:yahoo:

ROCKING ROGER! roflmao

I keep thinking of Rockin' Robin by Jackson Five now and imaginiing Fed dancign to it on court! roflmao

I have to say, great as Roger played, the belly flop at the end was pretty pathetic! roflmao

You'd have thought he'd have learnt by now! He's had enough practise! roflmao

roflmao I suppose he has to fake it a bit as he is so used to winning! Acting classes maybe ..... :D

He should have done the flying smash and fell to the floor in the same movement - doesn't matter if he hurt himself, the AO's four months away! roflmao

roflmao True! Shaem on Roger for not finishing the season in style!

Well, at least that makes up for Paris! Well done Rog :bow:
He's so good its scary

A bit of an anticlimax now ! Whens the next decent tournament ?

Bet the american fans wernt pleased about Roddick losing!

Give Andy a break guys!! he got to the final which has saved his year he played great to get to the final and for 2 sets he pushed Federer hard he could easily have won the 3rd set and then who knows? Federer was the deserved winner but A Rod is back at the top and long may this continue

No offence, but I don't think anyone has had a go at Roddick. I think he put in a creditable perfromance and yes he pushed Federer more than expected, and yes as you say anythign could have happened. But really Roddick could not keep that level up as most can't against Fed, adn then there can only be one winner.

Im a Roddick fan too, so its hard when both your players are in the final !
One has to lose. :(
I really want Federer to beat Sampras 's record, though so was rooting for him. Andy did play really well, what an improvement he's shown since Connors took him over !

I rate Federer how can you follow our sport and not? and I admore everything about him but had to be loyal to my player besdies growing up Sampras was my idol and I was hoping his record would be safe but I have to accept now its just a matter of time till the Slam record goes to Federer, I do feel though that the year end number 1 record will likely stay with Sampras

Yeah Connors was some player, and he is certainyl a good person to help Roddick or any player for that matter.

Good points Ark, but there are a few people who claim to love tennis who seem to fail to appreciate Federer. Certain trolls of course don't count!!

I think A-Rod's confidence will be hugely boosted by the USO, and any supporter of his should of course be loyal to him.. I personally hope that he can push himself to the max with Connors' help, and continue his good form.

Re: Sampras' record.. well, it does look as if it could be broken by Federer, but it is likely to take at least 2 years, and anything can happen over that period.. That phrase about counting chickens and eggs springs to mind..

Unless injury prevents him from doing so, I can't see there being any way in which Roger won't beat both the No.1 and Grand Slam records!

I can see Nadal falling off No.2 next year - Players are beginning to work him out, even if Fed himself hasn't! roflmao

I agree :ok:

I think the six consecutive YE#1s might be difficult to break though if Fed has on off year and a clay court specialist has a stunning year, you never know. As wasn't Sampras younger than Fed when he first started being number one.

I'm not sure Sampras ever looked in such command of all of his matches as Fed does though - IMO, Federer has:

- The best forehand
- The best backhand provided he's not playing Nadal!
- The best net play of the elite bunch (Henman and other serve-volleyers may be better volleyers, but aren't ranked high!)
- The most accurate serve that delivers when it really matters
- Fantastic defensive skills
- A mental edge over most of the field
- No real weaknesses in his game

Whereas with Pete you could say he had:

- The best Forehand
- The best serve of all time possibly
- Mental strength in abundance


Fed has more going for him than Pete IMO :)

I like you and a lot fo your posts but here you are talking alot of tripe.

Yes Federer is a Modern Great but to tell me that all Pete Had going for him was his serve (which you accept was the best of all time), his forehand and his mental stength, seems like almost a selective memory.

Petes serve was deadly accuruate and bailed him out of occasions on numerous occasions much like you said of Federer Pete was pretty much identical in his skill in this respect.

Backhand ill accept was a relative weakness and while its meant to be for Federer as well he does have the stronger backhand of the two.

As for net play im shocked that you have put Federer in there he can serve volley but still isnt the most comfortballe there and does make a lot of basic errors.

Sampras had an amazing net game one of the best of his generation along with Pat Rafter and Edberg earlier.

So the changes id make to what you said is Serve ability on big points they are equal and net skills is Petes Strength not Federers given that they come out pretty much equal

Ark, unless I read the post wrong, I don't think it was comparing Federer to Sampras directly, more Federer to his peers and Sampras to his. (ie Federer is the best at pulling out big serves on big points now, while Sampras was the best at it in his day). I still think it's pretty even between the two players, but Sampras would probably be more appreciated for his netplay than Federer. Then again, he was often following in the best serve ever, which should make that first volley a little bit easier! Federer's recent record shows much more dominance than Sampras ever did, but I think this is down to the change in the game - the difference in court surfaces is now pretty small, so Federer has been able to adapt his style for the best results across all surfaces, whereas when grass was like glass and clay was like, well, clay, Sampras had to either drastically change his game to cope with the change in surface, or sacrifice success on the slow stuff to ensure continued success on the grass and hardcourts. Comparisons will always be made, but it is different now to the way it was ten years ago, just like it was different ten years ago to the way it was in the 70s and 80s. We need Walking With Dinosaurs technology to see what a match between the two at their peaks would be like....