absolutely alex’s adventures & times

While we usually marvel at Roger Federer’s sublime forehand, his footwork and pin-point accurate serves, the often-overlooked and little-discussed quality that has lifted his game above other players is his consistency. Unfortunately, that seems to be deserting him more frequently these days.

It was evident in his opening match at the Australian Open against Italy’s Andreas Seppi, who is ranked thirty-fifth in the world.

(Getty Images)

While it was a straight set victory for Federer, 6-1 7-6 (7-4) 7-5, it was far from a vintage Federer performance.

The first set saw Federer dominating, but he was helped mightily by an erratic Seppi, who failed to seize a break point chance at the start of the match. Against a wilier opponent, Federer would have been punished more harshly and would have been unlikely to sail through with a 6-1 scoreline in the first set.

When Seppi upped the ante in the second set, even seeing set point in the second set, Federer’s under-rated consistency left him. Countless break chances came when Seppi was serving, but Federer was unable to convert them. Federer fans watching know that the Federer of old would not have let those chances slip, let alone allow the set get to a tie-break. And he finally closed out the match at the fifth match point, another indication of the less than easy road ahead for him.

Federer chalked up a total of 43 unforced errors during the match, with wayward forehands, misfired backhands and shanking routine shots into the net. But again, Federer was lucky to get away with it, thanks to Seppi’s errors. Seppi must still rue the fact that he failed to capitalize on the set point against an error-strewn Federer.

We have become so familiar with Federer’s superb all-round game that we still cringe in disbelief when he fails to make the kind of shots that we have come to take for granted.

His consistency enabled him to produce the sort of gorgeous, physics-defying game that has become a Federer trademark. When it clicks, like it did at last week’s Kooyong tournament that he won, Federer is peerless and unstoppable. But that type of form seems to be showing up less frequently than Federer would like these days.

Federer is optimistic as he continues his assault on Pete Sampras’ fourteen Grand Slam titles record. “I thought I played well,” Federer said after beating Seppi. “I had to; he’s a quality opponent.”

Let’s hope Federer’s consistency won’t forsake him further and his quality will keep improving, even as the caliber of his upcoming rivals inevitably gets higher.

Damn it!

It was supposed to be the perfect opportunity for Roger Federer to win the Rome Masters, especially with Rafael Nadal unexpectedly knocked out in the earlier rounds and Federer himself seemed to be going from strength to strength with each match so far. Other formidable rivals who excel on clay, such as David Ferrer and David Nalbandian, have also been eliminated, clearing the path for him.

But no one saw Federer’s defeat by Radek Stepanek in the quarterfinals of the tournament coming, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7). Federer was supposed to overcome Stepanek relatively easily and meet Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Now that big match won’t happen.

Reuters photo

“I think I missed plenty of opportunities throughout the match. I think I led in both breakers with a mini break, and usually when I have the lead, you know, I don’t let it go, so it’s quite disappointing,” a downbeat Federer said in a post-match interview.

“To me it’s just disappointing the way I lost today. My focus is not at the bottom of the draw. It’s just I wish I could have played better, you know, and I played so poorly on the big points. It’s a tough loss.”

What is up with the tennis world these days?

Undisputed clay court god Nadal was stunned in the second round by Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Federer did not make it to the semifinals, even if he was playing on clay, not his best surface. Yet Andy Roddick, who has never shown much affinity for clay, is still hanging in there, making it to the semifinals.

Over at the women’s game, world number one Justine Henin was shown the door by Dinara Safina in round three of the German Open. Safina continued on her giant-killing spree, edging out Serena Williams in the quarterfinals in three sets. Madness.

On the bright side, Federer has improved on his results in Rome from last year, when he was defeated in round three by an unknown.

But on the other hand, it is a downhill slide for Federer. It’s only May and Federer has already notched up six losses so far this year. Last year, he suffered a total of nine defeats, which was actually a record for the Swiss world number one. His match win-loss numbers in 2006 were 92-5, 81-4 in 2005 and 74-6 in 2004.

Judging from the stats of the Federer-Stepanek match, it was an understandable disappointment for Federer, who actually held the upper hand throughout the match — more points won on serve and less double faults — and won more points in the match overall (88 out of 170). But he faltered in the tie-breaks, on which the match turned.

More worrying for Federer is the level of confidence so many players feel about beating him these days.

“He definitely doesn’t have the results he was used to in previous years,” Stepanek said about Federer. “But the other players are getting better. I came to the match with the belief that I can win.”

“Everybody is hungry,” Stepanek continued. “Two players can’t win all the tournaments.”

