2004 US Open - Final: Federer vs Hewitt (part 1/2)

[adrenilenepotato]

his forehand and backhand look more powerful,but they are a lot less dependable,great match from fed but hewitt at his best will get crushed by the top 4

[MaratSafinVideos]

@adrenilenepotato What? His forehand and backhand were less dependable here? On what planet are you on? This is Federer at his very best. His backhand and forehand were never more dependable from 2004-2007.

The court looks so beautiful in all green but now, like the surfaces, look all the same.

[youziness]

@adrenilenepotato hewitt and roddick, safin was in top 3 for a reason. Put Djokovic or Nadal on 2004-2005 courts with lighter balls they won't dominate like today. Wimbledon is certainly out for them.

[ekolder]

Fed is the man, wish he still had the PONYTAIL!

[manco82]

2004 Roger vs 2011 Roger - WWW

[SubtleNirvana]

I felt courts are much faster in this video compared to the courts of US open since 2008.Am i the only one who thinks this way?

[pure2142]

@SubtleNirvana i was thinking the same thing

[4Ventus]

His strokes does seem more powerful but the Federer now has much more versatility and experience. It's more fun to see Roger play now then before with all his tweeners and amazing shots. Not to mention the haircut and apparel is far more appealing.

[gg2000gg2000]

didn't know you can upload real rape videos on youtube

[peter96]

i miss this federer

[famous2too]

Hewitt was the only guy who clicked on the 'idon´t like ' button

[LegendKiller0084]

uR ALL WRONG! 04-06 Wimbledon he was untouchable

[bvladutz]

"If that's the sign of things to come it could be a quick afternoon". The commentator was spot on!

[TTFAFF]

Wow... Federer was way more aggressive back there!!! Poor Hewitt!

[jalanmills]

can you say ridiculous

[cruzzo260]

federer is quite fast here .. like to watch him again like this..

[KoopasFTW]

Why didn't Federer play like this in the Olympics? :(

[youziness]

2004 is the year where roger came out hitting hard, not smashing racquets and mentally strong. Nobody would have thought hewitt will be replaced by federer whom he had losing h2h with. Thats very huge transformation out of nowhere, similar to djokovic today.

[dharmaboy75]

Federer looks like a more consistent player here. I know this is 7 years ago. Can't expect a player to keep up this pace for that long.

His backhands are more powerful and aggressive now that I look at it.

its the circle of life my friends

Sampras had his Agassi

Federer has his Nadal

Nadal has his Djokavic

Djovo is going to be number 1 soon. I am a die hard Federer and tennis fan.

[jokerpoker87]

@dharmaboy75 Funny thing is that both Sampras and Federer had 2 handed backhand rivals. Hope that circle of life thing would show us another great one backhander in the top 10.

[outlaw777]

@dharmaboy75 great comment

[911801111801]

''Nadal has his Jokovish''

You know that Nadal has a winning record against Jokovish, don't you?????

[dharmaboy75]

@911801111801 He does for now. that might change, like how Feds had Nalbandian.

[911801111801]

MIGHT... but I don't think so...

[TTFAFF]

@911801111801 For how long? When the 2011 season started Nadal's lead over Djokovic was so fucking huge! Look at it now: 16-12. FIVE I mean FIVE wins in a row for Djokovic, all of them in Finals and most impressive, two back-to-back wins on Clay!

[911801111801]

Look... Nadal TOO has beaten Jokovish FIVE (5) times in a row (two of those victories were in finals)... including 11 consecutive times outside of hard-courts!!!!

''For how long?''

Jokovish might get to 15-16, who knows?... but at the end of the day, the answer is FOREVER; Nadal will end up with a winning record against Jokovish at the end of the times, don't doubt it for a second; no one can change that...

[TTFAFF]

@911801111801 If you say, mr guru

[911801111801]

Wait and watch things unfold...

[Maniac742]

@dharmaboy75 Except Sampras's head to head ration vs. Agassi is much better than Federer's vs. Nadal. Federer is most certainly the more well rounded player. You need only look at his titles to see that. Nadal is kind of a one trick pony. If he wasn't left handed he probably wouldn't be nearly as hard to beat. They're both on a decline now. Djokovic is on his way up, but he's pretty late in his career too. Will be interesting to see who replaces the three of them.

[thisnamealsotaken]

@Maniac742 lol classic federer dickrider. i have seen many excuses for nadals greatness, but my fave one is the lefty argument. u know i dislike both fed and nadal fans, but u guys are the worst by far. why cant u just leave the childish excuses for what they are and just judge the players based on their results? its simple as this; if nadal breaks the record, hes better, if not then feds better. how fkin difficult can it be??

