# 18 Grand Slam (AO 2017)
+2
RogerNo.1
Cromar
6 posters
Page 1 of 2
Page 1 of 2 • 1, 2
# 18 Grand Slam (AO 2017)
Roger won his 18th Grand Slam Trophy by defeating Rafael Nadal in the Final of the Australian Open on January 29, 2017
Federer Tops Nadal In Epic For 18th Major Crown
ATP Staff | Jan 29, 2017
Federer wins fifth Australian Open crown
He’s been a man on a mission in Melbourne the past two weeks and the dream came true for Roger Federer on Sunday evening as he toppled his great rival, Rafael Nadal, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in the Australian Open final to win his 18th Grand Slam championship.
“I’m out of words,” said Federer, after receiving the trophy from Rod Laver. “I'd like to congratulate Rafa on an amazing comeback. There are no draws in tennis, but I would have been very happy to accept one and share it with Rafa tonight. The comeback had been perfect as it was,” said the Swiss, who was playing his first tour-level event after a six-month injury lay-off.
All out aggression from Federer proved decisive as he defeated Nadal in a Grand Slam final for just the third time in nine contests. He had lost all three previous battles with the Spaniard at Melbourne Park – including a heartbreaker in the 2009 final – and had not beaten Nadal in a major since 2007. But Federer righted those wrongs with a sublime display on Rod Laver Arena Sunday night, marking his 100th match at the Australian Open in style.
It was an iconic contest and it deserved five sets as Federer prevailed in three hours and 37 minutes in an electric atmosphere on Rod Laver Arena, rallying from a break down in the fifth set to win the last five games. The tears of joy flowed freely for Federer as the electronic review ruled his forehand winner on match point to have caught the line.
It is Federer’s first major title in almost five years, since defeating Andy Murray in the 2012 Wimbledon final. Since then, the Swiss has been forced to watch Novak Djokovic largely dominate the Grand Slams, losing to the Serbian in the 2014 Wimbledon title match and in 2015 in the Wimbledon and US Open finals.
It was remarkable feat for Federer and Nadal to meet across the net in another Grand Slam final – and their 35th battle overall. After their semi-final wins – five-setters against Stan Wawrinka and Grigor Dimitrov respectively – they both told the story of being too hobbled to play an exhibition match at the opening of Nadal’s academy in Manacor in October, making do instead with sponge balls against junior players.
But sheer will and hard work saw them both find their best level and rise to the occasion in Melbourne, taking advantage of shock week one defeats for Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – to Denis Istomin and Mischa Zverev – to bring about a nostalgic final for tennis enthusiasts.
Indeed, it was only the fifth occasion in the Open Era that a Grand Slam final has been contested by a pair of 30-somethings. The last time it happened was at the 2002 US Open, when 31-year-old Pete Sampras defeated 32-year-old Andre Agassi to win the title in what would be his final ever match.
At 35 years and 174 days, Federer is the oldest Grand Slam champion since Ken Rosewall, who won three major titles in 1970 and ’71 after celebrating his 35th birthday. But it must have seemed a long way off for the Basel native last July, when he was forced to announce that he would be missing the remainder of the 2016 season in order to fully repair his body after undergoing arthroscopic left knee surgery in February.
With wins over Tomas Berdych, Kei Nishikori and Wawrinka to reach the final, Federer is the second player - after Mats Wilander at 1982 Roland Garros - to win four Top 10 matches en route to a Grand Slam title in the Emirates ATP Rankings Era (since 1973). He is also the first player to win three five-setters en route to a Grand Slam title since Gaston Gaudio at Roland Garros 2004.
He is the third man in history to win five Australian Open titles, adding to his victories in 2004 (d. Safin), 2006 (d. Baghdatis), 2007 (d. Gonzalez) and 2010 (d. Murray). At No. 17 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, he is the lowest ranked Australian Open champion since No. 18 Thomas Johansson won the title in 2002.
But the Swiss right-hander, who spent 302 weeks atop the rankings, is now set to return to the Top 10 at No. 10 on Monday.
For Nadal, he has come a long way from crying in the car on the way back to the hotel after injury forced him out of Roland Garros before he could step on court for his third-round match. He would later call on his 2016 campaign after a second-round defeat in Shanghai in October, not able to continue any more with his wrist the way it was.
The Spanish left-hander is now set to rise to No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Rankings after returning to his best to reach his 21st Grand Slam final (14-7 record).
Cromar- Posts : 6560
Join date : 2017-01-24
Location : Montreal, Canada
Re: # 18 Grand Slam (AO 2017)
From Wimbledon FB....
RogerNo.1- Posts : 2682
Join date : 2017-01-24
Location : Toronto, Canada
From the Man himself
From the King himself on Twitter
Cromar- Posts : 6560
Join date : 2017-01-24
Location : Montreal, Canada
Relive 18 GS Titles (with Players Tribute)
Relive Roger Federer's 18 Grand Slam Titles
Cromar- Posts : 6560
Join date : 2017-01-24
Location : Montreal, Canada
GS Titles won by Age (Graph)
Federer’s path to 18 Grand Slam tennis titles
By Duc-Quang Nguyen, Thomas Stephens | Swissinfo.ch
July 16, 2017
Is Roger Federer the so-called GOAT, the “greatest of all time”? Arguably yes (go and argue that elsewhere). What is certain, however, is that he has won the most grand slam titles. But how does his career development compare with those of his current rivals? Is he an early starter or late developer? A swissinfo.ch graphic looks at the evidence.
