04/26/24
September 12, 2005
Agassi puts up fight, but Federer wins his 23rd straight final and sixth grand slam title: Federer calls this his "most special " Grand Slam because it was the US Open against "a living legend". Agassi salutes Roger the Great. while magnificent in defeat.
I agree Weedy. He is the best to ever play the Game. He made Agassi look too old to play the game, and Agassi beat everyone soundly to get to the Finals. It makes watching tennis even more boring than ever!!
posted by ELWAY_FAN at 01:34 PM on September 12, 2005
Federer was monstrous. I couldn't believe Agassi got anything by him given how he covers the court.
posted by yerfatma at 02:22 PM on September 12, 2005
Great match. Up against it the entire match, Agassi pushed back as far and as long as he could, but Federer's service game proved too much for him to handle. One can only fend off so many break points while conceding 40-0 games to your opponent's serve. For a while it looked like Agassi had found an exploitable hole in Roger's game; the backhand service return. By varying his pace, Agassi was enducing error upon error from Roger's backhand, to the point of Roger simply conceding to slice return. I'd never witnessed a match where a player knowingly conceded advantage to the opponent with such certainty. There was no mystery about it. He was going to slice it back. That decision speaks volumes about Roger the tactician.
posted by garfield at 02:33 PM on September 12, 2005
I won't give Roger the "best-ever" tag just yet (Sampras was too good for too long, and, well, I'm too young to have seen Laver, let alone Don Budge or Bill Tilden), but he has no equal today. Even against another all-time great, he had the presence of mind to sit back for two and a half sets and figure out what he had to do, and then calmly just shift up into a higher gear and drive the match home. It was remarkable. Even the heavily partisan crowd had to give it up for him.
posted by chicobangs at 02:43 PM on September 12, 2005
This was a very fun tournament to watch. The great thing about Federer is that he's just as entertaining to watch when he's winning big--variety and execution without peer. He's right up there with the best pure shotmakers ever. Others that leap to mind, among players I've watched several times: Agassi, McEnroe, Marcelo Rios, Henri LeConte. Almost any decent pro will make shots that boggle the mind of a hacker like me, but these were guys whose every matched seemed to include a couple of highlight-reel specials. I don't think he's the "greatest ever" yet, either--that's an adjective that sums up a player's career, at least in my own personal usage. But I will say that at his best, his game is the best I've ever seen.
posted by Uncle Toby at 02:49 PM on September 12, 2005
Agree on greatest ever comments. That requires at least a Grand Slam to be considered.
posted by kokaku at 03:11 PM on September 12, 2005
Agassi beat everyone soundly to get to the Finals. Agassi was far from soundly beating everyone to get the finals. I thought for sure he was going to loose to Blake, especially in that 3rd set. IIRC, he went 5 sets in the next match, too. He won, but he had to fight to get there!
posted by jmd82 at 03:29 PM on September 12, 2005
I don't know for greatest ever - but he's the best I've seen - a list that basically starts and ends with Edberg, Sampras, Lendl and, well, Agassi. I'm sure I'm missed some, but I'm just a young sexy man.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 03:58 PM on September 12, 2005
These two guys were practically blowing each other in those post-game interviews. Just once I'd like to see the loser turn to Al Michaels, or Mary whatshername and say: "Ya know Mary, fuck Roger Ferdererer! I'm tired of losing to this asshole. Go make some watches or chocolate or hoard Nazi gold or something." Then slam his racket right into the second place trophy and walk out of the building through the stands - stopping to get a couple of beers which are quickly chugged, belched and then drive to Florida. (deep breath) Agassi played his heart out and Ferderererer didn't seem like he was all there through two sets and most of the third. Then it was like, THUD, golden boy found his golden game and eradicated Agassi like he was practicing with Gramps. He is the best I've ever seen.