cleared the tape.

The Canadian held for 2-1 and then had a look at three break points after some sloppy Federer play. Federer knuckled down to save them, and after another deuce, he finally held for 2-2.

In the sixth game, Auger-Aliassime came up with a super stretch forehand to make 30-30, and although he didn't convert the breakpoint at 30-40, he finally found a way through with a deep ball down the middle which Federer's couldn't handle.

The break was consolidated with a hold to love, and the man who shares the same birthday with Federer was soon level at one set all. 

Federer found himself down 0-40 in the opening game of the final set, failing to make a single first serve in those opening three points, but after tracking down a drop shot to save the first, he made deuce.

However, a mistimed backhand into the tramlines gave Auger-Aliassime another bite of the cherry, and Federer handed him the break with another backhand error that cleared the baseline.

A 1-minute 12-second love hold consolidated the break, and FAA was soon up a double break as an out of sorts Federer missed a simple volley to drop serve for 0-3.

With Federer languishing at 36% first serves in play for the set and winning just 1 of 5 points behind it, a hold looked unlikely, but he landed three first serves in a row to move up 40-0 and eventually held for 1-4.

Auger-Aliassime wasn't to be denied, however, and comfortably held his final two service games, firing down an ace on match point to take the decider 6-2.

I felt like I needed time to digest the third set. Like in Geneva, I was unhappy with how it ended. I'd rather take my time to come in. Not sweaty and in the heat of it. I took my time because I didn't want to say the wrong things played by emotions. I'm not sure what I’m gonna say in these moments That’s the reason why. Federer on why he took a long time to arrive for his press conference.

An interesting loss here, and while not surprising given where both men sit at the moment on tour, I thought Federer had a decent chance to come through.

The first set was exceptionally close in terms of how it played out, and it reminded me of a typical Sampras set where he serves well and then manages to string together some returns to break.

That's what Federer did; he won just five return points in the set, with four of them in one game to secure the sole break.

However, Felix had plenty of chances of his own with four breakpoints, but he didn't win any of the big points. That was a combination of going for too much, Federer serving well, and struggling to handle Federer's slice into his forehand, which he tried to rip back with too much topspin resulting in errors.

However, in set two, after knocking on the door in the first set, Auger-Aliassime got his rewards as he broke through when Federer's numbers dropped off. Roger won just 59% behind his first serve compared to 75% in the first set.

From there, his level never recovered, allowing Felix to take advantage of his serve not finding its spots and his groundstrokes lacking potency. 

It wasn't a disaster of performance and on grass, you can get picked off quickly but Federer didn't look like he had the answers in that third set which was disappointing.

Based on that it doesn't exactly augur well for Wimbledon and there are questions over what level he can produce / and how long he can sustain it. Yet given such a small sample size of matches, and the decent performance at the French it's still early in the season to write off his chances. Onward we go!

It was not a good attitude from my side. I was disappointed in the way I was feeling on-court, the way things were going, that I'm not getting better spells and all that stuff. I think the whole difficulty of the comeback got to me as well a little bit, how much I have to push on every point, try to make things happen. I realised it was not going to be my day. There was nothing I could do. I started to get really negative and this is not normally how I am. It's not something I'm happy about and proud about.

At the same time, if you look at my, whatever, 1500 matches I've played, these things can happen. The good thing is that I know it won't happen the next time, and the next time and the next time that I'm gonna be on the court. I think that's also one of the reasons I wanted to take the time between the matches and the press conference to truly understand why did I feel this way. Speak to Ivan a little bit, just figure it out. And then straight away, head up, look forward, don't make any silly decisions right now. Just stay positive and we take it onto the next goal which is clearly Wimbledon. Federer on his disappointment

What did you guys think of Federer's level against Felix Auger-Aliassime? What can we expect at Wimbledon? Let me know in the comments.

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Not one I want to be first on 🙁

I wasn’t totally surprised, given that Felix had made the final in Stuttgart last week, but it’s very disappointing from Roger. Maybe he should have played in the doubles here as well for extra grasscourt practice – isn’t hindsight a great thing?

Not a bad idea, Wimbledon doubles, I doubt he’d do it though, needs the rest days.

As a fan of both FAA and Fed, I have to confess I was rooting for Felix in this match, although I expected Fed to win it. Roger’s level in the third set was worrying. Roger stressed the difficulty of coming back after the surgeries, but how much is actually being an older player? Rod Laver has talked about how difficult it was to maintain any consistency as an older player. One day you could be fine, and the next have a terrible match, for no apparent reason. Is this where Fed is now?

