The Day World No +1000 Almost SHOCKED Prime Roger Federer

When world number 1078 Takao Suzuki almost shcoked the best version of Roger Federer on indoor court.

[@DonYang73]

Takao Suzuki is an old school serve volley guy. Super consistent. Of course Federer was better but he showed everyone he was no walkover. Respect!

[@user-mf5ue6rc5n]

Federer was just lucky

[@Jack-lw5kh]

The reason why it's so brilliant to have these kinds of players on the tour is it forces great players to analyse, adapt and overcome, which makes for a far more interesting spectacle than just grinding out baseline rallies with power and accuracy. Amazing to watch.

[@mtklaric]

the 90s were replete with players like this, now everybody plays the SAME dumb sh

[@PurpleHeater]

Because Pro players play to entertain you and not win. Put this kind of play vs agressive baseliner and u have 6 2 6 2 even on grass. Game evolved son

[@mtklaric]

@@PurpleHeater game regressed son...

[@Jack-lw5kh]

@@PurpleHeater I'm aware of how the game has evolved, I was just observing what can make a sport entertaining.

[@blistering2900]

​@@PurpleHeaterlol baseliners like medevedev,Alcaraz will lose easily to big serve and volleyer

[@AtobeTanhausser01]

Seeing this guy on Star Tennis Academy makes me appreciate this even more

[@m-Ues]

yes, it's him I just realize

[@uh-dd9qb]

That's what I thought

[@Miwon_ri]

i saw him on star tennis academy youtube channel.

[@meahall]

Suziki is currently a coach at the Star Tennis Academy in Japan. He's given a lot of great insight into the game on the academy's KZbin channel. Yoshito Nishioka has made a few appearances on the channel as well.

[@seizethedayandlive]

Ha! I thought I recognized that guy. Anyone who can push Roger to work hard is amazing!

[@commondirtbagz7130]

Pretty much all of the Japanese pros have. But yeah they make good content

[@pastormaldonaldoempiredemo8995]

What I love there is that Suzuki stuck to his aggressive gameplan even tho he got passed so many times at the net. Loads of players wouldn't have the balls to do that, huge respect

[@redd605]

That was how Sampras and McEnroe , would of destroyed Federer in there prime that first set was outstanding the classic serve volleying of a edberg

[@pastormaldonaldoempiredemo8995]

@@redd605 honestly the scenario is too hypothetical. Tennis has evolved too much in the span of 30 years that comparing Fed and McEnroe is just nonsense. And Suzuki produced his best tennis whereas Roger (a bit outplayed of course) didn't played as good as usual.

[@pastormaldonaldoempiredemo8995]

@@redd605 but we gotta agree that Suzuki produced a master-class of vintage tennis.

[@redd605]

@@pastormaldonaldoempiredemo8995 Ben Shelton of USA has that classic play to upset a lot of players at Wimbledon, I don't know if he is playing queen this week , but most picked him to do well

[@flanderstruck3751]

That's called not having a plan B. And that's why he ended up losing

[@nTo-vlog]

Suzuki is now very active in youtube with the "Star Tennis Academy" channel... one of the best tennis channels out there!

[@lucas-hideo]

Such an incredible match..Takao went for it.

[@YesSirPhil]

He was one of the very few players who believed that they can beat prime Federer and haven't already lost before the match.

[@Thebtfgame]

Tokyo 2006 QF. Federer ended up winning the 10th title of the season

[@yoshikay8787]

He played that match like it was his last that day!! Well done!!!

[@carkod]

Hay que mejorar un poco mas el ingles hombre

[@sananton2821]

his tenth

[@sludge86]

Whew that dude was tough. Fed looked pretty sober after that one.

[@caprise-music6722]

@@carkod how ironic..

[@philipcross8121]

I'm sure they played at the Australian Open the year before and that was a tight match as well. I remember this match as Federer said in the post-match presser that he could see the headlines of him losing to a player outside the world 1000! Suzuki had a very aggressive game and played with a lot of risk.

[@fretstain]

Suzuki is pretty active on social media/star tennis academy. He's still fun to watch!

[@ozankabakyesheplayedcentreback]

He teaches lessons on his KZbin channel called Star Tennis Academy. I watch it even though I don't speak one word of Japanese

[@StewNWT]

Thanks for highlighting this match. Never heard of it before. Tremendous play from Suzuki

[@bobomber]

Suzuki was a hell of a player. Too bad we don't get to see people play like that anymore. Just a bunch of slow grinding points that put me to sleep.

[@tomr6955]

agreed!

[@TenisAmador]

His KZbin channel is EXCELLENT, though. And we can still see some tibreaks playd between him and other japanese current pros (Star Tennis Academy is the channel).

