Summary: <img width="1024" height="466" src="https://blog.tennisevolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/TE-Plus-Podcast-Template-Final-1024x466.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="" style="float: left; margin: 0 15px 15px 0;"><p><a href="http://blog.tennisevolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/federe-serena27aug.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-10725"><img class="alignleft wp-image-13866 size-large" src="https://blog.tennisevolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/TE-Plus-Podcast-Template-Final-1024x466.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="466"></a></p> <div class="smart-track-player-container stp-color-2d7bbf-EEEEEE"></div> <h2>Show Notes</h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hey, it’s Jeff here, and, wow. What a Friday. Freaky Friday in the tennis world, as Serena Williams was going for that elusive Grand Slam. So, many years have passed, and Steffi Graf did it in 1988.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She’s playing little-known Roberta Vinci from Italy, ranked 43 in the world. Everyone said that this woman had no chance whatsoever to win today on the big stage in New York City, and she pulled off one of the biggest upsets, probably, in sports history. I mean, it really has to be right up there when you think about the magnitude of everything that was on the line.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And Serena, I’ve been watching her the last couple of weeks. She’s been getting through her matches, but, in my opinion, she’s been playing scared. She’s been playing with fear. She’s been playing afraid, and not the type of tennis that you would want to be playing to finish out that Grand Slam.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And then, to counter that to Roger Federer—and even Novak Djokovic, but Roger Federer, in particular, I mean this guy is playing loose and fancy free. He’s going for his shots, he’s playing aggressively, he’s serving better than ever, moving better than ever, and it’s a star contrast to these 2 great champions: Serena Williams, aged 33, soon to be 34, and Roger Federer at 34, both playing at the late stages of their career, but you’re seeing Federer trending upwards, because he’s got that joy.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I see that love in the way that he plays. You can see it in his game: the way that he feels, the way that he interacts with the crowd, and the announcers, and his family, he’s just in a really good place. And with Serena, I’m not seeing that.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So, it is a shame that Serena wasn’t able to pull off the Grand Slam, but some records aren’t meant to be broken, or some achievements aren’t meant to happen, and she still has had a wonderful career. and will probably continue to win and win more Grand Slam titles.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But Federer, on the other hand, I’ve never been so jazzed about a player. I mean, it is a joy to watch a 34-year-old athlete, probably playing as well—if not better than he was playing when he was 24, which, no one would have said a couple of years ago.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So, kudos to him for making the adjustments necessary to play the best tennis, probably, the best tennis of his life. I predict he’s going to beat Djokovic on Sunday in 4, maybe 5 sets. He’s got the movement, he’s got the confidence, and he’s got the serving. He’s moving forward really well, he’s hitting his one-handed backhand so much be</span></p>