Fed is struggling for consistency between games, never mind matches 😁

I’m really FED Up by this Situation…

oh facing 15 Break Points in grass is not normal for Federer his serve game is drop a lot still don’t know what happen to him with this he cannot win anything this year I hope he can play until Us open Wimbledon is his goal he will play for sure but the big thing I afraid of is he may end 2021 after Wimbledon

Yeah too many chances for Felix, saved plenty of them well.

Man FAA has some power

Yeah, decent forehand. Nothing special game wise though.

Yeah, no slice, no drop-shot, no volley. Only powerful serve and forehand. That is was enough to beat Federer tells something about where Fed is with his game (power, consistency, accuracy). What really works, is the serve (but dropping with every set) and hand magics at the net (if the coming ball is not too hard). Movement: footwork excellent on short distances, lateral movement not effective enough, even on short distances.

Absolutely bad from Fed after a good showing at RG. Not really sure if its just match play. Could very well be his back or his knee. Whatever it is, he does not leave much on the table for us to go with. QF at Wimbledon will be a pretty good result. He is not even close to his 2019 form which was expected.

4th round I think would be impressive, back to back last sixteen at the slams.

It was only expected by dreamers, not really by Fed ans his team, I guess.

Big fan of Roger. He made me love tennis. His quality of play, the way he conducts himself on and off the court, and his unbelievable winning record including 20 Grand Slams are the reasons why he is a legend of the sport for me. At almost 40 years young coming August, this great man should listen to his body, his coach and I think the rest of the millions who adore him, which includes me. I want Fed to play forever as I am never tired of seeing him on the court, but it hurts sometimes to see a legend losing time and again and letting others taking advantage of him for reasons beyond his natural capacity,age-wise I mean. I hate to say it, but maybe it is time to gracefully retire after Wimbledon if he wins in particular!

I salute you great man for making millions of us happy!

We can expect the same in Wimbledon. Motivation does not make up for missing fitness, missing match-practice. I’m not surprised, that Fed did better in Paris then in Halle. If he really had pains there, would mean, it’s not about missing match practice, but not finished recovery and I can hardly imagine, how he can recover again (not from today’s loss) in not much more than a week. Should he feel fit and have no pains, he could take a WC into Eastborn (rather not Mallorca, where the field is quite strong, led by Djoker. But I fear, he is not fit and knows, he will be not fitter if he plays 1-2 matches more. Probably better to rest until Wimbledon and hope the fitness comes back by itself. Felix was more confident than usual and after failing on the end of first set, was rock-solid in the second and third. As Fed’s serving started to flatter, he was able to return more, make some rallies and break with hard shots from the baseline. Quite good for Felix, not good at all for Fed.

“doesn’t auger well”, boom boom! Disappointing result but you can’t really expect to win if you give a Top-20 player 15 BREAK POINTS. Anyway, let’s move on, what next? Should he sign up for Eastbourne next week? Why not, especially since he has to go to England anyway and that he has too few matches under his belt right now. Interesting comment from Alison about playing doubles since that’s what’s Djoker is also doing next week. Fed should do both!

Looks unlikely he will play Mallorca or Eastbourne. Rarely takes last-minute decisions, last time I can think was Gstaad which didn’t end too well.

That empty looking stadium is enough to make a quokka feel depressed. I hate seeing it.

A slightly worrying performance from Roger. Only he knows why he seemed to fall off a cliff midway through the second set after looking good in the first – and in particular winning the big points – but here we are. To Wimbledon. Godspeed.

Federer On His Comeback: ‘It’s A Huge Challenge For Me’ https://www.atptour.com/en/news/federer-halle-2021-r2-reaction

Oh dear😨There does seem to be a developing pattern of winnning the first set and then falling off a metaphorical cliff.Perhaps better over five sets where there is time to settle into a rhythm of play,hence the good results at RG. Who knows,onwards and hopefully upwards😊

I feel the same. All the experts say there’s no amount of training that is a replacement for “muscle memory match timing”, etc. Time will tell..and we all know the day will come…but not necessarily now, and not necessarily based on a difficult and unusual season. Down but not out. Go RF!! I still believe!!!

