The path toward a potential U.S. Open quarterfinal showdown between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will begin on Tuesday. Federer is starting his fortnight against Yoshihito Nishioka, while Djokovic is facing Marton Fucsovics.
Yoshihito Nishioka vs. (2) Roger Federer
Federer will begin his quest for a sixth career U.S. Open title and first since 2008 when he takes the court against Nishioka for the first time on Tuesday. The 37-year-old Swiss has finished runner-up only twice since then, losing to Juan Martin Del Potro in 2009 and to Novak Djokovic in 2015. Finishing runner-up to Djokovic is also what Federer just did in Cincinnati, where he picked up wins over Peter Gojowyczk, Leonardo Mayer, Stan Wawrinka, and David Goffin before succumbing to the Serb 6-4, 6-4. The world No. 2 is an impressive 33-5 in 2018 with titles at the Australian Open, in Rotterdam, and on the grass of Stuttgart.
Nishioka has been unable to gain any momentum in his comeback since suffering a torn ACL at the 2017 Miami Masters. The world No. 177 from Japan has played this whole season without enduring any physical setbacks, but he is a mere 4-9 at the ATP level and has also been unable to find much success in Challengers aside from one hard-court title in May. Nishioka posted on Twitter that he had “no luck” with the draw after seeing he would have to go up against Federer. However, he added: “But it was a dream to play [against] Federer, so I’m looking forward to it.” It will certainly be a great experience for the underdog, but it probably won’t last long.
Pick: Federer in 3 losing 5-7 games
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(6) Novak Djokovic vs. Marton Fucsovics
Djokovic and Fucsovics will also be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Tuesday. The sixth-ranked Serb missed last year’s U.S. Open due to injury, but his 2018 resurgence has him as the odds-on favorite to lift the winner’s trophy in Flushing Meadows this time around. After struggling through four months of the season, Djokovic started to raise his level on clay, captured a fourth Wimbledon title, and then triumphed in Cincinnati.
Fucsovics is in the midst of a breakout season on tour, having earned 18 of his 40 career ATP-level match victories and registering one spot off his career-high ranking at No. 41 in the world. The 26-year-old Hungarian made a run to the fourth round of the Australian Open before falling to Federer, so he is clearly capable of handling the pressure at a Grand Slam. But his draw is just as bad as Nishioka’s, and therefore an early exit is in the cards for Fucsovics.
Pick: Djokovic in 3 losing 11-14 games
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WWW?
Fed and joker to win in 3!
WYG?
Fed in an easy 3….Joker in a tougher 3.
I see here the Hungarian taking set. Not as easy as it appears for Novak.
What is going on with Nole? Lost the second set and down a break in the third!
He saw my prediction Amy 😉
Haha Eugene!! How nice of Nole to oblige!
I just looked at the match stats and Fucsovics is definitely on top…
He has by far the easiest draw from the Big 3 up to QG.
I see Nole broke back! But fed must be enjoying watching this…
Looks like Novak has since broken back and is up 5-4 with Fucs serving to stay in the third set. I’m bummed that Fucs couldn’t keep that break, but I shouldn’t be surprised…
Glad that sabalenka won!
Me too. Love Saba 🙂
Everyone hoping and getting excited at the prospect of Nole losing 🙁
I wasn’t getting excited at Nike losing, ratcliff- just getting excited about someone being competitive with him. 🙂
Whoops! I meant Nole, not Nike… stupid autocorrect!
I watched some of the match, Kevin. Nole really struggling with the heat and Fucsovics looked fitter or at least handling the conditions better. I stopped watching. So I was quite relieved and surprised at the score of the 4th set and that Nole won!
Fed seriously has looked sharper through 2 games of the US Open than he did through the whole tournament of Cinci haha. Nishioka isn’t exactly the type of player to push Fed, though…
Yes, Fed is moving well, forehand spot on, serve effortless and beautiful. Good energy and relaxed but aggressve. This Fed would beat the Nole I saw struggling with the conditions today.
