Wimbledon - Reed: Federer will be dancing with joy

Eurosport - Sat, 04 Jul 20:52:00 2009

Eurosport-Yahoo! blogger Simon Reed expects Wimbledon finalist Roger Federer to be ecstatic after Andy Roddick beat Briton Andy Murray.

TENNIS andy roddick (usa) having beaten andy murray at 2009 wimbledon's semifinal. NOTxINxCHN - 0

Right now, I expect that Roger Federer will be dancing around in his hotel room because Andy Roddick beating Britain's Andy Murray represents the perfect result for him.

Of late, Federer has enjoyed good matches against Roddick, which the Swiss has invariably won; and Federer crushed the sixth seed in both of their previous meetings in a Wimbledon final.

I expect the five-times champion to win the final pretty easily now, and that is a real shame because a Murray-Federer final would have been enthralling.

The atmosphere of the final is clearly not going to be as big as it would if Murray had won the semi-final, and Roddick-Federer matches rarely make for good contests - but at least the American will not go down without a fight.

I think that Federer will feel more pressure in this final than in other years because he is attempting to overhaul Pete Sampras's record of 14 Grand Slams.

On the other hand, Roddick has no pressure at all because he will view whatever happens in the final as a bonus.

I really feel that having no pressure may well suit Roddick, and he will be able to go out on Centre Court and swing freely.

In the semis the pressure was all on Murray and, although I felt that the Brit coped with it well, Roddick simply had nothing to lose.

The match was on a knife-edge, and could have gone either way, but Roddick had just enough aggression to take him through.

I think Roddick over-performed, producing a very mature performance to out-think Murray.

Murray's second serve was pretty vulnerable at times, and Roddick attacked it at every opportunity.

Normally when the match reaches its defining moments, Murray steps up his intensity and becomes more aggressive, but not in this match.

In the tie-breaks he was quite tentative, and in the games leading up to them he struck me as pretty passive in his approach.

Murray paid the price for his hesitancy at times, but credit to Roddick for seizing the initiative.

Roddick completely surprised me with the manner of his performance, and he always found a way of responding to Murray's advances and countering them.

This will go down as a pretty big shock, as I never really saw Roddick as someone who could reach another Grand Slam final.

It was an outstanding effort from the American, and a lot of credit must go to his coach Larry Stefanki, who got such a good performance from his player.

The feature of Roddick's game which surprised me the most was the quality of his backhand, which was magnificent today and put Murray on the back foot.

I think Murray will have been pretty content with what he did out there, but there are a few things he probably would have done differently in hindsight.

When he looks back on the match, I think he will feel as though he was not attacking enough when it really came down to the crunch.

Murray will rue the fact that he was not aggressive enough, and he played a few of the key points with too little venom.

People will write off the Scot at their peril, because his performance graph in Grand Slams is only going up and up.

I would certainly not be surprised if Murray was knocking on the door to be world number one before too long.

I think he could well be the world number two very shortly, and the number one in a year or so - do not doubt that he can achieve that.

Simon Reed / Eurosport

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  1. Mr Reed, did today's final surprise you ?? I bet it­ did. You weren't expecting such an exciting game­ were you ? No. Do you think if Murray played in the­ final , it would be even a better game ? I bet you do ,­ I bet you think Murray would have won right ? Yes , of­ course... If Murray played it would be a boring­ straight three sets, let me tell you that.

    From warlant, on Sun 5 Jul 6:51PM

  2. go roger, go roger.claim back your number one,u are the­ greatest ever,we your fans sodily behind u,we love u .

    From Adebayo, on Sun 5 Jul 1:32PM

  3. Gboye you are right,de stupid Reed forgot this is a GS­ and not masters series.Afterall federer finished dis­ idiot,(Murray) last year in US open ,and that was­ federer's wost year with injury en stuff like­ dat.So i dont understand why reed and some people think­ murray will beat federer that is on top of his game­ right now .
    As for me,the way Murray plays can not even­ lift any grandslam now and in the years to come because­ he play so slow and that kind of game can not even­ stand the likes of Gonzales,Sonderling,del potro en­ Kolzchieber.This guys hit fast both fore en back hand.