I was a Super Fan of Bjorn Borg’s and also Jimmy Connors for different reasons. There was never anyone I gave that same appreciation for until Roger Federer. There were players that I liked to watch in between, but never anyone I was a Super Fan of until Roger. This happened early on, before he started winning every grand slam, I knew he was going to be great. He never disappointed! And he still does not. Like I said before, he has earned the right to bow out here and there, especially after surgeries, etc. He will do what he does, and whatever he thinks regarding his progress at Wimbledon, will also be just fine with me. Roger, best of luck to you and you will always have my support and adoration!

In the time that Federer has been recovering from his knee surgeries these young guns have become stronger and stronger. In my opinion few players play on grass as they used to. There is little difference in the surfaces and the bash bang from the back of the court is, I believe, more difficult for Federer to handle now. I am a huge fan, and always will be. To me he is the GOAT, I don’t care how many of his records are broken in the future. It is always hard to come back from injury and this time it may be too much. I am hopeful that his Wimbledon game is better as muscle and head memories show up. As a Canadian I am a huge fan of FAA and am thrilled for him – today’s match was awesome.

Is the nationality so important? I’m Pole and my favorites are a Swiss and an Austrian. You are Canadian but Felix has different roots and I guess he feels more African than Canadian. The biggest “Canadian” tennis players are: Raonic, Shapovalov, Pospisil and Felix 😉 I like Felix too because of his nice character but his tennis is not brilliant. Hard hitting and not much more. But he is young and has time to develop his game. The only thing Felix shined with in the match against Federer, was the normally missing ability to close out sets and matches.

Huh? He feels more African than Canadian? He was born and raised in Montreal as was his Mother. What is with you Poles and your new-fascist obsession with race and identity? I’m Polish Canadian btw, and have been appalled at the racism I observed in my own Polish community growing up, and clearly what is taking root in Poland today…

I’m more appalled at how readily people throw around the term ‘racism’. It loses all meaning and it must be such a kick in the teeth to those who’ve actually suffered genuine racism.

How is saying “I guess he might feel more African than Canadian” racist? It’s an opinion, and whether it’s the case or not is the thing that’s open to debate.

Maybe his mother feels more French than Canadian? Or maybe she feels French-Canadian. His father was born in Togo which you omitted.

It’s like the cure for racism is now too often false accusation.

It’s another sham industry. Like the climate change business, people are literally going out of their way to find it, generate it, or just make it up. Especially those whose livelihoods depend on it.

@Michal You say, you feel Polish Canadian, but you don’t feel Polish, I guess. So I guess, we have in Poland Anti-Polish racism, right? Maybe. I’m personally mizantrop. Partly because such thinking as yours exist all over the world. Other than you, Felix feels bound to his country of origin and he supports financially people in Togo and declares his African roots. Which is what I like in him. You may be citizen of any country, but you have some inborn ethnicity. You don’t seem not to like your ethnic roots, so it’s nice to not have you any more here. You probably feel more Canadian than Canadians since generations, even if we must always remember, Canada is like US a country of immigrants and historically murderers of local population/s. I believe to remember, Felix telling something about his experience with racism, affecting him directly, so probably just in Canada. But I don’t know much about Canada and would never accuse Canadians of being racists. And you, where you was growing up? In a “Polish community” in Canada? Or in Poland? If you found racism in Polish community in Canada, so it’s maybe about Polish expatriates, not Poles living in Poland. But we are speaking here about tennis and if I talk about Felix feeling some warm relation with the country of origin of his father, it’s obviously meant positive. And does not mean, he has bad relations with the country where he was born. He is now Canadian citizen and represents Canada in sports, where sport has something in common with nationality. And this is for sure not professional tennis. BTW – Felix must have quite good relations with Polish mate Hiubert Hurkacz, whole lives in US, as they are regularly playing doubles. So we have probably at least one Pole, who is not racist.

Didn’t see but the stats tell you his 1st serve let him down badly. Overpowered by returns?? Not picking his spots? Elite sport is cruel, you are off yr fitness a smidgen and you will be punished. Less than 100% dynamic and you will be punished. Fed just isn’t back yet physically. I don’t rate FAA just much but clearly Fed couldn’t cope with the power, and lack of time to adjust. Interestingly clay gave him a bit more time whereas grass is ever cruel! Once he can fully trust his body his mind will follow. Just not yet. I have little hope of 2/3/4 rounds of Wimby depending the draw but hv more hope of the hard court season and a hard push for one more year.

