Still no title in Rome

Roger Federer has just lost an extremely close match to Radek Stepanek, 7-6(4) 7-6(7), in the quarterfinals of the ATP Master Series in Rome, Italy.
Both players never faced a break point as each comfortably held serve in the opening set. While Federer served very well--he won all points when his first serve went in--Stepanek matched him in that area and was increasingly becoming more effective in preventing the top seed from getting any rhythm. This much was clear in the tiebreak where Federer struggled to make any headway into the Czech's serve.

Things became especially bleak for the Swiss in the second set when Stepanek broke early on to race to a 3-0 lead. But the champion's heart in Federer enabled him to claw back to 3-4--much to the delight of the highly partisan crowd--and force another tiebreak. There, Federer won a long and terrific rally to go up 4-1. But when Federer was on the verge of forcing a deciding set at 6-5 his game fell apart once again to allow the 27th ranked Stepanek to eventually triumph over the world number one for only the second time.

Thus ended Federer's quest for a title at Rome this year. Just when he had a golden opportunity to bag the crown for the first time given three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal's exit in the second round!

But as in the case of the Spaniard, Federer will at least have more time to rest and prepare for the next ATP Masters Series which is in Hamburg and commences this coming Sunday. Federer is defending champion in that tournament and has won the title there four times.
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