Can Federer prove him wrong, turn things around and make them work for him in time for the French Open, the Grand Slam tournament that begins in two weeks?

Let’s hope Federer is hungry enough to crush the competition and win the one Grand Slam trophy he has yet to have on his display mantle.

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Wow, what a shocker.

In what should have been a routine match for clay court king Rafael Nadal in the second round of the Rome Masters, he suffered a shocking upset in the hands of former French Open champion and Spanish compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero, 7-5, 6-1.

Ferrero now joins the very tiny club of players who had the temerity to beat Nadal on clay. The only other person who managed the feat is world number one Roger Federer, in Hamburg last year.

Nadal’s loss to Ferrero is only his second defeat after playing 105 matches on clay. Nadal was hoping to win a fourth consecutive championship in Rome.

And though he was suffering from a bad blister and had doubts about whether he should even be on court, Nadal toughed it out and finished up the match, despite an obvious loss of movement due to the discomfort bugging him.

“Today when I woke up, I said it was impossible to play. I spoke to the doctor today and yesterday and they put special protection on it and cream, but it was still tough.

“I congratulate Juan Carlos, but for sure that was not my best tennis.”

This stunning development, along with the loss of other seeds in the tournament so far, such as David Ferrer, David Nalbandian and Andy Murray, should throw the championship wide open to whomever has the guts and gumption to seize the opportunity.

The top two seeds left in the tournament are Federer and Novak Djokovic, who will both be cheered about the prospect of not having to face Nadal to win the tournament.

Federer, in particular, should be feeling confident to know that his arch nemesis has been eliminated for him at such an early stage. If he could focus and stay confident, he could be the one raising the champion’s trophy later this week.

But Nadal’s loss should not be taken as more than a glitch. He was obviously not at his best, hampered by his blister. But this does not mean he won’t be a menacing force come the big one — the French Open, starting at the end of this month.

Nadal has been rather unhappy with the packed clay court schedule in the run-up to the French Open, and has not been shy about expressing his displeasure. Hopefully, he’ll get a good break after his shock defeat today. He will certainly be pumped up to come back and win in Roland Garros later this month.

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Perhaps we should just wrap up the clay court season for tennis this year and move right on to the grass court season.

Spain’s Rafael Nadal, probably the best clay court tennis player of all time, has just reached another astonishing milestone and does not even come close to slowing down on the red dirt at all.

The 21-year old has just won his 100th clay court match in Barcelona today, beating compatriot Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-3 in the third round of the Barcelona Open.

His record on clay now stands at a formidable 100-1. The sole blip to an otherwise perfect record was inflicted by world number one Roger Federer in Hamburg last year. 

Was Federer watching Nadal’s latest match? If he was, he would undoubtedly take note of its significance and perchance find it just a little bit more daunting for himself.

Federer is still trying to claim the one Grand Slam title, the French Open, that has hitherto dodged his grasp. And Nadal has been the only one to stand in his way. Coming up against Nadal’s latest statistics, along with former tennis champion Bjorn Borg’s recent prediction that Nadal will sweep both the French Open and Wimbledon in succession this year, Federer will be facing an uphill climb for the next month or two.

But it is not impossible for Federer and too early to count him out anyway.

Besides beating Nadal outright in Hamburg last year, Federer came close at the recent Monte Carlo Masters finals. In both sets, Federer could capitalize quickly on Nadal’s mistakes and broke his service games repeatedly. Unfortunately, he slipped up at crucial moments and threw the match away, by failing to consolidate on the service breaks, falling back, and letting Nadal dictate play and wear him out. The problem seems more mental than anything else. If Federer believed enough, he could still beat Nadal at Roland Garros.

Nadal, though, won’t give in without a heroic struggle. He has arguably the toughest defence on clay, plus the endurance and self-belief to outlast any challenger. He just keeps getting more comfortable on the dirt, which makes him the one to beat in the months ahead.

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There was no third-time lucky for Roger Federer against his greatest nemesis Rafael Nadal on clay at Monte Carlo today.

Nadal proved to be impregnable on the red dirt, solidifying his dominance by winning the Monte Carlo Masters for a historic fourth time, 7-5, 7-5. His record against the Swiss star is now 7-1 on clay and 9-6 in career meetings.

It must sting Federer badly to have been up 4-0 in the second set only to let it slip away, as Nadal pulled off a spectacular comeback not only to take back the breaks he lost to Federer, but to break the world number one for the sixth time in the deciding game to take the championship.

