Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s second career Masters 1000 title would come from just about out of nowhere, but he still has one more step to take on Sunday in Toronto. Standing in Tsonga’s way is none other than familiar foe Roger Federer.
Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be meeting for the 16th time in their careers when they battle for the Rogers Cup title on Sunday afternoon.
Federer leads the head-to-head series 11-4, including 9-2 on hard courts. The 33-year-old Swiss has won both of their 2014 encounters; 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 at the Australian Open and 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-1 at the Monte-Carlo Masters. Tsonga last prevailed at the 2013 French Open via a 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 decision.
The difference between Federer in 2013 and Federer in 2014 cannot be overstated. He fell to No. 8 in the world at one point near the beginning of this season but is back up to third thanks in part to a 44-8 record. Federer owns two titles this year and finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon. So far in Toronto the 17-time Grand Slam champion has taken out Peter Polansky, Marin Cilic, David Ferrer, and Feliciano Lopez.
Tsonga’s run this week, on the other hand, comes as a major surprise. The Frenchman is struggling down at No. 15 in the world and he had just a 24-13 record for the season prior to Toronto. But it appears to all be turning around for him now. Tsonga ousted Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Jeremy Chardy, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray before rolling over Grigor Dimitrov in Saturday’s semifinals.
“I’m really pleased for him, I must say,” Federer commented. “Because he’s gone through a tougher spell this year. I’ve played a bunch of really cool [exhibitions] with him. He’s a good friend of mine. I’m looking forward to a tough match. When he serves so well and moves great like he is right now, he’s very dangerous.”
Tsonga may be able to power his way to set in this form, but Federer is striking the ball cleanly and keeping it deep to put opponents on the defensive. That is not how Tsonga likes to play, but he may not have any choice if Federer serves like he did against Lopez (13 aces, no break points faced).
Pick: Federer in 3
The curse of the Records Book strikes Federer again.
“Federer, who turned 33 years old on Friday, was bidding to become the first player to claim 300 match wins at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level. Victory would have given the Swiss 80 tour-level titles, joining Jimmy Connors (109) and Ivan Lendl (94) as the only players to achieve the feat.”
I’ve remarked before how often Federer comes up short when he is bidding to claim another entry in the history books – at least on his first attempt.
filter says:
August 10, 2014 at 10:22 pm
“Now can we have a major or masters tournament without any Fedal in the final? How long has it been? Hasn’t happened this year”.
It’s not their fault!!
It’s the rigged draws and cushy scheduling that is primarily to blame. Every tournament director wants them in the final and will do anything to facilitate that. It’s not that they are the 2 best players on court. It’s about their marketability and it’s unfair to the other players that they get so many breaks. It’s all about the money money…….
filter,
I love reading your comments because it makes me LOL!
You obviously have an agenda regarding Fedal, but anyone who would try to demean what they have done in this sport knows absolutely zero about tennis!
So now some people are even putting Rafa as beneficiary of soft rigged draws and cushy scheduling. I have never seen that happening. Infact we always complain Rafa gets the wrong end of the stick regarding draws and scheduling.
You do have one thing going for you, filter. you’re consistent with this one idea. It would be nice to see you have another idea. But not as funny.
filter has nothing against fedal, just Rafans. The rest is just a guise.
#Obvious
#PDFTT
At one point, after a point had ended, Roger hit the ball hard and on the bounce it almost hit a ball boy and the crowd was silent. Jo was booed when he yelled at himself for losing a point.
Roger Says:
“I was not playing good enough. If you can’t hit forehands or whatever, it’s just… it wasn’t my day. Naturally because of the scoreline – I mean, he was in the lead – but I just didn’t feel like I was playing good enough to win today.”
“I fought. I mixed it up, and I was hoping to sort of sneak in a set and then maybe he would get a bit nervous or maybe would play a bad game”
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2014/08/32/Toronto-Final-Federer-Reaction.aspx
Way to give credit where credit is due Roger.
What. A. Whiner.
#SameOld
Sorry but you’re an idiot. Why would you assume that everybody loves Fedal? Clearly not true. What’s more why the hell would I care one iota about or have anything against Rafans? I frankly can’t believe the audacity shown insofar as the level of importance you place upon one group of fans. You guys are nothing to me and nobodies in general. Just a bunch of sheep. I do like tennis but this forum is a waste of time I’d have to say. I’ll be back to gloat when tennis is saved if only temporarily until both fake idols retire.
the lady doth protest too much
Actions speak louder than words, no?
Next, it will be saying they’re off this thread.
#PromisesPromises
#GotIt???
This is a person who says the same thing over and over. How about changing the record? For what it’s worth, I have never seen filter post anything about other players. All I read is the same old trashing of Fedal. This doesn’t sound like a tennis fan to me. It’s someone with a very unoriginal agenda and that’s to spout propaganda and hate about Fedal. The only thing that makes these posts different from what we are used to reading, is that this person lumps both Fed and Rafa together. If you can’t appreciate and respect what two great champions have done in this sport, then you are no tennis fan!
