Mission still unaccomplished

Roger Federer here looks utterly dejected after seeing his quest for a first title at Roland Garros effectively crushed this year by Rafael Nadal in straight sets 6-1 6-3 6-0.

The world number one's error strewn game simply could not hold up under the relentless shotmaking of the Spaniard who with this latest victory has matched Bjorn Borg's record of four straight French Open titles.

Federer who has twelve grand slam titles to his already illustrious name will just have to put this dismal loss behind him and consider that the great run he had to the finals--for the third year in a row no less--was no mean feat. Then there is of course the coming grass court season to look forward to and where he can continue working towards a thirteenth grand slam title and a record breaking sixth straight crown at the prestigious All England Club in Wimbledon.

It is there after all where the grass is much greener for him, literally and figuratively, than it has ever been in Paris.
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Roger's road to the finals

World number one Roger Federer has made it to the finals at Roland Garros for the third straight year. Likewise, he will be battling his nemesis Rafael Nadal for the only grand slam title missing on his trophy case.

• Federer played a masterclass of a tennis match in his third round match against Mario Ancic. The Swiss was apparently in superb form as he dismissed the Croatian, 6-4 6-4 6-2.
• In the next round, Federer met a tougher challenger in France's Julien Benneteau who managed to put some pressure on the Swiss in the last two sets of their three-set battle 6-4 7-5 7-5.
• His next opponent was Fernando Gonzalez who previously defeated him on an indoor carpet court during last year's Masters Cup in Shanghai. Federer had a shaky start as Gonzalez clinched the first set on a double break. But Federer bravely fought back to repeatedly frustrate and eventually wear down the Gonzalez, physically and mentally, to take the match in four sets, 2-6 6-2 6-3 6-4.
• In the semifinals, Federer brought to a halt the amazing run of another Frenchman, Gael Monfils, who put up a brave fight for a place in the finals. But the tennis great from Switzerland was simply too good, especially at the crucial points of the match, and set up a showdown with Nadal via a four-set victory, 6-2 5-7 6-3 7-5.

Roger's road to the finals indeed has been relatively rocky compared to that of Nadal who has shown his utter dominance on the red stuff by winning all his matches this year at the French Open in straight sets. Yes, Federer has had some periods of brilliance but in my opinion--I'm sorry to say--will not have enough consistency to stop the three-time Roland Garros champion from winning a fourth straight title.

Of course, I hope Federer will prove me completely wrong.
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Still en route at Roland Garros

After two rounds, twelve-time grand slam champion Roger Federer remains en route to a thirteenth grand slam title and first at Roland Garros.

There was talk that Federer would have his hands full in the first round since he was drawn there against big-serving Sam Querrey. Happily for Federer fans, the Swiss was virtually untroubled as he dispatched the 6ft 6in American in straight sets, 6-4 6-4 6-3.

In the next round, Federer went up against Albert Montañes of Spain. That matched was interrupted by rain which made Federer struggle with his rhythm and lose the opening set in a tie-break 5-7. But that first-set loss apparently only served to spur on the Swiss to step up his game. He bounced back spectacularly, surrendering only a single game in the next two sets (6-1 6-0), and wrapped up the victory with a 6-4 score in the fourth set.

Next up for the world number one is Mario Ancic who himself is playing some of his best tennis this clay court season. The Croat, who also came down with mononucleosis last year, is known to be the last person to have defeated Federer at Wimbledon.

Note:
I'm afraid my posts about Federer's matches at the French Open will be relatively short since the sports cable channel which is available in our part of the country and carried live coverage of Roland Garros in the past years has opted not to buy the rights this season. I can only watch the live scores available online (oh, bummer!) as well as listen to Radio Roland Garros which isn't much help, by the way, as the people there rarely comment on the ongoing match. Talk about live "coverage"!
Photo credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Stopped by Nadal in Hamburg

Reigning Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal outlasted 12-time grand slam champion Roger Federer 7-5 6(3)-7 3-6 in the finals of the ATP Masters Series in Hamburg, Germany to take the only clay-court Masters Series shield missing from his trophy case.

Reminiscent of the finals in Monte Carlo, this match was a see-saw battle between the two tennis greats.

Federer gained the upperhand early with some superb shot-making to race ahead 3-0 before the Spaniard could get himself on the scoreboard. This seemed to be a routine set win when he earned set-point when way ahead 5-2 with Nadal serving to stay in the set. But after Nadal took an injury time-out for what appeared to be a pulled hamstring, Federer lost his concentration--and six games in a row to eventually concede the set to a strangely subdued Nadal (i.e. no fist pumps, etc.).

The number two-ranked Spaniard then looked to finish off Federer in straight sets by breaking the Swiss' serve right off in the second set. The four-time Hamburg title holder however refused to give up and broke back immediately. With momentum on his side, Federer then played aggressively to break Nadal's serve one more time and set up a 5-2 lead. But ever-fickle Lady Luck decided to change sides once more letting Nadal break back to stop Federer from running away with the set and even the score at 5-all. Nadal then threatened with three break points in the next game but Federer eked out an amazing turnaround by winning five successive points to hold serve for a 6-5 lead. A relatively comfortable serve by Nadal sent the second set to a tie-break where a rallying Federer came back from a mini-break down to force a deciding set.

Both players began the third set with holds of serve with Federer struggling a bit more in his service game. Things began to look bleak for the Swiss when Nadal displayed his authority on the red dirt in the fourth game with a break of serve. The 21-year old then managed to hold off a clearly frustrated and error-prone Federer in subsequent games, and sealed victory with a love service game to avenge the defeat--the first in 81 matches on clay--that Federer dealt him in last year's finals.

(From the way things looked during the awarding ceremony however, Nadal mysteriously didn't appear to relish this victory in particular and looked as glum--or perhaps even glummer--than Federer as they posed with their trophies for the press.)
This was obviously a tough match for Federer who had little opportunity to hone his game with straightforward wins against unseeded player en route to the finals. He did have patches of brilliance during the match but was just not able to maintain a high level of play long enough to outwit and outlast the Spaniard this time around.

But with the French Open to look forward to, Federer should once again take the positives from this latest defeat and, with part-time coach Jose Higueras in his corner, hope to capture the grand slam title that has long eluded him. This at least should be the motivation that would keep him from retiring prematurely just as WTA number one Justine Henin did recently!
Photo credit:AP Photo/Joerg Sarbach

Going for fifth title at Hamburg

Four-time title holder Roger Federer is going for a fifth title at the ATP Master Series in Hamburg after holding off unseeded player Andreas Seppi 6-3 6-1 in the semifinals earlier today.

The world number one's opponent in the finals will be whoever will emerge as world number two as a result of the battle between current world number two Rafael Nadal and current world number three Novak Djokovic.
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