Runner-up again at Monte Carlo

World number one Roger Federer has finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo for the third straight year after losing in two tight sets 7-5 7-5.

The first set saw both players exchanging breaks with Nadal eventually prevailing in the 12th game when he converted the first of two break points as Federer served to stay in the set. Indeed the Swiss had a promising start with an early break for a 1-0 lead but failed to hold serve on his first service game. When he got another opportunity to pull away at 4-3 after another break of serve, that too was all for naught when Nadal broke back immediately.

The second set was essentially deja vu but to a more extreme degree. Federer had an even more incredible start as he played some stunning clay court tennis--including breaking his opponent's serve to love--to race to a 4-0 lead. In a bizarre reversal of fortune, his terrific form deserts him to allow the heavily favoured Spanish champion to level the set at 4-4. Federer then managed to move within a point of bringing the set into a tie break only to have Nadal force a couple of errors off his racquet to earn match point. His hopes of preventing Nadal from claiming a fourth straight title here tellingly ended with a backhand error.

Although it was a disappointing loss, Federer showed that he was capable of breaking Nadal's serve. He kept the pressure on Nadal more successfully than Nadal's previous opponents in the tournament. It was just unfortunate that he was unable to keep his unforced error count down and maintain a more consistent level of play.

While this latest defeat sets back Federer to a 1-7 record in his clay court head-to-head against the three-time Roland Garros champion, his finals appearance together with his title at Estoril last week can at least be taken as positive signs that the tennis superstar is finally on his way back from illness and a poor start to this season.
Photo credit: AP Photo/Claude Paris

Another gift of a finals spot

It seems that Roger Federer's general likeability--or perhaps it's the aura of invincibility that he exudes--has gone to such an extent that players are now handing him over victories this year. Talk about conquering your opponents with both your tennis game and kindness!

First there was Tommy Haas who gave the world number one a free ticket to the semifinals at Indian Wells. Then there was Davydenko who made the even more generous gesture of handing Federer the title at Estoril last week, Federer's first title this season.

And now there's Novak Djokovic.

The Serb has just retired from his semifinals match against the Swiss at the ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo after trailing 6-3 3-2 to set up a dream final between the top two players in the tour. No surprise there as Djokovic has made it a habit of pulling out from a match when he's feels he's not up to finishing the match and is at the losing end.
Djokovic appeared to have the upperhand early in the match as he threatened Federer at his service game by going up 15-40 when the score was at two games all. But Djokovic was unable to convert both breakpoints and a third later in the set. Federer on the other hand was much more successful as he pounced for the kill at his very first opportunity to break Djokovic's serve and earn a chance to serve for the set at 5-3.

In the second set, Federer produced an early break of serve to go up 2-1 but failed to consolidate it as Djokovic immediately broke back to love to level the set. The two-time Monte Carlo runner-up proceeded to break Djokovic's serve for a second time for a 3-2 lead. By that time however Djokovic evidently thought that he had had enough and indicated that he couldn't continue playing because he was feeling weak and dizzy.

Federer now progresses to the finals for the third straight year where he hopes to prevent Rafael Nadal from making history by collecting a fourth successive title at Monte Carlo. The world number two had earlier eased past fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko 6-3 6-2 and holds a 6-1 head-to-head record against Federer on clay.
Photo credit: Michael Steele/Getty Images

Tennis Goliath brings down David

Twelve-time grand slam champion Roger Federer received a major boost of confidence when he barged back from a set down to triumph over David Nalbandian 5-7 6-2 6-2 and secure a spot in the semifinals of the ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo.

The opening set was a display of superb shotmaking as neither player faced a breakpoint up until the 11th game as Federer served to stay in the set. The top seed then produced a number of errors to let the Argentine gain the upperhand with a one-set-to-none lead.

But the loss of that opening set apparently spurred on the world number one when he immediately broke Nalbandian's serve in the second set. Nalbandian however responded by breaking back in the next game but unfortunately struggled to maintain his level of play. He thereafter surrendered his next two service games to allow Federer to clinch the set at 6-2.