    From oladepo, on Sun 5 Jul 11:18AM

  4. Reed is a Big LOSER yes who is he ??
    and do not forget­ in this case u r saying murray better than roddick and­ that is not true
    at least roddick has a G.S but murray­ not
    both of murray and roddick are good and i do not­ think federer see diffrence btween two players
    i think­ he is only wanted rafa to play with

    From maia, on Sun 5 Jul 10:27AM

  5. FEDERER is who? he is the best ever. no more comments.

    From georgi_galabov, on Sun 5 Jul 9:36AM

  6. No sweat Yiannis. Been reading your posts long enough­ to know that you have a genuine interest in and­ knowledge of the game. In any case, your point about­ Roddick is a very good one. I admire the way he has­ managed to keep his career on the rails having been­ tipped to take over from Sampras/Agassi and then being­ forced to live in the shadow of Fed. As you say, he has­ a great track record on grass, played an excellent­ match against Murray and richly deserves his place in­ the final. Tough nut to crack today though. I'm­ sure we can agree on that. Enjoy the match man.

    From rhymes450, on Sun 5 Jul 9:19AM

  7. Yannis: Your comments assess tennis and players well­ and certainly evoke responses (evoke, rather than­ "provoke" as Simon Reed does). I read your­ posts to learn from you and others like you of how­ logic is flowing through the minds of people mostly­ younger, but perhaps wiser, than I. (I often "lose­ it" too.) This summer (since The Australian,­ really), the tennis "game," players, and fans­ have provided a workshop for me in human thought­ processes and human nature. It's been particularly­ interesting. Reactions to the loss of Nadal's­ presence at Wimbledon, Murray's evolving, and the­ re-emergence of such brilliance from Federer, Roddick,­ and the Williams sisters has added new dimensions and­ some emotionally chaotic reactions....Thanks for your­ sane contributions.... Tomorrow, tennis will be over­ for me...until next summer, if I should live so long!­ Such expectations for the Federer-Roddick­ final....Cheers!

    From Hatsutking, on Sun 5 Jul 8:33AM

  8. Reed, please write on ladies tennis. Fed and Rafa are­ the best. Last 15 slams have been shared by rafa &­ Fed which explains their greatness. Rest are­ contenders or wannabees.

    BTW Reed "What your­ smoking Dude?"

    From rui, on Sun 5 Jul 6:17AM

  9. reed ur full of cr*p

    From irshad_0, on Sun 5 Jul 2:20AM

  10. Rhymes OK, it's not my style to talk like that,­ shouldn't have posted that, it was a hasty move.­ Though I agreed with the point it made, but I guess not­ the way. And yes I did miss the fixed draw part. The­ hype over Murray just gets to me...

    From YiannisP, on Sun 5 Jul 1:43AM

  11. O.K. Reed So your not the brightest guy ,,,,,not­ the sharpest knife,,,blah blah blah......Do you­ remember a guy named Andre A......A great tennis­ player......a late blommer I might add. SO ANDY R. ­ NEVER REACHES ANOTHER GRAND SLAM EVENT­ FINAL????????????????????????? What re you smokin?? ­ Can I have some please? Try not to blog too much­ buddy..

    From whoababy9999, on Sun 5 Jul 1:02AM

  12. Lets Go RODDICK

    From lilmidget610, on Sun 5 Jul 1:00AM

  13. hey rafa hope you getting better so you can go back on­ track we missed you...............lyza

    From lyza, on Sun 5 Jul 12:41AM

  14. 329 your a looser in you own, i'm rafa@ fed fans­ im not the only 1who love this 2great player i just­ cant understand why they have such a fans like you to­ say like that if you dont like rafa like any other­ peolpe you dont need to say rafa is a looser,ur such a­ looser 329 thats my last reply to you looser

    From lyza, on Sun 5 Jul 12:39AM

  15. Simon, looks like u took some demerol and cld soon end­ up like MJ. Cannabis wasn't helpful either, was it?­ I don't think so.

