1st

Great article. I loved that 0-15 point at 5-6 in the third. But I had the feeling during the tiebreak that Kohlschreiber would take the set, and it turned out that way. But Federer always manages to right the ship in time.

Great description of the backhand slice as well. He hit some lovely cross-court slices as Kohlschreiber was spproaching the net (particularly in the 2nd set), which he struggled to deal with.

Wilanders of steel perhaps?

21 semifinals, not 20.

Why is this your last chance to see Federer? Can't tennis.com get you to the finals?! Sheesh.

What do you mean by saying "I won’t see Federer again at this Wimbledon, the one that may be his crowning achievement. Most of the people who were in Centre Court today won’t see him again either."?

I didnot get it

Yes, they are witnessing the "greatest of all time." Wish I was there.

Have a safe trip back!

I love to watch Roger. And I enjoy watching Murray, Hewitt, Gonzalez, Djokovic, Simon, and Haas. I've even come to appreciate Roddick. But - bottom line - with no Rafa, I'm bored. The electricity of the even just isn't there.

Sunny afternoon? Perhaps, depending on how the weather finally turned out. But you were working, not living a life of luxury, and definitely not lazing.

Have a safe trip home. Tomorrow you'll see the world seven miles below you, and it ain't so big at all.

Great article,

"He loves it here and is loved back"
The British announcers are so pro-Fed it isn't even funny. They were spewing lines like "there's no chance for Phillip to break this game" and they were at DEUCE for goodness sake! Or at teh begginning of the 4th they said something like "Kohl. has no chance this set" I realize that he started the 4th set very badly BUT they were only 2 or 3 games into it, ALOT of things could have happened.

"I laughed at that line, but there was a moment that left me shaking my head in Centre Court today and realizing again how few exploitable weaknesses Federer really does have."

this one of the better (in my opinion) articles on Fedal. It is long so I'm just going to copy the part that applies to this dicussion here, and if you want to read th whole thing here's the link...

http://cowbell.typepad.com/forty_deuce/2009/05/do-i-really-need-to-quote-viva-la-vida-again.html

"They had left one small flaw in the perfect tennis player's(Federer) game. Few could expose it. Indeed, years would pass before anyone realized it existed.But it was there, a place high on the backhand side where the perfect tennis player's normally impeccable one-hander, which could absorb the heaviest strokes and counter them with pinpoint accuracy, faltered enough to make him human.And,thanks to his remarkable racket speed and to advances in string technology, Rafa was eventually able to hit shots that rotated at an unprecedented 3,200 revolutions per minute (compared with Federer's 2,500), fell inside the lines and, most important, bounced like a frightened jackrabbit, high and away from the perfect player's backhand. Nadal, in other words, was able to do what no other man could. He made the tour's most elegant player -- the one with the cream-colored Wimbledon sport coat and the just-so hair -- feel awkward. Nadal forced Federer's backhand far out of its wheelhouse, or what Andy Roddick calls the pocket. "It's a huge advantage for Rafa to be able to pull him off [the court] to his weak side," Roddick says. "And we're talking about a foot differential between being in his pocket and being out of it. Play that enough times? It makes a difference."

The point? That Nadal whether puposely or not, has just the right shot to expose Federer's only weakness. Against anybody except Nadal Federer seems perfect, nobody else has a good enough forehand with enough spin to expose Federer's BH the way Jetboy does.

Nobody: Steve said at the beginning of the post that he's only covering the first week of Wimbledon, so he just meant that he won't see any more of Federer's matches live this year. And since most people who had tickets for Centre Court today (other than VIPs) don't have tickets for Centre Court on the days he would be scheduled to play in the second week, they also won't see him play live this year.

nice article Steve...you may be right that 20 SFs will be his most cherished legacy...I hope it is 21 SFs,but we will see what happens on Mon.

Thanks for all the write-ups, Steve. Great stuff...your consistency is Federer-like.

Steve: Nice job. I enjoyed it, though my bias is known.

Very nice article about Fed, Steve.
I felt he played a very good match today, although he looked a bit unconfortable with the bad line calls, the challenges and his slips on the grass, specially in the 3rd set, where Kohl played out of his mind. What he said shows that to beat Fed, you need a trmendous will and, as the guy who beats him more often would say, "positive attitude".
I bet the guys at Wimbledon were disappointed that they couldnt show the world their "oh-so-fancy" new roof.

Sunny afternoon...still the Kinks?

I liked the post too - people can't talk about Feddy's steeliness often enough for me - think it's the most underestimated part of him, really.

Lovely post.

Don't understand the hostility of some fans toward Soderling. He seems like a nice, unassuming guy. Perhaps it's that Scandinavian sense of humor, which manages to be dry and corny at the same time.

Have a safe and resting trip back home Steve san. I really enjoyed reading all your articles and thank you for writing for all of us.

just horsen: Federer has multiple chinks in his armor. If you can keep the rallies going long enough, and not get out of position, you can get a mistake. Federer's racquet head speed is faster than anyone's except Nadal's, but he hits much flatter than Nadal does, so he typically has less margin for error.

If you can keep this going long enough, isolated mistakes can become a flow of unforced errors if Federer falls out of rhythm. Canas, Simon and Murray have had success with this game plan - soak it up in the GS rallies, nail passing shots off imprecise approach shots.

Federer also has a tendency to set up slightly to the ad side of the court, which can expose his FH on a well struck ball towards the deuce corner. It was noticeable in Madrid F 2009 that Federer was recovering closer to the center of the baseline - trying to take the stinging CC BH away from Nadal.

So there are weaknesses - but being able to exploit them in a five set match is something very few players have been able to do. Nadal's high kicking FH is one reason Nadal has been more successful than most, but Nadal isn't a one trick pony either. He's exploited Federer's other minor weaknesses pretty well.

Steve,

Well, one of the best columns of yours that I've had the pleasure to read.

I don't think Federer was at his best today, we might even say that he is slightly past his prime. But wow, whatever he's lost in speed, is being made up for with experience. He's his own sort of magician.

um, make that "the pleasure of reading." (!!)

Sometimes I wonder why you get so many less comments than Pete Bodo,since your writing is so much better. I found this described beautifully the way Fed moves and his style; 'reserved violence' ,perfect. It made me feel as if I were watching him and kinesthetically experiencing his movements. Thanks a bunch.

Excelent article. Congratulations. Really objective.

First of all Steve, this article was written very well. Roger Federer is my very favorite tennis player. It's so weird to think of him as being The Greatest of All Time when i remember him when i was little and thinking that this guy is amazing. I always knew in my heart that he would be officially called the greatest tennis player of all time, even if he did have some sort of "fall" last year, even though a lot of people would kill to have had that kind of record. I knew that he could win the French Open and he did. And i know that he can win this Wimbledon and get his number one ranking back. Do you know why? well, i think that question is simple. It's because he is Roger Federer, and he can do anything.