RF Schedule 2018

Not easy to find the right balance between underplaying and overplaying... I have the feeling that what worked so well for him in early to mid 2017 no longer does... We'll see how it goes but I'm not brimming with confidence - not that I often do anyway lol

Well, when you think of 2017, Roger won the AO, crashed out of Dubai early (after having a MP) then won IW and Miami where he had a few matches that he could have easily lost too.

Then in 2018, he wins the AO again.  Wins Rotterdam (which takes the place of Dubai) and then loses the IW final (after having MPs) and loses another final set TB match in Miami.

On grass, in 2017 he crashed out of Stuttgart in his first match and then won Halle.  in 2018, he wins Stuttgart then loses the Halle final.  One could say he actually did better in 2018.  

Of course, the big difference was Wimbledon.  Roger never achieved the same level at Wimbledon this year that he did last year.  Who knows what might have happened had he beaten Anderson like he should have.  Maybe Roger would have found another gear and went on to win again.  We'll never know.  

Obviously playing Canada did not work well for Roger last year.  So who knows?  Maybe NOT playing this year will be different.  But like you... I'm not brimming with confidence either.

Commiserations to our Toronto friends. Roger will be sorely missed, not playing for what rightfully should be his trophy, the Rogers (Roger's) Cup.

It's not the first time and I always blame the stupid scheduling of back-to-back MS Tournaments (Canada and Cincinnati), but it is what it is.

I know how thrilled I was last year for the privilege and honour to see Roger live in Montreal, probably for the last time. I will forever be grateful for that, even if many people here blame his unfortunate injury on his decision to play here.

I am glad you had this Roger's moment, Oldfan!  It's always great to see Roger live. I didn't see any of his matches in Montreal, but I was in the stadium for his first practice.

As for his injury, as we know from past experience, his back can seize up at any time and anywhere, so I wouldn't blame Montreal too much.


   

I don't blame Montreal- I blame Cold Play!!

  It was his birthday, though!

Yeah, but he went to Cold Play twice!

ph∞be wrote:I don't blame Montreal- I blame Cold Play!!

I've heard a couple of posters say that Roger didn't really play well in those first 4 rounds at Wimbledon. I watched R2-4 again in the last few days because that wasn't my impression and I still feel that he played just fine. As Roger himself said, the QF- he just had an average kind of day and that was not good enough. 

So- what lies ahead? Who knows. All eyes on Cincy now.

Phoebe, I thought he played really well. Some look back after a loss and see everything differently. I felt that the trophy was really possible, and that Andersen was an aberration, compounded by the court where he played. Can't help but feel that added a negative, especially as he'd remarked how very special it is for him to play at Wimbledon, to play the Center Court and how it always was a gold kind of event for him. Then they put him on Court 1. Why?

I saw Roger in Toronto twice. I always felt that the audience was not as warm as other places. Could it be because of Raonic, and now Shapovalov? I don't have an answer. Maybe it was just my impression.
At times certain ATP 1000 events can be fairly, comparatively tepid events.

I read some Twitter comments from an interview with Seve. He basically said that Roger was too passive against Anderson after the first set, letting Anderson take control. Of course, that much was obvious. The question was WHY. Seve doesn't say although he debunked any physical issue.

I just posted that interview (translated from German) in the RF News section under General Interviews / Interviews with Severin Lüthi : "Because Roger is incredibly relaxed"

I also posted an article by Simon Graf, Swiss reporter, in the RF News: Federer needs joy and freshness, with a link to another piece by Marc Rosset (in French), both basically expressing similar views as Luthi, while expanding on the possible causes and effects.

I think Roger has all his changes for the Cinci tournament that Roger has won 7 times in as many finals! it's been a while since he won a title! I'm missing titles won by our champion!

It's been less than two monthly really...  I guess we have been spoiled lately.  

An updated version of Roger's 2018 schedule :

- Results for the grass season added.
- Toronto greyed out as Roger withdrew from the Rogers Cup.

The rest of the year should remain pretty much as is, except for Paris, which is unconfirmed and always a ?, usually until the day before the tournament!