I laughed even harder at this Nike commercial which someone posted on YouTube. And it features a cute ___--well, I'm not spoiling things so you better watch it yourself--whom I've never considered cute at all. Federer is ever so much more good-looking. Ha ha ha... [Oh, my mom's gonna kill me for this.]
I had a good laugh when I saw this ad which was aired by NBC right after match point at the Roland Garros men's finals last Sunday. It's obvious they taped this some time ago in anticipation of the great event. I hope they didn't have to wait too long to finally run it on television.
I'd like to apologize to my readers--if you're still there--and offer a couple of explanations as to why I have been unable to maintain this blog for the past year or so:
As you can see, it's not because of Roger's "failures" last year. I remain a devout fan and try my best to keep tabs with Roger's progress through the season. It's just that so many other things beyond my control have cropped up since then that I simply have had little time to work on this and no longer have the resources to produce the kind of material that I would like to post to this blog. Nevertheless, I hope to be able to come up with something once in a while--especially when there's a lull at work.
Besides, there's Wimbledon to look forward to and Star Sports will start airing that in two weeks! Yipee!!
I thought I'd drop a short note about our beloved Roger Federer finally fulfilling his dream of adding the Coupe des Mousquetaires to his already large collection of Grand Slam trophies. Not to mention equaling Pete Sampras' haul of 14 Grand Slam titles and completing a career Grand Slam. Talk about hitting three birds with one stone!
The Swiss champ dismantled opponent Robin Soderling in straight sets 6-1 7-6(1) 6-4 in the finals yesterday to win the one Grand slam title that has eluded him for the longest time, thanks to longtime rival, Rafael Nadal's incredible feats on clay in the past four years.
A clearly relieved Federer said of this historic win:
I think that now and until the end of my career, I can really play with my mind at peace, and no longer hear that I've never won Roland Garros.
Now that that gap in his already impressive resume has been filled, one can't help but look forward to the rest of the season and the years to come.
All hail, King Roger the Great! Long live King Roger the Great!
Photo credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images (Top) and AFT/Getty Images (Bottom)
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.
Photo credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images
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.
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.
Photo credit:Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
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
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
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.
Photo credit:
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.
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Top ranked Roger Federer continued his relentless march toward a first title at the ATP Masters Series in Rome after overcoming the tour's tallest player, Ivo Karlovic, in straight sets 7-6(4) 6-3.
The Swiss at first struggled with Karlovic's big serve and failed to convert a few break points in the first set before prevailing in the tiebreak. Afterwards Federer appeared to pick up on his opponent's serve and began to relax, breaking the Croat's serve in the fifth game of the second set. He fittingly clinched victory on another break of serve.
Overall, Federer played an excellent match hitting 27 winners to just nine unforced errors. He also lost only a total of ten points on serve throughout the match. As expected Karlovic who towers over everyone else in the tour at 6'10" managed to fire twelve aces past the Federer but that ultimately wasn't of any help as he failed to get past the top seed.
Federer will next face Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic who earlier fought back to defeat qualifier Luis Horna 6-4 1-6 6-3.
Photo credit: Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images
World number one Roger Federer subdued nemesis Guillermo Cañas in straight sets 6-3 6-3 to earn a spot in the third round of the ATP Masters Series in Rome.
Facing the 30th ranked Cañas for the first time on clay, Federer was clearly the better-adjusted of the two after breaking the Argentine's serve in the sixth game of the opening set. He repeated the feat in the seventh game of the second set but only after fending off a break point on his previous service game. He then went on to seal a convincing victory on his second match point after quickly going up 0-40 as Cañas served to stay in the match.
Federer put in one of his better performances on clay during the one-hour and 24-minute match. The two-time finalist at Rome fired 34 winners past the struggling Cañas, who had only ten winners, and, despite putting in just 54% of his first serves, surrendered a total of twelve points on serve.
Previously, Cañas was one of the few players on the tour with a winning record against the Swiss. With this latest victory by Federer, the two are now tied with three wins each.
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
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
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)
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.
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
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
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
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
|
|
