this has got to be absolutely the right decision for federer in order that he is fully fit and fighting for wimby.

Ricky...can you answer this question please.....I had read that the grand slam points were to be raised to 2,400 points for a win...is this true?....as looking at the newly reigned champion....of FO....he has only received 1,000 points....and yet the masters series are only 1,000...so is it because the dropping of the points first before new points are added on? I just want to understand that system a bit more clearly...thanks in advance....

hey malteser, I'm a passionate rodge fan like u, I don't usually have time 2 say much but i have 2 say his victory has changed my life, i am sooooooooooooo happy! ur asking bout the points syhstem? Check out atptennis.com they can tell u about the south african airways oints system that is the official one!!!!!!!!!!

Thats smart. Fed has something new up his sleeve for Wimby and he doesnt want Nole to see it!

Nadal not playing at Queens definitely helped him to take this (right) decision.
But hey, watch out with Murray. He's getting closer and closer to Roger, and now he's got a big chance to win at Queens.

hey malteser1.

a win of a grand slam gives a player 2000 ATP ranking points. the finalist gets 1400. as federer was in the final last year of the FO he has to defend those ranking points. as he won the final he got 600 ranking points (2000-1400=600). nadal ofc also had to defend his 2000 ranking points from last years FO but wasn't successful. nadal therefor lost some 1810 ranking points by not winning the french open and more to that he only reached the fourth round.

Good call by Fed...I'm expecting Rafa to cut his schedule from this point forward as well...In the end I think it'll be better for him and for fans.

In a way, I would not mind having both Roger and Rafa take the Wimby off, rest recuperate. Clearly it is draining fighting non-stop all the time and worse I just don't want to see Fed ill or injured again nor have Rafa unable to play Wimby 100%.

And it would be as that poster Nylon said: a brave new world in tennis.

The fight would be ON for Nole and Muzz to capture grass, the coup de gras grass. Or maybe Soderling, Delpo, Gulbis (my personal fav ) :D

I think Roddick might handle Murray, as for Halle, you think now Nole will win but I think, he is burn to someone unusual. I think he is hurting mentally.

Hi Malty/Zoey! Greetings FEDfans!! "Love" be to our "Roger"! Our "FED" Our "CHAMP"!!! :) Not participating is Halle is smart. I did not expect him to be there. (He does not disappoint). Roger NOT play "WImBLEDON" zoey?!! No way! He has two weeks. The two weeks will give him plenty of time to rest, and have some fun. He must also draw and create a new battle plan for Wimby. He is well deserving of a little time off. Go Roger go!! :) Rest "baby" rest!!! LOL I'm off for a few hrs... Be back during the wee hrs of the night (European time).

good news , federer took the right decision ,

hope to see him the champion of this year wimbeldon :)

Zoey, Roger will never, and I repeat, NEVER, take Wimby off, not for any physical reason unless he is extremely physically limited. Remember Australian Open 2008 when he was clearly sick and struggling but yet refuses to give up? And this is Wimbledon, his most cherished GS.

Good decision for him to pull out from Halle - although that does mean he gets to play fewer matches on grass. I'm still all #$%$#%$# about the ridiculous shortness of the grass season.

Hahaa, I thought I would get thumped by sky or Malty on my comment.

Yes, I will not forget AO 2008 and the time after knowing something was wrong but not really having confirmation. Obviously all the "consecutive" wins take their toll after a few years.

My dream of all dreams is to get to Wimbledon. I love, love the grass tennis most. Maybe for Roger jr. :D

it saddens me that i wont get to see roger play but i guess in the long run this is probably a smart thing to do . I think this past week has been more emotionally draining than it has been physically for our champ ....

WIMBY 09 ... Its when we all wrongs to right :)

C'MON !!

lolethhh...thank you for explaining that to me.....i had read somewhere that the slam points were in fact 2400...and i had not taken enough points off before i added on! It makes much more sense now....

zoeeyy!!! homegirl! sky! homebuddy! Fedexfan!!!! yay! The gang back together.....definitely the right decision for our roge.......can you imagine the euphoria, the mental stress of those 3...five setters...the lead up the final....again and again...i marvel at 'our man'...filmstar federer!'
having a week off before practising for a week is a PERFECT move for him...it will take him a couple of days to adjust to grass....he has the match practice already stored in that fine athletic body....he just needs to get the mind sorted in terms of the next strategy for him.

i still think that rafa will play....i think the media hype from his camp is to 'put the fear out there'...will he/wont he.......its all very clever in terms of the suspense....but rafa loves wimby 'almost' as much as roger......he wil come back to try to defend his title....without rafa...it would not be as exciting.....so all rafa fans...take heart and am sure he will pull through to be able to play.....