Was not picking his spots or finding the lines. Kept serving outwide on the deuce court but wasn’t landing it well and Felix could just step into it and fire a sharp angle cross-court.

Ye I agree, I think he not quite sure of his body yet, can’t push it to the limit. Probably just needs to sprint hard for some forehands on the run and feel nothing to get some belief back.

Yes. But this is a closed circle. He does not try to run hard because of the fear, the pain memory remains not deleted, so no rise of confidence a.s.o. But I think, you may try it in practice or the same circle works ion practice? Maybe yes, because getting pain when practicing is maybe worse for confidence, because the adrenaline level is lower. BTW -you was peRFectly right about no sliding on grass. I’m watching now partly both Halle and London and don’t see anyone sliding there (slipping yes, but not intentional – but I guess Thiem will be sliding, maybe making it dangerous for him).

It was a good 1. set. And a bit of 2. What then happened…maybe it was partly mental, as he hinted at. Mostly he seems admirably positive confronted with challenges. We’ll see. Don’t make any silly decisions right now, like he said.

Looked like he lost belief/motivation in the third.

I have a feeling this will be the year Federer pulls a Bjorn Borg: retire while you’re still at the top of the mountain but steadily sliding down the other side of the hill. And I suspect he will want to do that at Wimbledon, no matter his performance there. Wimbledon is capital of tennis pomp and circumstance where a prince of the game can say auf widersehen to his fans; hopefully many of them will be permitted in-person attendance.

Borg retired at 26 and then tried to come back. Not sure Fed will be pulling a Borg 😂

When we push for things to happen, they don’t. It feels like Roger is pushing for his tennis career and it’s not there.

Seems to me that Roger might need to lower his sights a bit: I hadn’t realised until I saw something earlier today that he’d thought he had a realistic chance of winning this tournament, whereas I was thinking more about getting a few matches under his belt. This stop-start, stop-start playing pattern probably hasn’t been helping, because he hasn’t been able to get any momentum going, and that may be what he needs more than anything at the moment. Maybe needs to have a chat with Stan Wawrinka, or even Andy Murray, about the realities of coming back off a long injury break? Assuming there weren’t actually any significant physical problems, I don’t think he actually needs to press the panic button or anything yet, but it does sound as though he needs a good think about where to go from here. Winning Wimbledon is almost certainly unattainable – but would being back on “his” turf, and with a crowd, be good for him regardless? I’ve been trying to come to terms for the last year – or even two – with the possibility that he could go from serving for the Championship to being bundled out in the first round in successive Championships – but is he prepared to take that risk, should it come to it?

Stan and Murray are way off the pace though, not sure I’d be taking their advice lol. Stan just doing gym work at the moment I think, and Murray got absolutely destroyed by Berrettini, his game had nothing to it. Weak forehand.

That actually puts Feds lost in perspective more, seeing Murray hit just 1 winner in an entire set of tennis on a grass court.

Incidentally, I’ve been trying to catch up on Queen’s this evening. There was an interesting discussion after the Norrie/Karatsev match about the difficulties of transferring to grass and how it can dent your confidence if you’re unsuccessful which turned out to be surprisingly apt, had the participants known it at the time.

Someone a few months ago was saying in relation I think to Roger’s return that as a rule of thumb if you are off for X months with an injury it takes on average X months – I thought he said, but it might have been weeks – for you to get back to normal levels. If that’s true, then perhaps we (and Fed) are expecting a bit too much from him yet. I hope it’s weeks rather than months, because he doesn’t have the time to spare – but it almost certainly would involve playing on a regular basis during that time, which of course he hasn’t been doing.

I remember reading Borg would be terrible on the grass in the turnaround and would practice intensely somewhere privately in London to turn it around as he did so often. Maybe Fed just needs the practice this week with good players still there like he did at Geneva after the early loss ! He can be with family there too whereas not happening in London that way. It’s all so different but onwards and upwards. Go Fed!

We’re panicking waaaayyyy too early.

Give him many months back – he’s been gone for much much longer than before and he’s much much older than before and was much much more out of shape than before and his surgery was much much more intense than before.

I think Fed said he would know more once he had 10 matches. Now he has 8. Can he get to 10 at Wimbledon?