Federer isn’t the oldest person to win a grand slam tennis title in the Open Era (Ken Rosewall was 37 in 1972), but the 35-year-old Swiss, who won the Australian Open for the fifth time on Sunday, lifted his 18th trophy at an age when most professionals have retired.
That said, he was hardly an early starter: he won his first title (Wimbledon 2003) when he was a month short of 22 (Mats Wilander, Boris Becker and Michael Chang were all 17). Several grand slam winners still in action won their first title at a younger age, including Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro.
But once Federer started winning he couldn’t stop and, along with Nadal, dominated grand slam finals until around 2010, when Djokovic, Andy Murray and Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka – a definite late developer – finally had their turn. Wawrinka won the first of his three grand slam titles at the ripe old age of almost 29.
Cromar- Posts : 6560
Join date : 2017-01-24
Location : Montreal, Canada
Re: # 18 Grand Slam (AO 2017)
Love that graphic Cromar - the trend is still upwards
Here's some inside info on Fed from Craig O'Shannessy The Brain Game Guru
altho his own stats below belie the claim that he lost the backcourt battles and confirm what I saw: Fed was winning the longer rallies!!! #weremyeyesdeceivingme
Fed charges his way to AO Title
Rally Length Won / Lost
0-4 Shots Federer 95 / Nadal 89 (+6)
5-8 Shots Federer 37 / Nadal 34 (+3)
9+ Shots Federer 18 / Nadal 16 (+2)
Here's some inside info on Fed from Craig O'Shannessy The Brain Game Guru
altho his own stats below belie the claim that he lost the backcourt battles and confirm what I saw: Fed was winning the longer rallies!!! #weremyeyesdeceivingme
Fed charges his way to AO Title
Rally Length Won / Lost
0-4 Shots Federer 95 / Nadal 89 (+6)
5-8 Shots Federer 37 / Nadal 34 (+3)
9+ Shots Federer 18 / Nadal 16 (+2)
avasbar- Posts : 834
Join date : 2017-01-26
Location : OnTheRoadtoEverywhere
Re: # 18 Grand Slam (AO 2017)
Miami was Roger's 50th significant title. 18 majors, 26 Masters and 6 Year End Championships. He is also now 60 aces short of 10000. I actually hope he achieves that milestone at Roland Garros. 60 aces at RG would imply he is going deep into the tournament.
tvradke- Posts : 1261
Join date : 2017-02-09
Age : 45
Location : Vancouver
Re: # 18 Grand Slam (AO 2017)
Ok, first of all, it's 19, not 18!!
But let's face the truth, the spanish Terminator is more powerful than ever - and YES, at his age, and with his "style" of play, that is absolutely NORMAL... - and tonight he will win his 16th Grand Slam title. You can add 2 more French Slam at least, and you already know what I mean: Rodg's GS titles record is, once again, in great danger.
But let's face the truth, the spanish Terminator is more powerful than ever - and YES, at his age, and with his "style" of play, that is absolutely NORMAL... - and tonight he will win his 16th Grand Slam title. You can add 2 more French Slam at least, and you already know what I mean: Rodg's GS titles record is, once again, in great danger.
Guest- Guest
Re: # 18 Grand Slam (AO 2017)
This topic was to celebrate Roger's 18th GS at the AO, as the title stipulate. So, 18 it was!
And, by the way, your post is a bit here!
And, by the way, your post is a bit here!
Cromar- Posts : 6560
Join date : 2017-01-24
Location : Montreal, Canada
Re: # 18 Grand Slam (AO 2017)
So... Where's the topic to celebrate the 19th ?? :lol!:
(sorry for the post... )
(sorry for the post... )
Guest- Guest
Re: # 18 Grand Slam (AO 2017)
I just wanted to use the emoji... I think it's so cool!
I didn't open a separate topic for GS #19 as most of the celebration took place in the Wimbledon thread.
But you can use the main topic here: 'Awards, Records, Analysis and Stats (Main thread)' to comment on any of Rogers' records, or you can open a new topic for GS #19, if you think it's needed. It may be a good idea, actually, as the number of GS's is still a hot subject of discussion in the US Open QF thread right now. That discussion could be continued in this new topic?
I didn't open a separate topic for GS #19 as most of the celebration took place in the Wimbledon thread.
But you can use the main topic here: 'Awards, Records, Analysis and Stats (Main thread)' to comment on any of Rogers' records, or you can open a new topic for GS #19, if you think it's needed. It may be a good idea, actually, as the number of GS's is still a hot subject of discussion in the US Open QF thread right now. That discussion could be continued in this new topic?
Cromar- Posts : 6560
Join date : 2017-01-24
Location : Montreal, Canada
Page 1 of 2 • 1, 2
Page 1 of 2
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum