Federer passes Sod test

It is with added delight and pleasure that I announce the following result from the U.S. Open:


Soderling     4     4     5
Federer       6     6     7

Yes, Roger Federer, the 16-time Grand Slam champion, issued a timely reminder to the players remaining in the running, that he is very much in this competition to win it, and that any lingering thoughts that he's past his best can be discarded completely. With Soderling himself boasting that Federer is beatable by anybody, at least in the top 10, and commentator Luke Jensen, quite strangely backing Soderling to win this year's U.S. Open, the Swiss Maestro produced a performance to silence all doubters in their mumurings.

The gusty conditions were menacing in the Arthur Ashe stadium, and Soderling was clearly struggling to come to terms with them, his serve nowhere near the potent weapon that it usually is. In big games, we talk about big points, and boy was Federer sharp on the important moments of the match. He broke the big Swede's serve at the first time of asking in the 7th game of the opener, executing a delightful drop-shot to catch Soderling off guard.

At the start of the 2nd set the two players exchanged breaks in the 3rd and 4th games before Federer broke again in the 5th game. Soderling was 40-0 up and cruising only to miss a routine overhead smash, dumping it into the net with the court at his mercy. And he paid dearly for that horrendous error, as Federer went on to convert his 3rd break point out of 3 attempts. The Swiss found himself way out of court as he executed a wonderful slice backhand cross-court, and when Soderling sliced it back he made the forehand winner back into the far corner.

Federer was starting to play with more confidence and ease and looked every inch the champion he is. A little surprisingly though, it was Soderling who drew first blood in the 3rd set when he broke Federer at a critical time to lead 5-3 and serve for the set. But Federer rallied and immediately levelled when Soderling hit a forehand into the net at 30-40. Federer held serve with a string of 2nd serves and then proceeded to break the Swede's resolve again as a backhand drifted wide in the wind at 30-40. Five breaks out of six opportunities showed just how deadly Federer was when the chances came his way. The Great Man served out the match to my utter delight! He moves on to a semi-final showdown with Novak Djokovic.

When asked post-match how he was able to serve so well in the blustery conditions, he put it down to a lot of practice before remarking, "You can wake me up at 2 o'clock or 4 o'clock in the morning and I can hit serves." He hit 18 aces to Soderling's 2, a huge discrepancy in Federer's favour.

If he serves that efficiently and takes his break point chances with such precision in the following 2 matches, his legendary status in the game may just elevate even further.

Federer Smells The Bacon

Day 8 at the U.S. Open saw Roger Federer in 4th round action against 13th seed Jurgen Melzer of Austria. Federer was made to work by the Austrian who came out all guns blazing and kept them blazing for the entire two hours on court. Federer however, could "smell the bacon" and took the meal at the right moments, breaking the Austrian's serve but not his resolve.

To Melzer's credit, he kept battling and pushing Federer, in particular, with some excellent return of serves rushing the great champion, but to his detriment, his attempting to hit winners off every single ball, led to far too many unforced errors, and made him look rather unprofessional and inexperienced. Federer did what was required and won in straight sets 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.

Elsewhere, Robin Soderling survived an early setback against Montanes to win in 4, whilst Djokovic ended the American dream run of Mardy Fish. The impressive 'Ree-shard' Gasquet was beaten by compatriot Gael Monfils, surprisingly in straight sets, after which they hugged and kissed, and parted ways.

Monfils will play Djokovic in one quarter final while Federer will meet familiar foe Soderling in the other. Soderling is an extremely dangerous player and the Swiss must be wary and have a game plan prepared, but Federer is smelling the bacon, and looks set to progress to the latter stages this time.

Roland Garros Finale

Rafael Nadal claimed his 7th Grand Slam title and the No.1 world ranking by out-running Swede Robin Soderling on Philippe Chartrier court yesterday.

It was an interesting final as Soderling controlled the majority of points against the Spaniard, who scrambled around after every single ball and dug them back into play, forcing Soderling into a glut of errors.

It was a shame that Soderling, despite having several opportunities to break his opponent's serve, just couldn't find the breakthrough when it really mattered, as he went down 6/4, 6/2, 6/4 to receive a 2nd consecutive runners-up biscuit tray.

Nadal meanwhile, cemented his legend as the modern-day king of clay; he now lies one more Roland Garros title behind Borg's record of six.

But we can only wait and see how much more rigorous dashing around the court Nadal's knees can cope with as Wimbledon is now fast approaching, followed by the U.S. Open in late August. At the Grand Slam half-way point we have Federer and Nadal with one each - who will edge ahead after Wimbledon?

Roland Garros news

There will be two surprise finalists contesting the women's final match at Roland Garros. Francesca Schiavone of Italy will go head-to-head with Australia's Samantha Stosur. For both, this is a first Grand Slam final. It could be a stepping stone to greater things for Stosur, who has been rapidly improving over recent times. For Schiavone, however, at the age of 29, this could just be the icing on the cake for her tennis career.

I'm leaning towards Stosur for this one, but there have been many surprises already these last two weeks, so who knows. At least it will be something different for the world to watch.

Stosur has beaten three former/current world number ones en route to the final: Henin, Serena Williams and Jankovic

Schiavone has conquered Li Na, Kirilenko, Wozniacki and Dementieva, high quality opponents, to earn her place in the showpiece final

Tonight the men's semi-finals explode with the ever-improving Soderling up against the giant Czech, Tom Berdych. This will be a story of two similar players with quick first serves and rasping forehands. Berdych hasn't been this far before, but it is familiar territory for the Swede, who finished as runner-up last year. Got to go with Soderling for this one. He's in good form and is building some decent momentum.

Then we have Rafael Nadal playing surprise semi-finalist, Jurgen Melzer. This should be a walk in the park for the effervescent Spaniard, but Melzer is a player to be watched carefully. He has seen off David Ferrer and Novak Djokovic already - could he add the scalp of Nadal to his French Open collection?

Federer's long run comes to an end

Roger Federer crashed out of Roland Garros at the quarter-final stage last night as Robin Soderling finally got one over him and progressed to a semi-final meeting with Thomas Berdych.

Federer was surprisingly a little out of sorts, but full credit where credit is due to Soderling. He played a great match, didn't panic after losing the opening set, and hit some solid shots when he needed to. It is not easy to beat a 16-time Grand Slam champion, so I congratulate Soderling for pulling it off.

My interest in the French Open has now completely evaporated and all I can hope for is for Soderling to give Nadal another good trashing in the final!

This result also saw an end to Federer's mind-boggling run of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals. Afterwards he found time to joke with the reporters about now going for the consecutive quarter-finals record!

Yes it is difficult to 'digest', as Federer put it, any defeat, and I'm always very sad when The Great Man loses. I don't like to see him lose. But Federer always loses with dignity and praises his opponents efforts, which sets him well apart from players such as the revolting Andy Murray. There are no excuses. The weather, the damp conditions, rain showers, are no excuse at all. I happily confess that Soderling played better on the day and fully deserves his crack at reaching a second consecutive Roland Garros final.

But watch Roger go at Wimbledon!

Murray's time expires as Roger rolls on

As I rightly predicted last week, it was indeed a matter of time before this detestable Scot bowed out of Roland Garros. He did so in a straight sets defeat to Thomas Berdych. He will probably blame it on his 'bad knee' which he only just told the world about after scraping past 'Reesh-ard' Gasquet in the opening round.

I'm also glad to see that big-headed, full-of-himself Tsonga weakly depart the scene, retiring injured after losing the first set to Mikhail Youzhny in their fourth-round match.

Meanwhile, the Great Man rolled past good friend Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets, looking increasingly smooth and sharp with each round. He did have to come back from a break down in the second set to force a tie-break, but he never panicked and keeps on winning.

Roger will face a familiar foe in the quarter finals with rising Swede Robin Soderling, the man who he beat in last years final, standing in his way once again. Soderling has neatly made his way through the draw and Federer should be prepared for a tough one.

On the ladies side, Justine Henin held her nerve to beat Maria Sharapova in 3 sets, coming from a break down in the final set to score a big win over the Russian. ALLEZ HENIN!!!

And as a footnote, Venus Williams was thankfully beaten by Nadia Petrova - so we don't have to watch her stomping around in that hideous dress, watching her pull it back up over her bosoms more times than she served a ball, and getting an eyeful of her bumcheeks or flesh coloured underwear. Deary me, stick to the tennis Venus!!

Federer Battles Through - Day 2

It has been six years since Roger Federer last dropped a set in the first round of a Grand Slam event. Against Igor Andreev he did just that in perhaps the toughest opener he has ever had since he drew Kafelnikov at Wimbledon 2000. Andreev started the brighter, taking the opening set 6-4, but Federer has the ability to up his game a few levels when needed, and he did precisely that to even up the match with a 6-2 2nd set scoreline. He admitted after the match to Jim Courier that he was extremely lucky to win the 3rd set. It was hard to see him coming through it at the time, especially when Andreev had the set on his racquet, serving at 6-5. However, Federer managed to claw out a service break when he needed it, and charged through the tiebreak as the Russian's forehand completely collapsed.

