Federer’s next stop is Dubai in March. Here’s the line up. Where’s Tsonga?

2008 Men’s Line Up Player Name Nat. Rank Roger Federer SUI 1 Rafael Nadal ESP 2 Novak Djokovic SRB 3 Nikolay Davydenko RUS 4 David Ferrer ESP 5 Andy Roddick USA 6 Richard Gasquet FRA 8 Andy Murray GBR 9 Tommy Haas GER 11 Tommy Robredo ESP 12 Tomas Berdych CZE 13 Mikhail Youzhny RUS 14 Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP 21 Ivo Karlovic CRO 24 Paul-Henri Mathieu FRA 25 Jarkko Nieminen FIN 26 Philipp Kohlschreiber GER 27 Fernando Verdasco ESP 28 Stanislas Wawrinka SUI 29 Nicolas Almagro ESP 31 Dmitry Tursunov RUS 32 Gilles Simon FRA 33 Igor Andreev RUS 35 Fabrice Santoro FRA 36

Everyone praying for Federer is now praying for him? Djokovic appears to have moved up a notch, as the most hated tennis player after win over Federer.

 

Wasn’t Nadal holding that coveted title a year ago? Nadal was sensitive to it and made sure he weathered the storm without ruffling his feathers.

Djokovic doesn’t give a rat’s ass. He may actually be loving it. It may be driving him to flare up his antics to fuel the fire even more. He knows, the battle to win over fans was lost the moment he became the contender for the No. 1 spot against Federer.

This is what happens if you use ‘elseplace’ to speak instead of your lips. Keep it up and you’ll just have a speck left.

 

Reason why this loss to Djokovic stings harder for Federer.

-Djokovic was the first on the tour to publicly challenge Federer’s record through the press with something like ’… days of Federer winning every title are over’. That was the first blow for Federer since he ascended the throne. It hit Federer exactly where Djokovic intended, creating that little extra tension, whenever the two stepped on the court. Tension that forced Federer to add little extra mustard on his shots, to accomplish his objective of humiliating or paying back in kind - at times compromising his natural game.

-Federer knows, with all his experience on the court, that Djokoivic is the next No. 1, unlike Nadal, who he himself labelled as ‘one dimensional’. To lose to him, signals an early end of his reign. Losing to Nadal at Roland Garros now suddenly loses all it’s sting.

-To top all that, Djokovic just doesn’t beat Federer, he humiliates and degrades him by steamrolling him in straight sets in mere two and half hours – a strong pay back to what Federer did to him at the US Open finals last year.

-Federer’s chances of both the Golden Slam and the Calendar Grand Slam has been ruined from the get go, possibly casting a shadow on the rest of the season.

-Although Federer dismissed the ‘white flag’ comment from Djokovic before the match, there is no doubt, that played into his mind many times before and possibly during the match. If you have ever been in an encounter with someone you really hate, you would know the feeling and how it throws you off. Like I wrote earlier, that comment possibly won him the first set, for you have to dig deep in the history books to find a scenario where Federer lost the first set after having a break. There’s no other possible explanation to it.

Although Djokovic’s earlier remarks may not have been intentional, he is definitely working it, now that he sees the impact they have on Federer. He simply loves it when he is able to get Federer irritated and annoyed. Did you notice when they shook hands at the net, Federer was in a hurry to get it over with, refusing to make eye contact? That’s just giving more ammunition to Djokovic. That’s what he wants and he absolutely thrives on it.

Do you think all these remarks from someone like Davydenko would evoke any response from Federer? Absolutely not. It’s Djokovic’s potential of being No. 1 after knocking Federer off that perch, that is what’s driving the dagger deeper in Federer’s heart.

Tipsarevic’s match further exacerbated the problem, and Djokovic just ran with it. You can bet there are many more verbal stabs in the pipeline from Djokovic in the next few months to psychologically derail the Fed express. Why should he stop, if it’s working.

It’s Federer job now to not only not have these comments affect him, but to also let Djokovic know about it. The more irritated and aggravated he gets on and off the court, the more consistent and routine will be the attacks.