C'MON!
Allez Roger!

It's Ok. Fed should just relax. He has nothing to lose and everything to gain. As far as I am concerned, he has already finished the race for 14 GS and everything from now on is just a bonus.

FED IS THE BEST!!!

y relax torres9..........dont u want federer to surpass sampras???...he has some things to gain......most of them have been accomplished!!!

vrael .....we want roger to surpass sampras ....win the calender slam...be no.1 for the next 2 decades ...:) however ..... we gota give fed a break ...everything after this is a bonus ...and i think he would consider it a bonus also . right now , i know for a fact the only thing that he wants and does not have is wimby back in his trophy rack .
he is 27 ( going on 28) and considering his style of play ..he has many more years to go .... so noooo pressure ....he has caught up with history ....time to leave history behind by making new ones now :)

C'MON !!! ( FedExpress moving on to #15 )

Hi Fedfans! Check out article by Steve someone on timesonline. Should give you gr8 joy!

Vrael, at the moment, not only Fed has the momentum but also a lot of players like Delpo, Gonzalez, Soderling is having momentum. And Murray, Djoker is gonna work extra hard to make sure they get to the semis. Even if Rafa is 100% fit, I wouldnt bet on a Fed-Rafa final. I predict that this Wimby will be an open affair and a final between Murray and Delpo will not suprise me.

torres9, couldn't have said it better myself. I think French Open this year has proven how OPEN the field really can be when certain players build their momentum, they can be literally unstoppable. If the mighty Clay King Rafa (he still is the Clay King for me and will always be I guess) can fall to Soderling, arguably an indoor-court specialist...I think anything, ANYTHING can happen at Wimby.

I'm, of course, really rooting for the Fed - for him to reclaim his beloved Wimby AND #15, but at the same time, I am really excited to see how will Wimby this year unfold.

French Open was really unexpected, will Wimby be the same? torres9 is right, we might not even see a Fed-Rafa final. Will it be Fed-Nole? Nole-Rafa? Rafa-Murray? Fed-Murray?

Hewitt-Safin? LOL

I hope you guys are right, it's a bit disappointing to see, as the rounds go by, how the same players reach semis and final.
Being a Nadal fan I'd like him to get to the final but if not, it's not the end of the world, let's have somebody else there who trully deserves it because of great playing (and maybe no Fed this time either)
Btw, I have a bit of a question that maybe somebody can answer:
What's the ATP regulation regarding a withdrawals prior to the tournament?
I mean how do they decide who to fine and stuff like that?
I'm not saying that Fed did anything wrong by deciding not to show up but he doesn't have any tangible medical justification, does he?
So, my question is, are players eligible to claim over-exertion or fear of injury for deciding against competing in a tourney without the organisers being able to do anything about it?
What say you?

Hehe,
I guess these rules don't apply :)

http://tennisplanet.wordpress.com/category/new-and-revised-atp-r ules/

I think when people on other threads still doubt federer's ability....i believe actually now they must be joking......only because i read this article and i think now...especially after the FO win........ and the tenacity and determination that federer displayed was truly.........awesome......This article is dated June 09, in Sporting Life........

The sprinter Maurice Greene famously has a tattoo of the word GOAT, standing for 'Greatest Of All Time', on his arm.

Don't expect Roger Federer to be heading out to get the same thing done this week, although he'd be fully entitled to do so.

For by finally winning the French Open title at Roland Garros on Sunday he has surely cemented his legacy as the best player to ever hold a racquet.

In lifting the trophy on Court Philippe Chatrier, Federer became only the sixth man ever - Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi being the others - to win all four Grand Slam titles in his career.

Just how difficult is to win on all the different surfaces is probably best summed up by considering the names not on that list. (and I think fedfans....fedhaters...you cannot argue this...there is a whole host of names of tennis players that are still regarded as GREAT....but in terms of 'federesqueness'....there's only ONE..

The likes of Pete Sampras, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg all never got to grips with the slow clay. Ditto John McEnroe. In contrast it was the Wimbledon grass which cost Ivan Lendl the full set, while Bjorn Borg never won away from Wimbledon and Roland Garros. And these are just the players from the Open era.

