RF Tennis News 2017

Vinnie wrote:Roger will play on clay again, and he will win titles as well. Congrats to Thiem and Zverev for taking out the Ogre & Obnoxious, respectively, in Rome. I will cheer for any player not name Novak and Rafa in the upcoming dirt slam. Hope the nextgen takes advantage of Roger's absence...as he will play RG next year and will likely win it.

„Well, naturally Wimbledon is the big goal of this season right now. But it’s been this way ever since I lost the semifinals against Raonic in the previous year. Me knee wasn’t well, so my goal was to be 100% healthy again by the time Wimbledon (2017) is near“, Federer said on Sunday afternoon.

„So far I am, I’m completely on track. Hence the results in Stuttgart and Halle are almost of minor importance.“

„Well, the goal was for me to be physically healthy. But for me to be mentally, game-wise and physically ready, I need to play matches and feel well. That’s why this week is very important and that’s why I’m focusing on this week only. The good thing is, I’m not injured. Nothing is hurting and I can give it my all full throttle and don’t have to hesitate due to anything during my matches. That’s exactly how I want to feel a few weeks before Wimbledon. And you know, whenever I played well here in Halle, I also played successfully in Wimbledon. But that doesn’t mean I’m in Wimbledon already mentally. Not at all. I know it’s around the corner, but I do have the feeling that mentally I’m here right now and it’s my first round match that matters and nothing else.“

1100 match wins for @rogerfederer !  Swiss reaches milestone as he opens bid for 9th @GERRYWEBERWORLD  More: https://t.co/JNU6mXZGyh #ATP pic.twitter.com/QDYiCOYtHr

— ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) June 20, 2017

06/20/2017
GERRY WEBER OPEN


Victory No. 1,100


Roger Federer gets going at full throttle

Short-term, Roger Federer had to adjust to his new opponant. But that did not slow him down at all. Against Lucky Loser Yuichi Sugita he got going full throttle and won after just 51 minutes in straight sets 6:3, 6:1. It was the Swiss' 1,100. victory on the tour.

The Japanese had jumped in for Yen-Hsun Lu from Taiwan, who had had to give up due to injury. In the second longest match in the history of the GERRY WEBER OPEN Yuichi Sugita had lost his qualifying match against the Russian Mikhail Youzhny  6:7(5), 7:6(11), 6:7(12). So he was well-rehearsed on grass, but that didn't help a lot. He made an effort, fought for every ball, but as soon as his shot was too short, the top-seed World's No. 5 exploited that without mercy. A break at 3:1 was enough for Roger Federer and after only 21 minutes he had his first set point 6:3.

And the Swissman didn't take his foot off the accelerator in the second round, either. Even though Yuichi Sugita could fend off a few break points, he wasn't able to win his service in this set. So Roger Federer had his first match point at a score of 5:0, 40:0. This wasn't a reason for the Japenese to give up, though. He fought on, fended off the three match points and in fact got the break to make it 1:5. But Federers victory was only persponed by this. The forth match point was there shortly afterward to bring it to 6:3, 6:1.

"I had never played him. And playing against me, all are always very motivated. That doesn't make it easy. But I'm very satisfied. That was a good start into the GERRY WEBER OPEN",  a clearly satisfied Roger Federer said after the match. The top-favourite will now meet Mischa Zverev in the Round of 16.

Maclagan: Current Federer form "remarkable"


BBC.co.uk

25 June 2017


Andy Murray's former coach Miles Maclagan says Roger Federer's current form at the age of 35 is "remarkable".

Federer now has 92 career titles after winning a record ninth title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany.


Maclagan said:

"I think Federer has moved the goalposts, not just in tennis but probably throughout sport".


"People in their thirties, maybe 31, 32 when traditionally we're thinking 'well, he's going to start wrapping it up soon' and think well maybe I've got four, five years."

Federer has won four titles this year, a tally matched only by long-time rival Rafael Nadal.


This clip is originally from 5 live Sport, 25 June 2017.

Roger Federer dispatches Alexander Zverev to secure ninth Halle title


• World No5 wraps up 6-1, 6-3 victory in statement of intent for Wimbledon
• Petra Kvitova wins Aegon Classic just six months after stabbing incident



Roger Federer lifts the trophy after winning his ninth Halle title, defeating Alexander Zverev
in the final. Photograph: Carmen Jaspersen/AFP/Getty Images


By Kevin Mitchell - TheGuardian.com

Sunday 25 June 2017


Roger Federer, to the delight of his fans and despair of his rivals, installed himself as an undeniably strong candidate to win Wimbledon for the eighth time when he blitzed the 20-year-old Alexander Zverev in 53 minutes of the Halle final on Sunday.

With Andy Murray hidden away repairing a game that remains worryingly short of the pleasing consistency he needs to keep his title, the three-times champion Novak Djokovic heading for Eastbourne to do a similar job on his own, even more fragile tennis and Rafael Nadal – who has lost to players outside the top 100 on his last four visits to the All England Club – biding his time at home in Majorca, the ageless Federer has emerged to revive memories of past glories.

He was his old irresistible self, winning in Halle for the ninth time, mesmerising Zverev 6-1, 6-3 to the point of near-resignation. The German wunderkind, already 10th in the world, who announced his arrival when he beat Federer in the semi-final as a teenager a year ago, had no answers to the 2015 champion’s familiar sharpness at the net, and power and precision at the baseline. The player who destroyed Djokovic on the clay of Rome a month ago disintegrated on grass but remains probably the most dangerous young outsider at Wimbledon.

Federer, however, is the man of the day, the man of the year, in fact: a slam tournament champion for the 18th time after prevailing in Melbourne when nobody – including himself – gave him much chance of getting past the quarter-finals. He has won three titles since. If he can hold his body and spirit together for a fortnight at Wimbledon, the universal praise will resemble the anointing of a saint.

He said courtside: “It’s great to get off to a good start in the finals and then remind yourself that you’ve been playing good tennis all week. You start swinging freely, things start clicking, you realise your opponent is under pressure and you keep pressuring him. I’m, like, on cloud nine right now. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get a chance to win this again, so it’s important to enjoy this one.”

That last sentiment should be politely dismissed. Nadal completed an extraordinary third La Décima of the clay swing at Roland Garros, having wrapped up his 10th titles at Monte Carlo and Barcelona, so Federer will be desperate to join him at that rarefied level in Halle. And who knows? Maybe if he won an eighth Wimbledon he would push on for a hitherto unimaginable 10th championship there, too.

All that is the stuff of dreams for his adoring army. Back in the hard present another 35-year-old, Feliciano López, shared at least some of the Sunday spotlight when he had an altogether tougher struggle winning his first Aegon Championship at the Queen’s Club in London.


Article continues about Queen's and Kvitova here... TheGuardian.com

.@rogerfederer​ is returning to @WestAustralia​ for Mastercard #HopmanCup 2018. #justanotherdayinWA pic.twitter.com/7DnuTWJhpm

— Hopman Cup (@hopmancup) June 27, 2017