On paper, Djokovic’s win over Federer at Montreal may be considered much bigger since he beat the top two players back to back before that. But in real terms, this is his biggest win over Federer, not because it’s in straight sets or it’s in a Grand Slam, but because he was able to play games behind the curtain and gain advantage, long before he stepped on the court.

On paper, there is no one who can doubt that Federer is a much better player, but as they say it’s not always the most talented who wins. There are many talented people around the world, working at menial jobs for variety of reasons.

Federer has to take this as a learning experience and know he is dealing with someone he has never dealt with before: someone who is willing to dig deep in the gutter for a win.

It is difficult to execute and not play your natural game when facing your successor. Borg had to deal with it in McEnroe, Sampras had that feeling facing Safin, and maybe was the main reason he lost to Safin at the US Open finals, Connors had both Borg and McEnroe breathing down his neck.

If you are amongst the best in your field, you are rarely wrong in picking your successor if you see him. Federer knew Nadal could never succeed him, and therefore never felt that tension when playing him, even on clay. Besides if that player comes along when you have run your course, it’s not that much of a rub. But when you are barely 26, and still have some serious unfinished business at hand, it requires exceptional mental fortitude to withstand and overcome.

I feel Federer is smart enough to see through all this BS, but what I am concerned about is whether he will set aside his Leo ego, and go for the changes and adjustments, which for a while may appear as being on the defensive. Tiger Woods went through similar period when Phil Mickelson started gaining ground on him.

Woods decided to change his swing, and paid the price of not winning majors and other top tier tournaments for many months. But once he had fully incorporated the changes into his game, the price was worth it. Do you think he had to take a hit because of it? You bet!!!! The press was all over him, and the rumors of decline and demise were rampant.

Maybe he needs to have a man to man talk with Woods to get new perspective and some friendly advice. Although both are fighting for the most dominant sportsman of the century award, Woods is mature enough to set that aside and come clean as a real friend in need.

Besides, Woods knows he will eventually surpass whatever records Federer posts, by the sheer number of years he has before retirement. So that competitive fire will not be a hindrance in parting sincere advice.

One thing is clear and guaranteed. If Federer does not make some major changes with no regard to what the world and the locker room thinks, he is not going to reverse this slide. If he thinks changing course in a big way will further embolden Djokovic, so be it. At least it will start the juices flowing again, working on something new and different. Who knows if it could trigger a second wind, far greater than what Agassi rode on.

Federer, go for some bold steps. There’s nothing to lose, and so much to gain. Like they say, start your own business and take the risk, you can always find a job.

Federer, we all love you too much to not see you at least win 16 Grand Slams along with a Roland Garros. That’s the bare minimum for the talent you have. No one in the freaking history of the game has had that remarkable four year run. All you need is cap it with a cherry on top. With the best wishes and prayers of millions of us all over the globe, any deficiency anywhere else will be our responsibility. We may start a global meditation group for your matches. There are some crazy lunatics on this site itself who would fore-go many things in life in exchange to see you succeed.

You have no idea, how much your wins and losses affect people. It’s like going in a depression if you lose a set, forget a match. Conversely, your wins bring so much joy and happiness that there are many who have postponed suicide until your career is over.

You are now playing for the masses, not just for yourself. It reminds me of that boxing match between Ali (here we go again) and Foreman. After the first round, reporters said, Ali realised he was facing a stronger opponent and defeat was near certain. When he sat on the stool after that round, a reporter said ‘he gazed into air and into the crowd, as if to say ‘this fight is for my people’. He rose a different man from that stool, and knocked out a strong and invincible Foreman in the eighth round.

You have to keep fighting for us now. We have all united as one strong block as your cheer leaders. It doesn’t matter what language we speak, which country we are from, what color our skin is, what kind of plumbing we have down there, whether we understand tennis or not, what kind of animals we ‘associate’ with, what ‘conditions’ we live in, what is our age, how often we take bath, how often we get blisters (on the foot, that is), what kind of profession or stupidity we are in, what kind of jokes we are capable of, how often items are removed from our rectum, how often we go shopping for new TV remotes —– we are all your dedicated fans.

Make the change and ride on!!!!!

Interesting article on Tsonga. From Katie. Thanks.

Katie |Here’s an article I thought you’d all like from the Montreal Gazette.