Not so sure if I would go that far yet, ratcliff, as I’ve long lamented about what I perceive to be a mental block that Fed has in recent years when facing Novak at the majors. I won’t be convinced that Fed is likely to beat any recent version of Nole at a slam until I actually see it happen. Fed played extremely well against Novak in 2015 at all the less important matches, even beat him in 3 of them, and it wasn’t like Novak played bad in all those matches. But then in the Wimbledon, US Open, and WTF Finals, Fed’s level inexplicably and severely dropped as soon as he had to face Novak in the final of the biggest matches. He was arguably playing the best of ever seen him play leading into the Wimbledon final AND the US Open final, but then just completely wet the bed as soon as he had to face Novak in slam Finals. Of course Novak stepped his game up, but Fed’s level serverely dropped in those matches, especially on the biggest points. He actually played well in all the not-big moments in the US Open final, but then completely wet the bed on literally twenty-something break points.
So yeah, I can’t pick Fed to win over Nole at a major again until I see it happen first, no matter how much better he may look heading into a potential match of theirs at a major. It’s similar to how I felt before the 2017 AO final with Fedal. Even though I felt like the court speed and everything favored Fed, Rafa was just always such a bad matchup for him that I wasn’t willing to pick against Rafa until Fed actually beat Rafa again at a major.
If Fed and Nole meet here in the QF, I just will not be able to pick Fed to win, even if all signs pointed to him being favored. I fell for that too many times in 2015, and I ain’t falling for it again!
I know that Fed CAN beat Novak at a major again, no question about that. I just have way too much doubt that he will. Fed played well against Novak at the majors until 2013. He beat Novak at at least one major a year in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012. Then Fed started to fall off while Novak and Rafa took the game to a whole new level. So I guess I shouldn’t be as surprised about 2015 as I was, as it would Novak’s absolute peak. But I just don’t know how else to explain such an inexplicable drop in form from Fed in the biggest moments against Novak aside from a mental block.
I don’t think it’s mental block, it’s simply Djoko has the game to beat Fed, esp when it’s BO5 match. Fed couldn’t sustain a high level vs Djoko as the match goes longer. If it’s the Fed of 2005/2006, then I won’t see this problem as Fed was much quicker and fitter back then.
Djoko knows Fed’s game very well and would anticipate where Fed is going to hit the ball, other players who have not played Fed often simply have no ideas when playing against Fed.
I also find Fed’s SHBH at a disadvantage vs Djoko’s DHBH when they are having a BH to BH duel, Fed give me the impression his BH is going to break down first before Djoko’s.
Imo, Cinci final was either an anomaly or simply a sign of things to come. Fed didn’t lose because he lacked a mental edge, nor was it exactly a problem of form. He was simply out of gas (slash) old. He looked fine for the first few games, indeed, I thought looked a bit better than Novak. But he simply ran out of steam and from that point on he just looked old.
A big difference from AO final this year or (especially) 2017, when he looked to be the fresher player in the 5th set. At his age, a few months can make a big difference.
I think u’re wrong RC….I still believe Nole still will beat Fed no matter what conditions they’re in…Let’s face it…Nole on his way up on every level,but Fed on his way down too…The biggest weakness that very obvious atm imo is his mental fragility…We can see it when he suppose to meet with Nicky,Fognini or Novak later…Those guys r not Nishioka…
Agree with MA.
Fed and Nole had two different players on the other side of the net.
Kyrgios looking like a joke out there doing it all himself. He’s federers Only remotely possible threat prior to qf but mentally not capable IMO.
Federer will look amaaaazing until the qf and if he loses to Nole will because he had a bad match. Couldn’t find his game.
Yeah Hawks….I am so sorry for Fedfans for saying this..but,i think Fed look amazing when the players that he faced not willing to fight with him…But,as soon as they show resistance,Fed will cave in…The loss to Anderson & Novak in Cincy rocked him to the core…And if he were to meet with Nole again,the result will be the same….
I totally agree with Greg Rusedski’s opinion that reduced his schedule can help his physical,but at the same time will restrict his ability to build momentum & match toughness…
Exactly MA. Joe Blow’s comment below just proves my point.