It’s a disappointing loss for sure but these can and do happen, especially in Halle where matches tend to move very quickly. Best of 3 on grass will always be a bit of a lottery. Just from his comments it’s clear that Fed’s level isn’t where he wants it to be, but I don’t think that’s a bad sign either. As for Wimbledon expectations, I think we just need to take it match by match. If he plays himself into form then he’ll have a chance, but otherwise let’s just see how it goes, and enjoy it, because one of these days, hopefully not for a few years yet, we’ll have seen the last loss of his career.

Realistically, FAA was the favourite in this match considering he just made the Stuttgart final and Fed is still trying to get everything back. Maybe the 3rd set was disappointing in how it went down but Felix is the best player he’s played since the return and was confident.

I don’t think he’ll come close to making the final at Wimbledon, but he won’t be playing a player at Felix’s level until the 3rd round at earliest. Also it being best of 5 will allow things to go slower and give him time to recover from dips in form throughout a match, as we saw at Roland Garros vs Cilic and Koepfer. The guy’s nearly 40. Even if he didn’t have two knee surgeries and was in great form, it would still be crazy to be still good enough to be of the favourites at Wimbledon.

In my opinion he shouldn’t be too hard on himself for getting negative out there. He’s been through an awful lot in his recovery, and frustration is only natural when you want things to go faster than they are. I’d be angry as all hell if a final set slipped away from me through a few bad shots. Playing out the match after going down 3-0 with the double break must feel hopeless.

Yeah, I think he needs to get over the injury hurdle see if he is able to push it to the limit, then he can play more freely. If his body allows it.

I can only repeat, it was a hint given to me after I had a knee injury (no surgery but long rehab, including playing wearing orthosis). After from medical point of view my knee was OK, the physio has observed (and this is what most have, including pro athletes), I was still bending my foot which was defensive instinct, but based on false information from the brain. They say, even after there is no pain really, the memory of pain is still active in the brain. To delete it, you must consciously do, what you are per instinct scared of and if you do it once with no pain, you have more courage to do it once more and here we go. I was never confronted with the task to win Wimbledon, but my choice was to go back to hit the ball or stop it for ever. Possible, that this was not tried in practice? Or maybe it was, but with negative effect – the pain was still there (not only in the memory).

All good comments, no need to panic. Set expectations relatively low for Wimby, then look to build from there. Don’t expect him to snap retire. He is too deliberate for that.

His level is too erratic right now to make predictions. He could hit a vein of form, get lucky with the draw, anything could happen. There’s no reason to hit the panic button.

Seems Bo3 is not suiting him well right now since it’s easier for an opponent to blitz him off the court. The most success he had this year was in GS play.

But on grass, even in Bo5, the margins are tiny, if he’s not confident he can easily miss those one or two crucial points that decide the match and end up losing. Especially in the first week where the grass is fast and fresh and there’s a higher chance of a freak upset.

Not only is the sample size small, but the variance seems to be pretty high, so getting an accurate idea of his current level from the few matches he’s been in this year is very difficult. Especially since he’s played only 3 GS matches.

I keep telling myself that in 2013, he won Halle but got bounced in the second round of Wimbledon. So Iet us hope for the opposite result this year! But realistically, it would be great if he makes the second week.

You all trying to make yourself believe, what is completely unrealistic. The rest of the season? Olympics in a big crazy bubble? US Open from scratch? For the love of tennis Fed can still play exhibitions but I don’t see Laver Cup in his schedule. Or Indian Wells (later this year). He is trying to make himself believe in something, but what he says the press looks like a mix of belief and be happy with anything. He is unlikely to play Challengers for the love of tennis. To lose in early rounds and accept it, would be better. For me he is just as lost as Thiem is. Of course reasons are different. Playing before cardboard crowd is also not something he got used toi all over his career. If I was Mirk á or Ivan, I would recommend him to go and still be happy with the rest of life. Find new passion. Thiem has one since years and is ready to switch. Maybe this season, maybe next, maybe trying a mix as a transition. Maybe could Fed do something similar?

Anything could happen. I guess that’s Fed’s call what he decides to do.

For instance, Thiem wins a grand slam last year. Federer and Nadal aren’t in the draw. Djokovic, the clear favourite, is expelled over a ill-placed tennis ball strike. Point proved: anything can happen.

So play Fed, for as long as you like. Your legacy will always exist whatever you do.

