ladyjulia... don't mean to lecture... and I understand "heat of the moment" etc... still, the one thing Federer does know how to do, having demonstrated it on at least 16 occasions, is get the ball over the net "at an important point." Anyway... I'm off to the movies... regret my intrusion, I always forget how comments sections are for immediate reactions, regardless how kneejerk, to immediate events...

2 DFs in this game as Murray is trying for big 2nd serves

"Federer seems a bit like the player of 2002 who had lots of options on his shots and couldn't pick the right one."

Andrew-- Exactly right. I wonder if it has to do with a drop in confidence this year.

Thanks Arun...its working now.

The commentators were better on the stream but the espn3 dosen't freeze.

Oh well...can't have everything.

About Roger perspiring; it is wicked hot out there; I went down the street to pick up my daughter from her play date and my tee shirt was sticking to me with sweat.

I feel for these guys.

"Whatever happens, I'm satisfied, Roger's had a good week."

+1, It has been better that I expected.

TripleF
That's positive thinking!!!

Tim (Outlaw the Moonpie!) like Muzz's game for the most part? what what what? I thought you were a Fed+Delpo guy and hated pushers like Rafa and Muzz with passion? Why sudden change of heart? Don't discriminate one pusher from the other, man.

YAL,

Sorry didn't mean to offend you.

Andy Andy, keep your cool, its just one shot; more lessons from BFF Rafa please!!

for a second I thought Fed was going to try a FH dropshot on that point for game. and it would have been a horrible idea.

That's it Fed, bring out cranky Andy with more dropshots ;-)

Three holds start set 2, Federer 2-1 on serve. Federer seems to have regained his rhythm on serve, but that's 'cos Murray's stopped whacking it. And Murray's service game was odd - he's started trying to whack his second serve, yielding a 2nd serve winner and 2 DFs.

Kim
Merci. It is overflowing the ether and reaching the courts ...watch it.

Andy played both power and touch yesterday, which I like, always have always will ...

raining again, play is stopping

rain delay...

Hmm...it will help Muzz calm his nerves...

LOL, the genius ESPN announcer just said the match between Andy RODDICK and Roger Federer is coming up. To his credit, though, he did correct himself and pronounce the right name the 2nd time around.

who's in Toronto? does this look like a long one? grandpa could use a break i guess, right?

of course, Paul Annacone isn't actually there when there are rain delays...

One thing that's certain these 2 years from Fed...UFEs do happen a lot on neutral position points..it used to be when Fed neutralizes, the point used to be invariably his (apart from Rafa matches). One great shot later, he would be commanding the point...as he defends to get to neutral position the point would be over in Fed's favor. Mmmmph! That's certainly not the case now. Nowadays they result in lot of UFEs. I guess one gets used to it...

I guess they'll go live on television now? The spinning ESPN3 logo is seizure-inducing, can't look at it.

Still trying to get over Brad's "explicits" gaffe.

Let's also realize, as the 16-time major champion gets buried with criticism, that players are not SUPPOSED TO BE IN PEAK FORM IN CANADA! They've had a month off. Fed is learning the Annacone Way, and while he's been all over the place, he found his junkyard dog and dug out two very nice wins that have him at No. 2 for the moment.

Even in the Pax Federana year of 2006, Fed struggled in Toronto, playing 3-setter after 3-setter (it's why he was brain-fried and thoroughly cooked when he faced Murray in the match where Carillo idiotically said he tanked) and being quite up-and-down in form.

Federer should be playing this tournament - and frankly, he HAS BEEN DOING SO - with a high-risk approach: hit out more, especially on the return, and be willing to litter the stat sheet with a lot of errors. His worst moments against Berdych and Djokovic came when he turned into the passive creature that got drummed out of Wimbledon, and I'm sure Annacone is telling him to be a more proactive player instead of the wait-out-the-other-guy and turn-defense-to-offense animal he's been throughout his tennis life up to this point.

We shouldn't be expecting Federer to be at his best. We should be expecting errors. It's natural to be spoiled in light of what Fed's done in his career, but as he gets older, he's simply going to be less consistent. Fact of (tennis/sports) life.

