Congrats to Raonic for his 8th title today when he defeated Federer 6-4, 6-4. I watched the second set where Raonic took an MTO early on for a back problem. In the following game, he served three or four double faults which gave Federer a break point.
Federer then hit one of many backhand shanks on break point. Raonic looked injured but Federer failed to take advantage. The commentator was also constantly making excuses for Federer, saying he had the flu.
That had me wondering what was wrong with Federer when he destroyed Kamke and Thiem. It’s much more likely that Federer is declining due to Nadal’s recent improvements. That has always been the pattern.
A serious threat again
But it is still early days. This loss doesn’t mean that Federer will have a worse year than in 2015 but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it does. Federer’s mind seems to be unravelling. He was hitting many of those backhand shanks on important points which are a sign of low confidence for him.
I think Djokovic has a lot to do with this. In the big matches against Federer last year, Djokovic kept winning the big points and after a while that must have taken a toll on Federer.
Federer’s head just doesn’t seem to be in it right now. He was poor against Dimitrov too. And no, I don’t buy the flu nonsense. We will see if he can get things together for Melbourne though. It’s not too late to make a good run there, but off the top of my head, I can already think of four guys who can beat him.
Federer appeared frustrated and angry out there
I certainly don’t think he is a favorite for the title, but you never know. I just know he has to improve from Brisbane or he is looking at another early exit.
As for his new partnership with Ljubicic, how ironic is it that Ljubicic coached Raonic before he coached Federer? It is not exactly the start the partnership would have wanted but like I said before going from Edberg to Ljubicic was a step backward.
But we will see. Maybe it was just a bad start and they can make up for it in Melbourne.
Wawrinka Wins 4th Chennai Title
Congrats to Stanimal who won Chennai again by defeating Coric 6-3, 7-5 in the final. He is probably the second favorite for Melbourne but if Djokovic keeps his form from Doha up no one will touch him.
That is a big if, though. It would be better for Djokovic to just forget about Doha completely and start over in Melbourne as if he has everything to prove. And knowing him that is exactly what he will do.
I thought it was nice how Djokovic didn’t look like his old self until the final and then shocked the tennis world again. As a fan that is good to see but it’s never a good thing to get cocky and assume things.
If Stan plays peak tennis we have seen that he can defeat Djokovic both in Melbourne and Paris so becoming complacent won’t be a good idea.
Still a serious threat
This week there are events in Sydney and Auckland. I see Thiem plays in Sydney so I will keep an eye on that but I won’t be making any posts. The Australian Open begins next week so I will do a draw post at some point and take it from there.
It’s been a great start to 2016 tennis wise and I look forward to the first slam of the year. I am looking forward to seeing what Djokovic’s form looks like in the early rounds as well as Federer’s.
Will Djokovic steam roll through early rounds? Will Federer’s form improve from Brisbane and the indoor season?
Can’t wait to find out!
The
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