RF Tennis News 2018

If you didn't already know, Aussie Open finalist
Roger Federer is a superhero



Jerry Bembry - ESPN

26 January 2018

MELBOURNE, Australia -- On the day before the start of the 2018 Australian Open, Roger Federer reached out to his 11.3 million Twitter followers with one of his random Photoshop requests. Make me "a superhero" is what he asked, and some of the responses -- including Federer as Superman -- were somewhat predictable.

But as 21-year-old Hyeon Chung retired in the second Friday set after being overpowered by Federer throughout their brief match, there's one superhero who comes to mind for the best men's tennis player in history.

Iron Man.

Remember how the public and media went crazy celebrating the fact that Cal Ripken Jr. played 2,632 straight baseball games until ending the streak in 1998?

Even Ripken would have to bow down to Federer who, after watching an opponent 15 years his junior beg out of the biggest match of his life because of a blister, won 6-1, 5-2 and will face No. 6 seed Marin Cilic in Sunday's final.

Make that another win for Federer, who has not lost to a player ranked as low as the No. 58 Chung at a Grand Slam since falling to 116th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round of Wimbledon in 2013.

So, in the 1,338 matches Federer has played since turning pro in 1998, he has completed every single one.

Just think about how amazing that is, playing a sport in which he is constantly lunging and sprinting. Playing through ankle tweaks and muscle aches and bad backs. Pushing his body through intense heat and tough opponents.

Federer has not only survived, but he's thrived to maintain his status as one of the top players in tennis today.

He's the guy people showed up to see Friday, people paying top dollar in anticipation of a match against an up-and-coming talent in Chung. Earlier in the tournament, the South Korean took out Novak Djokovic. So, yes, this was one of those true enthralling generational battles.

But fans didn't get to see Federer for too long. The crowd at Rod Laver Arena let out an audible gasp after Chung approached the chair umpire and waved his hand, signaling he was done.

There was brief disappointment, but that dissipated quickly as most stood and applauded Federer, who will play for his second straight Australian Open championship -- and 20th Grand Slam title -- on Sunday.


Roger Federer has never, ever retired in his 1,388 matches on tour. EPA/LUKAS COCH

Federer's not the quickest guy on tour. He's never been the fastest and definitely not the most buff (did you see the guns on display by Rafael Nadal last week before he retired?).

In terms of being physically fit? Yes, Federer has had his ailments. And, yes, he withdraws from the occasional tournament.

But when he shows up, he finishes what he starts. His ability to play an entire career without ever quitting is one of the most remarkable feats in all of sports.

So, he's due an occasional easy night, and Federer certainly wasn't apologizing for Friday's brief match.

"You do take the faster matches when you can because there's enough wear and tear on the body," Federer said. "There's enough tough matches throughout the season that when they happen, you take them."

Remember the Federer who came into last year's Australian Open? He was badly banged up, hadn't played a tournament in six months. He told reporters then that he would have been happy to reach the fourth round.

But his old-man knees carried him to an exciting five-set win over his biggest rival, Nadal, in the final as he became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam singles title in 45 years.

After his match against Chung, Federer turned center court into somewhat of a confessional. He told the crowd that he went into last year thinking he "would have been happy to win one more major."

He won the 2017 Australian Open.

He won Wimbledon as well.

And now he's starting the new year with a chance to win the 2018 Australian Open, and in not dropping a single set, he hasn't shown any signs of slippage.

"In terms of tennis, I think I see things a bit different," Federer said. "A bit more wiser to some extent, maybe more laid-back."


Roger Federer beat Marin Cilic in straight sets to win Wimbledon last year. PAUL CROCK/AFP/Getty

Here's how he's become wiser: Federer said he battled mono when he fell to Djokovic in the 2008 Australian Open semifinals. He would later say he would have been smart to have not played the event and allowed his body to rest and heal.

The older, more rational Federer would have sat that one out. He's cut back on the number of tournaments he plays. Last year, he competed in only 12 and had one of the best seasons of his career in winning seven of those events. That selective process has allowed him to excel when he gets on the grand stage at majors.