Give Andy Toronto. Give Rafa Cincy.

I'll take Manhattan... or to be more precise, Flushing.

oh yeah, rain came. Finally. Now old Fed can rest up and come back tomorrow and win this. Then play on wednesday again and from then on, no day break. With a win bagged here, Fed won't push too hard and lose before or to Rafa.

oh ha ha ha. Rafa 2010 Cincy champ project back on.

seriously, crazyone?? ugh.

Those sweaty locks of Roger + the dark circle from the other day, do not sit well with me, anyone think something might be off.

Good Morning Everyone,

Ok what is going on?

Hmmm Rain pfft.

The commentators say this is not supposed to last long. They said the clouds are expected to move over.
The players are still on the court.

Not sure whether the ESPN idiots are going to show the match LIVE or do it from the start. That would be an arseh*le move.

I think Andy will take this in straights. Seems to be a match too far for Federer. I don't see the intensity and focus that I have seen all week even with the lapses against berdych and Novak there was an intensity in those matches that is missing today. Hope that he can find a spark from somewhere because he is not being blown off the court and has the game to come back and win, but not sure he has the will to win today.

That being said....c'mon Pinky!!!

Hmmm I ordered the rain and the win for Rafa in his game against Murray

Cause I knew Muzz cant play in those conditions

Those idoits got the wrong day

Wait till I get them

I am not impressed

Of course the CLOWNS at the ESPN decided to show it from the start. Shameless their judgment calls are. Freaking IDIOTS

stupid rain, stopping again.

Roger is still in his seat but Andy is up swinging his racket.
Looks like play will resume shortly.

aussiemarg, I haven't seen much wind today.

NP:

I agree that Murray has been going for more on his FHs, especially when he was up two and one breaks in the first set.

And Federer, perhaps, has come to the net a bit more in this match than he tended to do in the past against Murray on an HC. That's a big perhaps, b/c I don't watch Fed enuf to be sure.

Despite the DFs, wondering if Murray's kick serve to Federer's BH on second serve is somewhat improved or if it just seems that way because Federer isn't doing much with that serve (realizing it is harder to attack such a serve with a one-handed BH.

Just a quick observation - Federer is 0-3 on S-and-V. Murray's passing game is on song. So the question of how to play FHs is a tricky one. If he hits the rolling FH, Murray has the speed both to get it back and reset the point. And the flattened FH is the higher risk shot. So it ain't obvious. Couple of drop shots a couple of games ago might induce Murray to play a step closer to the baseline.

ah ok, well grandpa Fed, rest those legs while u can, no rest for the weary! Fed has achieved more than enough this week for me, would be great to see a win but he's pushed his luck enough, Id say ... beating the bird and the djoker is a GOOD week for him, period,and he's clearly tired or of kilter today, but has enough game to almost win the set anyway, its good...

AM,

LOL..

I hope Fred is buried and cremated. Only TMF and Roger remaining. Roger will do.

Cupcake - Dark circle?

Chris Cornell doing Black Hole Sun? Funny american hard court change overs are

Crap, I got my laptop set up in front of the upstairs TV before I realized ESPN2 would go back to the start of the match. Explicits!!!

CI See they cant even get that right

I need to change my contacts ASAP

Matt Zemek,

I thought Roger won in 2006 final against Gasquet on Toronto; I was there that day.

Fed had enough of sitting around and decided to head back to locker room. YES! YES! Rest up, old Fed. Rest up. And come back tomorrow.

I mean as long as Fed loses by a respectable score,its still been a great week for him.

Very positive play against Berdych.

Thanks Fox we are now looking at a replay of Roger v Nole from yesterday

How considerate that rain delay was. Fortified with my diner and ready as I can be. Roger has regained confidence during this tournament and that's crucial going to the USO. Maybe a little bit due to Annacone's presence but mostly because he is over his injuries and he's willing to try to be more aggressive despite the results.

After breaking back Andy 2 times Roger lost the plot in that game when serving at 5-5 a pity, he had Andy just in the place he wanted but spoil it with some lousiony drop shots executions.

Well the player have left the court and it's raining harder now.

