@@usmh On any surface, Federer’s backhand was by far his weakest stroke. It may have been fine on surfaces other than clay, but it was still his weakest stroke and not nearly at the backhand level of Novak, Rafa, Warinka, Thiem, Murray, Gasquet and others.
@@dorothygale1104 I was responding to the claim that Rafa could abuse it all the time, I wasn't comparing it to the all-time great backhands (or backhand, singular, seeing as how Richard Gasquet is uncontested at the top :) ).
Federer maybe was not sure if the ball was in or not, and Federer was not allowed to see any replays on a screen. So why not take the point which fed did?
Damn I miss watching Fed. No one playing today has his tennis IQ. Not even close. Novak, maybe more mentally tough, but no one crafted points and had the match play management of Fed.
Dont fall for that “federers not mentally tough” BS. He went to 23 straight slam semis, 10 straight gs finals, beat peak djokovic while not being in his own prime let alone peak, beat djokovic when he was 38, and has more us open and wimbledons than novak and nadal. Fed was a ice cold killer. Also, when federer did lose, he BARELY lost because it was impossible to beat him in straights in his prime. And dont give me that 08 ao bullshit
Roger loves this guy...he was the guy that stopped Nadal from facing Federer in the Roland garros final that he actually won....so he played him instead and got his only RG......
Soderling thought the ball was going out, so he took a half hearted swing, THEN the line judge called it out, which didn’t affect his swing. Then Soderling’s shot also went out. Hawk Eye overruled the line judge, but Soderling’s ball needed to be in for him to have an argument. ie. He should have played the ball properly and not assumed it was out.
I agree and in addition, the call came so late that Soderling originally gestured to challenge the non-call, proving that the call came so late that it couldn't have impacted his shot.
@@TrentRidley Yes, that's a great point. Plus, Soderling didn't put up much of a fight once the umpire told him he didn't think the call disturbed his shot, because he (Soderling) didn't really believe it did either.
Really quite a close match and not the thumping the title of this video suggested. When I first saw Federer beat Sampras at Wimbledon and even when losing to Tiger Tim Henman he seemed more fierce the way he played. His groundstrokes were stunning scary bullets with pinpoint accuracy. Later he obviously mastered the game a lot more and became more graceful and elegant but never saw that same menacing play. Maybe with the exception of his Indian wells win over Rafa fresh from beating the Spaniard in the Australian open. Anyway I'm no tennis expert but that was my impression.
Thats indeed because he master what is most difficult in any challenge jis own temper. He undestood there is no need to risk everything in every hit but take advantage of every opportunity
after 2015 he understood how to beat nadal if im not wrong in 8 match 7-1, last one was french open 2020 where he lost (but he had 2 surgery on knee before that and 39 years old)
Umpire was spot on. Soderling hesitated before the call as he thought it’d been out. Even if no call had come, he would have missed it, hence the raised hand. The shot was so good that Robin stopped. Umpire 👍🏼🫶🏼❤️⭐️😍
@@crosscourttennis1796 in this case how he hit the ball didn't matter because if you listen the call came after he hit the ball , so the call could not have hindered his shot.
No, this was the wrong decision by the umpire. The line judge wrongly stopped play by calling out on a shot which was in, so the point should have been replayed. After Soderling played his shot, the line judge wrongly stopped play, then Soderling challenged with his ball in mid air, then Soderling's dead ball went out at Federer's end, then there was no call because the ball was dead, then Federer tried to challenge something though it isn't clear to me whether he was challening the call on his shot (in but called out) or the non-call on Soderling's dead-ball shot (out but not called out because the line judge knew it was a dead ball).
My opinion - not disrespect, just fierce competition. Could have been a bit of a mind game attempt. I was guilty of that back in my college tennis days (who wasn't?). The quality of tennis in this match by both players was unreal. But like previous comments, the grace of Fed's game is unmatched. There may be others who statistically beat Fed, but none (so far) that portray his mastery and grace of every stroke.
@@thebigmonstaandy6644 I'm from Sweden, a big fan of soderling, but the call came late. however, to avoid these conflicts, they should use hawkeye on every point like Australia.
To me, it looked like Soderling thought the ball was going long and just half-swung at it, not because he heard the out call but just believed the ball was long.
Baffled by the amount of anti Federer comments. Just enjoy tennis folks, support your fav player and don’t talk down on others! If you don’t like Federer but come to his videos anyway and then dunk on him in the comments: I hope you a better person one day. Yes yes yes there’s Fed fans doing it too. They should also do better. Don’t spoil it for true fans of the game with your negative vibes
That player had a name: "Robin Soderling" and was even no. 4 once, before some sickness suddenly made him end his career. In a way he was a rebel, because he didn't do anything by the rulebook of friendliness.
Why do you write when you don't know? He had mental problems throughout his career that became so severe that he was forced to stop. The person who dubbed this video apparently doesn't know this either. Or maybe he likes to make fun of mental problems.
@@Sobchak2 Sure anyone who behaves like this to a legend is treated like this. Soderling behaved badly against Rafa too at wimbledon. But its part of the mental game maybe.
Söderling was the only player ever having the courage to call out Nadal's compulsive behavior that made him consistently violate the time rule but umpires never did something about it. He also beat Nadal, which goes to show that if you refuse to play by Nadal's rules, you have a chance. You have to accept being the enemy though of the world of tennis. Nadal is a tremendous player, a nice guy off court, a true professional, so his popularity is totally fair. But he did bend the rules throughout his career and he was particularly nasty when being called out on it.
