Championship point for Djoker.

Congrats to fellow Nole fans. commies Fed fans.

The Serb reigns on Federer's turf.

I blame it all on his hair;)). He's been playing with the babies and goofing off and didn't get a proper hair cut!

Nole wins! Congrats to him and his fans. Another day for Roger and his fans.

great win for Nole....Roger had his chances, hats off to his fans

aw, poor roger having to do an oncourt interview right after the match. gah.

Once again congrats to Novak. Roger can't win all the time I think the last two years have shown us that but I would love for him to win Paris next Sunday.

Congrats to Nole and fans.
Very happy for him. A victory over Fed, regardless of the tournament, is pretty great.
Congrats to Murray and fans too.
Bring on Paris!

Oh well.

Fed, still a stunning year. Played badly today.

Congrats Djoker. You deserve some of the goodies as well.

Aw, Fed. :(

Not a heartbreaking loss though. Fed made way too many UFE's. He can get away with playing like that against Korolev or Rochus, not Djokovic.

Hopefully he'll work out the rust in Paris.

Hugs to my fellow Fed fans, and big congrats to Nole fans!

Congrats to Djokovic fans!

I don't expect much from Roger at Paris..he never does well there ever.

I'd feel better, if I didn't think this means Fed's going to lose to Muzz at Bercy.

Well done Nole. Dude is on fire, hauling those last minute titles. Not bad for someone who's had to fight back from the brink in his previous two matches.

At least this win keeps Novak ahead of Murray which is very important as well

*high fives fellow Nole fans*

Here's hoping that beating Fed in front of a hostile, bloodthirsty Swiss crowd will give Nole more confidence for the bigger stages. :)

Will there be rioting in the streets of Basel tonight?

Thanks for the links!

Too bad the last set was so one sided.

Congrats to Novak and fans, good win.

Hopefully, this will be good practice for Fed going into Paris and esp London.

Novak Djokovic is the Basel chapion in 2009, as he defeats Roger Federer, 6-4,4-6,6-2.
Congratulations to his fans. And girlfriend, since we are on it. Hmmm, nice going there:)
I think he was consistently the better player through this match, even if his level kept going up and dowen through it. Definitely the steadier player. Oh, and i liked his no-nonsense attitude, never getting bothered by what the crowd did or did not cheer.
Also, conmiserations to the millions...AND MILLIONS of Fed's fasn, although i think the guy couldnt ask for much more this season, i'm sure he wanted to win at home. I'm keeping my theory that he hadnt had the chance to test his best level in this tournament, and when he tried to get it, against an opponent that really asked him to do it, he was erratic, specially with the FH.
By the way, Nole is the king of the 500 tournaments this year, i think.

yup Feddie cant just walk on court and win, he needs matches, practice, focus etc., this is ok, now at least i know not to watch the tape delay later, sounds like a shanktastic day for Fed, disappointing but not totally unexpected given his lack of match play against this level of competition...

funny how novak's toughness only seems to show up in smaller events, when he's expected to lose, esp with Fed... everytime we think Djoker should win, he loses ...

So we're done, with a shank BH in unpleasing contrast to the shanked FHs earlier. Well deserved win by Djokovic, who had to cope with a back twinge. Congratulations to him and his fans, commiserations to Federer fans.

Djokovic won 97-87, or 53% to 47%. Clean kill. The crowd is very, very quiet.

It was a bit odd - 8 quality service games in a row by both players, then Federer DF at 15-0 in game 9 and the wheels fell off. Bizarre game 10, which Djokovic won because, frankly, someone had to. Federer hung in to win set two, without really lifting his game - then went away again in set 3. So, congrats again to Djokovic.

sblily: i thought the Basel crowd was pretty good. i'd rather have silence than booing like the french crowds.

Sunday Results

Basel
Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic defeated Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 6-2,6-3
Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer 6-4,4-6,6-2

Valencia
Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak defeated Marcel Granollers and Tommy Robredo 6-4,6-3
Andy Murray defeated Mikhail Youzhny 6-3,6-2

Bali - Aravane Rezai defeated Marion Bartoli 7-5(retired - left quad strain)

Fed Cup - Italy wins tie 4-0 over United States
Flavia Pennetta defeated Alexa Glatch 6-3,6-1
Francesca Schiavone defeated Melanie Oudin 7-6(2),6-2
Flavia Pennetta defeated Melanie Oudin 7-5,6-2
Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci defeated Liezel Huber and Vania King 4-6,6-3,11-9

Is it me? Or are Roger's losses much easier to take now for the Fedadorers, esp when he plays like crap. And I get a good chuckle when he get tetchy.

I TOLD you all not to write off the Djoker. Major congrats to Djoker fans, major comizzes to fellow Fed fans. He is gonna be WAY pissed at losing in Basel. Also not good points-wise. Saw not one point of the match...and probably won't get a chance to til later. Hope he is ok...no back 'issues' and it was just a case of the Djoker playing well and Fed playing like a slightly lesser Fed.

Hope the Djoker springs for pizza for the ball kids like Fed always did. Prolly not quite the same though.

guys......it is just one of those days for federer......not very surprising if you ask me considering the lon lay off......this was always a huge possibilty specially since djokovic is such a great player, ad the fact that he played well in asia and he is match tough.....this was always a strong possibilty and i think it is just great to see federer fighting and hanging in their when he is not playing his best......guys, think about it. does roger really need to win basel when he is already established as the greatest tennis player of alltime.....absolutely not!.......he may in fact decide to cancel paris and just play london or he may not even do that.....guys, roger is not going to be as motivated as he once was....it will be impossible, because when the dreamer has realized his dream where to you go from there.....won the french and broke the record at wimbeldon.....cannot get better than that.....look for roger to maybe win 1 slam next year and that will be about it.....i do not see anyone breaking his record in the near future and may not ever happen.....the reason i am saying this is people need to give him a break because we may not have him much longer with kids at home and the priorities obviouly changing.....talk to you guys in basel.....

Yeah ... congrats to Nole Fans, hugs to fellow Fed Fans. I like Nole, as well ... and if Fed is going to lose I'd rather it be to a top player. Couldn't see it, as my stream wouldn't load :P ... really figured the momentum was going to be with Fed after breaking to win the 2nd set, but ... guess not. ;)

Well, sblily, i wouldnt call the Swiss crowd hostilñe and bloodthirsty:)
They are way too polite for that.

It's written "hostile", you moron.
Anyway, time for me to go to the local stadium to watch some football and get depressed by it.
Later, everyone.

Weird that Djokovic changed into a different t-shirt. Still Adidas, but maybe he's checking out early.

Fed a bit glassy-eyed during the anthem. Hold it together, Fed, hold it together.

Nic - yeah, I wondered if the relative ease of Fed's march to the finals was gonna bite him a bit. And for sure Novak has been playing excellant...if occasioanally erratic ball. Good win for him.

c'mon Fed...on to Bercy...grab some points...Paris is NICE now, remember, lol.

Later all.

Lyon, Basel and Valencia started with so much promise for a home champion, but not to be.

Sorry Fed fans.
Nole, you take this confidence boost and run with it. Don't be a moron.

Funny ... anti-Feds complain when KADs whine that he lost, and now they complain when we don't whine. LOL What is it ... exactly, that you want us to do?

BTW, the two patterns to Federer-Djokovic matches are - Federer comes out fizzing, wins cleanly: Djokovic hangs in there, Federer starts to leak errors, Djokovic wins. This is not a knock on Djokovic - sometimes staying in the match long enough to induce your opponent to leak errors requires great fortitude. He's done well three times in a row to escape the cosh.

The Basel crowd giving Djokovic respectful applause, and a few bankers wondering whether they can do something nasty to his offshore accounts.

> hostile, bloodthirsty Swiss crowd

*giggles at the thought of this.*

is there such a thing? isn't that sort of like 'rowdy swiss fans'? :)

Roger buys the pizza whenever he gets to the final...the ballkids eat with him whether he is crying or giggling at the end of the final. Anyway, I hope Djoker joins the mourning meal...brings a ray of joy!