Here’s Fed’s full presser :
Roger Federer
TORONTO, ONTARIO
J. TSONGA/R. Federer
7‑5, 7‑6
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. What was it about Tsonga’s serve today that gave you so much problem?
ROGER FEDERER: I don’t know. I think it was the overall day conditions that were tough for me. It was faster than in the night, all my previous matches, so I think the turnaround was tough.
I definitely think Jo served well, and when he does serve well it’s always going to be hard. But not to win more points on his first serve‑‑ I don’t know the second serve stat, but I need to have a better impact on that normally.
Today was just difficult in terms of rhythm from the baseline, so it was like a new tournament for me today.
No excuses. I think he played really solid and well when he had to, and like you mentioned, I think he served well overall, which was key for him.
Q. How do you assess the week, even though you didn’t take the title, obviously, but in looking ahead.
ROGER FEDERER: Look, I mean, I’m overall pretty happy that I made the finals in my first tournament back on hard courts. Had a few tough matches which clearly gave me a lot of information. I know what I need to work on the next few days and next few weeks, which is good to know what I need to do other than feeling lost, you know. I don’t feel that way.
I wish I could have played a bit better in the finals today, but I think, like I mentioned, the facts were that it was tough for me. Jo did come with all the day session into the finals. I didn’t.
So there were things I could have done better, but, you know, overall it was a positive week. You know, I go away from this feeling good about my chances next week and also at the US Open and for the rest of the season. It’s another good tournament for me, which I’m happy about.
Q. Despite the loss, you seem happy for Jo. Do you think that this is his time? He might be able to carry this over to the upcoming tournaments?
ROGER FEDERER: I hope for him, yeah. I hope he can back it up even though he doesn’t really necessarily need to do it right away next week. But I hope he can keep it up, you know, just for the remainder of the season.
You know, now I guess he can also make a bit of a run for the World Tour Finals again. He’s back in the top 10. It’s going to be interesting just to see the dynamics of him playing well, not being in the top 8, you know, what that’s going to create for next week ‑ I don’t know where he is in the draw ‑ and then also going into the US Open and beyond.
So, you know, like anyone predicted, it was going to be an interesting second half to the season. With Jo playing well again, that clearly mixes things up again a bit.
Q. You’re 33 years old. Two years from now…
ROGER FEDERER: Thanks for the reminder, by the way. It sounded really, like, big. (Laughter.)
Q. Happy Birthday, by the way. It’s young for me.
ROGER FEDERER: Okay.
Q. Two years from now the Olympics are going to be going on basically the same time that this tournament is scheduled for. Is it possible this is the last time you play Toronto?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, “basically” doesn’t mean “quite exactly.” There is a chance I can come back. I don’t know if it’s the week before or week after. I think it’s just the week before.
I will have to see how I feel then, you know, how am I playing, what is the best possible preparation for the Olympics, because I guess that’s going to take the importance of the summer, you know.
So we’ll see how it goes. It really depends the nine months leading into sort of that summer, really. I can’t answer that question now.
Q. If we talk about guys who haven’t yet won a Grand Slam on the tour, would you put Jo at the top of the list or among the guys that you would say, Yeah, he’s very likely to be one of the guys who could break through?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah. I mean, he’s been in semis and finals before. Was this his first Masters 1000? Second? What did he win? Bercy? Right.
And then he’s won a couple of 1000s now. So, yeah, he’s in contention. Plus he’s been in the finals of the World Tour Finals, as well. He’s been up there.
I think especially when his confidence is high, he’s a big confidence player, he can beat top 10 guys, you know. He did four of them this week. Sometimes I think it’s hard to do throughout the year, and then to do four of it in the same week is going to give him sky‑high confidence.
I think that’s how he needs to feel to win Grand Slams. Anything not this high with confidence is going to be quite unlikely for him to do it.
Q. What does Jo do that Milos Raonic doesn’t do?
ROGER FEDERER: I mean, it’s a totally different player. Really, it’s not fair to compare one to another. Totally different background.
But then there is some similar base, you know, in terms of both have a good serve and both have a good forehand. That’s what the majority of the players anyway have these days. Then it’s about, I guess, cleaning up the rest of your game and moving well and all that stuff.
But clearly Jo is much older than Milos is, so Jo has been able to create more chances naturally because he’s been on the tour longer.
Milos has had a very good career so far already.
Q. You know in matches where you have two players who hold serve very well and who are very dominant on their serves, it comes down to, you know, the big points. It was obviously a very close match, 7‑5, 7‑6. Was there any difference that you felt just in terms of, you know, not maybe pushing him to get yourself a break point and then pushing forward? Was there any difference as far as, you know, your level of comfort with him today? You have had many close matches in the past.