Melbourne, Australia — It has been nearly three years since a Grand Slam final was played with Roger Federer already having left the building, since the 2005 French Open, in fact.

So Sunday’s Australian Open championship match between 20-year-old Novak Djokovic and 22-year-old Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be unfamiliar territory.

It’s also perhaps the greatest opportunity either will have to claim a Grand Slam title while Federer and Rafael Nadal are in their primes.

Djokovic is a known quantity, long the next in line after Federer and Nadal, a champion-in-waiting hovering around the winner’s circle for the last 12 months but not quite invited in.

Tsonga burst on the scene in the last two weeks, his No. 38 ranking more a function of having only completed one full year on the ATP Tour because of back, shoulder, and abdomen injuries.

If you don’t follow the sport closely, you didn’t know him.

“He’s a breath of fresh air,” former French tennis star turned rock star Yannick Noah said recently.

“If he says it, I believe it,” Tsonga said Saturday.

Reporters from all over the world are straining to make a connection between Tsonga and Muhammad Ali, to whom he bears a slight facial resemblance and an even more pronounced physical similarity. At 6-2 and 200 pounds, biceps bulging, court movement butterfly-like for his size, it’s apt enough.

Tsonga has seen the Ali movies on DVD, of course. But when he revealed yesterday that his father, Didier, a former team handballer who hails from Brazzaville, Congo – just across the Congo River from Kinshasa, Zaire – attended the 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” between Ali and George Foreman, the pens began scratching furiously.

“He would talk to me about it just comme ca. But I have proof he went, because I saw photos,” Tsonga said.

The Ali stories were already written; all that was needed was some great story from Tsonga.

But the truth is that if Tsonga is compared to anyone back home in France, it is Noah, who also is the product of an African father (Cameroon) and a French mother, and who was an athlete of the same calibre.

He also was the last Frenchman to win a Grand Slam singles title, 25 years ago at the French Open.

Father Didier and mother Evelyne, both teachers, were due to arrive in Melbourne at 11 a.m. Sunday. His father joked before the event that if he made it to the final – not a safe bet since his first-round opponent was No. 9 seed Andy Murray – they would fly down.

“So here I am in the final, and so now they’re on their way,” Tsonga said. “It’s a way of thanking them for all they have done for me.”

It’s too soon to anoint Tsonga the next great one; his is hardly the first Cinderella story to make the Australian Open final.

Just two years ago, it was Marcos Baghdatis, whose ranking is holding but who hasn’t become a top-five player. The likes of Rainer Schuettler, Thomas Enqvist and Arnaud Clément also have made the final over the last decade.

But none of those players straight-setted the No. 2 player in brutish fashion, in a Grand Slam semi-final, and did so acting as if he had been there before.

You may have to go back to Pete Sampras at the 1990 U.S. Open, or even Boris Becker at the 1986 Wimbledon, to find a comparable splash. But even those two great champions made noises the previous year at those events. Tsonga, ranked No. 212 a year ago, lost in the first round to Andy Roddick.

Both those players also won the whole thing, something Tsonga will try to do tomorrow.

The Ali comparison inadvertently kicks in, though, when Tsonga talks about his game.
“I will have to impose my game, a puncher’s game,” he said. “Whoever it is, my game is to beat the opponent until he folds,” Tsonga said.

Djokovic was fairly sombre after his win over Federer Friday night. He said he felt he had been fighting two opponents: Federer, and the pro-Federer crowd. “You know, it’s understandable the crowd was a little bit more for him, because he’s defending champion and No. 1 player of the world. But hopefully it’s going to be better in the next match. That’s what I hope for,” he said.

His hopes may be dashed.

Tsonga was playing a very popular player as well in his semi-final against Nadal. But by the end, he had just about everyone save for Nadal’s entourage rabidly on his side, with a flashy game and natural charisma that just oozed from every pore.

And he didn’t have to try nearly as hard as Djokovic tries to earn it.

The question is: if Tsonga wins his first Grand Slam title Sunday night, will Djokovic then have to work up one of his famous player imitations to pay tribute?

Montreal Gazette

Djoker’s father gesturing thumb down. From Bigfish. Thanks.

Bigfish |

Cheiko san,

Here is the link for the video of Djoker’s father gesturing thumb down.