Andrew, don't you think Nole played a bad game in getting broken to let the 2nd set go? Agree though, Fed wasn't at his best in the decider.

Lol on the offshore accounts!. They are going to more of Djoker money into real estate...

that would be SO fun for the kids if nole hung around for the pizza. what a thrill to have both of them there.

and here's nole. trying for swiss german even for a wee bit

*hearts nole*

congrats Nole - and Murray won at Valencia ...very interesting

Love love the ball kid ceremony. They should do that at every tournament with young kids doing the running (not you, Monte Carlo).

Hello all. :)

Commiserations and hugs to Federer fans; happy congratulations to Djokovic fans.

Feel Nole really needed that. :) Although it's kind of sad for Roger to lose at home - it's his first tournament in six weeks, and I *think* his first match against a really top player - likely he just needs more match play. Don't think it's anything to worry about and he'll be nice and fresh for Paris and London. :)

and, YAY for Murray! And commiserations to Youzhny fans, too.

"Is it me? Or are Roger's losses much easier to take now for the Fedadorers, esp when he plays like crap."

thebigapple: I think you may be right. I'm sorry he didn't win but not bummed out.

evie - agreed. its just such a great way to capture the kids imaginations, and make them feel even more part of the game.

"not you, Monte Carlo"
Also, Madrid with their model ball women.

Speaking for myself, I hate, loathe and detest seeing Federer lose, but I see no reason to get shirty about it. You watch a player win, you have to be prepared to watch him lose.

I had hoped to see TMF today, but he didn't put in an appearance. Had Federer been able to summon TMF at will, today would have been the day, but credit his opponent for keeping him away - or maybe Myla and Charlene had something to do with it. Four in a row in Basel not to be, and the year end no 1 is still not quite signed and sealed.

sigh. i wish i had seen the murray youz match.... but couldn't focus on 2 matches and posting! like fed, am completely out of match shape. sigh. will definately need to be match fit for Oz... :)))

Somehow this loss does not rankle me. Must be the message in church today, or the fact that I am not as emotionally invested in Roger as I used to be. Boy, that French Open trophy sure does make this Federgirl feel good about losses like this. This tournament seems to be a really nice tournament and I like the little traditions. Perhaps other tournaments could do this that way the loser in a match does not get a chance to mope but takes part in a ceremony that focuses on someone else.

lol those bloodthirsty Swiss!

we all know that's left up to the Spanish fans, poor Berdych is still in therapy over their boorishness, it must have been like being at a Tea Party with Sarah Palin!

greenhopper: yes. Federer basically found that his attacking game hadn't been packed in his two bags. He was defending pretty well and using wide heavy topspin FHs as forcing shots, but the flat FH is his moneymaker - midcourt and IO. He missed at least a couple of those in the 5-4 game in the first set, and he then had to dial it back. What you then saw were some hopeful net attacks, but Djokovic's passing shots were too tough - mixed them up well, good pace and heavy dip.

Andrew, I like your steel. And I hope Roger feels the same way. For my part, I must resharpen by edge. Grrrrrrrr! I still get upset during the losing but at the end, quick recovery.

Anway, the year end #1 is a concern. He could still be overtaken. That would be a bummer.

er, what andrew said for this feddy fan too.

i'm more disappointed that TMF didn't come out to play.

fed nole playing well at the same time is a very very fun matchup, imo. this math was too scratchy, and just occassionally gave us glimpses of what could be. sigh.

But very nice win from nole. coming through those breakpoints is just going to feed his confidence. just what the dr ordered for him, particularly after the last 2 matches he had w/ fed.

The ball girls at Madrid are just a bad idea..cheesy stuff.

Federer is now about 1500 points up over Nadal: neither are defending Paris points, which have dropped off the rolling tally.

If Federer does at least as well as Nadal in Paris, I think he's guaranteed the year end no 1. If Nadal goes deep and Federer doesn't, London will decide.

bigapple: worst of all re the madred ball girls is that they are lousy at the job. you see more f-ups by them than in any other tourney. not to mention at least 2 fainting from standing in the heat 'cus none of them eat since they're models. i absolutely hate it.

