CAMELOT FANTASIES

Quote from: thetruth on January 28, 2014, 11:13:08 am

Quote from: masterclass on January 28, 2014, 10:38:18 am

Agreed general.   Can you think of a reason why they are not?

Respectfully,
masterclass

My post may have gotten lost.

I think it's to help an aging Federer.

BO5 in regular tourneys might disadvantage him a bit.

He's still a cash cow for the tour and sells tickets.

They kind of always do this to protect their investments.

Lady TT, don't believe this stuff re "aging Federer", as he was about 25-26 when they made the changes.   But the rest of what you said near the bottom is pretty much on target.   Federer wanted a return to 5 set finals.  For example, as a top player, he does not want to be blown off the court in 2 set tiebreakers by a hot serving Isner.  He wants time to be able to read the serve and adapt.

The real reason was to protect the tournaments revenue, which is what you alluded to, especially in the back-to-back masters.  Here is an article from 2011:

Federer says return to 5-set Masters finals might be nice

5/3/11 2:18 PM | Johan Lindahl
Federer says return to 5-set Masters finals might be nice The Swiss maestro weighs in on 5-match, best of 3 format for Masters winners.

Roger Federer has always been a fan of old-school tennis from his distrust of electronic line-calling to his small-headed racquet designed more than a decade ago. And now the Swiss is calling for consideration of a return to best of five set finals at the Masters 1000 level.

The No. 3, who is making his bid for a third trophy at the Madrid Masters, said that winning any pair of Masters back-to-back (Madrid followed by Rome next week, for instance) is a huge ask. But he said that it might also be a true challenge.

"To win any set of Masters back to back is tough," said the Swiss who beat Rafael Nadal in the Madrid final in 2009 and lost to the Spaniard a year later in the Caja Magica title match, "The fields are always very difficult and there is only one guy who gets the chance (winner of the first event).

"Plus it was tougher before when you had to win six matches and play a best-of-five final. The day off between the two was a travelling day, it was almost impossible.

"Now there is no more best of five and the top eight seed get first-round byes. In some ways, I‘d like to see best of five coming back, maybe something will change."

Five-set Masters finals were reduced in 2007 after a marathon in 2006. Nadal beat Federer in a five-hour five-set Rome final which eventually forced both to withdraw with fatigue from Hamburg which followed a day later.


I think they could go back to 5 set finals, as long as Masters were not back-to-back, which is a little silly scheduling anyway.

Respectfully,
masterclass

Well, when I say an aging Federer I mean it in terms of chronological years, not necessarily his game. I have been in the minority on more than a few occasions regarding him getting slow, losing foot speed, etc. I think his game is fine, but at times he has lacked motivation.

But TBH, I don't believe a word that Federer says especially as it relates to the electronic line calling. To me, a person who doesn't like a certain thing wouldn't be so apt to use it, and he uses it a lot. To me Federer speaks with a forked tongue. I find him very disingenuous.