[@vladraduandrei5227]

you re just a casual if you think thats how everyone plays

[@carlosm9364]

slow? lol u are so wrong

[@hobbes4583]

I have to agree. The racquet tech needs to stop because players have too much power. The game looks more like ping pong now. Back in MY day (the 80s) edberg, lendl, wilander becker- these guys had to play the chess match and be great athletes as well.

[@drkvenger]

Suzuki’s hyper aggressive serve and volley game is what propelled Pistol Pete to his 14 Majors. Fed would incorporate this aggressive rushing the net play later in his career to great success.

[@geemy9675]

Pete would come to the net after serve or an aggressive baseline shot, not a weak floating forehand chop like Suzuki. Also not the same athletic qualities. rushing to the net with weak shots doesnt cut it anymore, players come to the net to finish the points

[@juanmanuelalvarez4604]

Fed was always great at smashes (best smash ever) and volleys, but he played most of his youngers years from the baseline due to his big flat forehand being so capable of surpassing any defence

[@srinivasm1357]

It's always delight to watch serve and volley.

[@thelegacy1083]

This is why you can never underestimate players who are ranked 1000 or whatever, as all it takes is for them to play the match of their lives and suddenly they are playing at top 5 level. It’s very rare but this video is evident that it can happen in tennis, but I think it was more so when tennis was more serve and volley oriented.

[@rsmith02]

Of course Suzuki was ranked 102 in the world a few years earlier so he was an elite player to begin with.

[@Nicolas-gt1cx]

Damn those courts were so fast. Now everything is slow like clay

[@understandinglife2481]

I agree so boring no variety of speed in different surfaces even grass is slow ... ATP has made game one sided

[@alecmorariu6291]

@@understandinglife2481go watch live tennis and tell me if you actually think it’s “slow” You clowns can’t even hold a racket properly and think you are experts

[@wolfgangwiesinger9502]

@@understandinglife2481 Yes this surface was from the 90.ies made for players like Becker or Sampras. Maybe they made it for the local player that fast.

[@LUCARIGON66]

Stunning performance by Suzuki !!!

[@kakashihatake1029]

Wow. Very impressive stuff. He clearly loved the sport and enjoyed playing at home

[@wilf18]

Wow he was fantastic What a close match

[@definitionsupervillain4583]

Amazing. Just amazing.

[@jimclawley9117]

Would love to see genuinely fast courts on tour again. For too long the courts have been slow medium, which has favoured certain players. Wimbledon always throws in surprises because of the nature of the surface

[@Emnesie]

Its over man, resurrecting fast courts won't bring Federer back and that's pretty much the only reason you want them back lol

[@abc92800]

@@Emnesie idgaf abt federer. fast courts >>>>>>>> are simply the best

[@andreaminora7120]

​@@Emnesie what a donky hater comment. Go to sleep genius

[@TheRealSuperwiesel]

Agree. Nowadays you can grind out every shit even on hard court

[@Omkar529]

I think it's more the balls or rackets, personally. The ball just flies slower through the air in general today.

[@thomaskiely6471]

Entertaining tennis…those were the days. So much better than the monotonous baseline grinding of the current tour.

[@TimelyAdventure]

I feel like in the 90s many of the top modern players would be considered clay court specialists, how far back they hit returns and how much grinding they do. It's weird, now it's like the clay courters took over, everyone is an aggressive player ala Tomas Muster on steroids. But I still think the geometry of the court would favor talented serve and volleyers fi they had the guts and athleticism to stick to that style, or at least employ it a lot more regularly

[@gabrielametodieva8360]

@@TimelyAdventureyeah especially now that the grass season has started and it just looks like most of the young guys play the same way as on clay. Same speed and bashing from the baseline. Some are scared to go anywhere near the net.

[@cocolatin1]

from susuki

[@homotechnium7628]

Notice how Federer shook the umpire’s hand first to show his respect to the local hero.

[@nt9854]

Unmatched talent and class

[@ismaelgonzalez2351]

Suzuki had such a nice motor⚡🔥

[@pablokyrgios1060]

esto normalmente se borra e

[@barrygreen9341]

In idiomatic english you would say he had a good engine.

[@varioroof2268]

鈴木選手、生涯最高の試合でしょうね。現役は引退されたけど日本のテニスの一時代を築いて下さいました、今はスタテニで楽しませて貰ってます😊。

[@hobbes4583]

What a great goddam match. So many classic permutations that you just don't see anymore. Gotta love the wildcard system so a classy vet can challenge the young genius. What a treat for the fans. Thanks- for this upload!

[@unowen7591]

10:15 One of Roger's best roars ever. Sends chills down my spine.

[@frankfurter7260]

🙄

[@Wilantonjakov]

wasn't that good

[@Official.tadiwa]

Nothing compared to a Serena roar

[@Lraz1]

@@Official.tadiwait’s the crowd roaring genius

[@kuribaraken]

現地で観てました。最高の試合でした。鈴木貴男さん、フェデラー、ありがとう…

[@gab_ale]

I actually discovered Takao in the Star Tennis Academy youtube channel where he gives lessons.

