TT Blog

So its already time now for the Claycourt season .. by the time people would read this many would have been thinking what has happ to the mighty Roger Federer .. is this the end of Roger Federer ? or is it just that he is going through a slump .. Now lets go a bit back & rewind ..

Its the start of the Australian Open 2008 .. Roger Federer the defending champion is seeking his 13th Grand Slam .. Federer started off in customary fashion beating Hartfield, Santoro & now he is pitted against a tiny little player called Tipsarevic .. I was watching this match live on TV on Star Sports .. Tipsy started off very well Roger also started to play well .. match got very close & interesting .. by the time it was 2 sets all i was beginning to wonder is it the same old Roger Federer who would just demolish all the non seeded players in straight sets .. by the time the 5th set started my money was still on Roger simply bcoz he was the more experienced player .. both players were fighting for point to point & game for game .. it was finally 9-8 in Roger’s favor & it was Tipsy serving to stay in the match .. suddenly Roger was all over Tipsy & managed to get the break & with it the match 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-1) 5-7 6-1 10-8 .. I was really concerned for Roger after this match bcoz i rarely see him play like this but all is well if the end is well & Roger managed to beat his opponent thats what counts.. now in the locker room everybody was whispering ohh if Tipsy can somehow manage to stretch Federer to 5 sets & almost beat him .. we certainly do have more than a fair chance of beating Roger .. Suddenly everybody was aiming for the bullseye that Roger is no more invincible.. next up for him is Berdeych .. Federer played good percentage tennis to beat him in 3 sets mind you Berdeych is a very good singles player & for those let me remind Berdeych was the one who did beat Federer in the last Olympics ending federer hopes of a medal .. Next up for Roger is the impressive James Blake .. again Federer somehow managed to beat him in just 3 close sets .. Now comes the talented Serb Novak Djokovic popularly known as Nole .. everyone thought that Nole would give Federer a very good fight but none knew that Nole was going to create a huge upset .. Nole beats Federer in just 3 sets & went on to win the Tournament his 1st Grand Slam title .. with everyone wondering now is this the change of guard at the top .. Federer himself said considering he was ill before the start of the Australian open he thought that reaching the semis was a good effort on his part .. Federer took a Break from tennis & was getting ready to play in the Dubai duty free open .. His first round opponent there the highly talented Brit Andy Murray & than what happ shocked the entire tennis world .. Federer lost to Murray in 3 sets … now everyone was thinking what has happ to Federer .. Federer himself would had been wondering what has hit him .. Prior to his departure from Dubai duty free open Federer went through a series of tests which revealed that he was suffering from mononucleosis.. Mononucleosis is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus, in most cases producing flu-like symptoms and fatigue. Doctors usually prohibit high-performance athletes from competing during the illness which can sideline sportsmen for more than a year. The illness would partly explain his semi-final defeat at the Australian Open against later champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia and a first-round defeat this week against Briton Andy Murray in Dubai as well. Had Federer’s doctor known abt this he actually would not have been even allowed to play .. So considering that i think Federer should be more than happy to have made the semis of a Slam in such conditions .. Next up for Roger is the Indian wells event again he made good progress but i was still worried abt his fitness bcoz the Roger i knew moves very well all over the court & he actually was not moving that great still he played in only to lost to Mardy Fish mind you Mardy Fish was in tremendous form for a week in which he did beat Hewitt, Davydenko, Nalbandian & now Federer .. suddenly all the media & all the fans of Federer got worried what has happ to their fav player the swiss champ the genius Roger Federer ? I was actually worried bcoz i myself was wondering has Roger fully recovered from mono effects .. Now next up for Roger is Sony Ericsson Miami where everyone thought he would definitely regain his form there .. Roger as usual started well & in the quarters he met Andy Roddick .. Now Roger has a great record against Andy he has lost just once to him .. As usual i watched this match live too it was early morning & i had just got up from sleep .. Andy was serving great ace after ace .. it was 1 set all & 3rd set started Andy on this day was serving as big as he could .. Roger was with him stroke to stroke when suddenly Roger played a poor game & Roddick broke his serve & than served out the match with his 17th ace .. Roddick probably felt this like a dream come true .. I mean he probably would had imagined something like this happening in his dreams !!!

Now lets look at those players who are threatening Federer’s reign .. Lets talk first abt Novak Djokovic the talented Serbian .. he won his 1st Slam at the Australian open .. only to fizzle out in his must win Davis cup match against Davydenko .. than he played the Dubai Duty free open where he lost to the eventual champion Roddick … who did beat Nadal too in the same event … Than he played in Indian wells where he went on to win against Nadal in the final .. Than he played in Miami & shocked the entire world when he lost in the 1st round to a 127 ranked doubles specialist Kevin Anderson .. so for Nole i would say he is talented but very inconsistent & yes he is very injury prone too .. so unless he improves his fitness & consistency becomes his forte long way to go before he could be the next No.1 in the world ..

Next up is the muscular Vamos Rafael Nadal .. Nadal like Federer is still without a title this year .. he lost in the Australian open to the highly impressive Jo Tsonga .. after that he lost to the Roddick in the dubai duty free open .. after that he managed to reach the final only to lose to Djokovic .. & he lost to Davydenko in the final at the Miami event so consistent without any title ..

Now the claycourt season is abt to commence .. Federer is going to start playing first in Portugal at the Estoril Open where is he is the No.1 seed & he only has Davydenko to contend there .. I really hope he will win there .. & start to prepare really hard for the next 3 claycourt event which will be really very hard fought

My take is that the champion Roger Federer is wounded at the moment & considering that he has suffered from mono my take is that he still has done quite well .. only that his quite well is not really understood by his fans all over the world .. Fans demand a victory from Federer’s racquet all the time so do i

I have been watching Federer from 2001 right from the day he did beat Pete Sampras .. & to be frank i still believe he is still the best player in the world only thing is that he needs to rediscover his love passion for the game the sleeping giant needs to wake up & again set the tennis courts on fire with his brilliant audacious strokeplay .. Federer has to get fully fit again & start to win tournaments which i really hope will happen at Estoril Open Its really like this “Tennis without Federer is like ocean without water” can u imagine something like that happ .. Its been a real strange year 2008 for tennis & remains to be seen what will happen next stay tuned !!

I sign off saying that my dear dearest Roger Federer will rediscover his silken touch & bring smiles & happiness to billions of people all over the world including me .. Come on Roger I am waiting for your rebirth of greatness!!

Cheers

coolguy2007