"Nadal is a tremendous player, a nice guy off court, a true professional, so his popularity is totally fair" He is one of the greatest of all time if not the greatest, 22 grand slams, 14 french open, possibly more if it were not for his injuries, so yeah his popularity is not for you to decide if its fair or not, i mean soderling isnt kind of bending the rules also? trying to distract fed, he is not breaking any rules, just as nadal isnt breaking any rules by extending the time of his serve, the double standards.
@@cml246 1-djokovic has 24 slams man. 2-Nadal leads in h2h in slams, but Djokovic has done very well vs nadal in h2h in slams. 3-Djokovic also leads the h2h in non slams.
Yes, it was so late that Soderling originally gestured to challenge the non-call, proving that the call came far too late for it to have impacted his shot.
It'd be weird if a spaceship landed outside the stadium and the aliens sat down to watch the tennis match, but they would say "well, it's Federer" and everyone would nod agreement.
Soderling had a prepare motion that's such a big takeback it almost requires him to pause for half a second before he can strike his forehand forward... Federer on the other hand, is notorious for his pacy groundstrokes that take CHUNKS of time away from his opponent. The result of this match is actually quite logical given the analysis above😂
How does this "disrespect" factor at all in the result? Federer did this to everyone but Nadal basically every time. It's not like Federer bageled him.
I hated soldering for the longest time for ending Nadal's French Open streak only to lose to Fed in the final :(. That was Fed's only French win by the way......
Roger's footwork is always a thing of beauty..but that FH DTL at 9:37? Soderling was expecting Roger to go back across court and got caught flat-footed watching the ball go behind him. Aside from a lack of imagination from the current players - every single one of them has crappy footwork. Many of them admit to watching Roger's old matches on YT. Instead of trying to "copy" Roger's inventive shots - they should copy his footwork. "He's like a ballet dancer - like Baryshnikov!"
Federer's footwork was ballet-like and undoubtedly best ever. But to say that current players all have "crappy footwork"?! There are so many that have GREAT movement and footwork. Alcaraz? Swiatek? And...still, Nadal, Djokovic? Jabeur? DiMinaur? Monfils? Schwartzman? Fritz? Dmitrov? Sinner? Medvedev? Gauff? Pegula? Townshend--how does she get to net so quickly? The deceptively fast Stephens? And Halep, if she can return to her form. All have ridiculously good movement. It is just that Federer had a level of beautiful movement higher than anyone else. (Murray was approaching nearly Fed's level of graceful movement at times, I think.)
Fun match to watch. I don't think you need to try to dress up your title with controversy. How about "Monster Groundstrokes from Federer and Soderling"
I think disrespect was federer decision to take the point. The other hit the ball after the out of judge, so the point must be repeated. Stupid judge decision, bad federer behave
There's no way Soderling was put off by the call. In fact, the call came so late that Soderling originally gestured to challenge the non-call, proving that it came far too late to have impacted his shot. Soderling made the incorrect assumption that the ball was going long and uncaringly swatted it back, where it landed out. Good umpiring.
Soderling > Alcaraz. That last generation had ppl beat prime nadal like soderling, beat federer like a little bit of everyone and beat djokovic like wawrinka
Well to his défense alcaraz was a kid during big three prime 🤷 its not his fault But why put that statement anyway More respect for this Young man please he already win a lot of titles at such Young âge 5 m1000 2 gs So please dont compare him with soderling please Be respectful
Not sure what "backfiring" you're talking about. The title is so dramatic and quite misleading. It looked like a normal match that Federer won.. thought it was gonna be a few 6-0 sets based on this title.
It was often part of Soderling's game to get under the skin of his opponent, especially players in the top 5. I'm not usually a fan of those types of tactics, but Robin made things interesting before his untimely retirement from Tennis due to complications from contracting. mononucleosis. Soderling's head-2-head with Federer was a bit one-sided with Fed winning 16 out of the 17 matches they played.
Not mono, that was only a cover for chronic fatigue and anxiety disorder. Anyhow, I remember vividly the post-game interview after one of his last matches against Roger, where he had once again been outplayed. He said he always felt he had a bad day against Federer and was often frustrated with himself for not being able to bring his A-game when it mattered. "Until recently, when I realised that it is Roger who makes me play like this". Thinking also of another Swede, Jonas Björkman, who at No. 4 in the world and having played Sampras, Nadal and many other greats said that the only player he ever felt helpless against was Federer. "Against even Sampras, I always had a plan and knew when I stepped onto the court that I stood at least a fair chance of winning. I never felt that with Federer".
@@mikaeleurenius2054 -- Players can't get out of their tour obligations that easily, he was diagnosed with Mononucleosis, which can become a chronic condition.
@@tswrench Not sure what you are getting upset about. You clearly don't know his story, and I'm simply just telling it to you. He never had mono. That was invented by him and his team to avoid attention to his real condition, as he hoped to recover from it. Which, however, he hasn't fully done to this day.
soderling was such a tool. it's great how shit players just fade away. amazing that he was seeded 5th. just shows you what a difference there is between the top three players in the world and everyone else.
I agree with Robin on this occasion though. The line call definitely affected him. After the ball was called out, he literally floated the ball back thinking he won the point.
Soderling was wrong here, but his comment "do you want it" to Fed wasn't ill-willed, as you can see him smiled after saying it. Soderling was probably thinking damn Fed, did you feel the need to challenge that call even though you are aware that both me and the lines judge thought the ball was out.
Soderling thought it was going out, so didn't prepare to hit a full swing. He assumed it was going out, and because he assumed that it affected his shot. IMO the call did not. To me, the umpires judgment was correct for this reason.