Federer has eclipsed them all - and is also now level with Sampras at the top of the all-time Grand Slam winners list on 14.

But even the biggest Sampras fan would surely struggle to argue their man's case to be the greatest now.

Federer's career Grand Slam is a great 'tie-breaker' to play in that debate and that's before we even leave the stats behind and talk about style.

The Swiss has a style that knocks Sampras' into a cocked hat.

I always felt Sampras was somewhat harshly treated by media and fans. Never loved like Federer is, the American was the total professional but showed little of his character. His style of play, certainly at Wimbledon, relied heavily on the best serve - first and second - the game has ever seen. It would be utterly foolish to suggest he had little else, but he didn't have Federer's all-round game.

Federer has produced a court craft better than anyone this pundit has ever seen. Some of his shots have to be seen to be believed; he literally plays some you would never have thought possible before.

Some will point out that racquet technology has stretched what is possible and that is certainly true, but what Federer has come up with is brilliance - and, with the possible exception of Rafael Nadal, it's not being produced by any others with the same state-of-the-art racquets.

I pertinently remember back in 2004 when Federer won his second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open almost laughing at Andrew Castle's suggestion that the Swiss could be become the greatest of all time.

Five years on and can honestly say I am happy to be proved wrong.

The entertainment provided by this master of his trade in the years since has taken tennis to new heights and attracted interest in the sport not seen since the era of Borg, McEnroe and Jimmy Connors.

And if you're still not convinced, here's a frightening thought to finish on - Federer is still just 27. Surely greater greatness awaits.

By definition GOAT is wrong, cause the future also counts, doesn't it?

ahhhh...shireling....we not gonna get into that argument again! read the posts honey and make your own judgments on it....there's always gonna be a range of opinions with no conclusive answer......but.....

THE FUTURE? what's that?....it doesn't exist! Only..... the present........you know....'tomorrow never comes'.......so on that basis.....Federer is the best....enough articles out there to support this......and hundreds of post across TT discussing it.....
Cheers fedfans!
C'MON!
Allez federer!

Yes, yes malt... I know, I know... I just don't see the point in self-indulgement this time (no offence) - we can only read so much about how great Fed is

Allez Federer? is this the new battle cry now or what?

Would "Current Greatest of all Time" be a better title, then? Because, in all honesty, that IS what Roger Federer is.

-Arvis

I'll settle for that Arvis :)
Or maybe "The Greatest of our Time" , how does that sound?

shireling....'the battle cry'.....

well...its kind of been a federer 'cyber family' motto.....you know you have yours for rafa...we have ours for federer and it's C'MON (posted initially by fedexfan)....and added to that...we have Go:Roger:Go....(posted by sky)...and Allez federer...(posted by me)...so it kind of is a combined battle cry...but it really worked at the FO and made laugh each time i saw the 'C'MON'...a feel good feeling....ya know!

you can describe federer anyway you want......shireling.......to me he will ALWAYS be the best.....end of...
Cheers fedfans!
xxx

Well for us Rafa fans is easy

VAMOS RAFA !!!! will do nicely - no variations needed :)

so...shireling...we are speaking from the same hymn sheet.....you have your battle cry for rafa....we have ours for roger.....job done!
C'MON!
Allez Federer!

hehe....malt and shireling...your conversation has me smiling ....battle cries huh ....
Never thought that would have been pin pointed by anyone ...very observant of you Shireling ...C'MONNN is fed signature phrase ...i like it cos it does not annoy his opponents cos there is not much of any body language and he says it when he is fighting himself out of a hole ...it just renewes my entire faith in him when i hear it ...C'MON !!!!!

Fed ...at this point has been labelled GOAT by almost all media sources ...but i think what carries the most weight is the fact that the people who are legends in tennis ( whom fed adores to death) have mostly validated his title as GOAT ...as a Fedfan ...thats what means the most to me ..on court to hear Agassi and McEnroe say it out loud for the first time was just amazing to hear ..

malt ...i love this quote from above .....

"And if you're still not convinced, here's a frightening thought to finish on - Federer is still just 27. Surely greater greatness awaits."


