As my long time readers will know, I usually make a follow up post when I have criticized Roger, being easier on him the second time around. In my last post I felt it was strange that Roger played Davis Cup after stating that he was exhausted and needed a break. Thank you for all your contributions. Thank you for sticking around and it’s my off weekend so I have some time to write a post in response now. I just thought it was strange that Roger said after Davis Cup that it doesn’t matter all that much to him, and that he mostly plays Davis Cup to be with his friends. Well why doesn’t he take a break and be with Mirka and the twins?!

But Roger is after all the GOAT of scheduling and decision making so it’s not wise to second guess him. Although I’m still not convinced he made the best decision by playing Davis Cup, I will give him the benefit of the doubt. It’s not like Switzerland is going to win the Davis Cup anyway. Roger can’t commit to play every tie and the Swiss team doesn’t have enough depth. I guess he felt he doesn’t want to completely dessert his country and that playing Davis Cup would allow him to relax a bit with his friends as well. Roger looked very disappointed after losing to Berdych in New York. Confused even.

Maybe that loss caused him to make the wrong decision. Or maybe he just needed to play Davis Cup with his friends. Who knows. The difficulty with being Roger is that everyone wants a piece of him. I’m amazed how well he has done to please everyone and still be #1 in the world. It can’t be easy to be pulled in all directions all the time. Having said that, I’m not sure playing exhos in South America at the end of the year was a wise decision either. I know he has never played in South America, but can’t it wait a bit longer? It’s been a demanding year for Roger and at age 31 he surely wants to get all the rest he can afford.

I just think the fact that he got #1 back was very hard work and is so exciting at age 31 that he must hold onto it for as long as he possibly can. But maybe he feels breaking Sampras’ record amount of weeks at #1 was enough as well as winning #17 at Wimbledon. I mean we couldn’t have asked for more this year. He achieved the two most important things. To ask for more is bordering on insanity. I mean there were times when we thought he would never achieve these two things, so we need to be grateful. Yes I would love for him to at least end the year ranked #1 after losing in the quarters at the US Open, but I suppose Roger can’t have every record in the book, just like he doesn’t have Olympic gold in singles and probably never will.

Having said that, the season is not quite over yet and as we have seen so many times in tennis, nothing is set in stone. It looks like Roger will play Shanghai from what I’ve read on RF.com. I don’t think he will pull out again after pulling out last year anyway. Making the trip all the way to the east is far from ideal, but that is the price he pays for having played Davis Cup. If he didn’t play Davis Cup he would be much more rested now, and going to Shanghai would not have been too taxing on him. I think he will now probably have to skip Paris. I don’t see him skipping Basel, and he is sure to play in London.

Basically Djokovic just has to show up in the rest of the events now and he will end the year ranked #1. But what I wanted to say with this post is that I was quick to draw conclusions in my last post and that Roger has never made any rash decisions. He knows what is best for him and I’m not gonna second guess him. But most importantly he has had a terrific year so far that I could only dream of when 2012 started, and I am content with what he achieved. Whatever more he achieves until the end of the year will be just gravy. Thought I’d add a poll just for interest sake.

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http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/wounded-federer-wants-break-tennis-091918062.html

“I need a holiday badly,” Federer said after leading the Swiss to a Davis Cup play-off win over the Netherlands.
“I’m wounded, tired, and exhausted and need some time off right now and see where I go from here.
“Nothing has been decided for the rest of year, even though there is a plan in place, that plan might change. I need to go back to drawing board to see what’s important.”

First of all, let me say that Roger helped the Swiss Davis Cup team to win 3-2 against the Netherlands by winning both his singles matches against De Bakker and Haase respectively, both in straight sets. He did lose his doubles match with Wawrinka, however. I’m not even sure why he played doubles, as it would have tired him out even more. I’m glad that the Swiss won but let me say that I think playing Davis Cup was a big mistake. I even read somewhere that Roger said that Davis Cup doesn’t mean that much to him and that he just plays so that he can be with his Swiss teammates who are his friends(He really said this. I just can’t find the link).

This makes no sense at all. So he would rather spend time with his friends than end the year ranked #1? As you can see above he is exhausted. And the Roger we know cares more about personal achievement than winning for a team. Someone told me that if he doesn’t play Davis Cup he’s got the whole nation of Switzerland on his case. But so what? He knows he has meant more to Switzerland than any other person probably just by concentrating on his personal career. Why would he care what people say? By playing Davis Cup he has all but ruined his chances to end the year ranked #1.

This is something I find hard to understand. He is exhausted and will surely skip Shanghai now. If he does not then he will have to skip Basel or Paris, which means he will not end the year ranked #1 and equal Sampras’ record. Shouldn’t this be a priority? This is one very important record that he has not equalled or broken yet. But not just that, if he would end the year on a high and go into 2013 as the #1 ranked player in the world! I really don’t understand this. This is so unlike him. Roger has always been someone who thinks long term and surely he wants to ‘win’ 2012 and thereby enter 2013 as the man to beat.