    From Pooks, on Sun 5 Jul 12:15AM

  16. Yiannis, it's no big deal but I was slightly­ surprised to read "HE WAS­ GIVEN A VERY EASY­ WIMBLEBON DRAW­ ON PURPOSE" (in reference to­ Murray) on one of your posts. As you say, you must have­ missed it. If you're happy with the degree of­ respect that Ashit showed (or insinuated) to the­ professional players Murray beat en route to the semis,­ that's fair enough. I'd beg to differ.

    From rhymes450, on Sat 4 Jul 11:48PM

  17. is it that reed who wrote off federer 12 months­ ago???
    since then fed played all major finals and could­ easily pick up his 3rd title...
    reed's articles are­ the lowest standards i have ever read

    From Zoltán, on Sat 4 Jul 9:51PM

  18. To Hatsutking
    "Yannis, post 290. I enjoy reading­ most of your post­ about my favorite sport and look for­ your name to see­ how your logic runs. But you lose it­ with Igor when you­ call him "stupid"­ etc..instead of clearly­ explaining your point of view­ to him. From his posts,­ one sees that he is a great­ tennis fan, is working with­ his command of English, is­ passionate (as most of us­ are) about certain players­ and ideas. Normally, you are­ quite articulate about­ expressing your point of view so­ that readers can­ appreciate your thoughts even though­ not always in­ agreement. Forgive me, I'm a­ professor on vacation­ and I can't help myself when­ I see one like you­ who could benefit a great tennis fan­ like Igor if you­ would give him a break and debate with­ him rather than­ condemn him. Cheers...and keep posting­ interesting,­ thought-provoking remarks."

    Hatsutking, thanks­ for your personal message, I appreciate it.
    I guess­ you must be patient to be a professor.. I am not that­ much, maybe with time I'll be more. I didn't­ really think that people like you read my posts, I must­ be more measured:)
    Anyway, I guess I'm being unfair­ to those who could understand something if explained­ with a bit of patience. I apologize if I sounded like I­ called Igor blanketly stupid. Igor has claimed that­ Federer was finished 1.5 year ago. And I told him that­ this is a stupid thing to say/believe in the evidence­ of the GSs he has won while being "finished".­ I stand by that, but yes, I agree it's not nice to­ insult people.
    Enjoy your vacation, I thought of the­ academic career just because of the long holidays, but­ it wasn't to be!

    Yiannis

    From YiannisP, on Sat 4 Jul 9:50PM

  19. To Rhymes450..
    "Understand Yiannis's­ impatience with Igor, who has­ it in for Fed and has­ been proven wrong, but can't­ believe his total­ endorsement of Ashit's cr*p.­ Gulbis is rubbish,­ Wawrinka is rubbish, Ferrero has no­ grass-court skills­ and the draw was fixed! You sure you­ want to copy and­ paste that and have it read as your­ opinion,­ Yiannis?"

    I don't think Ashit(!) said Gublis­ was rubbish or that Wawrinka was rubbish...and did he­ say the draw was fixed? I must have missed that,­ otherwise I wouldn't have reposted it... Ashit­ 's point was that Andy is better than the­ aforementionned players but not better than some player­ with real grass-court credentials, i.e. Andy Roddick.­ He's reached 2 Wimbledon finals, won Queen's 4­ times and is being playing his best tennis. As good as­ Gublis or Wawrinka or Ferrero are, they are not up to­ Roddick's level (ON GRASS and when he's playing­ well). That was his point. Was clear enough for me, I­ don't know where you read that he said those­ players were rubbish...Being number 19 in the world is­ not rubbish, but Roddick on grass can be a lot more­ dangerous than these guys...

    From YiannisP, on Sat 4 Jul 9:19PM

  20. yes federer will probably win BUT just give roddick­ some credit, will you??he clearly outplayed murray, why­ not at least admit that??i don't get this whole­ roddick-plays-like-cr*p attitude of the press.the guy­ is not as talented as the other guys on the tour but he­ definitely works day and night to get up there.

    From marina, on Sat 4 Jul 8:52PM
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