Federer and new coach Jose Higueras will have much post-match analysis to do on why Federer did not manage to push Nadal to a third set, and to try to replicate the form that saw him racing ahead in the second set.

But while Federer might have lost in straight sets to Nadal today, he should take consolation at a better-than-in-the-past showing against Nadal on clay.

For one, Federer’s break point conversion against Nadal was impressive today, at an 80 per cent rate, or 4 out of 5 times.

He was able to capitalize on Nadal’s mistakes at the start of the match, taking the game at the first chance and creating some discomfort in Nadal. Unfortunately, Federer found himself unable to hold on to his own serve, immediately allowing Nadal to break back on two occasions in the first set, and get back into the match.

Tactically, Federer has improved dramatically against Nadal on clay. Recognizing that he cannot sit back and allow Nadal to dictate and wear him down with punishing rallies, Federer bravely took to the net to finish off points, to great effect on many occasions.

Though Federer’s loss could be pinned down the excessive unforced errors he made, there is a silver lining. If he could figure out a way to keep those unforced error down and ramp up his first serves, he has a much better chance at closing the gap against Nadal.

Perhaps it is also time that Federer and Higueras came up with a solution to his backhand. Nadal peppered shots at Federer’s backhand repeatedly and it bore fruit, forcing multiple errors from Federer, who barely made any winners from that side.

But coming on the heels of a rough start this season, Federer should be happy at his performance in Monte Carlo. He looks like he is back on form, putting the early-season slump behind him. He has also developed more tricks on clay. If he could muster greater hunger and will to win, that could bode well for his quest to win the French Open next month, the one Grand Slam title that has denied him.

Nadal though, was in a class of his own today. Most other players would have given up the set at 0-4 down, but Nadal’s indomitable spirit kept his chances strong. His extraordinary rally from being so far behind is a masterclass in self-belief and courage. He is giving notice that the French Open will not leave his grasp easily.

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Equilibrium has been restored in the tennis world once again.

The sport’s top two players, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, will meet in the finals of tomorrow’s Monte Carlo Masters.

It has been a long time since the two played each other, with their most recent meeting during last November’s Shanghai’s Masters’ Cup, where the Swiss world number one thrashed Nadal 6-4, 6-1.

But tomorrow will be a different story. Nadal is right at home playing on clay and has an absolutely staggering 93-1 record on clay since April 2005. His sole loss? To Federer in Hamburg last year. Head-to-head, Federer is 1-6 against Nadal on clay.

Nadal’s stranglehold on clay only seemed to have tightened this year, after his impressive wins in Monte Carlo so far. He easily swatted away competition, never once being stretched to a third set in any match. Federer, in contrast, had more of a struggle and nearly lost in the second round to a player ranked outside of the top 100. It would take a supremely confident Federer bringing an A game to have a chance to unseat the Spanish player, who is indisputably the king of clay.

But what a pleasure it would be to see the return of a great tennis rivalry and for these two champions to slug it out once again. Besides spades of talent, these two are true sportsmen, unlike the pretender trying to dislodge them from their top positions, Novak Djokovic.

He and his clan might be able to talk up a storm about how the Federer era is over and he is the future of tennis, but Djokovic does not yet have the game, nor the heart or courage to step up to the fore.

Time and again, Djokovic has chosen to take the easy way out when he has his back pushed against a wall, with a memorable example being last year’s Wimbledon against Nadal. He has had a history of cooking up convenient excuses like an illness or injury and retiring rather than have the gumption to take a beating.

This comes on top of his reputation of gamesmanship, be it taking too long between games when he is serving or bouncing the balls dozens of times before service, but also for often using medical timeouts during matches without justifiable reasons.

Clearly fearing the prospect of being beaten fair and square by a resurgent Federer in today’s semifinal, Djokovic wimped out and gave the excuse of “dizziness” for withdrawing from play.

“From the start I didn’t feel so great,” Djokovic complained. “I just couldn’t get enough energy back after each point. I feel dizziness a little bit in the last three days. I don’t know. Doctor in the tournament couldn’t give me the right diagnosis. I’ll check as soon as possible.”

Hmmm, perhaps the doctor was too polite to give him the true diagnosis — wimp-ititis.

In all of Federer’s 705 matches since turning pro, he has not retired once during a game. When his chips were down, he pressed on to the end, losing graciously.

At this year’s Australian Open, Federer was not only hit with a bout of food poisoning, but was also suffering from monoclueosis, a career-ending condition for many athletes. That did not stop Federer from battling in an epic five-setter against Djokovic’s compatriot Janko Tipsarevic in the third round, and pushing all the way to the semifinals before losing to Djokovic.