@Tennisfan For instance. Federer draws Koepfer in first round and exits. Point proved: anything can happen. Thiem’s GS win without Big3. This was unfortunate, because Thiem was in a big form and look his record on hard against Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. Since 2017 (when Thiem was actually good on clay only) Thiem has 5:3 record to Djokovic, including 2 wins in London (indoor hard). Within the same time he is 4:5 with Nadal, with all Nada’s win getting on clay (Thiem winning at Australian Open and in London, both hard). Last but not least. Federer, 2018+2019 (until Federer’s injury) – Thiem is 3:1 against Federer, including Indian Wells and London (so 2:1 on hard and overall record of 5:2 for Thiem, including wins on every surface (indoor hard, outdoor hard and even grass – grass was in 2016). Point proven: not anything can happen. Federer has the worst record with Thiem from all Big3. Whats the argument, Thiem could lose to any of Big3 on his way to US Open crown? Point proven: you are not “tennisfan”. You look for compensation of your bad feeling but unfair and completely incompetent. About Djoker’s default in USO. It was of course unfortunate, but who decided, was not Thiem’s “mafia”. Maybe rather Federer’s “mafia”, so Djoker cannot come too close in the GOAT race (too early – because it’s more than sure, he passes both Federer and Nadal in this race). Point proven: you are pathetic.

Chill out. What’s with the deciding on here who is pathetic and that we’re the only ones that misread posts?

Also, it’s not for you to decide whether I am a Tennisfan. I was glad Thiem won the US Open. Anything can happen and I felt he deserved it. His tennis is very good.

@Tennisfan OK, we have both misread our comment. Friends? Anything can happen 😉

Thanks PRF – that final “anything can happen” made me laugh 🤣 Yes sure, lets call it quits!

@Tennisfan I’m happy to have made you laugh … anything … 😉

@Allison, Andy-Del Potrinka – yes, now I can fin him, Beyond Top1000 🙁 Yes, Halle no more interesting. Felix could win it, but it’s maybe Humbert – very nice guy and playing good tennis. Well, there is stil Rublev, The ATP500 Kind!

Yep, Wimbledon could be a 3rd round exit…maybe? It’s so hard to say? I’m no expert here. Those two blown match points in the 19′ final still haunt me. If only! Now, he’s almost forty. If anyone could do it-it would be RF, but not expecting much to be honest. It’s still early days. Recovery could still be a long time away. I’d look to the latter part of the year for some better results. Don’t count him out (for good) just yet.

In my day, Ken Rosewall was still beating top 10 opponents and winning tour level matches at 43. No Grand Slams but at Federer’s age he made the finals of both Wimbledon and the US Open. Jimmy Connors reached the US semi-finals at 39 and Martina Navratilova won the mixed doubles at the US Open just shy of 50 years old.

As examples of superbly fit and talented athletes going deep at Grand Slams, the Rosewall and Martina N examples are perfect. But men’s tennis was in transition in mid-70’s when Rosewall did it and about consistency in women’s tennis, the less said the better. Here, we have a 39-yr old returning from a long injury-forced absence woefully short on match practice playing against people 5-20 years younger than him. You’ve seen how vulnerable even Rafa was on clay this year despite his awesome fitness & unmatched clay court prowess – and he’s five years younger than Fed! Nobody wins against Father Time. I am wishing for a series of lucky breaks resulting in Fed’s 21st GS title and Wimbledon followed by retirement. Can’t bear to see him lose to the Basilashvilis, Andujars and FAA’s of the world.

He will need a good draw so that he can actually build himself into the tournament, but that will not be easy, many tricky players in the draw.

I’m trying to be optimistic. Kind of heartbroken though.

It is a big shame but in the big picture, it doesn’t really matter.

There’s plenty of ace moments to look back on and I’m sure he’ll give us a bit more magic.

For instance re-watch set 5 of Australian Open 2017 final. I love doing that 😁

I think RF needs a little bit of Rafa’s fighting spirit. It’s the only reason why he lost many titles in the old days. I was disappointed with his performance in the second and third sit he was lost and could not come back. He still has the style but not the fighting spirit. I’m not worried about technical issues. When I want to watch tennis it will be Federer and no one else with all respect to thers

Rafa’s fighting spirit? Right now at 40? Yes, this could have helped him in his prime time, no more now.

IMHO, people mistake Rafa’s on-court behaviour for his ‘fighting spirit’. True, he plays every point as his last, but look at the number of straight-set or 4-set losses he has suffered compared to his 5-set losses and you’ll realize that neither Fed nor Djoker have any less ‘fighting spirit’.