[Maniac742]

@thisnamealsotaken The lefty argument is clearly the right one, you're just too busy sucking on his cock to see it. Plenty of other western forehand hitters have a similarly struck ball and don't perform as well. If Nadal does have one other weapon it's his speed. Between competition and a proneness for injury, I doubt Nadal will catch Federer in titles, let alone pass him.

[thisnamealsotaken]

@Maniac742 i hate nadal fans almost as much as fed fans, the only reason why i hate u more is cus u guys are by far the best in excuses; he had mono, it was too dark, back problems, hes too old (at 28 lol), nadal is a lefty, nadal only uses spin, nadals style is not as beautiful etc etc etc. grow the fck up ppl. its as simple as this; nadal has beaten fed enough to establish hes a better player, he only needs that record. if he gets it hes goat, if not then fed is. how fkin hard can that be?

[TTFAFF]

@thisnamealsotaken So... Nadal has beaten Federer many times and that makes him the best of all times? You just go on and count how many of those wins for Nadal were on Clay. Everyone who watches tennis know that no one in the fucking world is better than Nadal on a clay court (except for Djokovic during his outstanding 2011 season LOL) and at least three or four of those clay-wins have come at the Roland Garros Final! Nadal dominates Clay, not tennis. Of course he is great, but not the greatest

[thisnamealsotaken]

@TTFAFF no moron READ, i said hes greatest IF he breaks the record. and of those wins, many were as well on hardcourt and grass. if i were u i would switch to djokovics dick my friend cus ur crybaby idol is done LOL.

[TTFAFF]

@thisnamealsotaken Don't need to call me a moron. I like how people are always aggressive on the internet.

[thisnamealsotaken]

@TTFAFF i like how ppl derail from the argument when they are in a losing position.

[TTFAFF]

@thisnamealsotaken Excuse me?

[thisnamealsotaken]

@TTFAFF lol read

[TTFAFF]

@thisnamealsotaken I am pretty lazy.

[thisnamealsotaken]

@Maniac742 and yeh u should thank god for his injuries and the competition  cus if not for those injuries that lil fucker would have had around 13 slams by now and would only need 4 more to pass the big crybaby.

[thisnamealsotaken]

@dharmaboy75 2 bad u cant spell his name right for several times lol

[sungwonyeo]

@dharmaboy75 but sampras never had trouble against agassi

[89Pleasek]

I wonder how many wins would Sampras have over Agassi if both were in their primes nowadays. Sampras can feel super lucky he competed in a fast era, right now Nadal or Djokovic would eat him alive. No fast grass or carpet courts for Pete

[hattrickster33]

@dharmaboy75 Djokovic must be injured because he recently lost to Kei Nishikori.

[jonnyhuddersfield]

federer just looked so aggressive back here

[pocketsearch]

3:38 onwards during that point; He needs to play this way!

[GuntherL1]

If future generations ask us about Federer magic, this performance should be topping the list.

[danlfc1983]

@GuntherL1 I would tell them to watch this final and the semi final of the Australian Open in 2007 where he destroyed Roddick.

[danlfc1983]

People say his best performance was against Roddick at the Aussie Open in 2007, but I think this beats that. I'm a Nadal fan, but Roger is the greatest of all time.

[Ledwix]

Did anyone else see that the first 5 games were played in only 13 minutes? Unbelievable dominance.

[casketofdog]

how can you beat some one 6-0 in a grand slam final

[TheRoserver]

@casketofdog and twice!!!

[joshluo123]

@casketofdog twice

[millionairejh]

why cant fed hit forhands like this again

[erbgorre]

big servers, net players, strategists and players with amazing touch were so much more dangerous then. today its all about court coverage in defense and playing with pressure and depth from the baseline without making any errors. thats what the new generation excels at cause thats the game they grew up with. federer is not as good as he was 4 years ago no doubt but hes the only one who could make the transition and play both styles to near perfection. he owned everyone during that transition.

[erbgorre]

you cant say it was an easier era the game was just different. its not like federer didnt have competition back then. nalbandian, safin and so on may not have won as many slams but they were fantastic players and might have become legends if not for temper issues and the fact that they peaked in the same era as fed. but in these conditions right here i suspect they wouldve crushed the newer generation including nadal. since everything was so much faster its just hard to really compare ..

[harlito90]

I absolutely think this Federer is the ideal example of "the best tennis player in history". Now, if we check up the final match of US OPEN 2010, we can see how much Rafa Nadal has improved, he was almost as perfect as Federer in 2004 and 2006. It's just my opinion.