Lord have mercy, Peter Fleming is explaining that Andy Murray has no GSs yet, but he's 23, and Roger Federer was 23 when he won his first GS - so it's all good!

Sadly, no. Federer was 21 years, 10 months when he won Wimbledon in 2003. By the time he was Murray's age, he had won 4 GS tournaments: the 2004 US Open just after he turned 23.

Not going to change the outcome of this match, which is now rain delayed. Gives Federer a chance for a quick word with his new coach,. Federer has to be pleased that Annacone came to Toronto for moments like this.... :-)

Lol, Tim. You're making Fed sound like 35, or whatever, year old Andre having to face Fed the day after Super Saturday. :)

A question for anyone here who may know......

What is this LOVE MEANS NOTHING.CA slogan on the wall? I'm completely baffled by this. Who would endorse such a terrible sentiment for a slogan?

player = players

Good time for a snack

Andrew,

Annacone is not present at the match.

Annacone mystery solved re rf.com...

one of the commentators said he had lunch with Paul Annacone who told him he would not be sitting in Roger's box but elsewhere as he is still working for Great Britain and did not feel it was proper for him to be in Roger's box for this game against Andy Murray.

Andrew
I haven't seen Paul.

sblily, that is a word I do not know in English "ojeras", so I did the best I could, but he had theme the other day either in the match against Berdych or the one before.

ladyjulia: yes, I know. Hence my (mildly ironic) comment with the :-) at the end.

Rain delay Czech motorcycle races results:

Lorenzo wins, Pedrosa second in MotoGP

Spaniard wins Moto2.

Spaniards take top three places in 125cc race.

So, Spaniards take six of the nine podium places.

The MotoGP show returns to the U.S. in a couple of weeks.

Tim
Thanks for the explanation.

Lump - that horrible slogan belongs to Tennis Canada. I guess they think it suggests something dangerous :) Not exactly promoting safe anything.

Annacone works for Great Britain? what does that mean? Is he their Davis Cup coach or something?

Although Tim may know more than I did... :->

Andrew,

oh ok. Missed that.

However, I hope Tim is right and Annacone is sitting elsewhere. Which means he is available for consultation during rain delay.

Cupcake - Ah, you mean dark circles around his eyes?

grandpa Fed, my new name for Fred :) i like it!

Nam1,

Annacone is with the LTA till Nov.

Manuel I hope you saw my message.I need to have my ears checked lol!

Pedrosa had pole postion.

oh ok thought it might be something like that though why he thinks it would be a conflict of interest, I dont know.

thx ladyjulia

weather update, anyone?

Kim Hi your up nice and early lol!

Though 5.00am in the morning not too bad

Better than a 1.00am start hey? lol!

Cant wait till tennis gets to Australia again

rf.com is over the top for me, but if you want scoops on Rog, that's' where to go ... believe me there are plenty of Swiss mama lions there, which is totally understandable of course ...

If Annacone is there, I hope he suggests that Federer trusts his first choice and play more by instinct. Don't overthink the points. But I'm not a top flight coach...

Nam1: Annacone works for the LTA aka British Tennis Federation.

Most important question

Stuff Paul etc

As anyone caught a glimpse of Mirka's Fab Bag yet

I wish the camera would zone in more closely on her

Hmm.

Aussiemarg:

Got your message.

At least Pedrosa managed to finish the race.

When I went to Laguna Seca a few weeks ago, Pedrosa had the pole, was leading, and crashed out.

Three other Spaniards also crashed out of that race. But, at least Lorenzo won it.

i think fed is on fumes and that affects his judgment and game plan quite honestly, he seems more in survival mode, just hanging in there, trying his best to be sure, but a tad jaded, no doubt ... part of tennis, nothing to be done, do your best

Sweet Caroline

Thanks for clearing that up. I figured the CA meant Canada. The wrongheadedness of the thing is staggering. Why not LIFE IS USELESS or WHY BOTHER ABOUT ANYTHING, IT'S ALL POINTLESS ANYWAY? Incredible.......

Tim: I agree with u on rf.com. The definition of Federermania but you do get some scoops and good pictures.