Yeah, it is a misnomer to say Fed has no fighting spirit. The big three just deploy it in completely different ways.

Of course all they have fighting spirit. But maybe in Rafa it is more expressive, while Fed is “stony face” during the match.

Waiting for PRF to give us the lowdown on Kosmos signing Dominic Thiem.

With various comparisons to Federer that get a little bit funny.

You are completely out of context. I’m not the one who compares Thiem to Federer. Some of you here do this, only to “prove”, Thiem is worth nothing. The only aspect for me to compare Thiem with Federer is, they are both my favorites and both for the same reason – a kind of tennis I like. It’s about my taste (de gustibus non est disputandum).

I don’t know any details. Only that actually his personal manager at Kosmos will be Galo blanco, who was Thiem’s touring coach over 1 year or so before Massú and they are still friends. Maybe this is the reason, why just Kosmos. Is this so important? Or dubious? Something in context with my former post about Thiem possibly retiring from tennis? (it’s my speculation and the Kosmos-news does not change it). Or you meant something else?

No I just wondered what the details were.

I suppose people will say there is a conflict of interest, a bit like Federer and Laver Cup. Now Thiem and Davis Cup owners.

Conflict of interest? You mean, Thiem will now be obliged to play Davis-Cup? Instead of Laver Cup? But Davis-Cup (no idea how it works right now) is a team event and I don’t see Austria to advance. Or you meant something else with “conflict of interest” here? I don’t know, but Thiem lost his last manager, Straka and it was maybe just Straka to find the new management for him. Just because it was Galo Blanco to be his personal manager for Kosmos. I was a bit surprised to see Mouratoglou congrats to Thiem because of Kosmos alliance. Is Mouratoglou close to Kosmos or a member of their management?

If I’m not wrong, Thiem is the first athlete at all to get individual management from Kosmos, overall, not only in tennis.

I don’t think there is one, but the same people who say Fed, team 8 and Laver Cup and Craig Tiley is a conflict of interest, and they also say Djoker running Belgrade is a conflict of interest, will say Thiem being managed by Kosmos is also one for the same reasons.

Don’t know, why Thiem didn’t join Team8. He has a very good relation with Fed. He is fix part of LaverCup (if there is no schedule conflict and if he is invited of course). But this would be probably another conflict of interest, hahaha … Wherever is an interest, the must be a conflict too 😉 But I think, for Thiem not Kosmos was important, but Galo Blanco.

Disappointing loss, but not hugely shocked as Fed has very few matches this year and grass court tennis can do that against a big hitter having his day, especially when your always dependable service deserts you. Brings all us Fed fans to realistic expectations for Wimbledon. Even making the quarters might be a big ask. I just wish the big hitting youngsters take out the likes of Djokovic and Nadal once in a while instead of folding timidly. My only Wimbledon hope is that someone other than Djokovic wins it.

Other-Than-Djokovic? Who is it? Cannot find such name within Top 1000 😉

Probably because he’s been injured since, oh, about 2017 or so? Maybe earlier?

Mr. Other-Than-Djokovic was injured? Hahahahaha. Bad for him. Or it’s maybe Other. Than. Djokovic (2 forenames)? BTW – I have nothing against Other-Than-Djokovic wins Wimbledon, if this is Thiem 😉 But I think, it somehow belongs to Fed (maybe his last?), so Tennis Gods will help. Maybe Thiem defeating Djokovic in QF or SF and then losing to Fed in SF or F? Deal?

I’m trying to remember his name. Something like Andy del Potrinka or something, I think 🙂

Zverev out now too. Halle draw, which was so “strong”, is looking a bit silly now. Maybe FAA will win it. Or Basil …

A shame Fed could not maintain his level and beat FAA. His draw has become pretty open in the meantime. Medvedev out Struff out Zverev out I thing FAA and Korda are the one to watch now…

And Humbert. All 3 nice and composed guys and nice tennis players.

Yes wide open draw in Halle.

3 Brits in the QF of Queen’s, first time that has happened in the open era.

Haven’t watched lately. But a little bit with Rublev. Not enough to like him or not, but still I think I might guess on him this time.

Now Rublev is in final – !

Disappointing, but have to keep reminding myself that it’s consistent with a comeback after such a long layoff. Ironic that he did better at RG in the end.

Lots of good comments here, thank you all for your thoughtfulness and perspective.