[contactafc10]

@harlito90 no so you got to say also de Edberg of 91´or the Sampras of 90´ or the McEnroe of 84´ . The level of greatness achieved here by Federer is unparalled in the history of tennis

[anaihilator]

"This guy...this guy moves like water, he's so smoooooooth"

Sigh, where is that backhand today Roger....

[telmolicious]

well.. 5 months prior 2 this federer got pooped on by a 17 year old nadal ... and furthermore u cant compare hewitt to nadal ... nadals a legend, hewitt aint... federer makes more mistakes today because he is being pushed... today federer is being pushed when playing duels... back there he wasnt... u can see how he is constantly in his comfort zone... look at those two backhands at 1.34 onwards.. nadal, djoko, del potro would have punished them ... but hewitt? aint got the power - easier era!

[89Pleasek]

cool story bro

[youziness]

@telmolicious they got no chance to punish those 1:34 backhands even if they hit well, that was federer back then, response with a strong defensive shot. Now he is pushed because he got no strength and balance in his shots. Djoko right now is hitting hard and solid similar to hewitt in this video. I can say same level as hewitt in this video.

[ShalaVlaga]

@youziness Even as a Federer fan I think are underestamating the way Djokovic is playing right now. Djokovic is so solid of both wings, He is hitting the ball much harder and more accurate then Hewitt was in 04' and some of the backhands you've highlighted at 1:34 Djoko would have hit clean winners off as they were short backhands. Today's game is much more close then 04' and credit should be given to players like Djokovic who have raised there game in response to Federer and Nadal's games.

[youziness]

@ShalaVlaga Yes solid and play safe, only difference is up his power by a fraction. it can be beaten by aggressive play and using his pace as shown in roland garros today. His streak is there because his game is good against nadal, maybe nadal had weaken as well. Even though today's federer has to store energy after few points before wanting to rally, he can handle djoko hard shots. Its not a lot different from safin and hewitt's prime just that he holds on longer in more games.

[Grivahri]

I remember watching this game and I thought that this had to be the most one sided match I've ever seen, at least in a grand slam final. Federer completely crushed Hewitt, he was the best back then. Back then he would crush the Nadal of today.

[outlaw777]

"Thats the problem, how do you outmaneouvre this guy, this guy moves like water, he's so smooth"

[QBERT462]

This fed would poop on today's fed

[manco82]

@QBERT462 I'm sure that comment is based on rigorous analysis.

[PSneakysound]

@Combostrike37 : No, this haven't been done by a human. Federer is an alien. Else, there is no rational explanation to his greatness.

[combostrike37]

I have to keep in mind that this is all done by a human...Congrats to your amazing career Fed. and good luck to all those pursuing to be the best in tennis currently

[hencar2]

ademas en los anios donde nadal a terminado como numero uno, es porque federer no jugo en su nivel cuando federer vuelva a su nivel recuperarara el uno, en el 2008 hasta Simon, bolelli,benetau, entre otros le ganaron a federer inclusive le gano roddick , es decir fue un mal anio, a pesar de eso le costo a nadal 5 sets pata ganarle wimbledon en un partido que solo los hinchas de nadal pueden categorizarlo como el mejor, si se vio claro que federer estuvo lejos de su nive los 2 primeros sets..

[hencar2]

por eso me decepciona que jugadores como Macnroe o Sampras digan que rafa es mejor basandose en sus estadisticas entre ellos, o sea si federer no hubiese llegado a finales de arcilla (como sampras), estaria mejor que nadal en enfrentamientos, en cosecuencia si federer fuera un poco peor en arcilla , seria considerado mejor jugador que nadal pues tendria menos derrotas contra el....Absurdo!!!

[contactafc10]

@hencar2 totalmente de acuerdo! es decir si Sampras llegaba a instancias finales en arcilla hubiese perdido quiza constantemente con Agassi, Muster, Kuerten....entonces serian mejor que el??

Agassi es 2-0 contra Sampras en arcilla (roland garros)

[hencar2]

Para todos los que creen que porq nadal tiene mas victorias sobre federer es mejor q el entiendan esto, durante esos anios donde federer era imbatible, nadal solo jugaba con federer en arcilla (donde si no cabe duda que nadal es mejor), y por lo tanto a pesar de ser los mejores anios de federer nadal le saco ventaja en triunfos pues nadal no llegaba a finales en otra superficie que no sea arcilla

[ulizinho]

@hencar2

bien dicho !

[harlito90]

This Federer could easily destroy the current Nadal...

