Is Federer really this arrogant?

http://twitter.com/#!/tennisreporters

Matt Cronin, a tennis journalist, tweeted this earlier, apparently from Fed's press conference after the final today:

'Brace yourself for this Federer quote: "It's always me who's going to dictate play & decide how the outcome is going to be. If I play well I will most likely win in the score or beat [Nadal]; if I'm not playing so well, that's when he wins."'

I respect Federer for what he's achieved in the game. He's an amazing player and probably the best of all time as it currently stands. That said, I have noticed quite a few things that Fed says are very arrogant. He has so many fans that most people just turn a blind eye and say things like "oh he's the greatest of all time; he can say what he wants" but surely the mark of a great champion is the ability to retain a modicum of humility?

Anyway what do you guys think about this comment?

(edited 12 years ago)

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Reply 1

turbocharged

The guy is pure arrogance, have you seen those white jackets he wears as he walks onto the court?

Reply 2

scriggy

Meh. He's earned the right to be an arrogant mother******.

It's not the kind of attitude that will endear him to the public, but maybe he just doesn't care. And who can blame him.

Reply 3

delasandro

Original post by MC armani

http://twitter.com/#!/tennisreporters

Matt Cronin, a tennis journalist, tweeted this earlier, apparently from Fed's press conference after the final today:

'Brace yourself for this Federer quote: "It's always me who's going to dictate play & decide how the outcome is going to be. If I play well I will most likely win in the score or beat [Nadal]; if I'm not playing so well, that's when he wins."'

I should probably state that I'm a Nadal fan but I respect Federer for what he's achieved in the game. He's an amazing player and probably the best of all time as it currently stands. That said, I have noticed quite a few things that Fed says are very arrogant. He has so many fans that most people just turn a blind eye and say things like "oh he's the greatest of all time; he can say what he wants" but surely the mark of a great champion is the ability to retain a modicum of humility?

Anyway what do you guys think about this comment?

Sums it right up there

Reply 4

Junaid16

Nadal will eventually overhaul his 17 grand slams, then he'll STFU!

Reply 5

MoMatrix

That doesn't make sense especially when Nadal has beaten Federer in 6 out of 8 slam finals.

Reply 6

Genocidal

He's Rodger Federer; why should he care what you think?

Reply 7

De Lubac

Original post by Junaid16

Nadal will eventually overhaul his 17 grand slams, then he'll STFU!

Nadal's knees will go again soon enough...

I wouldn't be too surprised if he retired before Federer

Reply 8

MC armani

Original post by delasandro

Sums it right up there

No I generally like him as a player and as an ambassador for tennis, but when he makes these arrogant assertions it does put me off. Just because I support Rafa doesn't mean I hate Fed.

Reply 9

SillyRodent

Maybe the quote is taken a bit out of context and he really means that you have to play quite a high risk game to beat Nadal because he can return almost anything and makes few unforced errors. If he is having a good game he will make most of these high risk winners, if he's not playing well then he won't be able to crack Nadal.

NADAL!!!

Original post by De Lubac

Nadal's knees will go again soon enough...

I wouldn't be too surprised if he retired before Federer

You can't seriously believe that. Federer is 29/30 It'd take an almightly physical collaspe for Nadal to have to contemplate retirement within 2 years. Federer will win another 1/2 If he's lucky.

Reply 12

Bobifier

I don't like Federer as much as most people seem to, but he has never come across to me as arrogant, this comment surprises me.

Reply 13

Bobifier

Original post by Junaid16

You can't seriously believe that. Federer is 29/30 It'd take an almightly physical collaspe for Nadal to have to contemplate retirement within 2 years. Federer will win another 1/2 If he's lucky.

In all fairness, Nadal has a history of almight physical collapses.

Reply 14

raggamuffin93

Well I agree it sounds arrogant but all the top tennis players have to have a very positive mindset when it comes to matches like this - they can't be mentally weak or think they are going to lose. The day before the Murray-Nadal Semifinal Murray was quoted to have said ' I can definitely beat Nadal' but that's just how they are trained to think. A negative attitude just means that as soon as they start losing they lose all hope of a comeback. So in summary yes it sounds arrogant, but maybe it's necessary?

Reply 15

Mr Chow

Compared to Nadal, who is probably the most humble top sportsman in the world right now, he is very arrogant.

But to be honest he's arrogant by any standard, he's never been a good loser.

Any learned tennis fan knows that majority of the time if the top seeded players aren't able to play well, it's not because THEY aren't playing well...it's because their opponents aren't allowing them to play their best game.

Nadal comprehensively beats Federer even when they're both at the top of their game, Nadal just stops Federer from playing his best.

Things like unforced errors, poor serves, double faults, poor shot selection etc. are their own fault. But when Federer is hitting forehands that would fly past every other player but are being smacked back at twice the speed by Nadal, that is full credit to Nadal stopping him from dictating.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 16

De Lubac

Original post by Junaid16

You can't seriously believe that. Federer is 29/30 It'd take an almightly physical collaspe for Nadal to have to contemplate retirement within 2 years. Federer will win another 1/2 If he's lucky.

Federer's game is one of those that takes less out of one's bodies than almost anyone elses. His technique is very economical (and affective), and he moves in a way that doesn't really damage him considerably. Nadal, on the other hand, uses a very powerful technique, that is ultimately very damaging on his body.

Reply 17

dosvidaniya

He's the greatest tennis player of all time imo, and plays the game how it should be played. But yeah, he can be arrogant at times, but I still like him more than Nadal, I don't know why. Nadal seems a nice enough guy but I just don't particularly like him for some reason lol. I think it might partially be because of all that underwear fixing business haha.

Reply 18

~ Purple Rose ~

PS Reviewer

On a couple of occasions I have heard him say something that sounds quite arrogant, but others assure me that it is just the way he phrases things :dontknow: