Just a quick post because I can't let this much anticipated match with Grigor Dimitrov go by without a few comments. It was another topsy turvy one, more so than I had hoped. Roger started out quite nervous, which was to be expected, because I think there really was quite a lot riding on this one. To see him save a bunch of break points and then find his god-like mode for the second half of the first set was awesome, and I was so much hoping that would continue through the second set. Instead, he either lost concentration or got nervous again because he began making some of the ridiculous errors that have plagued him at different times through the year and he almost ended up having to play a third set. But thanks to some choking by the young one, he managed to pull it off in two.
Regardless, though, of whether he played as well as he could have or not, I think in his own mind this win was a big one. With all the comparisons that have been made between Roger and "Baby Fed," if he would have lost this match much speculation would have been made. There may have been comparisons of his win at a young age over Sampras, and that he is fading as the new generation is rising. Instead, though, he showed that at least for a while longer he isn't ready yet to bow out to the younger guys, but he still has the upper hand in many ways, not the least of which is getting control of his nerves to come through in the end. No matter the fact that Dimitrov has been known to choke in situations where he has the upper hand against other top players, the fact that Federer could still come through says a lot that he is still right in there. And I think mentally for him this means a lot.
He has a challenge again in the semis against another young one who looked up to him as a child, but hopefully this win will carry him through to get to another final, likely a repeat from last year with hopefully a happier ending.
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