Fed looked great during the weak era against everyone except for the GOAT.
Don’t get me wrong. He WAS and IS great but he’s not beating a peak level Nadal (which to be fair, we haven’t seen on hard courts this year). And he certainly won’t beat Nole at Noles level since Wimby.
Never could and never will outside a ridiculously low bounce hard court vs peak Rafa and nowhere vs peak Nole.
I’d say Fed will be third best player of all time once Nole retires.
Don’t agree about peak Fed (2005/2006) vs peak Djoko. Peak Fed is good enough to beat peak Djoko, not always but 50% of the times. An old Fed could manage to stay competitive, even beating a Djoko at his best at times, what more a Fed during his peak years!
The one who truly is Fed’s nemesis is Rafa, as Rafa was able to beat Fed on various surfaces except indoor HCs during Fed’s peak years. As great as Djoko is/was during his peak years, he struggled against Fed on clay and grass when Fed wasn’t at his peak (2011 FO; 2012 Wimbledon).
Well we will just have differing opinions on that one.
Once Djoko got his head on right in 2011 vs Fed, vast majority of meetings were on Noles racquet in my opinion where he was 19-9.
C’mon Hawks, that’s not fair. Let’s not make it sound like this is unique to Fedfans… 99.99% of the time that Rafa loses, most people on this site do EXACTLY what you’re accusing Fedfans of doing. That’s the way it works- when our favorite player loses, we always point out all the ways that said player played awful that day.
As stated above, I don’t give a damn how good Fed looks until the QF- he has demonstrated an obvious mental block against Nole in the biggest matches. Also as stated above, Nole ups his game in the biggest matches/moments, so that combined with Fed’s big match Nole-related “mental problema” I believe will equal another slam loss to Nole, no matter how Fed or Nole each look leading into it.
I wasn’t saying that it’s unique to fedfans when they lose. That’s across the board and I’ve said so. Just try to ask when has Rafa lost when entering a match in great condition mentally and physically? You’d be hard pressed to hear any examples from most Rafans.
I’de be one of the few exceptions. Nole had his number in 2011 and 2012 AO for example when Rafa played at an amazing level IMO. Rafa made 8 of 9 slam finals including that period but Nole beat a peak Rafa in three slam finals in a row. Good luck getting many other Rafans to say that!
But it IS more unique to fedfans and more-so fed-biased fawning media when Federer is looking amazing against weak competition.
Hot damn. Fed won 14 of 15 net points in the 2nd set alone…
Can’t read too much into this match with Nishioka, but Fed looks a completely different player today. Hasn’t looked this good on HC since AO, and would certainly beat Novak or Nadal if he brings this kind of level.
Like Kevin says, however, mental toughness is key, and it’s not clear that Fed can continue to bring it at 37. In fact, there’s no guarantee that he can even bring his physical best anymore. Look at how tired and old he looked in Cinci. Maybe having a day’s rest will make the difference. But even here, he just got broken, and is looking like he’s lost an edge toward the end of this match. Missed two easy overheads in the last two games; when is the last time that happened?
No way! With this kind of level it might not be enough to beat Rafa or Djoko! They’re simply too quick and know Fed’s game so well, and may even push Fed back to the baseline (like Djoko did at Cincy) and prevent Fed from coming forward to the net! A Delpo or Stan hitting hard and not missing too will give this Fed plenty of troubles.
Recent Stan, yes. Current form Djokovic or Nadal, no. Novak is still not back to where he was and may never get there. And Rafa is over-rated on HC at the moment, imo. I still don’t trust his game even if he did well to win Rogers cup. Plus, Fed has the 5 match winning streak with the mental advantage that brings.
Not saying I would necessarily pick Fed in a H2H match-up, mind you. I think his age may have finally caught up with him and I really don’t trust him to be able to bring his best in any given match anymore. I just think his best HC level is better than those two at this time. And today he mostly brought it, though his opponent certainly didn’t hurt in that regard.
