NOT THAT STRAIGHT FORWARD! | Federer - Evans | Australian Open 2019 R2

[@shane5723]

2019 was Federer's last healthy year on tour. He played some amazing tennis for a 38 year old man! From Dubai all the way through Wimbledon Roger looked very similar to his 2017 level.

[@unowen7591]

Yeah even after Wimbledon there were flashes of genius, like vs Djokovic at the ATP Finals. After 2019 was where it really went downhill

[@shane5723]

@@unowen7591 Yes, there were moments of brilliance especially against Goffin and Evans at the US Open in 2019, but he couldn't stay healthy and Dimitrov beat him in the quarters. The match against Djokovic at the ATP Finals was a great match from Federer, but Novak was not totally in that tournament and the damage had been done already at Wimbledon earlier that year in July. Roger never got over that loss and it was the beginning of the end. The middle of the end was the knee surgery in 2020 after the Australian Open in February, and then the final nail in his coffin was the injury he sustained at the 2021 French Open when he tried so hard to make a final comeback. That video he made about the final surgery and hoping to come back at some decent level was the end for Federer. He tried in 2022 to prepare for one final push in 2023, but the knee was done. In my opinion he's the greatest of all time, but the stats say differently. He's definitely the most loved of all time!

[@sananton2821]

No, he looked slow and in pain all year.

[@AlanRR121]

​@@shane5723there are stats to support the claim that he's the GOAT, just not the major ones.

[@incredibleXMan]

​@@AlanRR121c'mon I am a Federer fan and it is clear Djokovic has pretty much broken most of his records. I think you are making this up.

[@jamessmith7822]

Honestly, I thought Federer had a good shot at making the final in AO 2019. He was still in pretty good form overall in terms of health and tactics. Tsitsipas played a very good match and Federer at times cracked on opportunities that cost him in a match with small margins. Had Federer made it through Tsitsipas, I would think he would be the heavy favorite over Nadal in the SF.

[@YlL-ji2sl]

I don't think so. He played terribly under pressure against Tsitspas. One of the weiredest losses of his career because he pretty much dominated every set until the tiebreaks. And against Nadal the pressure would've been much higher.

[@jamessmith7822]

@@YlL-ji2sl While I don't disagree about the pressure Nadal is capable of bringing to Federer, at that point in time Federer pretty much had Nadal figured out. In their later after-prime matchups (2015-after) Federer won 6/7 times against Nadal, with all 6 of Fed's wins being on hardcourt or grass and Nadal's only win on clay. In the end tennis is about matchups, and in the R4 match Tsitsipas kept attacking and Federer just couldn't defend against it. I agree it was a weird loss given Federer only faced 3 break points total, but Fed also went 0/12 on break points largely due to Tsitsipas playing aggressive, and it paid off especially with Federer being a tad slower in his agility. Nadal had a much easier time against Tsitsipas using his topspin forehand to Tsitsipas's backhand, which is a great strategy given Tsitsipas backhand is pretty bad. Had Federer played Nadal, given that Fed figured how to play the backhand effectively against Nadal in their later years I would think he would probably win in 4 sets. Nadal didn't have the offensive game to trouble Federer and Djokovic on hardcourts in 2019 like he did in 2013.

[@gladyscommons5559]

Evans exelent player. Federer the best

[@J_NoNamesLeft73]

Evans was a qualifier here so I expected this to be an easy one for Fed given that he was the 2 time defending champ even if my hunch was that Roger would not defend this title (but I did not expect the loss to come against Tsitsipas). Fed was lucky to escape that first set tiebreak, from 5-3 up when Evans had 2 service points to win it at 5-4, unforced errors on both which imo were no doubt all mental. Fed made the second set harder than it needed to be but at least he still managed to win it, and after coming through qualies Evans had no shot of winning this from 2 sets down vs a 20 time slam champ and 2 time defending champ. So when USO came around and they had to meet in round 3 I expected it to be a close one and actually thought Evans had a shot at the upset. Roger came into that match after losing in the R16 in Cincy vs a qualifier (Rublev who was not a household name at the time) and after two very scratchy matches vs Nad-oops sorry NAGAL and Dzumhur, losing a set each to both. But lol nope Federer turned it ON and destroyed him in 1h20 dropping only 5 games. Although should be noted Evans was maybe at a slight physical disadvantage, he did not have a day off due to rain whereas Fed had the previous day off. Then of course Evans was Federer's opponent for his 2021 comeback and that was a super tight one, won by the Swiss Maestro!!! Maybe it was fitting that his comeback came against a one hander...and guess how Fed won it? A backhand down the line :)

[@MrCWL]

Love the title, how you put something that was modest yet interesting in capitals

[@TvRFReloaded]

Thank you😁🙏

[@hovefactually7505]

@@TvRFReloaded However, 'straightforward' is one word, not two.

[@TvRFReloaded]

@@hovefactually7505 is it? Hmm! Well i wanted to put some emphasis on the straight so people would figure out what I meant. Never knew it was 1 word. I've read it spaced out countless times lol

[@sahilagrawal4255]

gotta love a match against two classy technicians

[@Sanctified57]

Gutsy performance by Dan against one of the all time greats (if not the greatest)

[@emilioemele]

Very similar style Player, Evans did very well. Referee is 🫡

[@mantaishere]

Noice one. Tricky one for Fed.

[@user-yd6ef1yo9d]

I'm not sure, but I'm thinking that hose deep-set eyes of Federer's might have somewhat limited glare from sunlight or bright indoor lights. But he himself credited his superior coordination, and that would be a really great advantage in tennis. But the right character and mentality for tennis would have to be of equal or greater value than anything physical.

[@mukundphanasalkar3887]

Okay, now why the title "Not So Straight Forward"?

[@TvRFReloaded]

Because even though it was in straight sets, it was never that easy!

[@romainmj7245]

do you have that tsitsipas federer match ? tough one cause i really wished we had a federer nadal in the semis but tsitsipas played fire

[@TvRFReloaded]

Nope i dont much care for it tbh

[@NamTran-xc2ip]

@@TvRFReloaded Why not?

[@AlanRR121]

​@@NamTran-xc2ipCuz Federer lost

[@pascalb.7126]

Evans one of the most wasted talents in tennisworld.

[@kw2142]

opposite in my view. He's an average player who has made the best of his abilities & made top 30. Considering he doesn't have a big serve or defensive game, he's made most of his attributes which are his net game & slice