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

Federer's successor?

After his triumph at the Miami ATP Masters Series to become the tournament's youngest title holder, there was already talk that 19-year-old Novak Djokovic will be Roger Federer's successor.

It's only natural I suppose given the young Serb's all-around game--very reminiscent of a young Federer as they say--which was showcased in yesterday's final against Guillermo Cañas. I must admit that I was quite impressed by how he effectively varied his shots to outfox Cañas and remained mentally tough at crucial points. I gaped especially at that crosscourt forehand hit very softly in the midst of a crisis when he brought to many deuces while serving at 3-2 in the second set. Djokovic did say that he models his game after Federer's and it was quite obvious yesterday. (It was amusing too to hear him say a Federer-like "Well done" in congratulations to Cañas during his speech after receiving the trophy just.)

Now, that's a sign of the good Federer is doing for tennis and how he has inspired young players to not just rely on power in their games. We should be grateful to Federer for that and Federer himself should be pleased that Djokovic (and Murray) have followed suit. Of course as a Federer fan, I hope that Djokovic will ascend the throne only after Federer puts down his racket and retires from tennis.

By the way, I find quite interesting the near-identical poses of Federer (during last year's Rogers Cup in Toronto) and Djokovic (at this year's Sony Ericsson Open in Miami) in the following pair of photos:

Federer conqueror vs. Djokovic in Miami finals

Guillermo Canas, who beat number one player Roger Federer in two successive occasions will face young but promising Serbian Novak Djokovic in the finals of the Sony Ericsson Open at Key Biscayne, Florida. Canas overcame hard-serving Ivan Ljubicic 7-5 6-2 while Djokovic played a brilliant tactical game to crush a disappointingly listless Andy Murray 6-1 6-0 in the other semifinals. (It was amusing to see the grin disappear from Brad Gilbert's face as the first set progressed.)

If Canas wins the finals, he would be the first unseeded player to win the title since Tim Mayotte won in the inaugural event in 1985. On the other hand, a stunning victory over Federer's one-time nemesis, Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals plus yesterday's demolition of Murray made Djokovic one of the few teenagers to reach the final of the Miami ATP Masters Series event. If he wins the title, he will join Andre Agassi to be just the second teenager to do so.

Personally, I'd prefer Djokovic to win the title. After all, I voted for him at the ATP website to be the first among Murray, Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils to break into the top 10 in the ATP rankings. The growing rivalry between him and Murray certainly bring a refreshing change to the tour and, in my humble opinion, both are more worthy successors to Federer with their more all-around game than baseliners Roddick or Nadal. While majority voted for Murray, I felt that Djokovic was the more level-headed of the two and possessed a steadier game and was therefore the more likely to succeed. Naturally I was pleased when he did make the top 10 after reaching the finals at Indian Wells and even more delighted when he avenged his loss to Nadal in the Indian Wells final with a 6-3 6-4 win here in Miami. Since Canas appears to play in the same style as Nadal hopefully Djokovic will be able to neutralize him as he did Nadal.

Canas stuns Federer yet again

For the second time in two weeks, Roger Federer bowed to emerging nemesis Guillermo Canas in a close and tense three-set match in the fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open at Key Biscayne, Florida.

Federer clearly struggled to find his rhythm early on to lose the first set 6-7(3) but came back strong to make just nine errors (compared to nineteen in the first) and win the second set 6-2. In fact, he looked to be on the way to avenge his previous loss to Canas two weeks ago with a 3-1 lead in the third set when Canas saved several break points and broke back to force a tie-break. From then on Federer's racquet began spraying errors as in the first set, particularly a missed lob at 4-5 in the tie-break. Two points later, Canas clinched victory with an ace.

Federer was understandably disappointed but praised the Argentine nevertheless:

I was in total control for almost all the match, and once I broke back in the first set. I was really happy with my level of play. I thought it was a great match, so it was disappointing to lose, of course.

He’s a great competitor. He scrambles back so many balls and doesn’t miss much, and then he moves the ball around very well. He really improved his backhand, his serve. They weren’t that good a couple years ago, so that just tightened up his game a lot. ... I guess he played well against me both times, and I couldn’t put him away unfortunately.

... it's one of those matches I never should have lost.

The Swiss' second loss this season ended his bid for a third consecutive Miami AMS title. It also means he'll have an early start for the clay season this year during which he'll try to win the French Open for the first time. Let us just hope that a lack of match play will not adversely affect his performance. But as always, we faithful Federer fans wish him the best of luck!

Tiger watches Federer win

A few days ago, Roger Federer went to watch Tiger Woods practice playing golf. Today Tiger returned the call so to speak and was on hand to watch his fellow-dominant-athlete win his opening match to advance to the third round at the Miami AMS Sony Ericsson Open at Key Biscayne, Florida.

Tiger had some waiting to do though because the match, which was originally scheduled to start at 8pm, was delayed for more than two hours due to inclement weather. Federer had actually phoned Tiger to warn him that it was raining at Key Biscayne but apparently a very gracious Woods made the 15-mile trip just the same. Of this Federer says

He told me since a couple of months he's going to come out because I knew so far in advance when I was going to play. So that was a great thing. I think we should do that more in the future... I'm happy he comes out during a tournament. ... it's great that he comes to watch tennis. I think it's a great honor for our sport.

Like us faithful Federer fans, Tiger was not likely disappointed when the Swiss tennis star overcame the difficult windy conditions and produced answers to every query his opponent, American Sam Querrey, put to him (sorry for the pun). In fact, the match just took a little over 62 minutes--which was the time it took Kuznetsova and Bondarenko to complete their first set alone, by the way--probably giving Tiger time to travel back to Doral and get enough rest before he tees off for the fourth round at the WGC-CA Championship.

Federer himself was quite pleased with his performance, saying:

I was feeling terrible a couple of days ago, so I'm just happy I came through, you know, because I didn't know what to expect tonight. I didn't know my opponent. You know, I've known since a long time when I'm going to play. So kind of a bit of expectations, too, from the fans and everybody. ... I thought it was going to be a bit more difficult with the weather and the opponent ... but I came through and played well and pretty solid.

Federer chases third Miami AMS title

Our favorite tennis player will begin his campaign for a third consecutive Miami ATP Masters Series title today when he plays the young hard-hitting American Sam Querrey at 8pm (EDT) at Key Biscayne, Florida.Federer won the title in Miami in 2005 and in 2006 back when Nasdaq-100 was the title sponsor. In 2004, he lost in the third round to the then 17-year-old Rafael Nadal. After wrestling the Pacific Life Open title from Federer this year, Nadal hopes to capitalize on his Indian Wells victory and win in Miami as well. Federer on the other hand looks forward to regaining his winning form to win his 13th Masters Series title (also his 48th ATP title) and prove that his loss to Canas in Indian Wells was just a minor glitch.

Roger the Dreamer

In an exclusive interview, Federer talks about his dreams to be a rock star or a football star who has scored the winning goal at the World Cup, and, of course, of winning at Wimbledon like his idols. He also mentions the exhilaration he gets from playing before a crowd and what his girlfriend, Mirka, means to him.