Not only his age, he’s not hitting his BH like in 2017, the improved shot that caught Rafa by surprise. If Rafa could over come Djoko who had seven matches winning streak against him, he could handle Fed! Rafa not playing well? Nah, he was playing better tennis than Fed, to beat Stan in straight sets whilst Fed needed three sets to beat the same Stan on Fed’s fave surface Cincy.
If Fed couldn’t handle Djoko who wasn’t even at his best, he couldn’t handle Rafa, his nemesis. The USO court doesn’t favor him as much as the Cincy court, BO5 matches make it worse for him.
Rafa knew he was hitting short enabling Fed to get more from his BH. I doubt there was any surprise nor have I heard him say that and he’s very candid about those things.
Hawk not being fair to Fed. Fed was competitive until 2012, he even reached no.1 but thereafter he obviously was going downhill whilst Djoko was in his peak.
I would say Djoko was 7-3 vs Fed from2011-2012, Djoko in 2011 was almost unbeatable so he was 4-1 vs Fed (4 HC wins vs one Clay court loss). Djoko was 3-2 vs Fed in 2012 (2 clay and 1 HC win vs 1 grass and 1 HC loss).
Even when Fed was 32-33 in 2014, vs a 27 yo Djoko, he managed a 3-2 edge over Djoko, how then would Fed be worse off against Djoko if Fed was at his peak of 2005/2006?
(Apparently I wasn’t fair when I said Roger was goat back in 2012. Can’t please everyone.)
Wow. Fed apparently started thinking about dinner too soon! Nishioka gets one break back when Fed serves for the match at 6-2, 6-2, 5-2 😜
Nishioka is exactly the type of dude who will stay super pumped up until the handshake. He was celebrating hard during that whole game where Fed was serving for the match! I love seeing that 🔥!
Me too; I love seeing the fist pumps when he hits a great shot, even if he’s down 2 sets, 4-0. Great attitude.
Federers age caught up with him once Rafa and Nole matured.
Game, set and match, check and mate.
He will be the fourth best tennis player of all time in five years from now.
1) Pierre-Hugues Herbert
2) Paolo Lorenzi
3) Bradley Klahn
4) Roger Federer
#facts
Serena beats out Federer with three more slams despite missing a year having a child plus trying to find her game again so far this year.
I think she’s found her game. But she hasn’t (yet) won a slam post childbirth. I’m betting she will but there’s a lot of players on the women’s tour who can be very good, just none that are very consistent.
Haha Benny!! Right on!
I think Tenys Sandgren ought to be on that list somewhere as well! Fed has nothing on Tenys who really ought to receive the Stefan Edberg sportsmanship award for decades to come.
#pizzagate rules!
May not be fourth, depending on how Djoko fares in the next few years. He’s too far off from Fed, has to start winning at least two slams a year for the next four years, possible but we have to wait and see. A lot depends on Rafa and his peers and the next gen guys too.
Djoko may turn out to be the ultimate Goat in time to come, but it depends on how the others fare also. Its more realistic to expect Rafa to go ahead of Fed at the slams in the next two years whilst Djoko has to win practically all the slams in the next two years to go ahead of Fed, highly unlikely.
Nope.
Federer has never held all slams on three different surfaces at the same time. No else one has.
Federer hasn’t won all masters. He’s two short. If Nole wins Cincy again, he’ll have done it twice.
Nole has winning h2h vs anyone that matters. Federer has losing h2h vs Nole and Rafa.
More than just slams.
And Nole is far from finished. Not that far away to closing this slam gap. 2-3 more would seal the deal for me.
my opinion, not yours
Serena has nothing to do with Rafa, Nole and Roger. When people refer here to greatest tennis player(s) they either refer to men or ladies field. It’s not fair for Serena as well, to compare her slams with those 3. My opinion, not yours.
Your opinion is certainly very biased – sixteen slams vs twenty, less than 300 weeks at no.1 vs 310 weeks at no.1. Fed wins there. Four slams in a row, well Djoko had not the formidable Rafa at the FO to deal with in 2015/2016, unlike Fed who had the formidable Rafa in 2006/2007 at the FO to deal with.