"I never thought I was going to play a bit of a lesser schedule, which actually is quite enjoyable," he admitted. "I always thought, 'I'm just going to keep playing from January to November every single year -- 20-something tournaments.' But I was able to adapt to that.

"Maybe that's also one of the reasons why I'm still here."

Even if Chung had stayed healthy, it appeared Federer would have easily survived. The only lowlight for Federer came late in the first set when he completely whiffed on a forehand from the baseline. But he won 94 percent of his first-serve points, won all seven of his service games and breezed into the final.

Unless you're 40-year-old Tom Brady, old athletes just don't have the level of athletic success that Federer is enjoying.

Will Federer be playing into his 40s?

That's probably doubtful.

But at the moment, at 36, he appears incredibly sharp.

The 14-year, 284-day age difference between Federer and Chung was the fourth largest in any Grand Slam semifinal in the Open era. In the previous three, the young guy prevailed each time.

Not so Friday night. Chung never had a chance.

Mere mortals simply don't beat superheroes.

Marin Cilic could smother Roger Federer in Aussie Open final, but will he?


Peter Bodo - ESPN

27 January 2018 - 10:23 AM ET

The last time Marin Cilic was in a Grand Slam singles final, things turned sour pretty quickly and only got worse. That was at Wimbledon barely seven months ago, and against the same opponent he will face in the Australian Open final Sunday: Roger Federer.

But the encouraging detail for Cilic, the 29-year-old Croatian with the bruising serve, is that his woes last July weren't the handiwork of his brilliant opponent.

Cilic appeared to be in the grip of an anxiety attack that day on Centre Court when he fell behind by a set and a break. He was unable to hide the tears that trickled down his cheeks. Later, it would become clear that the source of his trouble was a painful blister that had burst on the bottom of his right foot.

It was nothing less than humiliating. How could Cilic be expected to perform in his condition against Federer, with the entire world watching? He wept, and Federer slashed his way to an easy straight-sets win.


Marin Cilic's emotions got the better of him during the 2017 Wimbledon final against Roger Federer. DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images


Now Cilic gets a do-over. Curiously, he has avoided almost all discussion of that painful episode at Wimbledon.

"I'm not looking at it as a revenge," Cilic said after he blasted through Kyle Edmund in a bare-knuckle semifinal brawl. "It was on me that I couldn't give my best in Wimbledon."

In Cilic's eyes, that Wimbledon match was a counterbalance to his unexpected, if thoroughly earned, win at the 2014 US Open final, his only Grand Slam singles win to date.

"I had one amazing experience in a final, and one not so amazing," Cilic said. "So I had both emotionally great and not great."

If the No. 6 seed hopes to have another great emotional experience, he will have to bring all of the aggression and intensity he can muster to bear on Federer. That means his nail-gun serve, backed by the atomic forehand. It means his crushing service return followed by a down-the-line backhand pass.

Cilic can do those things, which is partly why being unable to even attempt them at Wimbledon was so devastating. It's also why Federer feels it's imperative to get off to a good start in the final.

"I hope I can mix up my game," Federer said, after his abbreviated win over Hyeon Chung in the semifinals. "I hope I can start serving well from the get-go, not get into too much trouble early. I hope I can read his serve and all these things."

Cilic is 6-foot-6 with lean, tensile muscle. The engine driving his game is a serve that has produced 107 aces so far, and it's backed by a ferocious backhand. Cilic is one of the few players who has the capacity to smother Federer, to keep his genie bottled up.

Federer leads the series, 6-1, but Cilic's lone win came at a crucial time: the semifinals of the 2014 US Open before going on to beat Kei Nishikori for the title. Just why Cilic wasn't able to get back to another major final until last summer is an intriguing question.

Cilic seems humble, which is why fans embrace him. But his career has had some strong fluctuations, as if he struggles with motivation or, more likely for an essentially shy person, confidence. The one certain thing is that when his morale is high, he's a handful for anyone.