[EmceeNolan]

@harlito90 Grass and hardcourt, yes. Clay, no.

[shellbsd23]

@harlito90 and he did in 2010 here: watch?v=Wp_IJ1A63ss

[jkau94]

what do you guys think the score would be between federer today and federer at this point in his career?

[manco82]

@jkau94 I think it would be a tight 5-setter with current Fed prevailing due to more wrinkles.

[magicalgrasshopper]

wowowow!!! the return @ 107!!!!!

maybe fed needs to grow his hair again...

the end is just ridiculous..all those aces...!!

[aleztfu]

Had Nadal faced 2004 Federer in the USO final, his chances were not very good.

[magicalgrasshopper]

@aleztfu nadal would have maybe had a shot last year when he lost to del potro,but not the first 4 years,even if he played the way he did at wimbledon 08,or 09 AO

[quiet1234]

@magicalgrasshopper Yeh He would have, 08 USO he only lost because he overplayed, and he still really pushed murray in that Semi. 07 he played pretty crap and 06 as well, but 08 he was playing well. 09 He was low on confidence and then got injured but if he had played his best tennis in 08 09 He would definitely have won, its a testament to get to the semis and play crap tennis. Well a testament to his talent and the crappy competition

[magicalgrasshopper]

@quiet1234 if youre talking about rafa,you has never defended a title on any surface other then clay

i think his win at this years u.s open was a fluke,he was only able to make the final the year he had the easiest draw anyone had this past decade.if he does it again next year then i will change my opinion

[manco82]

Federer's level here is just frightening even by 2010 standards. The only other match that really compares is the 2007 AO semi vs Roddick.

[Staunomat]

@manco82

And the Masters Final 2006 against blake

[magicalgrasshopper]

@manco82 i put put his match against del potro at last years AO up there too..the only word anyone can use to describe what he did to del potro,hewitt and roddick in those matches is raped.i have never seen any player play a such a high level,when fed is playing his best no one can beat him,that cant be said for any other player if they play their best

[quiet1234]

@magicalgrasshopper It can and it is

[TheFuckingDestroy]

Just by listening to the sound of typing. Federer uses the hose on its full Wilson. Before adopting the following season with the mix gut / Luxilon

[bobzilla75]

IMHO, this is Federer´s prime.

[boy20022002]

@bobzilla75

I agree. His forehand is just unreal.

[aleztfu]

@bobzilla75 Well he was in his prime from 2004 to 2007 LOL

[anaihilator]

@bobzilla75 it sure was the beginning of it. 2004 Fed put the game on lock

[TTFAFF]

@bobzilla75 What about 2006 and 2007? Those years were outstanding!

[BrainSane237]

@bobzilla75 I think 2006 and 2007 were his prime years.

[butterflycaught900]

@bobzilla75 watch the 2006 masters cup final and you will feel differently

[quest8899]

These courts seem real fast

[LBJSVSM23]

Fed's last "pony tail" grand slam!

[ulizinho]

@LBJSVSM23

he should let it grow again, like Samson...

[ozzie040]

fed is hitting and playing more aggressive, hes more loose now.. not as hungry but thats kinda imaginable i guess when ur at 16 slams instead of 3

[asdfuogh]

lol maybe hewitt's camp paid fed 1 mil per lost game in the second set lol

[Jamus182]

lol look at the match time at 1:55 .......13 mins

[BrotherTree1]

fascinating prospect? yeh...towards federer ONLY. hewitt no where to be seen here. too good.

[Wilde4Ever]

I agree Fed is not as consistent now as he was in those days but at his best I think he is a better player, more experienced has more (even more ) dimensions to his game and the back hand is better, contrast the points from this match with the highlights for Fed Hewitt 2010 and try to tell me that Fed dosen't still hit killing ground strokes. One can't really expect him to keep up that kind of level 24/7 at 29 now.

[ThierryDbrown]

way better than federer is now. he hits the ball much harder

[reefric]

@ThierryDbrown I personally think that, when roger played, with the red wilson n-code, he had more power in his shot´s, he still has power and probably more control, but it´s not the same power, as back in 04-05-06..

[asdfuogh]

@reefric Or maybe he's just changed his style a bit to accommodate the prevalent style nowadays? I feel like he ran a lot more back then than he does now, probably an intelligent kind of conserve energy while the other fools run lol

[reefric]

@asdfuogh maybe, probably why he doesn´t come to the net, as much as he did in the past..roger still is an offensive shotmaker though and he´s still very fit and fast.

[timafi]

hope Roddick does NOT make it far at any of the remaining 3 majors

[federerbestclass]

great video