wsup

Fed barely held on. I finally think people aren't scared anymore.

forreal, i was hoping he was gonna lose it after he went down two sets

I just want him to lose so bad. It is about time Roddick got one of these titles. If Fed wasn't around, Roddick would easily have about 6 majors right now.

federer is obviously on the decline of his peak. still a top player nonetheless.

Indeed. I think players are at the point though where they don't fear him anymore.

NO. fed is still my no. 1. <3

I don't buy into the notion that Federer has nowhere to go but down, and I'm not even a Federer fan.

Agassi was the same age as Federer when he dropped below 100 and everyone thought he was done. Instead, he went on to win 5 more grand slam titles. Prior to that, he had won only 3.

Federer definitely has lost a step, he's out of position more often now than he was earlier in his career. It may be due to the mileage racking up on his knees, laziness, or a combination of both. If the latter has anything to do with it, he should swallow his pride and hire a coach like everyone else. I suspect he's lost a bit of fire after beating Pete Sampras' grand slam record, so having someone to get on his case would help him out.

Federer also tends to underestimate people. He elevates his game and takes risks when playing Roddick, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray. But I've seen Federer take easy shots against lower ranked people and get burned by it because he assumed they wouldn't be able to come up with an answer. Conversely, people know not to take it for granted that they can get a winner against Federer (even on overheads), so they tend to go for it even if it means taking a riskier shot.

Federer can patch up the holes in his game by admitting they are there, or be stubborn and slowly fade away.

Agreed, but right now, I think that he is being VERY stubborn. I think that he just assumes that he will get to the semis without thinking that people have nothing to lose by playing him and everything to gain by beating him.