My opinion on the matter is that Roger needs to get going quickly at Wimbledon and hopefully have couple of easy 2 round matches to get under him.

But inevitably around round 3 or even in round 2 he’ll have a test. And he’ll have to pass it in order to move on.

When he won in 2012, he had a tough round where he was on the brink. Then, in 2013 he lost in the 2nd round.

Roger will have to hope for a decent draw but inevitably he’ll run into a youngster and hard hitter and depending on how he does there, he could go on a run.

Nadal is out so this could be a good thing. But perhaps we are asking fir way too much.

He hasn’t even made a quarter-final yet this year…

I hope he’ll do well but to win – it’s a dream more than anything at this point. Hope dies last so we’ll see.

@Jonathan Do you know when is the Wimbledon draw? BTW – Thiem withdrew from Olympics. He calls it sad decision, because it means, his recovery is not going as expected. For me this the optimal decision. He actually didn’t want to play Olympics but Massú (Olympic medalist himself) has convinced him to go for it. But Olympics in a greatest bubble of the world and against the will of most Japanese people will be big disaster for big money. Fed has tougher choice. He will be probably not ready with his preparation or maybe tired (or worse) after Wimbledon, but this is 100% his last chance to participate in Olympics. According to old (no more valid) rules, what counts in Olympics, is participation. Fighting for own country, blah, blah, blah … Olympics is dead long ago, made political and big money event. I’m happy, Dominic will not go to Tokyo. His main goal for the season should be US Open. For Fed too, whatever the outcome of Wimbledon. But I’m still convinced (not believing), he will do well in London. How well? I think, reaching SF and playing good match there would be big achievement, everything else – a big bonus (but the help of Tennis Gods definitely needed).

Uniqlo have made Federer an outfit for Tokyo, so I guess he has some loose plans to play.

It’s a wise move from Thiem, he said a few years ago he was not going to play but he received a backlash by the social justice warrior crowd for it. Tennis is not an Olympic sport, pointless.

This Friday? Today? Or in a week?

Friday the 25th of June. 😉

Thanks BEL21IVE : I should have known, it’s not more than a week before tournament 🙂

He told then, maybe 2024 in Paris 🙂 But I gues, hre wal also convinced by Massú, who is himself Olympic medalist. But Thiem has and may have in the future more individual success on the pro tour than Massú ever had. And Thiem was never really engaged in Davis Cup (it was always in conflict with his more important tour obligations and he was just working hard and chopping his way to the top, while not ever been supported by Austrian Tennis Association. His whole career was financed by the family and Bresnik, coaching him for years for free. Also Bresnik was not keen for Thiem to focus on “playing for the nation” on cost of his own career. But the public pressure in Austria was growing as he climbed the ranking. And he was actually always the only one top singles playxer. Austria has always had some good doubles, with Juergen Melzer, Oliver Marach and some others.

Not sure, why Fed does not take WC into Mallorca or Eastbourne. Still a chance of having 1-2 matches before Wimbledon. Maybe winning 2, getting more confidence and withdrawing. This would not provoke big debates like after Paris (where he should have continued to play, for own advantage in terms of Wimby preparations, or he was really unsure of the status of his knees).

Maybe not a news for this blog, but for unknown reason Kyrgios has withdrawn from Mallorca, so he will go into Wimbledon, not having played anything since his epic with Thiem in Australia. I hoped for another Thiem-Kyrgios match. They seem to have some chemistry.

The Fed vs Felix match made national news here. Highlights and the fact they share the same birthday. Good for tennis in Canada, I suppose.

Not a national news in Togo? Not good for tennis In Togo?

The biggest problem for Fed is that, on any given day, his serve can fall apart. Thats exactly what happened in Halle. It was his 5th match in just 2.5 weeks when he lost his serve from the 2nd set onward. I dont think we saw this in 2019. Fed’s Wimbledon 2021 campaign will most likely be similar to 2018. We can only hope Fed keeps himself match fit for the 2022 edition.

I have removed the comment from Sue with the quote that came from another site claiming to be a quote from Federer. Because it was completely inaccurate.

It was at best, a poor translation, and at worse it was manipulated to garner more attention. Considering which site it came from, I think most tennis fans will know which is more likely.

I watched the press conference live, here is what he actually said:

“Practice on grass, especially the first one is fun, it feels super natural. I’m taking things very easy, yesterday was just hitting balls, and no movement really because I’m still recovering from Paris.”

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