next »

[theycanbillme]

I've found another comment from Nole about the match and I believe he's been taking lessons from Fedex

Djokovic said: "I made a lot of unforced errors. In my opinion I don't think he played extremely well but I made a lot of errors that can't happen when you play against Nadal.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/18150412

But Rafa didn't play that well.
And Djokovic made way too many errors.
Its an accurate assessment, although i think  it might have been best not to go there in public. When Federer comes out with this sort of thing however it can often be fullblown deluded.

[theycanbillme]

Oh he is hardly the perfect sportsman. Remember Cincinatti when he lost that first set against Andy and then retired from the final to stop being bageled?
It meant Andy had won the title without truly "beating" Novak, or at least I'm sure that's how he would have viewed it himself.
The "injury" he had, magically corrected itself in time for him to win the US Open a few weeks later.
At best it was a niggle and a convienient excuse to retire. Had he won the first set I'm sure it would have been ignored. Its something he's done before in the past but not the behaviour of a World No 1 in my view.
One thing you can say at least about Federer is he would never have done that.

[Aileen]

Fedex was once reported as saying that "Once I'm on court, I stay on court".   I don't recall him calling for the trainer either - but then his his style of play doesn't lend itself to injuries because it's so fluid.

[Emma Jean]

Not the smartest,
The Luckiest!

Lucky for sure to come at a time when no other champion was around.

When Sampras won his first slam, he had to beat  6th ranked Thomas Muster in the fourth round and 3rd ranked Ivan Lendl in a five-set quarterfinal, breaking Lendl's streak of eight consecutive US Open finals. He then went on to beat 20th-ranked McEnroe in a four-set semifinal to set up a final with fourth-ranked Agassi. Sampras then beat Agassi in straight sets to become the US Open's youngest-ever male singles champion at the age of 19 years and 28 days.

And he also wasn't lucky enough to have as good a health as Federer as Pete was born with a blood disorder in his system, for which he literally had to adjust his entire game for quick results. Initially he was a baseliner and with two handed backhand but later he switched to one handed backhand to adjust his S&V game. 

And it’s always the earlier stage of one’s career that’s known as the most critical path and Federer was blessed with some mental midgets around him while both Pete and Andy had to work really hard for it. 

But it’s also true that luck favours the brave but in Federe’s case, the path to success was already wide open. From 2003 to 2007, he literally had no one to threaten him either on hard courts or grass and in fact, I’ll go on to say that Nadal too was just as lucky to have not seen the kind of tought clay field the 90s saw, so he too capitalized most of it. And it’s no coincidence that Pete had to suffer a loss in 1996 at Wimbledon, the same year he made the RG semi.

[Aileen]

Dolgopolov is another player who suffers from a rare medical condition, but never makes it an excuse for a loss.  Quite amazing that he's got as far as he has done, but some players will battle just about anything in order to play the sport they love.  From his wikipedia -

Dolgopolov suffers from a hereditary disorder known as Gilbert's Syndrome, which affects his liver, blood and often causes fatigue, so much so that he has to rest for up to two weeks. His condition worsens when he has to cross continents in extensive travel, requiring intravenous drug treatments and monitored diets to get himself back on track.  Because of this he doesn't like to travel by air.

He talks about it in this article, "Blood Simple", by Peter Bodo, dated August 2010 (scroll down to the pic of Ferrrer)

http://tennisworld.typepad.com/tennisworld/2010/08/tk-8.html

[Aileen]

I am aware of Dolgo's condition and I believe those who follow the sport close enough are also aware of it as well. Pete also never used it as an excuse for any loss. But Pete was a far bigger player Dolgo will ever be.

No doubt, but the fact remains that at the age of 23 Dolgo is inside the top 20 despite being handicapped by this debilitating condition, and that surely must count for something.

[Emma Jean]

No doubt, but the fact remains that at the age of 23 Dolgo is inside the top 20 despite being handicapped by this debilitating condition, and that surely must count for something.

Of course it counts for something but that was never the point. The subject matter is Pete Sampras here. Granted, despite his health issues which are quite unfortunate, Dolgo is inside top 20 but judging by his game, that's all the best he could do regardless. He's never the material of a champion like Laver or Sampras or Federer or Nadal or even Nole, not a lot is lost. In other words, the bigger the player the bigger the stake or the loss and that's the main point here. Also, not all losses are contributed to health issues and it doesn’t matter who the player is.

And if we are talking about health issues here strictly then I feel quite sorry for players like Ancic and Soderling who are affected by mono to the point that one had to retire and other one's future is still unknown. Even Nole had his breathing problems up until 2010 and how much of his results were affected by it only God knows.

Anyway, had Pete been healthy like Federer then maybe he would have won more Slams who knows but I guess it is what it is.

[Hazybear]

em Aileen, this is the Rome not FO thread