By playing Davis Cup Roger has seriously jeopardized his chances to do that. Djokovic has gained momentum since the US hard court season started and he will probably end the year ranked #1 now. Since Djokovic lost in the US Open final Roger still had the chance to be the best player of 2012 at age 31. Yes, Djokovic has the better record in slams, but he won the same amount of slams as Roger and Roger won the Olympic silver while Djokovic didn’t get a medal. If Roger won the Masters Cup and ended the year #1 he would surely have been the best player of 2012. He has to stay on top of his rivals.

By playing Davis Cup it seems to me he is giving his main rival right now a window of opportunity. Knowing Roger he will not jeopardize his health right now by playing the four events he has scheduled for the rest of 2012. So I just don’t understand his decision to play Davis Cup. What’s your thoughts on this matter? The floor is yours.

Congrats to Murray on his first slam slam title. Believe it or not, I am happy for him. I’ll be the first to admit that I wrote him off after the Olympics. I just go by historical facts until I’m proven wrong. Having said that, my readers will know I’ve changed my attitude about Murray since the beginning of the year. I was always very negative about him, saying he would never win a slam. But since the beginning of the year I got tired of bashing him and stated that his partnership with Lendl could just be the thing that changes his luck. I just felt that even the guy I disliked the most deserved a break. We all do.

I thought Roger would win the US Open. It felt like destiny once again, but it wasn’t to be. A very awkward opponent for him in Berdych stood in his way. It was unfortunate because I felt Berdych did Murray a huge favor. I think Roger would have beaten both Murray and Djokovic. And as expected, Berdych was only a shadow of the Berdych that faced Roger when he played Murray. He won the first set and then just disappeared until the fourth set where he choked the tie break away. It was really disappointing to see him play so well against Roger and then falling flat against Murray. It’s like he only plays to beat Roger and not to win slams.

In the other semi Djokovic lost the first set against Ferrer, looking like a huge upset could be in store. But rain interrupted play, they came back the next day, and Djokovic breezed through the next three sets. I still felt Djokovic was the favorite for the final, but also that this might just be Murray’s moment. When Murray won the first set 12-10 in a dramatic tie break I felt even more so. But he still had a long way to go. When he won the second set 7-5 I thought he would win for sure. But Djokovic wasn’t done. He fought back and won the next two sets 6-2, 6-3. It was far from over. But Murray seized the moment and broke Djokovic twice in the fifth set to silence the doubters.

The match itself wasn’t of a very high quality. In the first set both players looked very nervous and did a lot of pushing. It was a good final as far as drama goes but as far as quality is disappointed. I know if Roger was there, pushing would not have been tolerated by him. But of course Berdych was bashing winners at will. Anyway it was nice to see Murray finally break through after all the criticism he received. Even if you hate the guy you got to be happy for someone who received so much criticism, endured, and then finally proved them wrong. Like Lendl he finally broke through after losing his first four slam finals.

I think this title will open the floodgates and we could well see him win multiple slams from here on. In a sense the Fedal era ended at this US Open and the Djokoray era dawned. But of course Roger is still #1. The fact that Murray won is good news for Roger. Djokovic lost 800 points by losing to Murray. This gives Roger a chance to still end the year ranked #1. So all in all I’m happy with how the US Open turned out. Ideally Roger would have won the title, but I’m happy for Murray and the fact that he won means Roger can still end the year on a high. If he ends the year ranked #1 it would really cap off a fantastic year.

By ending the year ranked #1 he would equal the only impressive record that Sampras still holds by himself. This makes the rest of the year interesting in terms of tennis. There is everything to play for still if you are Roger. Roger has a lot of points to defend as he won Basel, Paris, and London last year, but he is playing Shanghai as well which will give him a chance to hold onto that #1 ranking and end the year #1 for a record 6th year. I’m positive and excited about what lies ahead. In a sense I am glad things turned out this way, because if Roger won the US Open he would have had the #1 year end rank pretty much secured, and the rest of the year wouldn’t have been that interesting.

I think Roger will be very motivated for the rest of the year now. His favorite indoor season lies ahead. He will have a great chance of winning the title at every event he has left to play. Especially at Basel and London. It would be awesome if he could win the Masters Cup for a 7th time and thereby clinch the year end #1. That would really cap off a fantastic year in the best possible manner. The dream is on once more…

Ps. Roger announced that he will play Davis Cup against the Netherlands this weekend. Maybe a bit of a surprise given that he is playing Shanghai this year. I guess he is still feeling pretty fresh. It also shows that the US Open loss didn’t hurt him much and that he is ready to take on the world once more!