C'MON !!!!

yes, yes, yes.... *here we go again about the GOAT business*
Don't you just love us fans who don't have Fed as a favourite player?
Thx to us you get to devate and argue about things XP

shireling....C'MON! girl(?).....YOU love it just as much as US...without this debate going on..you my friend...would NOT be able to counter argue rafa's place amongst 'the greats'...which is why this site is sooooo FAB!...we can all differ, argue til the cows come home...but ultimately we are all swashbuckling, diehard rafa/roger fans......and we all love each other reeeallllyyyyyyy....don't we?
So....thanks to US shireling....we keep the roger/rafa debate bubbling along.....it's all good news from hereonin honey.....
C'MON!
Allez Federer!

shireling....C'MON! girl(?).....YOU love it just as much as US...without this debate going on..you my friend...would NOT be able to counter argue rafa's place amongst 'the greats'...which is why this site is sooooo FAB!...we can all differ, argue til the cows come home...but ultimately we are all swashbuckling, diehard rafa/roger fans......and we all love each other reeeallllyyyyyyy....don't we?
So....thanks to US shireling....we keep the roger/rafa debate bubbling along.....it's all good news from hereonin honey.....
C'MON!
Allez Federer!

I'll give you that malty :)
But maybe I disappoint you by telling you that I'm a guy, lol

Shireling..(lol) i like you...you are one tuff cookie! you can handle them because they are too much for me!(lol)

Thought for sure you were a chick, Shireling. lol
Im a dude :-)

Either way, I think your posts are mostly fair ( for a Rafan, hehee )

Don't b such a fraidy cat alik

woohoo Suisse choochoo! all board Fedexfan, #15

Zoey!!!! homegirl! how are you?!...2 weeks to go....surprisingly.....feeling pretty relaxed after all the emotional rollercoaster of french open...and being strapped to my chair has left marks on both wrists and ankles!! have been free of that bloody chair for 2 weeks now! Still...am happy to go through that all again! along with all the fedfans.....

shireling....no disappointment at all.....gender means nothing on this site.....
C'MON!
Allez Federer!

Shireling, your nick do sound like you are a girl. Reminds me of Darling or Shirley or Sheryl.

i am not scared of anything ..it is just that i don't want to get into arguments and constantly debate about one subject ALL the time(lol)
i try to say calm much as possible(lol)

well....alik...that's interesting...cos you been a part of the debate for a while now and also put your ten penny's worth in.....which is great news....but if the article is what we are debating and you don't wanna get into any arguments...

then its not a debate is it? bring something new to the table then so we can talk....it's all good fun....am pretty sure that people don't really mean to get personal and if they do...well....it's their problem really.......

don't be a 'fraidy' cat alik...xx

...legends who've proclaimed Roger the GOAT: Agassi, Sampras, McEnroe, LAVER...
Of course, we Fedfans don't need anybody to believe/proclaim what we have known in our hearts for a long time. Roger is the GOAT!

'I'm not skerd' (won't say who said that - but soon to be worldwide Rock Mega Star), but truly applies to our Roger. We don't need to read anything into his pulling out of Gerry Weber. He even said in an interview, he just had to go home and celebrate, right? And, there is no way in world Rog is gonna skip Wimbledon. No frikkin way! I can't wait!

Go Roger! You're still THE ONE!

Absolutely 100% agree with you rafterfan!
We fedfans know what he's talking about! I cannot wait until he walks on the court and starts playing the sublime tennis that he has treated us to in the FO...(even the scarier moments)...do you know...have thought a lot about him and how he performed at the FO....The guy has got PURE GUTS....the MENTAL STRENGTH that he possesses is incredible....to come back twice against Haas and then Del Potro...then to be scared within 2 inches of his life when that pratt came onto court....'a real monica seles' moment....he has to be THE most amazing guy on tour right now in terms of strength and courage...
C'MON!
Allez Federer!

Nope yer not a-skerd Rafterfan! lol

No fraidy "federites" ( stolen from fedexfan). Our Fed stood there and even sized up the wack job in sympathy. Sympathy. If you actually see Federer, Malt....please tell him how much we love him , his class, his everything...like, the way he is an example in life...

i would have forehanded that stage stooge cross-court... (simply on impulse)

...for a second, Fed looked like one of the Musketeers with a racket instead of a fencing sword! He is def. not 'skerd!'

zoey...don't you worry....me and fed...well...we're like that....(***malt crosses index finger over forefinger****)...I'll tell him exactly how we all feel about him....xx