Manuel I didnt get to watch the race.I will watch it on replay

Rain affected track again I noticed.

I hope Annacone does a good job during this rain delay. The Muzz will come out stronger (after calming his anger) and he's a set up anyway.

MSF, good to know. I've talked to a number of coaches and nationally ranked players before, and one thing I often hear is that not many of us fans understand how hard it is for the players to change their strokes and style of play that have been ingrained since their youth. That can't happen overnight or over the course of a match. It takes months if not years to complete that transition. And it's not without its risks, either: If you improve on a single area of your game by, say, 5%, the rest of your game possibly goes downhill by 15% and you drop out of the top 10 and wonder what the hell's up. I was just afraid thought you might have fallen into this trap.

As for Muzz's kicker, there was one point late in the 1st set where the nasty kick on his 2nd serve forced Fed to shank. That was almost Edberg/Rafter-like. I don't recall any other example that rivals it in its take-that-sucker-ability.

AM - I think she's being using a Louis Vuitton and the blue Birkin, both from a few years ago. She's obviously economizing :)

sblily, yeah, I have to be more specific :P. It's probably nothing but the sweaty locks are such a rare thing and bring back so many bad memories that I was wondering.

So PA is there, that's good, I guess, let's see if he can say anything useful to Fed.

I am a regular poster at rf.com and I don't get why it is so suprising to people that it is Roger love all the time over there, it is rf.com after all.

No sign to me that Federer is "on fumes." Murray has been aggressive on the returns, and he's defended very well. To my eyes, it's Federer's decision making which has been off, not his legs.

Rain getting heavier. If this isn't back on in about 20 minutes or so, I'm off to the hotel.

Nobody watching the Clijsters/Sharapova match.

2-1 Kim first set. Kim saved 3 break points in that game with some stellar serving and some really poor returning from Sharapova.

Commentators just mentioned that Sharapova has no racquet contract.

Does anyone have a functional stream for the Clijsters/Sharapova final?

I disagree with Bodo that last night's match wasn't of great quality. Once he broke back in the 2nd, Djokovic was playing some of the best baseline tennis we've seen on the ATP all year. He dominated virtually every rally.

However, I agree with an earlier poster's point in that one skill Djokovic lacks and Murray possesses is the ability to rush forward and cut off a defensive return with a block volley. He'd have such an easier time finishing off matches. Fed definitely had some luck in winning that match as Djokovic was the better player up until the last game. Very reminiscent of Roddick at Wimby.

Here's predicting a straight set win for Clijsters.

TIM
RF.com is pretty lame but the GO ROGER fansite is great which you probably already know but for anyone interested go there.

Can't wait out the rain any more - must find something to eat. See you all later. :)

Caroline Thanks.

Hmmm I have seen that Birkin do you know how much they cost??? also you have to got on a waiting list.

Seeing she is friends with my idol Miss A.Wintour she probably got it ASAP

Well she is a mother now and is probably cutting back a bit

Still.....................

Well - I sure as hell hope Roger comes out and takes this set and match by the throat and doesn't let go until he's holding the Champion's trophy.

He hasn't played his heart out all week to meekly let Murray take it away from him.

So hope the rain delay heats up Fed's game - and dampens Murray's to a wet limp noodle rag.

And that's just the way I feel....

Nah!

Cupcake Lurker - I didn't think it was sweaty locks. I thought it looked like a bottle of cold water over the head.

Sharapova has no racquet contract? Amazing...

So is that match on tape delay too?

Any news on how long the delay is going to be in Toronto?

antoinette: I have no problem with the Roger love...well I do. It get's to be over-top sometimes. I don't understand why someone will want to running to see Roger on the practice court everyday of a tournament. Plus, some fans are irrational and delusional.

I cannot hang around at rf.com either...the worship is way over the top.

Karen Good Morning

I will switch over to the ladies

Sharapova comment Ouch!

@ TAFKALOK: Even though it is true that in tennis "love" means "nothing" - I see it as counter-intuitive advertising, like the legendary "Lemon" ads for the VW Beetle. Here we tennis fans are, discussing the meaning of Tennis Canada slogan