Fed wins in many categories, more than Djoko. Djoko certainly has to do more than having 16 slams and 4 in a row at the slams, not enough to counter Fed’s overall achievements.
All opinions are biased. Your opinion that my opinion is very biased is very biased in my opinion.
I believe that Rafa is GOAT currently with less weeks at No. 1 than Fed and Nole, 17 slams vs 20.
Fed didn’t have the “formidable Rafa” during the Weak Era in 2014 at the French Open or in 2009-FO to 2010-AO when he won 3 of 4 failing to Delpo at USO.
Non-calendar GS on three different surfaces and career golden Masters 1000 during the Golden Era counts for 20% less slams in my opinion, just not yours.
Besides, I’m just agreeing with you when you said pretty definitively:
Luckystar JULY 15, 2018 AT 6:29 PM
“I would say Djoko most likely the grass goat as there’s no one to stop him from winning Wimbledon for the next five years! He’s also the HC goat as he’s bound to overtake Fed at the HC slams and WTF, as again, there’s no one to stop him. Djoko will end as the ultimate Goat as he’ll dominate others on grass and HCs, which no other player could do!
We just have different subjective criteria for GOAT, which is why there is no absolute GOAT. But you’ve already stated just a few weeks ago that Djoko will be GOAT.
I’m not convinced that he will win the next five Wimby’s nor that he will end up as GOAT as much as you are (were?).
Hawk, I said most likely in FIVE years, not now or in two years, and that’s provided he wins more Wimbledon and HC slams, to exceed anyone else at the slams. Please don’t misquote me.
He already WON that Wimby since you said he needed one more on July 5.
I said nothing about you saying now or in two years. I said five years – same as you.
hawkFDT AUGUST 29, 2018 AT 2:40 AM
He will be the fourth best tennis player of all time in five years from now.
I’m not misquoting you but you are misquoting me.
Nope, you’re misquoting me. I obviously said Djoko might dominate on grass for the next five years, and dominate on HCs, so he would most likely have more grass and more HC slams than Fed and very likely has the most slams to be the ultimate Goat; not having fewer slams (16 according to you) and still be called a Goat according to you.
PS. If he wins at least two slams a year, chances are he’ll be no.1 during the year, and so he’ll most likely come close or even exceed Fed’s weeks at no.1 too, so that’ll strengthen his position as the ultimate Goat.
Nope, you’re misquoting yourself.
“Djoko will end as the ultimate Goat as he’ll dominate others on grass and HCs, which no other player could do!”
You didn’t say ‘might’, you said “he’ll” i.e. he WILL dominate.
“will” and “he’ll” isn’t ‘might”.
OTOH, you are misquoting me for saying that I said you said 2-3 years when I said no such thing. I said five years – same as you.
I’m misquoted again it seems.
‘a GOAT’ Where did I say ‘a GOAT’?
If you are better than Fed at some point in the future career wise, that doesn’t mean that you are the GOAT.
Second or third greatest is not a GOAT IMO and I’ve never said that.
If he becomes THE greatest (not second or third) THEN he would be THE GOAT.
“a GOAT” is not my term.
But you misquoted me saying I said you said 2-3 years and now saying I said ‘a GOAT’.
He’s already one of the BEST players of all time. Greatest means Greatest IMO. Only one Greatest at any given time (within a class).
IF I’ll feel like consulting with
a Rafan’s opinion on Goat in 2-3 years, I will definitely consider what lucky has to say. She delivers facts, not illusions.
That would certainly be a first. I’ve never heard of any Fedfan looking for a Rafan’s view on GOAT.
Besides, Lucky and I are just as few as one slam apart on what’s required in slams for Nole to surpass Fed in greatness in response to Joe Blow’s GOAT argument:
luckystar JULY 5, 2018 AT 3:59 AM
Joe has forgotten that Fed has a few years head start over both Rafa and Djoko. Just give Rafa (and Djoko) a few more years and see what else they can win!