[@jamiec2138]

Thanks for sharing. What a fight!

[@caprise-music6722]

Amazing performance by Suzuki. Federer really had bring his A game to win this one. Very nice match!

[@kakashi1300]

Just visually looking at these courts you can clearly see how fast they are, unlike the abomination that we have today.

[@NANICU]

At first I thought it was their AO match with the outrageous around the net pass from Roger. Takao played out of his mind on that day and would have beaten anyone else. We don't see serve and volleys like this anymore.

[@doctornov7]

They had history: second round at the 2005 Australian Open.

[@fsoubris]

I remember Suzuki played Roger during the 2nd round of the AO in 2005, lost in straight sets but really made Roger earn the win.

[@hungngo96]

goat Federer is so humble ❤❤❤

[@erisen960]

The serve and volley style was a surprise even for Federer. Nice shots from both sides. This is much more interesting tennis than baseline grinding in my opinion.

[@AlexIsUber]

Fed was a monster in 2006 too…

[@calinbiris47]

Then what is Djokovic? 😂 

[@nt9854]

​@@calinbiris47WHO TF CARES? How inferior you have to feel to always bring up his name? Jeez!

[@stevebeacher]

Nicely played!

[@Mrdezmiki]

More heart than today's garbage young gen. If he'd played in this current generation he would've been top 20 no doubt.

[@nightowldickson]

They also played each other in the Australian Open. Entertaining match. As some posters have mentioned Takao Suzuki has some good video contents on Star Tennis Academy on KZbin.

[@bonzwah1]

I basically learned how to volley from his lessons on youtube

[@samoht1702]

Players get like a 300% skill buff when playing with a home crowd. Zhe Zhi Zhang in the Shanghai Masters being the most recent example.

[@joeillingworth1141]

Those slices are deadly

[@LeJeanZone]

I don’t know why I never seen this match before, but Suzuki was GOOD!!!

[@ultimateclaw8096]

You know you have watched too much anime when you understand the Japanese commentators. Suzuki had a very good game plan and it almost worked. He has now gained a lot of fame after his retirement. (Japanese crowds, very respectful)

[@SpiritSlayer1]

109,149 views, 1.2k likes, 223 comments, 24k subscribers. Nice!!

[@janethu9169]

Beautiful.

[@Peter-hn9yv]

What I love about Roger was how he dealt with big servers

[@Friton3v1]

But he was a big server, his main weapon.

[@harkirehal258]

This match speaks to the depth of talent in men's tennis. that a player ranked 1000 can play toe to toe with a top 10 player.

[@limjungtaek8026]

鈴木さんのyoutubeを見たことがありますが、彼がこんなにすごい選手だとは知りませんでした。Great!!

[@armafinale]

やべぇ。まじで熱い。

[@robertlee7332]

Wow!!! What a match!!! That's my kind of Suzuki method.

[@casey4664]

It was either his best day, or Roger’s worst.

[@h4rder10]

you're either a roger fan or a roger fan.

[@SanithMohanCase305]

Happy to see the Sony Ericsson Logo again.

[@user-vi9iu7er8p]

Good job Takao

[@dannym6313]

People thought this was on carpet 💀

[@IronChefPeter]

I miss these types of players, wish we had some more play style variety on tour these days. I guess the technology won

[@fjordking]

What energy he played with

[@ryanps1598]

That court was like lightning Djokovic and Nadal wouldn't last 5 minutes 😂😂

[@lahire4943]

Djokovic has won his 3 finals against Federer at Wimbledon but ok

[@ryanps1598]

@@lahire4943 yes, a Wimbledon that has played like a clay court since about 2012, but ok

[@lahire4943]

@@ryanps1598 Good faith is not your strong point as I see

[@mikemoggerson6651]

@@ryanps1598 played like a clay court? Would Berettini, Kyrgios, Raonic, Kevin Anderson, make a clay final? The cope is obscene

[@ryanps1598]

@@mikemoggerson6651 the only true grass court specialist on that list is Kyrgios. Being tall and having a good serve doesn't instantly make you a grass courter. The point is those players, no players in fact, have to change their game at all to play at Wimbledon, which is ridiculous. Might as well play the whole tour on hard and be done with it

[@markolim8938]

Finally found a channel that acknowledges prime Roger Federer's dominance and for example season 2006 92-5 win-loss ratio, crazy. The GOAT was absolutely insane. Prime Roger > prime Djoker no doubt.

[@deltafalcon8339]

*former goat

[@markolim8938]

@@deltafalcon8339 Still the goat.