Strike my last comment. Federer still has 200 points from last year's YEC: if he wins no matches in London and Nadal goes 100%, Nadal would be the year end no 1.

A win in New York would have made all this moot, *sigh*

Gather Fedadorers!

We must redouble our efforts to really get bothered when our Rog has a bad day. Andrew must be our example. We cannot slack off! Our boy may slack off himself and where would that leave us...supporting a mild Swiss ranked # 5!!!

Next time..more negative, angry vibes. Our boy must know we will be furiuosly dissappointed.

Congrats to Nole.
beating the best ever player when he's on the top of his game in the final and that all on his own home turf - is an achievemnt that will stick to the rest of your career/life.

What Nole now needs is to beat Rog at the GS finals somewhere in the world. (although he already did in the semi).

Nole, Muzza, DelPo...a new generation is knocking already.

Andrew: so neither roger or rafa earned points in paris? if you withdraw it's a zero?

How is the ceremony going? I left the third set to locate a statemenet of defense I managed to delete or what^%^evere during the third sets hysterics.

Poor Roger. That's going to sting quite badly for him, I'm afraid. It is his home town, and he hasn't lost that final in like, forever.

Bad day in the office, and great play from Nole.

mhm - kind of fun to have the yr end being decided so late! that hasn't happened for years. :) *frazzles*

ok TWibe - i'm going to go out and about on this bee-u-tee-ful day here in beantown! enjoy the rest of your day!

*waves adieu*

well a career Slam, French Open and 7th Wimby tend to blot out losses like this, after a two month break, against a hot opponent, this is nothing to fuss over anymore, thats for sure...

he needed match play and he got it, im more concerned about an early loss after a big layoff, where its liek youre starting all over again.. he got the points and match play to keep him in firm command for NO. 1, which is all anyone remembers in the history books at this ppoint

It's been a pretty good year for Roger anyway, whatever happens next, no? - beating Rafa comprehensively in Madrid, winning the FO and a career slam, winning a 6th Wimbledon for a channel slam, and regaining the #1 ranking...not too shabby, imo. :) Oh yes and beating Djokovic and Murray in Cincinnati (or was it Montreal?) to take that MS title, too.

Much as I'd like it to happen - I just can't see Rafa winning in Paris and London. He's just a bit too vulnerable at the moment (going by evidence of Shanghai play).

did I miss a Wimbledon? ;-)

that new generation has been knocking for three years now! lol

of course as the years go by, at some point, this will be true, unless Rogie can rent a Time Machine ...

i hardly think the tennis world is gonna be set on fire by Muzaah and Nole battling it out for Slams, by the way, maybe some die hard tennis nuts get excited by that, but the world at large is gonna snooze...

Tim: let's hope by that time a really exciting will come on the scene to spare us the snoozefest of Murray v Novak. Although were that to come to past I would be squarely in Novak's corner.

6th Wimby, who can keep track anymore, right? lol

that should be exciting player

I keep thinking about Tiger Woods and I wonder if his fans freak out the way Fed fans do, i mean if ROger had Tiger's Slam record of late, talk about a meltdown!

Roger's best is SOOO good, when he plays average, its' like, what's wrong with him?? that said, Id like to see a good week next week, should have a great few last weeks of tennis to enjoy...

Posted by Andrew 11/08/2009 @ 12:09 PM

Strike my last comment. Federer still has 200 points from last year's YEC: if he wins no matches in London and Nadal goes 100%, ...
-------------------------------------

...and neither is going to happen. (Unless Rog gets injured before...).

Now since new drug test regulations and inforcement, Rafa is least likely to win any of the bigger tourneys. That explains his RECENT (I.E. this season) "illness" and "injuries". Who's he going to beat in Paris and London??

thebigapple - lol

If you insist.