Even if Rafa continues winning the FOs and some others, as long as he’s ahead of anyone else in the slams, no one can discount his greatness just because he’s much better on clay than on the other surfaces. It’s not like he has won nothing else off clay!
Djoko too, if he wins one or two more WTF and four more HC slams (not impossible given his prowess on HCs) and may be one more FO and/or Wimbledon (again not impossible), then he’ll be better than Fed on the HCs even though not on grass, then is this clay and non clay stuff still applicable?”
Djoko has since won that one more Wimby. So he just needs the four extra hc slams whereas I say up to three.
minor differences when it comes to something as subjective as GOAT.
So, to clarify, “Serena has nothing to do with Rafa, Nole and Roger.” is your opinion then.
I disagree. They are all elite tennis athletes. That’s not nothing in my opinion. Respectfully, that’s a bit sexist to suggest that they have nothing to do with each other.
She has nothing to do with their Goat debate. If Serena is to be included in a tennis Goat debate, which is not even a debate, because ovbiously she is one of the best or the Goat herself, it would be within the ladies field.
We could include her in all time great sports no matter the sports/ within all sports activities. BUT comparing Fed’s slams with her is not relevant, for obvious reasons. If we must choose only 1 tennis player to represent tennis on that list, it would be her, because he easily dominated her field, by a higher margin.
You say ‘They are all elite athletes’. Anyone can read my comment above and see if this statement is disqualified or not / is relevant or not to what I said.
No, it’s an existing debate across tennis overall.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/allenstjohn/2017/01/31/tenniss-battle-of-the-sexes-whos-better-the-greatest-of-all-time-roger-federer-or-serena-williams/#3fdf12b43243
And Federer even said she maybe GOAT overall in his opinion.
“I’m probably up there,” the 20-time Grand Slam champion admitted, before clarifying he believes Serena Williams deserves the label of greatest tennis player of all time.
“It’s been fascinating to watch,” Federer said of Serena’s career. “She had a totally different upbringing – I came up through Switzerland with the federation, she did it with her dad and her sister.
“It’s an amazing story unto itself – and then she became one of the greatest, if not the greatest tennis player of all time.”
So Federer himself has no problem with Serena having something to do with the all time greats regardless of if they are male or female.
Hawk again misinterpreted my post of July 5 2018.
I said if Djoko won four more HC slams ……; that was not meant for any other debate, EXCEPT, to prove the irrelevance of the clay and non clay differentiation when we are talking about a player’s greatness.
The whole debate was around criteria for comparative greatness.
luckystar JULY 5, 2018 AT 3:59 AM
“Joe has forgotten that Fed has a few years head start over both Rafa and Djoko. Just give Rafa (and Djoko) a few more years and see what else they can win!”
To prove what exactly?
And you said I misquoted you again with no additional examples.
I try very hard not to misquote anyone as they create straw man arguments for which I detest. If you feel that I did, then I’m sorry for any misinterpretation on my part. It wasn’t intentional.
1) to prove they can or may be better than Fed by winning more slams etc, and be the so called Goat (that many are obsessed and so keen to crown one).
2) the statement about Djoko winning more HC slams than Fed, etc…that was to counter the clay and non clay differentiation that many like to use to discount against Rafa’s greatness.
If Rafa and/or Djoko will equal Fed’s slams count, I’ll absolutely call them Goats. Rafa has grater chance to achieve that and I will not mind if that 3 slam gap will come only from RG. Has gas proved to be an overall exceptional player.
I don’t think that Novak will equal Roger’s slam number and I am still not sure about Rafa. 3 is still a lot. To put it simply, if Rafa remains h2h ahead which 90% he will + same slam count then he’ll be Goat for me.
As for Djoko, again this is subjective/ my view, he has to get at least 18, assuming that Roger remains at 20.
Will discuss about this when they all retire. I think there is a great chance Fed will not be surpassed.
It’s so frustrating… I wrote quite a long post that never appeared. Usually I copy it and try again if it doesn’t appear the first time, but failed to save it this time.
tsame. I ALWAYS try to copy my posts before posting because of this recent issue (along with always having to reenter name and email).