[@mariosellan4383]

For sure!!! Prime Fed is the best ever,ñ!!

[@youtubeaccount6561]

@@markolim8938 will u say that when djokovic has 28 slams? ...probably

[@suanhaupu3057]

92-5, and wins against how many 10 ten players?

[@homotechnium7628]

Suzuki played 1000 hrs of Virtua Tennis before in preparation for this match

[@richardcarson8385]

Great match Suzuki!

[@perfectchaos0078]

You don't see too many serve and volleyers, let alone serve and volleyers who are 5'9"

[@pino6koirino]

Takao defeated Srichaphan in early round of this tournament that tells you he was a great player even without this match. I can’t believe his highest ranking was 102.

[@h4rder10]

he looks like a very casual kinda guy. maybe thats why he couldnt put on the consistency needed.

[@pino6koirino]

@@h4rder10 Agree. Actually, he says he should have been more hungry to win. I think he was focused on the Davis Cup matches in Asia including tough matches against Srichaphan or Paes for instance and was on fire as usual. But on tour, he missed some chances to be a top 100 player. If he had won the GS 1st round match against Corretja who was world no.2 at that time in Melbourne in 1999, he would have made it. He lost the match despite had a serving for the match.

[@user-hc7yn5he8d]

鈴木貴男プロ史上最高の試合ですね The finest match ever for Takao Suzuki

[@fermarro5436]

Wow, i never heard of the guy, but he was definitely a real life Echizen Ryouma!!! Way to go Fed, saving the match

[@Thebtfgame]

Help me with my new project subscribing to this brand new channel: youtube.com/@DobleFalta00

[@russellbabirad9375]

Holy net clearance! 5:06

[@user-vg4zd1eb5i]

鈴木錦織より身長低いのにこのサーブはやべえな・・

[@Roddeeerrrr]

God I miss Federer, every point looks like he's painting a picture

[@arvraghu]

damn those serves at 2:01 & at 2:10 .. Unbelievable disguise. Its so difficult to serve it down the T on the Ad-side especially with that kind of a ball toss, almost behind his head. Any lesser player would have gone for the kick out wide.. Fed's serve is so special

[@mountaindew2656]

That thumbnail looked like Federer was saying " you almost got me lol i wasn't even trying"

[@jkj1459]

WELDONE ZUZUKI . CONGRATS FEDERER FOR HOLDING NERVES

[@robertotorres8976]

Wow suzuki

[@dirklbj]

Really good tennis from Sukuzi

[@kingcalm7161]

この時の鈴木は神

[@Nigmax1991]

Doesn't matter how good you are, One random dude from asia will come and kick your ass 👌🤣

[@user-yo7sy4eu8k]

スタテニって外人にもめっちゃ人気なんだな てか鈴木さんのプレーやばすぎでしょ

[@StrageSrebreniy]

Молодец Сузука

[@musicforthesoul5808]

Roger's backhand was the differentiator in this match i believe.

[@uh-dd9qb]

凄いな

[@xizhang5784]

it is him Star Tennis Academy-SUTATENI - Pro Tennis Lessons

[@pleaseenteraname1103]

The fact that he was never ranked top 100 ATP is beyond me. But I mean he got pretty damn close 102 ATP#

[@user-pr5fm1bq1h]

Suzuki is to loved by Japanese people‼️

[@claycoff87]

What a wonderful match. Loved the commentators too!

[@ProperLeg]

This guy was awesome! i swear.... if he had a few more inches in height.... he'd have been one of the best serve and volley players of that time.

[@johnrenehan7406]

The best serve & volley net players of yesteryear - such as mr Suzuki here and Fed himself - do not mind if they get passed ! The really good ones simply improve placement and tactics as the match wears on The modern game is downright boring by comparison to this

[@uwepietsch3877]

You always have to respect your opponent! It can be his/her "day" and you have to work hard. 😉

[@sethkang4410]

god damn i never seen anyone do this to roger.

[@spirg]

Almost

[@OSTSKIVAN]

No comment?

[@user-bq7rx4zo7z]

この試合の貴男はヤバい

[@aristotleolympiada4540]

Absolutely hate playing the Suzuki type of a player but full of admiration for such a unique and effective style.

[@brokeboy4559]

yeah...really annoying to deal with, but that's kinda why u respect it

[@dadsfreetimeclassicgaming1220]

Is there a reason why none of the highlights have him serving out wide lol.

[@joeillingworth1141]

Serve and volley is easy to beat if they don't have enough variety

[@difahilaga2889]

something I learned from this video don't play the rally game against better opponent !

[@grandpatzer]

Suzuki was a relentless attacker with a silky smooth slice backhand. He pushed Fed to his limits

[@BenBeckers]

Suzuki playing padel avant la lettre on the tennis court 😆

[@JaWznickc04]

Prime fed was a monster