OleEinar

It wouldn't be bad if someone wrote a little page about the Flower Travellin' Band.

And then this year I've often noticed that he struggled to play well in the important points (myriads of wasted break points often in a bad way) and that many times he succumbed precisely when the competition was tight (like the final in Hamburg, if I'm not mistaken: 10 minutes of fantastic tennis that gave him a clear advantage, then Nadal's reaction, Roger shuts off the light and Rafa comes back and surpasses him). These are signs of weakness at a mental level, and in previous years these things didn't happen to him.

It's clear that the cause of Federer's negative season isn't solely Rafa: surely mononucleosis has had an impact, as it’s natural to see a decline after four years at such an incredible level. Furthermore, we must also consider the significant progress made by his opponents, especially Nadal and Djokovic. However, at the French Open, he didn’t play poorly at all; a loss in the final was predictable, but certainly not one as humiliating as that. I believe that already planted a seed of doubt in Federer's mind leading up to Wimbledon, where he must have wondered if the favorable surface would be enough to bridge such a large gap between him and Nadal. Then, on grass, I saw Federer playing masterfully up to the final (not losing a set in 11 matches, if I'm not mistaken), but in that match, despite the high quality, he seemed truly lacking in tactical clarity and unable to exploit the superiority that the surface and his technical skills still grant him over Nadal. For me, losing after 5 years in his own backyard, and for the umpteenth time against Rafa, was a really heavy blow, resulting in the poor results of the summer.

Thank you so much, Psycho. I’ll add to the list the ones I hadn’t noted down. Sf Sorrow I already have, great album, but it also has the issue (my issue, of course) of being too pop; after a while, the sugar starts coming out of my ears. << When the sounds become more ignorant (let's say all those delightful pre-hard rock things), you begin to think. >> Exactly, I agree.

Read it carefully, <<first incestuous encounters between mama psychedelia and papa hard blues, with the little garage boy watching in amazement>> it's brilliant! I dug the disc out from the depths of my hard drive because I had a hazy memory of it (damn not having the original records, but I might buy this one for 11 euros), anyway, it's really cool! It’s exactly that kind of contaminated psychedelia that fits my tastes perfectly. At this point, I’ll also get Yonkers and Morgen. It's great that you’ve started reviewing old stuff again, just be careful not to spoil us :) (Oh, I left you a comment on the July review if you want to check it out)

I wished I could have (should have?) been there, damn it.

The Federer of yesterday hasn’t been seen for a while, and Djokovic doesn't seem to be doing so well either, if it took him 4 hours to beat Cilic. Unfortunately, for me, the favorite remains Nadal, mainly due to Roger's embarrassing psychological inferiority against him. I fear (I hope I'm wrong) that Federer will never return to being the player he was in recent years; I don't think he'll ever recover from the blow of that defeat at Wimbledon.

I love you! (for something more sensible, see you tomorrow morning)

Oh well, great, you know I'm in my element with the Hammond. Thanks!

But Dopethrone is more doom than anything else, am I wrong?