I am outraged. Appalled. Disgruntled. Look at me when I talk to you, Mr Federer. This simply will not do. 15 you say? Career slam, you say? Pfft. Piffle. Meaningless, in comparison to taking this match today. There are h2hs to be caught up on. Fist size diamonds to be bought. What about 74-6? Huh? Huh! Clearly you've just been bandying abou since then, spending all your time at spas and pushing the twins around the lake in their LV strollers. And every couple of months deciding to turn up to keep the semi final record alive. What's is a semi final record anyway? Celebrating mediocrity, I say. Get your act together, Mister.

yup if the tennis world is ruled by Murray and Djoker, everyone would fall asleep except die hard tennis fans, ugh we'd be right back to 2002 when Hewitt was NO. 1...

I see Blake has won his first round match against Santoro in Paris- thanks for the point James. Can he make a run here and beat Murray in the second round?

I love watching Murray. Just thought I'd throw that out there. :)

Anyway...I'm finished for the evening. Bye, everyone. :)

ceremony: looked like he was going to lose it for just a few seconds there after he talked to the tourney directors and stepped back, holding that piddling plate. but then gathered himself. thanked everyone and said he would be back next year.

hasn't nole been in more finals this year than anyone else.. (or am i dreaming)

Posted by Tim (Year of Red Rogie ) 11/08/2009 @ 12:19 PM

i hardly think the tennis world is gonna be set on fire by Muzaah and Nole battling it out for Slams, by the way, maybe some die hard tennis nuts get excited by that, but the world at large is gonna snooze...
------------------

don't snooze too long. as you might wake up in the sweat. the very recent GS final tells me that. (you know what happened to Red Rogie, less then two months ago at USO).

tyhe clock is ticking, and by every tick Red Rog is gonna face another Red Hot Kid beating him at the GS. final or R16. do not forget that he Wimby in the fifth at 16/14 TB.

thebigapple: my cats are still nervous, old chum. But my point (and I do have one) is this - we can personally get irritated, frustrated, distressed, unhappy and what have you over a loss. But gumming up TW with whining isn't going to change the result, so why bother? Congratulate the winner, commiserate with fellow fans, move on.

I hoped the season would end with wins in Basel, Paris and London. If it ends with wins in Paris and London, I'll pull myself together and make the best of it. :-)

No TMF = lose against a player of Nole's caliber, even when the Serb is being a bit inconsistent.

Hopefully, Roger will hit the practice courts hard over the next week looking for that missing forehand. He really needs to at least semifinal in Paris as some more points insurance. He's now 10,355 with the Basel points, while Nadal is 8,845, which as Andrew noted is 1,510 to the good.

I think it's deeply unlikely either Roger or Nadal will win Paris, but 360 points for a semi wouldn't go astray, 600 for a final better.

"Now since new drug test regulations and inforcement, Rafa is least likely to win any of the bigger tourneys. That explains his RECENT (I.E. this season) "illness" and "injuries". Who's he going to beat in Paris and London??"

I thought this kind of moral and intellectual rubbish was forbidden here...

Yeah I've changed my mind. Once roger goes further than the QF I'll be satisfied. Of course I would like him to win the WTF just to finish off the year on a really good note.

Red Rog lost to the first seeded player in Basel. Once Nole learns not to back off every time after he got his lopponet squzzed to the wall, Rogi is gonna lose every single tournament Djokovic enters.

If i were Djoko's coach I would only teach him to stick to his guns (and not back off?!) once he pinns his opponent to the losing hook. That's how he lost majority of his tournaments...

He does best when under pressure. That explains why he successfully comes back from being behind for so many times. The guy has shots. The killer instinct is what he is missing.

I thought this kind of moral and intellectual rubbish was forbidden here...
-----------

rubbish or not, but the two circumstances heavily coincide. Can you explain that? Why did he change his sleevless shirt and goaty pants (that revealed his muscles) as of starting the new drug testing policy? He was so healthy before, wasn't he?

Congrats to Novak,Lollipop and other Novak fans congrats too

Bad luck Roger

Sorry i missed the match,type pad was slow.