The first Croatian to play in an Australian Open final also seems to benefit from frequent coaching changes. And while he's a nice guy, he makes those changes dispassionately. He was shaped by Bob Brett, one of the least heralded but most influential coaches of this era. But it was Goran Ivanisevic, himself a former Brett protege and fellow Croatian, who shepherded Cilic to the Promised Land of a Grand Slam title.

Cilic cut Ivanisevic loose during his slump year of 2016, but he kept that carbon copy of the service motion that Ivanisevic once terrorized Wimbledon opponents with. Cilic then worked with Jonas Bjorkman for about 18 months before hooking up with his present coach, Ivan Cinkus. This is a player who knows what he wants.

This winter, Federer and Cilic unexpectedly found themselves at the same swank resort in the Maldives. Cilic reached out, and the two men had a friendly hit without anybody else around, then got together with Federer's family and Cilic's fiancee for dessert. They got to know each other a little better, but perhaps they were heeding that old adage "keep your friends close and your enemies closer."


(Edit: My addition - not part of the original article)



Federer was impressed with Cilic in their last meeting, at the ATP World Tour Finals. Cilic had already lost two round-robin matches, yet he came out breathing fire. He took the game to Federer and played him very close for two sets before faltering in the third.

"The way he came out against me was very much a winner's attitude," Federer remembered. "I didn't feel I was facing a guy who just lost two round-robin matches."

Similarly, Federer was impressed by the way Cilic kept his composure after a rocky start the other day against Nadal in Melbourne.

Nobody reads an opponent's game, or emotional state, as well as Federer. Cilic won't take him by surprise, which removes one potential weapon from the unexpected finalist's arsenal. But there are lots of other dangerous ones for Federer to ponder.

Cilic seizes second chance to climb Swiss mountain


Timothy Boyle - THE AGE  

January 27 2018


Even if you don't want everything in men's tennis to be about Roger Federer, he makes sure that it is.

His career keeps renewing itself in the face of passing time and what ought to be exhaustion. At 36, he's like Santiago's marlin now, attached to his inevitable end and yet still pulling line into the fathoms of tennis history, making everyone wonder just how deep he will go, and for how long.



Roger Federer remains at the centre of men's tennis. Photo: AAP
 

About ten years ago, when Marat Safin retired from professional tennis, the best four players were the same best four players in the game today. Until Stan Wawrinka broke the spell, and won his second grand slam at the French Open in 2015, Safin was the last player outside of the "big four" to win more than one major title in his career.

And in the 13 years since Safin won his second title – the 2005 Australian Open – a total of three players outside the four have won a grand slam. One of them is Stan. Both of the other two beat Roger Federer in the tournament they eventually won. Both are right-handers who hit double-handed backhands, both won on hard courts, and both are 198cm tall and were born in September of 1988. The first is Juan Martin del Potro. The second is Marin Cilic. (Edit: Amazing coincidence!   )



Marat Safin battled superstars throughout his career.
Photo: Sebastian Costanzo
 

It's a little bottle of hope for Cilic, bobbing in an ocean of suggestive statistics dominated by Federer. But perhaps it contains a clue about how it is possible to beat Roger Federer in a major if you are not Nadal or Djokovic. It's best to be tall, hit the ball extremely hard, serve flawlessly and do it without faltering through five sets.


But even a glimmer of hope, or a statistical anomaly, has to face the dynamic pressure of Federer's game, which, even now, seems to be tightening its grip on tennis. And while Cilic can take some swagger into this match, knowing he's beaten Federer at a grand slam before, he also knows that he has lost the other 8 of the 9 matches they have played. It's unlikely that he'll ever forget his loss to Federer at Wimbledon last year.

Cilic suffered foot pain in that match that was, coincidentally, the same type of pain Hyeon Chung succumbed to against Federer on Friday night. The foot, combined with his deep-seated desire to win and Federer's skill, conspired to have Cilic crying into a towel on centre court.

