"I'll be supporting South Africa," said Federer,

Roger Federer's heart is with the 'Boks

Tennis great Roger Federer will be following this year's Rugby World Cup - but he won't be supporting the All Blacks.

Good man Roger, and a living example that age is no barrier to being among the best on the planet.

No surprise there, his mother is SA'n

 His mother's maiden name was Muller - and she came from Boksburg - he brother still lives in Kempton Park I think.    When Federer was between 9 and 11 years old - he and his mother stayed for a while with his uncle.
He has a holiday home in Knysna and comes to SA when his playing schedule allows for same.    

Pfffffhahahaha! Moffie suddenly becomes a Federer supporter just hours before "best on the planet" crashes out of the Australian Open in the 3rd round. Talk about the Kiss of Death!

 Rooinek
Mozart supports Federer because of the age element - he would not accept that Federer finds it harder and harder because of his age to be competitive.   If Federer was 28 or 29 and still the number 1 player in the world - Mozart would not proclaim the same level of support he now accords him.   
All this because he constantly support over 30 year of age rugby players and  belittle younger players.   That is what makes him so unbelievably funny - his fixation about age of sportsmen especially if they are over the age of 30.      

Federer was one of the best ever, emphasis on WAS......like most old sportsmen his day is done  

 

s Saffex

Status: Hall Of Fame
Posts: 10989 RE: "I'll be supporting South Africa," said Federer,
January 23, 2015, 11:21:11 Federer was one of the best ever, emphasis on WAS......like most old sportsmen his day is done 

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Really? He is the current world no 2. These were the rankings on 19 Jan 2015. Four days ago.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Rankings/Singles.aspx



Rank, Name & Nationality Points Week Change Tourn Played 1 Djokovic, Novak (SRB) 11,405 0 18 2 Federer, Roger (SUI) 9,875 0 19 3 Nadal, Rafael (ESP) 6,585 0 19 4 Wawrinka, Stan (SUI) 5,370 0 19 5 Nishikori, Kei (JPN) 5,025 0 22 6 Murray, Andy (GBR) 4,675 0 21 7 Berdych, Tomas (CZE) 4,660 0 24 8 Raonic, Milos (CAN) 4,575 0 22 9 Cilic, Marin (CRO) 4,150 0 23 10 Ferrer, David (ESP) 4,145 0 25

 For the record....... these are the ages of the top 10.


Djokovic - 27
Federer - 33
Nadal - 28
Wawrinka - 29
Nishikori - 25
Murray - 27
Berdych - 29
Raonic - 24
Cilic - 26
Ferrer - 32

Yeah he is done, as with his early exit in the Oz open......he wont stay at 2 for much longer......slippery side aged 33  

 All top ranked tennis players have early exits from time to time. Not too long ago Federer down to fourth IIRC and he is now up to 2nd again. 

In April 2014, Federer was down in 8th position in the ATP rankings.  

Saffex is correct...in tennis especially youth takes over in individual sport...never forget one of the best tennis players ever, the Swede...the Rolls Royce of tennis way back, Bjorn Borg...poetry in motion being taken out by the aggressive and young brat John McInroe and the firing Kevin Curren...who demolished Connors in the semi's to fall to a 16 year old Boris Becker.

Seb, my argument was not really the old age issue that Moz and Mike are on about all the time. I was merely refuting Saff's opinion that Federer is "over the wal" as was proven by the Oz open. I pointed out that he is currently the world no 2 and that he has been at no 8 less than a year ago. I was a big fan of both Borg and McInroe but I don't think that McInroe really wiped the floor with Borg. What is more, Borg retired relatively young, compared to these days. He retired at 27 and made a comeback in 1991 at 35. Becker was an exception, IMO. When was the last time that a 16 year old exploded on the scene like he did?


Federer might not be the hot favourite for each and every tournament but he is by now means to be written of just yet. Getting to no 2 on the ATP rankings is no fluke and he has been at the top for a long time. Whenever he has fallen out of the top 5 it has never been for a long time. Saff has mentioned that he has dropped out of the Oz Open. He has not mentioned the fact that he won the Brisbane International by beating beating Milos in the final for his first title of 2015.

Federer dropped out of the top 4 for the first time, since 2006, in June 2013 (5th place). He dropped to 7th in Aug 2013. Back to 5th in Sep 2013. He moved between 5th and 7th until Jan 2014 when he dropped to 8th for one month before moving up to 4th again in March 2014, to 3rd in July 2014 and to second in Oct 2014. His current second spot is even after the Oz open. It is up to date until 19 Jan when the last ratings were done.


His progression through the rankings can be found here: http://www.coretennis.net/tennis-player/roger-federer/1/ranking.html



PS. On Borg and McInroe. Who can forget that epic battle in the Wimbledon final in 1980 followed by another one at the US Masters in the same year?

 Ceradyne 
I am not arguing about the age of sportsmen like Federer - I merely stated that Federer nowadays find it much more difficult to go through to the final stages of tournaments than he used to four or five years ago.
I think insofar as ranking is concerned Federer benefited from the injury and health problems Nadal had this year.   However, that is not all -  all three top players that used to fill the three rankings seems to be on a downward trend - if the US open for instance is borne in mind.  Not having one of the three senior players in the final of that tournament is basically unheard of - and of the three only Nadal was injured and did not play.
I think the younger players are coming through - especially a player like Dimitrov, but he has problems as well.   He must be dead tired every match he played - he has to keep Sha rapova happy and that would be a difficult bedding problem.         

    

 The young players are not in the top 10 in the rankings. Nasal's injury explains Federer's position in relation to Nadal's. It does not explain Federer's position ahead of the others. 

I guess they never gave Novak the message that Roger  is done before Roger ended his 28 match winning streak last November.

 Mozart
Was not necessary for the emssage to be given.   Federer had a nice run with  Djokovic been out of contention with an injury for a while and Nadal being out wit an injury and subsequently played with an appendicitis problem.
However, what i clear is that Federer can still win matches - but he struggles harder than before to succeed.   Whether you like it or not Federer is not the  greatest player on earth he was 4 to 5 years ago.   His age is affecting his performances - as happened against Seppi yesterday.   
Probably the nicest person in the game of tennis ever, but one has to be honest in assessing his performances at present.       

 Why this constant beating about the bush? Of course Federer is not the player he was for or five years ago. Everybody knows that but he is still better than  most of the youngster on the ATP rankings list. And I will say it again all the top players gets knocked out of competitions early, from time to time. It happens a lot in golf where you could se them win a major the one week and then not making the cut the next. 
To discard Federer as a hasbeen at this stage is madness. All I am saying. 

 Anybody that's achieved accolades like Federer can without any pressure play God and call the shouts of praises and support.Meanliness...the difference in sport is a team with a mixture...an individual is on his own...rugby is a team game where you can accommodate experienced players that are passing their prime and pass their example and skills on to younger players experiences and learnt skills...tennis, golf, athletics and swimming ...your'e  on your own...an entirely different ball game...very obvious...individuals get knocked in tennis, boxing, athletics...very simply because they don't win....9 times out of 10 it;s because we all get old and slowly decline
Having said that... thank you Roger...I'm sure it's meant with respect and the right spirit and the decent type of pride...not egotistical...we all admire you a great sportsman and champion...I'm sure the Boks will be inspired by your bonafide support...we don't take this support lightly...well done in your career you did very well.