Federer was once again diplomatic when asked about Djokovic’s sudden onset of illness after easily beating the likes of Andy Murray and Sam Querrey in earlier rounds. Still, Federer couldn’t resist taking a dig at his rival.

“I didn’t see anything from my side till when he called the doctor,” said Federer. “But I didn’t feel like he was playing too sick. I didn’t think it was that extreme.”

He was right. Djokovic had looked just fine. At 20, the Serbian player may still be lacking in maturity, but he has to grow up and stop concentrating on being a showman if he is truly serious about being a tennis champion.

Quitting a match not only smacks of disrespect for his opponents, it also is unfair for the sponsors and audience who have paid good money to watch the match. On top of that, it is unprofessional.

Unless he is on the brink of collapsing or has something far more serious or life-threatening, Djokovic should not withdraw from games so frivolously. When things are going against them, true champions rally and go down fighting. And if they have to lose, they do so graciously.

(Reuters photos)

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Could the tennis god Roger Federer we know and love be back?

Is the world number one slowly, but steadily, regaining strength and confidence to perform dazzling feats of magic with his wand, the tennis racket, once again?

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It has been a bumpy start for him this year. Most jaws fell to the floor when he did not make it to the Australian Open Final. They stayed stuck to it when he lost in the first round of the Dubai Open. It’s a sign of how scary good he is, that headlines scream louder on his defeats than his victories.

Then it was revealed that besides a nasty virus that waylaid his preparations for the Australian Open, he was additionally stricken with mononucleosis. All that clearly took a toll on his form and confidence, which resulted in upsets by players that he routinely ate for breakfast.

But it looks like the spark is back in Federer’s eyes, and while playing on his least favorite surface, no less. The fight has returned to the man who has won 12 Grand Slam titles and at times, was dangerously close to just coasting.

Maybe the losses earlier this year has been good for him and his competitive spirit. Perhaps they have re-lit something in him that made him hungry and spurred him on to go out there and win again.

It must be confidence-boosting for Federer to win the Estoril Open, though he arguably faced a weak field and an injured Nikolay Davydenko who opted out of the final from a leg injury.

But it is to Federer’s credit that on his weakest surface, he was able to claw his way back from two match points, 1-5 down, in the crucial decider against Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters, and win the match. It was by no means his prettiest performance but Federer won and that mattered more.

He followed that up by beating one of his arch rivals David Nalbandian 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals today. The buzz around Federer’s demise could largely be traced back to his defeat at the hands of Nalbandian, who beat him in two back-to-back tournaments in Europe late last season. Pundits started speculating if Federer’s time was coming up since then.

For a while, he silenced them a little by capturing the season ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, a tournament that pitches the world’s top eight players against each other. To win against Nalbandian today, and on a surface Nalbandian usually excels in too, must have been truly satisfying for Federer.

“The level of play was excellent today,” Federer said. “Tough rallies. I think I definitely played my best match of the tournament, no doubt.

He has to keep up this new-found hunger, confidence and form to face another nemesis, Novak Djokovic, in tomorrow’s semifinals.

Djokovic is eager to prove that he is the number one in waiting and has not been shy about broadcasting it. He had also beaten Federer enroute to winning the recent Australian Open. Federer will be eager to score a win to get some sweet revenge, and to put Djokovic in his place with a warning of “It’s not your turn yet”.

Pete Sampras, the 14-time Grand Slam winner whose record Federer is trying to surpass, believes Federer still has it in him to win the French Open, the one Grand Slam prize to have eluded the both of them. It would be quite something if Sampras’ words turn out right.

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Roger Federer fans all over the world must be relieved to see their hero finally raise a tournament trophy yesterday with his win at Portugal’s Estoril Open, however qualified a victory it might have been.

After a shaky start to the season (by Federer’s astronomical standards) he was finally able to catch a break and beat an injured Nikolay Davydenko, who retired from a leg injury.

It’s amazing how high a bar the world number one has set for himself. It has recently become bigger news when he does not win. Federer’s 7-6 (5), 1-2 victory over Davydenko, is his first win in five tournaments so far this year. Statistically, it is the first time in eight years that he had to go through five tournaments before getting to a final.

Clearly, his win yesterday, no matter how small and devoid of big names the tournament was, would be a confidence booster for his clay court season.

But Federer is clearly not out of the woods yet.

His form on clay is still hardly intimidating. Federer could have lost the final match yesterday, if Davydenko was in the kind of blazing form that saw him triumph in the recent Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Even with a leg injury, Davydenko could break Federer’s serve and prevent Federer from capitalizing and converting on early break points in the first set.

