I can’t believe I’ve been missing this thread!
Federer’s my pick, he swatted Roddick and I don’t see why he won’t bring out his best game against Marky. Unless Poussis hammers down another 46 aces, then it’ll be a different story. 
Yeah, I would’ve said Philipoussis had the edge, too, until I saw Federer handling Roddick’s 133 mph serves like it was a practice match. If he plays like that against Philipoussis, there’s no contest. I was impressed by how Mark found a way to win his last match, when his serve wasn’t at its best, but I don’t think he stands a chance against the Federer I saw yesterday.
Then again, I didn’t think Venus stood a chance against Serena, and she’s kicking butt. (The GF turned it on.)
In case somebody likes watching the ESPN replays- 
Serena just won. This was the closest they’ve come to playing a really great tennis match, I think. The first two sets were really good and featured some great shot-making and athletic rallies. But in the last few games of set #2, the wheels started coming off.
This was a really tough one to watch, for me. There were some really good points and some good play, but the injury screwed things up. Venus seemed as into it as I’ve ever seen her against Serena, but she couldn’t keep up after a while. And this time, Serena was the one who had trouble getting into the match. I honestly think she couldn’t focus with Venus is pain on the other side of the net - one thing Serena usually doesn’t have trouble with is her concentration. I’m sure Venus won’t play again for at least a few weeks, hopefully she’ll be 100% by the US Open and maybe we’ll get the match we almost got today. She should make some noise there at the very least.
I think I have to go with Federer tomorrow also. I didn’t see the match against Roddick, but it he can handle his serve, he can probably deal with Philipoussis. The Big P does have much more of a net game than Roddick does, but since neither of them has much Grand Slam Final experience, it’s hard to know how they’ll respond. But unless Philipoussis can pull another one of those giant performances out of his hat - and I’m not saying he can’t - as the less complete player, he’s the underdog.
That injury was really unfortunate. I think Venus had a chance to take this one if that muscle hadn’t been aggravated. The quality of tennis was good in the first couple of sets, but I could sense that the crowd was getting a bit bored since there weren’t many “come on!” type emotional displays being shown by either player on court, which is understandable, of course.
;j
LOL!!!
The Swiss should be happy tomorrow!
Yes, definitely. I think Roddick was a little stunned that his power wasn’t winning him any points, and he never came up with a Plan B.
But, Federer was awesome! He played an absolutely phenomenal match. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anyone play as good an all-court game as he did against Roddick. And, I’ve been watching tennis since the days of Rod Laver and Arthur Ashe. If he can reach that level again, tomorrow, Mark doesn’t stand a chance. But, I’ve never seen Federer play that well, before, so I’m not confident he can do it again.
Yeah! 
Seriously, though, he surpassed Agassi’s return game, IMO. And, that’s a first! I’ll definitely be watching tomorrow, to see if he can do it, again.
FEDERER is awsome! He sure deserved to win, his game has everything!
He’s made tiny Switzerland very happy.
Brilliant Show Federer! Congratulations.
Wow, what a match. Federer plays tennis the way it’s meant to be played. Brilliant stuff. Can’t help but feel sorry for Poussis, he’s got a few years left in him and hopefully he’ll do well again.
The word ‘wow’ does come to mind. There were a number of sequences where Federer just played perfect tennis. The first three or four games of the second set, he certainly didn’t miss a shot - it felt like he didn’t even lose a point! If he can play like that consistently, he could take anybody. There should definitely be more major championships in him. What an all-around game.
I felt bad for Philipoussis too - it was like there was nothing he could do the whole match. Even when his serve was on, he couldn’t touch Federer’s: he got him to deuce all of once, and never got a break point. But he’s not old (26, I think), and if he stays healthy and keeps his head together, he’ll have other chances.
It was really nice to see a power serve game totally demolished by a more well-rounded game. Maybe now some pros will realize that if you live by the big serve, you die by the big serve, if that’s all you’ve got. I don’t think Philipousis won more than one or two long rallies against Federer.