The deciding set was no different from the previous one as Nalbandian failed to recover and continued to fade miserably as the Swiss showed his class to produce sublime winners off his racquet. Federer then fittingly closed out the match by breaking Nalbandian's serve for a fifth time, roaring with delight after firing a running forehand past the hapless Nalbandian.
The resurgent Swiss now joins the other top three players of the ATP tour in the semis where he will face world number three Novak Djokovic of Serbia. World number two Rafael Nadal of Spain and world number four Nikolay Davydenko of Russia face off in the other semifinals match.
Photo credits: AP Photo/Claude Paris (top right) and Stephane Danna/AFP/Getty Images (bottom)

Federer Express chugs on into Monte Carlo quarters

Roger Federer's path toward a title at the ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo was much smoother in the third round as he defeated Gael Monfils of France in straight sets 6-3 6-4.

The top seed previously had to fight back from 1-5 down in the third set of his second round match against the 137th ranked Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo.

This time around Federer kept his unforced error count down--he produced an appalling 55 unforced errors in the second round--and sealed the 71-minute victory with an exquisite drop shot.

He now faces long-time nemesis David Nalbandian of Argentina who routed Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-0 6-1 and holds an 8-8 head-to-head record with world number one.

Federer wins a thriller!

Tennis superstar Roger Federer practically came back from the brink of defeat to win a thriller of a match against Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo and move on to the third round at the Monte Carlo Masters Series.
The Swiss appeared to be cruising to a routine win when he emphatically won the first set 6-1.

But the Federer Express was derailed as he was broken right off at the start of the second set and struggled with numerous errors. Ramirez Hidalgo took advantage of this major lapse in the top seed's game and forced a deciding set with a 6-3 score in the second.

All seemed lost for Federer when he fell behind 0-4 in the third set. But the pressure evidently began to tell on his inexperienced Spanish opponent who failed to served out the match, not once, but twice! First at 5-2 then at 5-4.

With a true champion's heart and mental toughness, Federer in the meantime held his next two service games to level at 5-all. Both players then each held serve one more time to force a tie break where the 2006 and 2007 finalist raced to a 4-1 lead and never looked back.

The poor Ramirez Hidalgo must be heartbroken after having so many opportunities to pull off what could have been the tournament's biggest upset. Certainly he contributed to a match that must have given everyone there in the stands--including myself here watching the online live scoreboard--a dozen heart attacks.

We Federer fans must thank him for playing well and consequently forcing the world number one to step up and reveal the great tennis player that he really is.

Long live King Roger the Great!
Photo credit: AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau

Going for a first title at Monte Carlo

World number one Roger Federer today begins his quest to win a Masters Series shield at Monte Carlo for the first time. After receiving a bye in the first round, Federer faces Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo, a qualifier to the event, from Spain in an noontime match.

Federer went all the way to the finals in the previous two years but lost each time to Rafael Nadal, the world number two from Spain who is chasing a historic fourth consecutive title here.

As a side note, Federer was taken on a helicopter ride over the city yesterday. And although he said that enjoyed the ride he also "hoped he didn't disturb the [tennis] players."

Well, let's hope that he'll continue to fly high in the tournament and strike fear among the other players with his awesome game once again.
Photo credit: Michael Steele/Getty Images

Federer's first title for 2008

Roger Federer was literally handed his first title of the year when Nikolay Davydenko retired due to an injury to his left leg during the second set of their match in the finals of the Estoril Open.

The Swiss had several chances to break the fourth-ranked Russian's serve in the first set but failed to convert any. He even fought to save a set point as he serving to stay in the set at 5-6. Fortunately, the top seed eventually prevailed via a tiebreak which he initially led at 5-0 but managed to win at 7-5.

In the second set, Davydenko broke Federer's serve right off and was leading 2-1 when he decided that it was not wise to continue with his injury--especially considering that the first Masters Series on clay in Monte Carlo was scheduled to commence the very next day.

While this was an unusual way to win a title for Federer, he expressed satisfaction with his overall performance in the tournament and felt he was ready going into the Monte Carlo Masters Series.
Photo credit: Francisco Leong/AFP/Getty Images

Federer finally in a final!

For the first time this year, Roger Federer has made the finals of a tournament. And on clay no less! To get there however the tennis world's superstar had to dig deep to come from a set behind in his semifinals match at the Estoril Open in Portugal.

The windy conditions played havoc on Federer's shots allowing his opponent, the 104th-ranked German Denis Gremelmayr to break the Swiss' serve twice in the opening set to easily clinch it at 6-2.

But to the relief of many in the crowd--and surely the tournament organizers--the top seed found his form in the second set and immediately broke Gemelmayr's serve in the second game. Federer appeared to be cruising toward leveling the match at one set all when a brief lapse in concentration gave Gremelmayr another a chance to break back and equalize at 5-5. After salvaging his next service game, Federer piled the pressure on Gremelmayr who was serving to go into a tiebreak. Luckily for Federer, Gremelmayr crumbled to surrender the second set to love.