It was an unusual, human moment that appeared at the top of a giant corporate stack ruled by Federer, a man who shows next to no emotion on the tennis court. It was another example of how demoralising Federer's aggressive stroke-play can be to any player having problems with mobility.



The shadow of Federer looms large for Marin Cilic during last year's Wimbledon final. Photo: AP


Federer has a keen sense of his opponent's weaknesses, and it makes him a close to unplayable front-runner.

If you have paid attention to his play and demeanour during this tournament, it's hard not to notice this predatory streak in Federer. Now and then, he will offer a look, or a line in a press conference, that speaks to his position at the head of the game.

He knows so much about tennis, and about his own power to play it, that he is confident to pass judgment on other players when asked his opinion. And when asked about Marin Cilic's game on Friday, he offered a subtle appraisal of Cilic's chances.

"I think him winning the US Open, like Stan winning here a few years ago, gave them great belief that they can do it," Federer said.


“Federer understands that he is different to other players, and he's not afraid to acknowledge it.”



"If the big moments come about, they can attain this level – not easily, but they can get there from time to time."

There was nothing unfriendly about it, but it was sober, and, you felt, true. Federer understands that he is different to other players, and he's not afraid to acknowledge it. He certainly understands that Marin Cilic will have to do something extraordinary to beat him here.

Cilic took a set from Federer in their last outing, an indoor tournament in London last November that Federer won in three sets, the third set 6-1. Cilic does have the game to upset Federer's rhythm, and he's in the ball-striking form to do it.

"I played great tennis, very, very high level," Cilic said of his Open so far. "I'm feeling really good physically. I've improved my level. I'm playing much more aggressive.

"Everything is in a good, solid spot. I think over all I'm playing better, and more consistent."

It's likely that all that positivity and consistency will have to align for Cilic to take the trophy. Not least because Federer's feet, unlike his opponents', remain a miraculous fixture, maybe the most splendid things to watch in all of world sport next to the feet of Lionel Messi. They're still as light as a kitten's, and an underestimated part of his physicality. Federer's feet are the source of a myth he inspires that some things can go on, unspoiled.

This seemingly endless period of prosperity for Federer and the others of the so-called "big four" is something that a lot people have grown tired of hearing about. But the consistency of the top men has created a kind of true north in tennis, from which every other player has taken their bearings and set a course for improvement.

Marin Cilic is one of a very small group of players who have made it close to the top of the tennis world, in arguably its most hostile era for challengers.

In the end, which may be closer than people think, this era will be remembered not only for its greatest player, but its greatest rivalries, and, perhaps with some luck for Marin Cilic, its upsets.

"One of his strongest weapons was always his serve. The figures show: of the players often called the "Big Four" – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – Federer has far and away the most reliable serve. He wins over seven out of ten service games. Every tenth serve is an ace."


Source: AELTC, The Championships, Wimbledon Jahr, Animation: SRF



"With constant hard work, Federer overcame his age handicap to optimise his backhand again (see video). It brought him decisive points against Nadal."


While most of the players hit the backhand with two hands, Federer uses only one
Source: ATP Media, Animation: SRF

Photo: Ben Solomon


Author: Alix Ramsay


It was the cry of “chum jetze!” at the start of the fifth set that told the story.

Roger Federer was on his way to a 20th Grand Slam title. He was miles away from the finish line, but he saw the path clearing ahead of him.

For a set, he had been strolling (the first); for a set, he had been brilliant and brutal (the third), but for two sets, he had been bullied and battered. Marin Cilic was doing what many men have tried to do but failed miserably: he was trying to make the Mighty Federer look beatable in a Grand Slam final.






Cilic made a good fist of it, but in the end he could not stop the freight train coming towards him. Federer in pursuit of major silverware is a terrifying sight, and when he yelled out in Swiss-German (“chum jetze” means “come on now”), he was not to be beaten. After three hours and three minutes, Federer was crowned as Australian Open champion for a record-equaling sixth time in his career. He had overpowered Cilic 6-2 6-7(5) 6-3 3-6 6-1.