It was not an easy road to the final for Federer either. Despite playing much less heralded players, some of them unseeded, Federer struggled with unforced errors and players ranked below the top 100, often having to come back from a set down before closing the match out.

Clay is not his favorite nor a surface that plays to his advantages, so it was natural that he needed some time to adapt. Strategically, it was a good move for him to have added Estoril in his bigger picture title chase of the French Open, the one Grand Slam to elude him.

“It’s great to win a title again, and to straightaway win my first clay-court tournament of the season gives me great confidence going into Monte Carlo,” the 26-year-old Swiss star told the media.

He was also confident that his bout of illnesses, from a stomach virus to mononucleosis, are behind him.

“My movement from the baseline could always be better but getting to those drop shots really showed me this week that I’m again in good health,” he said. “I haven’t had any fallbacks or anything which is a good thing. I feel great again.”

But the bigger test of whether Federer is truly back, and the benefits of his coaching partnership with clay specialist Jose Higueras, will come in the Monte Carlo Masters which starts this week. There, players comfortable playing in the dirt like Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer and Guillermo Canas await. Let’s hope Federer is ready to take them on.

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Chin up, Roger Federer fans. Perhaps the world number one will soon end his title drought and get out of his slump, now that he has a new secret weapon that could sharpen his match strategies.

It looks like the Swiss tennis champion is finally heeding the advise of many — to get a new coach.

photo from rogerfederer.com

Federer has been coach-less since parting ways with Tony Roche since last May. The person likely to take Roche’s place could be Spain’s Jose Higueras.

It’s not official yet, but Higueras has been cited as one of the members of Federer’s team for his upcoming tournament in the upcoming Estoril Open in Portugal.

Higueras, a former top ten tennis world player who captured 15 ATP titles, had coached Jim Courier, Michael Chang and worked with Pete Sampras. He has often been credited for helping Chang win the French Open in 1989 and Courier win that twice in 1991 and 1992. Higueras also runs the Jose Higueras Tennis Training Center in Palm Springs, Florida.

Higueras’ partnership with Federer comes at a crucial time. The clay court season is just starting and the French Open is the one Grand Slam that has so far eluded Federer. Struck with health problems from food poisoning to mononucleosis, Federer is also having a bad start to the season, remaining title-less so far this year, which makes it his worst showing since 2000.

If the experiment works out well, this temporary deal might just turn into a long-term, formal match-up between Federer and Higueras.

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Spain continues to be denied the chance of having its players take home the Sony Ericsson Open championship trophy, despite having had three finalists making a play for it — Sergi Bruguera in 1997, Carlos Moya in 2003, and Rafael Nadal this year.

Nadal again came up short in his second final appearance in Miami today. In 2005, he lost in a five-setter to Roger Federer. Today, he was blown out of the water by Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko in just two sets.

It is one-for-one in Russia’s case, as Davydenko is the first Russian man to make the final and went all the way, destroying Nadal 6-4, 6-2 in one and a half hours. Perhaps Nadal’s consolation would be that he would be leaving the US and heading back to Europe, where the start of the clay court season awaits.

US Presswire photo

Continuing this Miami storyline of the law of averages coming up to haunt the players who had held the upper hand in previous match-ups, Davydenko again broke through to beat Nadal, whom he had never defeated in two previous meetings.

Davydenko’s winning streak against previous opponents he had not managed to beat started with his snapping of a five-game loss record to Andy Roddick, when he defeated the American easily [7-6 (5), 6-2] en route to today’s final.

It is the Russian’s second Masters Series title, with the first won in 2006 in Paris.

And the amazing thing is, he was only playing with one racket throughout the tournament, having just switched to a new one with a special 18 main string configuration.

“I have only one racket,” Davydenko said. “Surprising I didn’t break a string. Warm up and play match, warm up and play match, every match, and I finish with the racket.

“I’m going to keep forever this racket.”

Perhaps the usually low-profile Davydenko is too modest. It was his impressive serves and even more amazing returns that sealed the title for him. He was able to answer anything Nadal threw at him but Nadal was also playing too defensively to overcome Davydenko’s clever shot placements or challenges at the net.

This unexpected win by Davydenko will hopefully go some ways towards getting him out of the funk he had been playing under since the allegations of his involvement in a match-fixing scandal broke last year, along with the ATP’s investigations.

Perhaps the quiet Russian will finally come into his own now, after having been a proverbial bridesmaid in the men’s tennis game.

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