With a 2-1 lead, the pressure visibly lifted from the Swiss master's shoulders as he romped through the 4th in a 6-0 whitewash, looking more like his real self. The match turned on the 3rd set and Federer was fortunate this time. Later in the tournament he may need to start off matches at the level he displayed in the 4th set here. And it was fitting that he praised his opponent by stating that Andreev "is a wonderful player." How can anyone NOT like this man?

Home favourite Lleyton Hewitt safely made it through to the 2nd round to remain on collision course with Roger Federer in a possible fourth round meeting. Unfortunately, fellow Aussie Alicia Molik failed to progress, experiencing a mid-match collapse as she bowed out to a fighting Julie Coin.

Today's surprise came in the men's draw as 8th seed Robin Soderling, last year's French Open finalist, lost to Marcel Granollers, after having won the first two sets. This opens up the draw for Djokovic and Tsonga, who both enjoyed straight-sets wins in their openers.

Venus and Serena predictably thrashed their respective first round opponents as they look as menacing as ever and are on course for a semi-final showdown of sisters.

Mikhail Youzhny endured a mammoth five-setter against the cocaine-kisser, Richard Gasquet, eventually prevailing 6-7, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 in a gruelling first round tie.

I'm looking forward to the huge match between Elena Dementieva and Justine Henin which means that unfortunately, one of these two wonderful players will be going home all too early this year.

The Last Word on Tennis for 2009

The sound of soles rapidly shuffling into position on the spotlight's surface of the O2 arena has now ceased. The dazzling blue glow has been dimmed for the last time, and a worthy winner has emerged from the group of eight.

London's O2 arena hosted a fantastic ATP Masters year-ending tournament which saw the top five players fall at various hurdles. Nikolay Davydenko outlasted them all to lift the trophy and ascend to sixth in the world rankings, jumping past absentee Andy Roddick.

Robin Soderling's run to the semi-finals saw him finish eighth in the rankings, a career high for the much-improved Swede. Another player who has come on leaps and bounds is finalist Juan Martin Del Potro. It was only January this year when he was given one of the biggest thrashings at the Australian Open by Roger Federer, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0. He ran Federer close in a five-set loss at the semis of the French before triumphing over the world number one to win his first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows.

Rafael Nadal, plagued by numerous injuries and inconsistent form, finished the year on his biggest ever low, losing his last four matches.

Roger Federer has now been world number one for 258 weeks, 2 weeks shy of Pete Sampras' record of 260 weeks at the very top ranking. By Christmas Federer will be the outright leader. The Swiss ace won his first French Open crown, which equalled Pete Sampras' Grand Slam record and also completed his career Grand Slam. Then a month later at Wimbledon he overcame Andy Roddick in an epic final to stand alone as the all-time greatest player in history with 15 Grand Slam titles. He married long time girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec before welcoming twin daughters into his life. It has been a historic year for Roger Federer.

Finally, tennis will be losing two of its more famous players in Marat Safin and Fabrice Santoro. We will for sure miss Safin's petulance and anger issues as much as his superb tennis, which we must confess was sadly only rarely seen.

The Australian Open is up next in January 2010 and Roger Federer will be as hungry as ever to claim the title he so agonisingly lost this year.

ATP Tour Finals

The tennis tour finals is almost upon us, and the draw has thrown up some tantalizing matches in the group stage. World number one Roger Federer has been paired with Andy 'can't-win-a-major' Murray, Argentine scum-bag Del Potro, and Fernando Verdasco.

In the other group meanwhile, Rafael Nadal is matched up with three players who have all recently beaten him. His rivalry with Swede Soderling continues after he entered through the backdoor due to Roddick's injury. The Spanish bull will also face Novak Djokovic, who gave him a good stuffing last week, and Nikolay Davydenko (Mr. Consistency) who beat him well a few weeks ago.

It all starts on Sunday November 22nd, 2009 and I can't wait. In the back of my mind, I really worry for Rog as he just seems a bit off the pace at the moment, but I am reminded that Rog is a winner through and through, he wants Grand Slams and is not really bothered about inferior tournaments - those are for Andy 'can't-win-a-major' Murray. But on the flipside, I'm hopeful that Federer's period of rest will stand him in good stead and that he will produce his best tennis when it really matters.

The end of year finals is still a good tournament to win, but it doesn't really signify anything special nor accurately predict the outcome of the upcoming year. (Just take Murray's victory in last year's Shanghai finals and contrast that with his performance in 2009)

Anyway, whatever competition he is playing in, I want him to win. COME ON ROG!!!