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, like you said, I think I have played many close matches. I know how it feels to go through sets and hours of not breaking. I’ve been there. You know, I have done it to opponents; opponents have done it to me. Nothing new there.
I definitely felt much further away from victory than he did. I mean, naturally because of the scoreline, I mean, he was in the lead, but I just didn’t feel like I was playing good enough to win today. It was just really frustrating the way I felt out there.
I fought. I mixed it up, and I was hoping to, you know, sort of sneak in a set and then maybe, you know, he would get a bit nervous or maybe would play a bad game. But I just couldn’t create enough opportunities.
So I think he deserved to win at the end of the day. It was pretty simple, in my opinion.
Q. The question about the psychological preparation for this game, were you surprised when you started to play? How were you prepared, for example, when you’re always behind the score?
ROGER FEDERER: I didn’t understand, I’m sorry.
Q. The psychological preparation for this game, for a final game, is completely different that you had before, right? So, I mean, how you will feel the psychologically, how you will prepare for this game?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, I feel much better today than I did yesterday. I was quite tired yesterday from the Cilic and the Ferrer match. I think especially the Cilic match came out like two days later.
I felt tired yesterday during the day, but then once the match came about, I was actually feeling pretty well, you know.
So today actually I feel much better. The preparation was simple, you know, in the sense that, you know, I woke up, came over here prepared, and played the match. That’s it.
You know, it was just a turnaround from late nights to all of a sudden day. It gave me less time. Just also the way, you know, you feel out there.
I didn’t start poorly. You know, I think actually the beginning of the match was actually my best part of the match. So from that standpoint I was happy how I was feeling and playing.
But then that it actually start to drop off rather than get better, that’s what disappointed me the most today.
Before the match I was feeling really calm, I was feeling good about my chances, I felt like my game was good this week. It wasn’t great, but it was good enough to potentially win.
I came close today, but, you know, not close enough to create enough opportunities.
Q. (Off microphone.)
ROGER FEDERER: I was not playing good enough. You can be as nervous as you want to be. If you can’t hit forehands or whatever, it’s just, like‑‑ it wasn’t my day, man. It was just a shitty day. (Laughter.)
Can’t really see where has Fed robbed Jo’s credit!
Thanks for the full presser abhirf.
He complains that he didn’t play well but that has more to do with Tsonga not letting him than just a bad day.
If he didn’t want a tough adjustment from night to day conditions, he should have asked for some day matches instead of all evening sessions. As a top player, he has that privilege.
However, as always, it doesn’t sound as bad in the full context of the whole interview but journos love to take quoted out of context which is why I always prefer to see the full transcript.
In the Weak Era thousands of tennis fans were brainwashed to believe RF was the new goat. Then along came a bunch of teenagers who could challenge him on a consistent basis – and are still doing so today. Hardcore Fedfans (encouraged by many if not the majority of tennis commentators) remain in denial and perpetuate the goat myth in spite of the evidence to the contrary.
I happened to watch the Toronto final with friends two of who were keen Fed supporters. They simply did not believe me when I said he was capable of throwing the toys of the pram when things were going badly, was not always well behaved with umpires, and used mind games to undermine opponents. I then gave them a quick tour on YouTube to prove the point. They admitted they had had no idea he was not always the suave, gracious sportsman they had been led to believe.
He’s a very good sport when he wins. Always has been. 🙂
I also believe that he was the greatest until Rafa. I still am amazed at his creativity and range of shots which were on full display IMO in his close loss to an inspired, on-fire Tsonga.
It’s his arrogance and, more annoying, the constant arrogance of the federazzi (media/fans) that bugs me.
Commentators and journos are little more than awed fans and need to show more objectivity. On the other hand, perhaps they are just playing to their audience which is still dominantly federazzi so I guess it’s their prime directive.
https://twitter.com/WTA/status/498672166561255425
Jo finally decided to play some good tennis and was awarded the title for his stupendous show! When he is on song, he can smash out anybody..
Don’t know why most people picked Roger to win the title. His game was highly inconsistent throughout the week while Jo played well in all the sets he played.
Fed really needs to work on his returns now. Lost last 2 finals due to poor returning..
That’s like saying fed’s opponents lose due to poor returning when it has more to do with fed’s effective serving and placement.
Like you said, Jo can smash out anybody regardless of who he’s playing when he’s at that level. However, he is rarely at that level. I don’t think that he has the mentality to sustain it over the longer term.
As a Fed fan I would me more concerned about his game than others.
weren’t you guys pipping up the same thing about Rafa’s ROS..
I know that both Nole and Tsonga served really well in those 2 finals, but Fed did have a look on more than a handful of returns in crucial games which he missed.
Maybe it’s the age thing that has slowed down his reflexes on the return or maybe something else.. As far as I know Fed, he was really good at neutralising big serves during major part of his career even with those block and chip returns.
Youzhny’s the new threat to win the USO!!!
https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/499269027173527553
#DejaVuAllOverAgain