Where is Federer at 26, vs other legends.

 

Roger Federer is a gift to the sports world, at large. Such mountain of talent, aligned with grace, modesty and decency, sprinkled with an unsatiable desire for humanitarian work – that’s a rare combination destined to transcend tennis and sports. We are fortunate to be witnessing history and greatness unfold.

Every sport has a stand-out player - unique, and so much superior than every other player in history. But not all these players transcend their sport. Some players who have achieved that are: Mohammad Ali of Boxing, Michael Jordan of Basketball, Tiger Woods of Golf.

Here is a breakdown of where Roger Federer stacks up, against the greats of the game, when they were 26 years of age. Federer still has about 4 months to reach his 26th birthday, and to add more to his total.

Age	Name	Country	Titles	Majors	Rank
26	Pete Sampras	United States	49	10	1
	Bjorn Borg	Sweden	61	11	1
	Ivan Lendl	United States/ Czech	79	2	1
	Andre Agassi	United States	44	3	3
	John McEnroe	United States	61	7	1
	Roger Federer	Switzerland	47	10	1
	Jimmy Connors	United States	67	5	1
	Mats Wilander	Sweden	31	7	58

Sharapova and Serena clash once again.

Top seed, Maria Sharapova has another crack at 13th seed, Serena Williams in the fourth round of Sony Ericsson Open at Miami.

Sharapova was humiliated by Serena in the finals of the Australian Open this January, 6-1, 6-2.

Despite what they say for the cameras, there has to be some bad blood between these two extreme competitors.

Serena was beaten at her own ’power’ game, handily, by Sharapova at 2004 Wimbledon finals, in straight sets 6-1, 6-4. Then there is that overhead shot that Sharapova directed straight at Serena’s body at the Australian Open. Serena did not have any nice words for Sharapova, and was clearly angry and ready for confrontation.

If Sharapova plays the way she played against Venus Williams in the previous match, she is in for another humiliating drubbing. She had 13 double faults and 36 unforced errors in that match and won,  just because Venus was more sloppier in her performance – 12 double faults and 55 unforced errors.

Good match to watch!

Federer seeks revenge against Canas in fourth round.

 

World’s No. 1, Federer has his wish. He will face Guillermo Canas, a qualifier from Argentina, who defeated the 15th seed teenager from France, Richard Gasquet in straight sets 7-6(3), 6-3.

Federer will be seeking revenge for his opening round, straight set loss at the Pacific Life Open earlier this month, at the hands of Canas.

Canas has had a remarkable run, so far, at Sony Ericsson Open. He beat Tim Henman, followed by former World’s No. 1 and 19th seed, Juan Carlos Ferrero and now the 15th seed, Richard Gasquet. Add to it the fact, that he is supposed to be out of rhythm, coming off a 15-month doping suspension, and he is 29 years of age!!! What’s going on?

Federer needs to be level headed, and not go for too much. He does not have to win 6-0, 6-0 to prove anything. He is the World’s No. 1. That will be like playing, right into Canas’s hands. Canas has nothing to lose, and will go for broke, with outright winners, to avoid long rallies, to diffuse Federer’s arsenal of shots.

It will be more of a mental game for both players, keenly aware of the unique circumstances and what is at stake. Federer, obviously, has much more at stake, and the best way for him to get over it, is to just play his game, without trying to make a statement. Canas would be hoping to capitalize on the mental breakdown, Federer may experience due to the history, and the fact that Canas is undoubtedly hot.

It would be interesting to see what strategies, each player will employ, to counteract each other’s plan. Match to watch.

Davydenko, Hinges out.

N. Davydenko, the 4th seed from Russia, was eliminated in straight sets by qualifier, Amer Delic of USA 7-6(5), 6-3. Davydenko is one of the players, identified on this site to be one of the losers this year. Click here for more.

Davydenko has a lot of miles of his odometer. He has been playing enormous number of tournaments last few years. Sony Ericsson Open is already his 7th of the year. Get this: last year he played in 35 tournaments -35!!!

Having won only 10 titles in his entire career, I guess his trick, to maintain a high ATP ranking (currently 4), is to play in as many events as possible, and accumulate points that way. If you are not winning many titles, there is no other choice. It also, is a clever way to make good money (career 5.5 million) without winning too many tournaments.

But all that comes at a price, and this is the year, when he will start making his first installments. Getting married earlier this year, is an indication of his plans to wrap up his tennis career, and move in different direction.

Martina Hinges, the former World’s No. 1, was defeated by A. Radwanska of Poland 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Hinges relies mostly on her crafty placement and movement of the ball. That’s her weapon to compensate for lack of power in her game in general, and  in her serve, in particular.

Main reason she retired early, was the emergence of power players, like the William sisters, Davenport and Sharapova. She chose the right time to make a comeback, since the power hitters were off the scene, momentarily. But they are back now (William sisters and Sharapova is coming into her own). Not good!!!

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