Federer’s next step.

I feel, the current predicament Federer is in, is the direct result of the accumulated physical and mental toll, from all his activities not related to tennis. I still think, the talent and the ability to execute it on the court, is still there.

But if you tinker with the foundation of that skill – the physical and mental bed it lays on – sooner or later it will take its toll.

All the stupid exhibition matches and other glamorous press obligations, not to mention the over indulgence and direct involvement in business aspect of the career including charity work, only take away from the time and energy that should be reserved for tennis on court, or on the drawing board.

You think, you could have convinced Sampras or Lendl to any of those distractions at the peak of their career. You would have been snuffed so bad, you would never dare to bring it up again. Agassi realized that early in his career, and later he made sure anything that does not get him closer to winning a title on the tour, had to be rudely squished.

As I had barked earlier, do you think it was a good idea to play those Sampras exos? After the kind of season you just had, how tiny the off season is, what the next season entailed at so many levels – you are freaking playing ‘nothing to gain’ exos?

Maybe this is what Federer needs to realize, it’s time to get ‘Agassi like’ focus from now on. Preserve every ounce of energy as if there’s a drought tomorrow.

Or is Federer feeling the ‘hare and the tortoise’ syndrome? When the hare got close to the finish line, he relaxed, and eventually lost the race. Federer may have taken the foot off the pedal, taking everything for granted.

Or has Federer already reached that ‘number’ in his mind? That would be the end, for sure.

Federer needs to recognize it’s time to change. And to make sure he is not shooting in the dark and making the wrong adjustments, he needs to look at what’s worked for other humans in his field. You are not an alien and cannot completely discount what has worked for other players in the past. It may not be exactly what, let’s say Agassi did, but you cannot turn the process on it’s head and expect to keep winning with complete disregard to history and what’s worked for others.

You need to study what your career objective is in the long run, and find a master plan from historical files that has achieved that most efficiently. Once you have that, you need to make necessary adjustments to tune it to your personality, talent, shot repertoire, mental make up, current tennis landscape, competition etc. to arrive at a workable blue print. This is not the time to blaze a new trail in tennis training.

Surest way to come up with the most ‘bulls eye’ target plan is not to violate rules already laid down. You can only go so far doing that.

There are certain pointers that are absolutely indispensable in reaching the absolute top. For Federer those are eliminating ALL distractions and getting some way to draw on some professional tennis mind. It may not be a coach, but some arrangement has to be made to get help. NO ONE in sports has flourished long, without this basic ‘no brainer’ tool.

If Federer takes these two steps judiciously, he would have more than half way gained his way back on the tracks. This is the root of the problem Federer needs to address, and then the branches will wither off on their own.

Instead of sulking and making long faces, turn this into a biggest campaign to change things based on what’s guaranteed to work, historically.

Will Federer shelve his ego and make the changes, or will he realize taking that step is only admitting a weakness?

Djokovic vs Tsonga: Are these stats any indicator?

Here are what the two jokers are averaging after six matches.

Tsonga has a huge edge with his aces and winners, while Djokovic is fresher having two less hours on the court, not having lost a set, and stronger when closing a break point opportunity.

Considering the competition these two have ploughed through to get here, Tsonga looks a safer bet overall. It will eventually come down to how each is able to adjust his game on the fly, to neutralize and negate his opponent’s strength.

It’s not as easy to blast aces past Djokovic, as was evidenced in his last match. Same with winners – two of Tsonga’s strengths. Djokovic’s suppleness and flexibility is responsible for it.

But if Tsonga is able to move Djokovic around, to trigger his breathing problems, he should be able to use above strengths more effectively as Ferrer discovered in the third set.

Djokovic obviously is more versatile and composed of the two at this stage. Having gone through the grind at last year’s US Open, he has that massive psychological advantage over Tsonga.

However, if Tsonga takes the first set, by relying on being physically and mentally fresh, he can increase his chances of winning his first freaking Grand Slam withiout winning even a single ATP title. Has that ever been done before?

Clown	1st serve %	Aces	Unforced errors	Winners	Bk pt conv %	Sets lost	Time on court
Djokovic	64	9	28	33	55	0	12:17
Tsonga	63	14	30	53	49	2	14:20