Congrats to Italy for their Fed Cup victory

asdaja, YOU might be one of those die hards who will enjooy it, and thats great for you, but i cant see them setting the sports world on fire, not by a long shot, but if they turn you on, thats great!

Andrew, your cats could be relaxed. Federe is gonna be YE #1. for sure. i see nobody to take him down now.

Do not the ATP give some ranking points this year for playing Davis Cup matches? If so, maybe Nadal could get the trophy and the number 1 at the same time...

I meant:

DOES not the ATP give some ranking points this year for playing Davis Cup matches? If so, maybe Nadal could get the trophy and the number 1 at the same time...

I also see Murray won final as well

Good for him,he needed the match play as well.

and thats the other thing I thnk of re Nole's worlwide appeal, when he wins he tends to push people's faces in it, and demand to be adored, and if people dont he gets annoyed, it happened after Oz and I hope he's learned from that ... it was a big turn off, Rog and Rafa both are totally humble about their wins and may enjoy their nationality, but they dont force it on anyone either..

"rubbish or not, but the two circumstances heavily coincide. Can you explain that? Why did he change his sleevless shirt and goaty pants (that revealed his muscles) as of starting the new drug testing policy? He was so healthy before, wasn't he?"

Obama's electoral victory and the new drug testing policy also "heavily coincide". Can you explain that?

Some tennis fans can be some paranoic...

That was 'so paranoid'.

Too many unforced errors. Too little time to reverse the tide. Very sad... onward!

Annie I saw your post to me regarding Monaco,maybe they played juniors together something like that? not sure there.I will ask AA when she comes on next,maybe she knows.

azdjaha, nole fans like you are the ones who said 'the king is dead' two years ago! u simply cant accept the fact that NOle is human and can lose ... didnt you learn anything the first time around, humility is the ticket here, not arrogance... NOle got burned after Oz because he got arrogant, i dont think winning basel is exactly the stuff legends are made of... its a nice event for Fed because its home, but its not a big event, nothing but the Slams count for much historically speaking, fed's work was done in paris and wimby, and even 6 straight Open finals gets him a notch in the books...

basel doenst exactly cut it, its forgotten tomorrow...when Paris starts...

Nole won? geez can't believe I missed it. Good thing I recorded it....prolly watch the TTC replay today.

So happy for him. Only saw the first and half of the second set. Wasn't great stuff from Nole, but just glad he could get the win, as its prolly a nice confidence booster. Ajde Nole!

.com: Obama's electoral victory and the new drug testing policy also "heavily coincide". Can you explain that?
--------------------------------

Obama?? lol...are you on ome kind of drugs or trying to imply something?

now read again, in case you missed it:

Posted by Azhdaja 11/08/2009 @ 12:25 PM
Posted by .com 11/08/2009 @ 12:39 PM

...in case you trying to provoke something, good buye.

well, losing on his home turf hurts. however, Roger has a chance to go to Serbia Open and nail/revange Nole there.

lolipop Well congrats,type pad was soo slow,I wanted first to watch the Fed Cup,there wasnt any streams then when got one were slow so I just went to bed.

I agree good confidence booster for Novak.See how he goes in Paris indoors.

I feel sorry for that ol' swiss lady (we communicated through hand gestures and international words (Disaster/Perfect). I speak English and Hebrew, she spoke French and German. That made for some interesting discussions.

To watch Roger lose two finals in a row live is painful.

Dont often agree with Tim, but his post regarding Murray v Novak contending for Slams is spot on. I have tried ever so hard to see what it is about Murray's game that have people drooling but there is just absolutely nothing about his game. Not one thing, and I will not even bother to talk about his personality. Novak I like because he does have a nice personality and his game when it is on is very fun to watch (the chest thumping I can certainly do without), but Murray. Certainly not my cup of tea.

Azhdaja,

It is called irony. I guess this is too subtle for your psychotic mind...

The problem with Nole's majors record is not so much that he's only got one (which is one better than most guys) but that he's only made it to one other final (US Open 2007). So three years, 12 majors, and he's only made it to two finals in total. And to NO finals of the last seven majors.