Thereafter, Federer was troubled no more as he raced to a 5-0 lead in the deciding set. Gremelmayr just managed to hold serve once to force Federer to serve for the match which he did so with an emphatic 6-1 score.

Playing in Estoril for the first time in many years, Federer also came back from a set behind in his first round match against Olivier Rochus 4-6 6-3 6-2. His next two matches came more easily as he defeated both Victor Hanescu of Romania and local tennis star Frederico Gil in straight sets. This despite having to play through stubborn rain showers in the second round and enduring rain interruptions in the third round.

Federer now faces world number four Nikolay Davydenko of Russia who defeated Fernando Serra in the other semifinals match in straight sets and is currently on a winning streak after winning his second Masters Series shield in Miami.

A victory in the finals here would give Federer his very first title in 2008. Go Roger!
Photo credit: Francisco Leong/AFP/etty Images

Federer hires Higueras

World number one Roger Federer was seen practicing with Jose Higueras looking on before announcing during his pre-tournament press conference at Estoril, Portugal that he would be working with former ATP pro from Spain for at least the start of the clay season.

Higueras is well known for coaching Michael Chang and Jim Courier toward titles at Roland Garrosa and was hired at one time by 14-time grand slam champion Pete Sampras, among many others.

Given Higueras' impressive coaching resume, it looks like that the King of Tennis is serious about wrestling the Roland Garros crown and title of King of Clay this year from closest rival Rafael Nadal by hiring the well-respected clay-court specialist. Obviously, doing so would allow the Swiss to complete a career grand slam, something which Sampras failed to do.
Photo credit: Francisco Leong/AFP/Getty Images

It's 2-15 for Roddick

Two-time Wimbledon runner-up and 2003 US Open champion Andy Roddick finally finally finally finally finally stemmed a frustrating tide of 11 straight losses to improve his record against world number one Roger Federer to--drumroll please--2-15 with a hard fought three-set victory (7-6 3-6 6-3) at the ATP Masters Series tournament at Key Biscayne, Florida.

Most likely riding on the euphoria of his recent engagement to a swimsuit model from New York and spurred on by good friend Mardy Fish's recent upset of Federer in Indian Wells, the 6th ranked American managed to hold off the Swiss who came back after losing the first set in a tiebreak (4-7) to level at one set all with a break of serve in the ninth game of the second set.

There was no doubt however that Federer played much better in this match than in his mysterious loss to Fish. He hit 47 winners, including 8 aces, to Roddick's 36, half of which were actually aces. In other words, Federer played well while Roddick served well. After all, the American relies primarily on his serve to win matches.

This long awaited victory by Roddick puts him in the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open against Russian Nikolay Davydenko and a possible confrontation with world number two Rafael Nadal in the finals.

Sadly, it also leaves Federer still without a title this year.
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Nadal pays it forward

It's always a pleasure to read about Roger Federer, this year's recipient of the ATP Stephan Edberg Sportsmanship Award, doing some good deed now and then. It was therefore no surprise that an act of kindness by Federer has inspired another to repeat the gesture to another fellow tennis player.

Preparing to leave Indian Wells for Miami for a pre-tournament photo-shoot, world tennis number two Rafael Nadal offered Ana Ivanovic, his female counterpart on the WTA rankings, and her entourage a ride on the private jet which organizers chartered for him. He had learned that Ivanovic had difficulty getting a plane ticket to Miami and had been relegated to the waiting list of a commercial flight. There were apparently still some spare seats on the chartered private jet so after making sure it was alright with the organizers the Spaniard invited Ivanovic. Recounting the story in his blog, Nadal wrote, "I remember Roger gave me a ride from Montreal to Cincy last summer and I know how it feels to be stuck in a place when you want/have to leave to play the next tournament."

This indeed nicely echoes what Federer did for Nadal late last year when the latter was in a similar situation: After competing at the ATP Masters Series Tournament in Montreal, the latter couldn't get a plane to arrive in time to prepare for the next ATP Masters Series tournament in Cincinnati. Federer then heard about Nadal's predicament and let Nadal hitch a ride on the private jet chartered for him.

One good turn really does deserve another although in this case the favor wasn't returned directly. But certainly Federer (as well as his fans) would recognize the compliment implied by Nadal's generosity toward Ivanovic.