MORE: AO Analyst: How short was sweet for Federer


The cry that said it all marked the end of Cilic’s challenge. For the whole of the fourth set and the opening game of the fifth, he had run Federer ragged. He was blasting the champion off the court, and Switzerland’s hero had no counter for the power. But when, somehow, he fended off the second of two break points, he roared himself on. Two points later, he had the first game of the set on the scoreboard, and Cilic was done.



“I’m so happy, it’s unbelievable,” Federer said, trying really hard to keep his emotions in check. “I’m happy it’s over, but winning is just an absolute dream come true. The fairytale continues for me. After the great year I had last year, it’s incredible.”


MORE: #RF20: The road to Roger's mystical tally


But by the time he was thanking his team, he could hold back the tears no more. He had survived an incredible battle, and at the age of 36 had rewritten the record books yet again. This was beyond anything he could have imagined, and he was in floods.



As Federer and Cilic settled to their task under the Rod Laver Arena roof on a scorching hot Melbourne Sunday, there was little hint of the drama to come. Cilic, who had only beaten his rival once in nine previous meetings, was as nervous as a kitten, while Federer was in his element.

After a handful of minutes the defending champion had raced to a 3-0 lead, while Cilic had won four points and was already two breaks down. Federer was cool in the heat of battle, and he was utterly focused on the business of crushing the life out of his opponent.

Cilic, meanwhile, was all over the shop. At first, he looked nervous but after four games, he just looked lost. The world’s greatest front-runner had shot out of the blocks and sped into the distance. Cilic was so far behind, he could barely see Federer’s dust, much less eat it.


MORE: Cilic eyeing the summit


As Federer wrapped up the opening set in the briefest of brief 24 minutes, Cilic had to find the reset button. Like a computer on the blink, Cilic needed to reboot in the hope that he could get just some of the component parts of his game working properly.

But when he did, when he finally got that forehand working, he was pushing Federer out of the way in the charge for the title.

pic.twitter.com/WqUiSo3fd5

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) January 28, 2018

It took time for Cilic to work up a head of steam and he was within centimetres of losing the second set, but the huge Croat kept the faith. He kept doing what he knew he should, and kept hoping that at some point it would start to bring him rewards.

Federer had a break point that, had he been allowed to take it, would have left him serving for the second set. Cilic saved it with a second serve ace. Ratten! (It’s Swiss-German for ‘rats!’).

Maybe Federer was still thinking about that missed opportunity, maybe he was a little tight serving to stay in the set (although the thought of the GOAT – Greatest Of All Time – getting tense seems laughable) – who knows. Fed fluffed and flapped his way through his next serve, offering up a couple of double faults and presenting Cilic with a set point. He could not take that one, but when another couple came along in the tiebreak, he smacked home a smash and it was a set apiece.





     




Living legends are not prone to carelessness and come the third set, Fed had rootled around in his racquet bag to find his superhero cape, the one that gives him super powers in a crisis. Losing a set may not have been that much of a disaster, but for a bloke chasing history, it was best to be on the safe side.

Tightening the screws on his service, Federer upped his accuracy to 80 per cent on the first delivery and waited for his moment to pounce. That came in the sixth game – he attacked for a point and Cilic flapped for a couple of points. That was the break. That was the set right there.


MORE: Fed's elation and relief in equal measure


While Cilic was trying to clear his head, he took his eye off the ball and let his serve slip away from him – Federer was a break to the good at the start of the fourth set. But then the superhero had another mortal moment, and as his focus blurred ever so slightly so he dropped his serve. Blimey. How did that happen?



Perhaps he was allowing his eye to stray to the trophy at the side of the court. Perhaps he had made the schoolboy error of looking at the finish line before the race had been run. His serve disintegrated and he looked – dare we say it? – old and slow. Five games in a row ran away from him as Cilic thumped his forehand and forced that fifth set.

And then Roger roared, and history beckoned.