He had very tough opponent here. Nishikori before wrist surgery was great threat. That's why this slam was the greatest slam for him. no one expected this one, even rogers fan. And what's more, his draw starting from berdych (10) nishikori (5) and wawrinka, finally rafa. That was one of the most tough draw ever in his life, and he won rafa at final by overcoming his 3 defeat at the previous AO. It's sad that this roger cannot be shown again. Nothing is eternal.
Its funny how people always praise AO 17 at how easy Roger had it and how well he was playing. And yes 100% he was playing bonkers but his matches were tough could have gone either way, plenty of 5 setters with players playing well.
Not so fast, Federer will be back from his knee surgeries, without any pressure to perform at the highest level. If he can do some stem cell therapy in Panama like Nadal did for his knees, we could see the young Federer in action again.
Nishikori has the highest deciding set winning percentage on tour. The fact that Fed beat him here in 5 speaks to just how much he can clutch (when he wants to, haha).
After the first set it didn't look like he was in much trouble at all. Even when he lost the 4th set I wasn't worried. Though I still don't know how Nishikori won that 4th set
if I'm honest, I feel like nishikori just kinda gets himself into 5th sets against opponents that he is better than. I feel like it inflates his 5th set win percentage a bit.
Well thats a positive and negative depending on what perspective u looking at. Bringing out this stat suggests that nishikori is involved in too many 5 set matches against players just on his level which is not of the caliber of the big 3
Incredible highlight🔥🔥🔥 AO 2017 was is one of the best tournemts EVER high quality matches across the draw and the king showing the world why he truly is the 🐐
Honestly think 2017 Federer at AO is one of the best Fed I've seen. His backhand was never a proper weapon until this tourney, and when he had that, the rest was history
I was at this match. It was a very intense 3 hours!!! Having Roger win the 2nd and 3rd set but then lose the 4th to go into a decider set, I was literally on the edge of my seat the entire night. I will never forget the moment (43:43) Roger smashed the match point home. I jumped up and I cheered and cheered and screamed my voice hoarse with thousands around me doing the same! You can hear how loud everyone was, we were all on so much adrenaline. I've seen Roger play live 4 times, and this match is my favourite. And to know that he goes on to win the Grand Slam makes it even better
I'm impressed with the quality of play. And Federer's backhand, often a pickup half volley from the baseline, as if he chose not to retreat, perhaps to get better angles and to reduce the time a little and use the pace.
14:14 this is why I think peak Federer is the best out of every player at their best. Nishikori literally did nothing wrong but still had no chance in the point.
Peak federer ( year 2002 to 2009), year 2012, year 2017 is the best tennis player ever ( past, present & future also) ever to play this game. All other players are very much below this godly talented federer . This federer will be the best in any era , past, present & future. Only player who can challenge this federer to some extent is the great pete sampras
Japan alone has produced some of the most outstanding agile robust tennis players with Nishikori most prominent along with an undoubtedly right behind-Nishioka. Nishioka has fresh speed and angles while the older Nishikori plays a more traditional power/finesse exchange game.
I was holding my breath throughout the whole match, I’m and will always be a Federer fan, but i love Nishikori too 😂, i never thought Federer was going to make it in this match, the way Nishikori was hitting the ball was very scary and unsettling and at the end, the G.O.A.T prevailed. I was worried what happened to Nishikori, I’ve never seen him play for a while, thanks for the updates on his injuries, hoping he will come back much stronger and be a threat to the likes of Carlos, Sinner and the rest, i like watching such spicy matches, one sided dominance can be boring in tennis, mixed talent brings the spicyness out ❤😂🎉🎉, bring it on💪
Such a high quality tennis match! RF at his finest. Aces, lethal ground strokes and wise, firm volleys. A master! Nishikori provided quite a battle. Awesome match! 🎉
Bellissimo match con colpi spettacolari da entrambe le parti. Nishikori ha giocato alla Federer, veramente un ottimo giocatore, ma contro un Federer volitivo e caparbio come questo, c'è veramente poco da fare! Buonasera.
Being a pro-tennis fan on RU-vid, I and perhaps other Kei fans wish this match was not the best tennis he ever played at the end of his career. I must admit that this match with Federer got Kei Nishikori’s finest out of him. What a mind game as well as skills of these players.
this is probably Federer's greatest Slam win of all time. If you ask me (and I am admittedly very biased, cuz I'm a huge Fed fan), this is perhaps the most Legendary Slam victory ever. And it almost never was. Nishikori came really close to putting a stop to that. 3-all in the second set was a huge turning point. Kei was pressing hard to get that game, and it seemed that Federer sensed it and pushed as hard as HE could as well! What a genius competitor. It would have been grim for Federer had he lost that second set.
The final he played against Rafa was the best I ever seen his backhand working It was unplayable This was a huge tournament win in Rogers career Coming back as 17th seed after injury He also went on to win the sunshine double Miami and Indian Wells a few months later
2017 was the year of Federer's winning backhand; for some reason probably related to his body, he wasnt able to sustain that backhand after that year. And it reverted to more slices or a more defensive backhand.
Most Iconic tournament for roger.. A 35 Yr old coming after a 6 month long injury break beating berdych, nishikori, stan, rafa( who was 23-11 in h2h against roger) and on top of that played 3 five setters and 1 4 setter en route to his title.. That's the TRUE DEFINITION OF STRONG ERA PLAYER... Not like the fake strong era players we see now who is battling against 0 time GS champions and grabbing slams in the FREE SLAM ERA
Kei played brilliantly, as did Federer ~ absolutely agree with the comments here... it was exciting tennis -- not like in 2023 where besides Andy Murray the dullness was zzzzzzz (i'm already sleeping)
Start of 2017 after he knee surgery 6 months before. This is the match where Roger remembered who he was. Big fight from Kei. I wish he was still competing in the top flight.
Federer had such a GREAT Chance to Show that he can Beat Djokovic even as an Old man in 2019 Wimbledon...Outplayed Djoko in Match...2 MATCH Points on his Raquet...But his NERVES completely took over his entire Body and Mind to the Point where he looked CRIPPLED during those 2 Routine balls on Match Point...As a HUGE Fed fan that Loss was a Disaster
