RF Schedule 2018

Kemik wrote:but if Nadal won't be so good this year on clay or will be even injured, who knows

Or if he have some tough opponents on his way, who knows ??

FEDBERG wrote:

Kemik wrote:but if Nadal won't be so good this year on clay or will be even injured, who knows

Or if he have some tough opponents on his way, who knows ??

Hehe, yeah, the Prince of Clay looks great again this year. 8) And there are bunch of good Asian baseliners, such as Chung and resurging Nishikori who can make a nightmare to any player on clay. But I am not sure about Djokovic if he is to play on his highest level anytime again. On the other hand, I am almost sure that Alexander Zverev will find his range again.

For me, it was a surprise that Nadal dominated the clay season last year. I thought that his age would be a factor in long baseline rallies and that younger players would start to beat him in this type of tennis. But they haven't yet. It is just a matter of time though.

Kemik wrote:For me, it was a surprise that Nadal dominated the clay season last year. I thought that his age would be a factor in long baseline rallies and that younger players would start to beat him in this type of tennis. But they haven't yet. It is just a matter of time though.

I was hoping Nadal wouldn't dominate clay last year, but I wasn't massively surprised that he did. The one "younger" player who I think can start to threaten him on clay is Thiem. It is his best surface. Maybe this year?

Kemik wrote:

FEDBERG wrote:Of course it's Rodg's decision, but for me it would be a mistake to play Dubai.
This has been a very tough and emotional week for him in Rotterdam, and Indian Wells + Miami are too close...

I agree totally here. But for the clay season there are many possibilities...

Of course everybody would like to see Roger winning Monte Carlo or Rome Masters one day or winning Roland Garros once more but it is surely the most important that he doesn't risk any injuries or fatigue by playing too many or any matches on clay. And last year's schedule without playing on clay made a good sense at this stage of his career, so it makes sense to repeat these "tactics".

Indeed! As much as it would be wonderful to see Roger beat Nadal on clay, I really hope that he isn't tempted - I can't see how, at almost 37, even he can have the stamina to survive long baseline rallies against much younger opponents over the course of a week. Doing so would hugely increase the likelihood of tweaking his back/knee and, even if it didn't, his energy reserves would be severely depleted going into Wimbledon.

He made the mistake of overplaying last season when he entered Montreal with the intention of playing Cinci the following week, instead of just having a week's lead-in time to prepare for Cinci and the USO - I'm convinced that decision cost Roger the US Open. I hope he and his team take that lesson to heart!

Steerpike60 wrote:

Kemik wrote:For me, it was a surprise that Nadal dominated the clay season last year. I thought that his age would be a factor in long baseline rallies and that younger players would start to beat him in this type of tennis. But they haven't yet. It is just a matter of time though.

I was hoping Nadal wouldn't dominate clay last year, but I wasn't massively surprised that he did.  The one "younger" player who I think can start to threaten him on clay is Thiem.  It is his best surface.  Maybe this year?

Maybe, but I find Thiem to be a limited player - he appears to struggle (or he has up to now) to think on his feet, so I can't help thinking Nadal will be too court-wise for him. It's Nadal's own fitness issues that are just as likely to defeat him - especially if he gets a couple of tough opponents in consecutive rounds (like he did in Australia); players of the ilk of Schwartzman/Nishikori/Goffin. If he then had to play Thiem in a final, that would be mighty interesting!

Any news about Dubai yet?

Here are some interesting scheduling possibilities:

1. More likely: IW, Miami, Halle, Wimbledon, Cincy, US Open
2. Possible but difficult: Dubai, IW, Miami, Stuttgart, Halle, Wimbledon
3. Wishful thinking: Dubai, IW, Miami, Rome/Madrid, RG, Halle, Wimbledon

Whatever it is, I have stopped being greedy, and am happy with whatever comes our way. Just that he should stay healthy, happy, and eager to play. Oh Gawd, how much I am loving to be on top of the world being #1. It's not Him, it's all of us -- his ardent fans -- who are #1. May this dream live on forever.

Remember that Miami has the reputation of being very slow. With a bit of luck, RG would not take much more energy to get deep into the draw, assuming Roger does not play on clay prior and uses the first rounds for adjustment (if he loses, it is what it is, otherwise, he may take his chances in the second week). I also think Roger can now tackle slams without any warm-up tournament on the same surface, so my take would be:

4. IW, RG, (Halle), Wimbledon, Cincy, USOpen, Shanghai, Basel, WTF (total = 10/11 tournaments for the year).

If he had decided to play Dubai, we'll already knew it by now.
Am I right ??

Manu wrote:Remember that Miami has the reputation of being very slow. With a bit of luck, RG would not take much more energy to get deep into the draw, assuming Roger does not play on clay prior and uses the first rounds for adjustment (if he loses, it is what it is, otherwise, he may take his chances in the second week). I also think Roger can now tackle slams without any warm-up tournament on the same surface, so my take would be:

4. IW, RG, (Halle), Wimbledon, Cincy, USOpen, Shanghai, Basel, WTF (total = 10/11 tournaments for the year).

It's the danger to his knee/back that the surface represents - I think it would be an unnecessary risk with Halle and Wimbledon so soon afterwards. What Roger did last year worked a treat (apart from Montreal), so why change it?

Roger, unsurprisingly, not going to Dubai:

Tournament director Salah Tahlak confirms to Gulf News that Roger Federer won't be playing Dubai #DDFTennis

— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) February 23, 2018

I am very happy to hear this news about Dubai. I'm glad Roger is not overplaying.

Good news!

This was expected. From the statement, it seems Roger is very serious about defending his sunshine double, which is a good thing. I hope Nadal doesn’t defend his Acapulco points.

Not unexpected! And that opens up for the clay season as well.

He is going to the Laureus awards instead.  Hope he wins!

You can see the list of nominees and details/comments about the awards in the Laureus Awards 2018 thread.

Excited to be heading to Monaco for the @LaureusSport Awards! Good luck to all the Nominees see you next week #Laureus18

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) February 23, 2018