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