Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images via Daylife
I’ve never liked Julien Benneteau. . .now I know why!
Roger Federer lost to the Frenchman 6-3, 6-7, 4-6 in the second round of the Paris Masters today.
Say quoi??? Sure, Benneteau came to play. He had the hometown advantage and nothing to lose. But Roger Federer is Roger Federer! RF! The Might Fed! At the very least, it should come down to numbers: No. 1 vs. No. 49. No. Contest. But is was.
For those of us who like to reconcile Roger’s losses (after a few good smacks of palm to forehead), I give you this simple fact: Roger’s never made it past the quarterfinals in Bercy.
It’s just not his tournament. Bercy’s not Roger’s scene. And the odds were against him this year - Andre Agassi is the only player to have ever won Roland Garros and Bercy in the same season. Better for Roger to win Paris in the spring than in the fall, don’t you think?
And heck, it gives Roger more time to get ready for the year ending championships. Let Nadal wear himself out saving match points, let Djokovic strain to win his third tournament since the US Open, let del Potro and Murray push their wrists to the limit.
And let Roger Federer party with Marat Safin tonight! (If Mirka says it’s okay.)
But don’t have too much fun, Rog. Get your butt in gear for London. I won’t be so understanding next time.
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Tags: Benneteau, Bercy, Federer, Paris Masters, tennis
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Irritated! That is how I feel. I couldn’t find a good feed to watch the game, my jinxing powers were not working today, as I turn on to watch expecting to see Roger’s match, I caught Nadal down 4-5 in the third set, with Almagro serving, gets even and ends up winning the game, saving 5 mp. I was expecting Roger to do the same, but I just don’t know, is like if he doesn”t win in the second set, he just gives up…
Sad, sad, sad. Roger’s timing was definitely off, and Beneteau played out of his mind. The stats were really close, but Roger did not play the big points well. Oh, well. We’ll always have (the “other”) Paris…
I just hop it’s not his back bothering him!
Pretty sure is the ATP jinx, every time they put Roger’s picture in the banner for a tournament he ends up losing, curse you ATP!
Ah, we will have to watch for that!
FDFADFSAFDJKALSKFJSADF!
Actually not a bad match, Benneteau was playing out of his skin. I found myself suddenly wishing that Federer had drawn Almagro first round. *sigh*
Dumb Benneteau. We just have to stay strong for London. As you’ve said – Roger HAS TO finish at No. 1!!!!!
Now I’m placing my faith in Tsonga/Simon to stop Rafa. And Tsonga/Simon are not the sort of people I want to be pacing my faith in. Grrr…
Jeez. Didn’t watch the match and as soon as I got home I saw this!!!! How did that happen!!!?!??!? and how does it play out for YE no.1???
Just checked the scores. What the hail happened? Get it together, man. Less chocolate more practice!!
oh well, c’est dommage. there went my fantasy fed/safin dream final. hehe. c’est la vie.. same thoughts ff, rog will be the only well rested player in london, unless the twins keep him up.
Roger that penalty miss in his debut in Paris, but hey do not believe that Roger is denting the month and a half he? hopefully these 2 weeks Work hard so that it arrives undamaged to London and can win .. if someone can answer me .. thanks
I’m so so sad. I literally have floating tears. hehe. These loses (US, Basel, Bercy) are more than I can take. I had made peace with the US open loss…was even starting to get over Basel, and now this!
all bad memories are floating back. 
What’s worse is if Rafa wins Bercy, then No.1 is to be decided in London…& anything can happen there. Not good at all. At this rate I might just quit watching tennis all together! For me, tennis is Roger…I only began watching ‘coz of Roger.
And Banneatue…why is he falling to the ground like he won the tournament?! (I know why, just venting!)
Still so discouraged that he lost in the 2nd round!! I was so looking forward to watching him all week! I kept thinking he would end up winning in the end like Nadal somehow managed to do. I didn’t think Roger played bad (like he did in Basel on Sunday). Benneteau played incredible, though. I’m going to feel bummed out all week, I think. Good to hear your thoughts on it though. I so much hope he does really well in London!!
ridiculous. absolutely ridiculous. basel continued.
i think benneteau was better than djokovic, though. and fed didn’t play as badly as he did in basel. he still had quite a few chances, a few 0-40s even i think, and he failed to take them. :/ in the third set he was even struggling to avoid multiple breaks. (i actually thought it was going to be 6-2 again…
)
i just don’t get it. he’s had a long break, so he can’t be tired or injured, he had time to train, he’s had match practice, gotten a bit of rhythm in basel, etc. etc. so why is he suddenly mishitting everything? and why is he playing so defensively? siiiiigh.
i don’t know what to expect in london either. it’d be easier if i could treat basel and paris as two separate tournaments, but the match was rather similiar to sunday’s final, in terms of play, and this match is too soon after the final, which makes it feel as though he’s just taken his bad play with him to paris, like it’s just one big tournament.
so yeah, i don’t know. all i can do is hope everything will be all right again in london.
I feel so much better after reading this. Boy, you are funny. Thanks for cheering us up. The “jinx” had better lift in London!
I caught the match on streaming video & was disturbed at Federer’s play from the very start. I couldn’t understand why the announcers didn’t catch what I was seeing: the lack of spirit & spring, the pointless long cross-court backhand rallies which usually ended in a Federer error, the mediocre placement of first serves, the inability to deliver down the line winners on either side. Ever since the U.S. Open, Federer has taken the ball early as usual but with much less purpose. He once said he thinks about tennis strategy as a matter of “taking the right decisions.” Well, at the moment he seems rudderless – a man incapable of taking or executing effective decisions. As well as Benneteau began playing in the second set, a sharp Federer would have crushed him so totally that Benneteau would never have gained confidence.
me thinks rog was so distraught over marat’s retirement, that he was not in the right frame of mind to beat mr. i have peach and apricot sports bars in my bag! ff, you make me laugh. i don’t hate julien either, but i’m not crazy about him or his game. at least he fell to his knees and was overcome by the enormity of the occasion. that’s cool, but it also shows how much it meant to him, beating goat #1 in front of his home crowd. maybe fed was hoping for more french support? i blame the drummer in the stands.
as for fed, well, too many errors, not much spring in his step, tentative at times and i feel like he was expecting jb to drop his level or get nervous. instead, the frenchman fought (as we’ve seen him do on occasion, like his impressive play v nadal earlier this year) and played out of his mind.
i’m wondering if mirka punished him by saying he couldn’t go party with marat… she was not looking too pleased throughout the match. i am disappointed by the loss, but more so because fed was not looking sharp and now i’m not going to enjoy the rest of the tourny as much, with marat also out. it is true that fed should be rested and have more prep time for london! i wonder if nadal now has a shot at finishing #1, should he do well in bercy and in london?
Not only he has a shot, he has a lot of shots. Federer will drop 200 points from last year WTF, Nadal none since he didn’t play that tournament so, right now if Nadal keep his winning ways, he will repeat as year end number 1 for a consecutive second year.
Paris is a 1,000 point tournament and I read somewhere that the WTF increased to 1,500 for the winner so, Nadal right now has 8845 points, without counting the second round win in Paris, Roger will have 10,140 before the start of the WTF…
ahhh! it’s like i wanted to know, but now regret asking. i imagine there will be some major frazzling going on during the WTF! is it terrible that i was hoping robredo would take nadal out for points reasons? let’s hope rog brings his best stuff and is super motivated to finish #1! he needs to play with a purpose!