Tiger Woods’s rampage hurting or helping Federer?

 

Woods won his first event of the season with an eight-shot freaking lead. And now at Dubai, he is already up by two shots. He has come out firing for the new season.

No matter what they say, both players have one eye on what the other is doing. It appears that’s what is motivating them, since no one within their sport have the balls to step it up and work harder.

 

Up until last week, that is. Federer’s loss at a Grand Slam is a major hit for him in that race. Woods’s destruction is only making it worse. Or is it?

As if Djokovic was not enough reason to ramp it up, Woods comes along with his own fuel to ignite Federer’s game. There’s enough material for ignition, already. The question is which way will the rocket shoot, with that load?

Federer cannot ignore Woods annihilation, more so now that he is in Dubai. It could add another straw to the already immense pressure Federer has this year, or it could also spur Federer to new heights.

Either way, I think their meeting in Dubai will be good for Federer in many ways. Whether it will  translate into impossible forehands and backhands is up in the air.

Did you see Tsonga’s father go in an epileptic fit when Tsonga won the first set against Djokovic?

 

Either that, or I thought he was in charge of crowd control. Or perhaps he was tricked into watching the wrong Ali fight? I am not going anywhere in public with my parents anymore. Oh wait, it’s the other way around here. Hey, is that good or bad?

Buddy, those moves are restricted to, when you are in the lunatic cell ALONE. Not when you are on international TV. Maybe you just failed the test, and blew your chance at freedom, and are going back to the big house for good.

Whose parents are stepping up to the plate to trump this now? Or do we have to go back to watching tennis?

Excellent Federer interview. From Bettyjane. Thanks. Good work.

Bettyjane | 

An interview Roger gave to WFAN, a sports radio station in New York City.

http://www.wfan.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=1385361

Djokovic’s three deadliest weapons.

 

1. Backhand down the line. He hits it with such ease as if it’s his forehand.

2. Drop shot – lob combination. Deadliest one-two punch in the game?

 

3. Flexibility used for defense. That’s what won him the break of serve against Federer in the first set, and possibly the match. It barely clipped the line. Even Nadal may not have made it to that shot.

Should Davis Cup be scraped?

 

Either remove the freaking ‘option’ clause for players to participate, or just freaking get rid of it. Either that, or hang a juicier carrot than just patriotism. Try money.

Every freaking year there’s a parade of top players electing to skip it for reasons so ‘legitimate’. How about ‘don’t care’, or ‘it will disrupt my schedule on the tour’ or ‘why waste my precious energy for nothing.’ I like Nadal’s BS ‘the team will be better without me.’ And Federer doesn’t even have to give a reason. He just has to not answer the call.

Can you even blame the players from evading it, with a gruelling tour schedule staring them in their face?

Then how come all the US players are playing, you ask? Because if you have an option of eating peanuts or starving to death, you choose peanuts. Did you freaking get that, or do you want me to come down there and ‘esssplain’ it? Gggeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzz!!!!!!!!

Both Roddick and Blake are done with their careers on the tour, and the Bryan sisters are stuck with that huge guilt trip, with Roddick and Blake making the cut.

It’s gotten so bad that players are now being named for the event, even after they have refused or they have not even been asked. That’s what happened to Mauresmo and Bartoli. What’s next? They will be brought to the court blindfolded to make the final decision?

Cut the drama and find the solution to the joke. Or just shelve the crap NOW!!!!

Some interesting quotes.

 

-Every adversity, every failure and every heartache carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.

-Success requires no explanations. Failure permits no alibis.

-Happiness is found in DOING. Not merely in POSSESSING.

I’ve heard this TP guy is good, if you ignore his brain. Oh wait, there’s none. Call him. Oh wait, there’s no phone – Hope you are convinced!!!

 

Did Tsonga expose Nadal’s underbelly?

 

If you flatten your shots from both wings, Nadal has to shorten his back swing to execute his favorite forehand top spin shot, essentially losing all its venom. That’s when the ball is coming straight at him.

But if you can spray it at an angle while still maintaining enough margin on the shot, Nadal has to make that shot on the run and stretch, resulting in a return that’s begging to be punished.

Is that the reason Blake has a 3-0 H2H advantage over Nadal, two of them in straight sets?

So far this year, Tispsarevic is the only other player to have shown to possess that skill. Just flattening the shot is not enough, it has to have enough speed on it to rattle the ‘retrieval’ king. That combination needs precise timing and footwork, and the willingness to take the ball early / play high risk tennis.

Not easy to execute, but at least the blue print is now available for anyone able and willing to bell the cat.

Canas to Federer’s rescue?

 

For freaks still dragging their carcasses from under that rock, Canas beat Federer in the opening and fourth round of Indian Wells and Miami respectively last year. That was right after his win at Dubai.

Was that a blessing in disguise? It could be. Now Federer has virtually no points to defend. With a spirited assault launched on his No. 1 rank this year, that cushion can come in handy, if Federer is able to advance deeper in the draw or win both of them.

Djokovic, on the other hand, reached the final at Indian Wells and won Miami. He needs to repeat that to just maintain his pool level.

Nadal won at Indian Wells and reached the quarters at Miami.

This may be what Federer needs to separate himself from the two jokers before the clay season starts, where Nadal is going to kill himself to dethrone Federer. He may just achieve his dream if Federer falters again at these three events (Dubai, IW and Miami), and Nadal is able to defend his points from last year.

Of course, Federer will have to tank during the clay season too, whereas Nadal has to duplicate his sizzling performance from last year. With Djokovic in the mix, it’s not a given. Djokovic may be working for Federer during this stretch.

If you have no idea what all this nonsense means, click here. Try here too.

Nadal defends Federer. From Jenny. Thanks.

 

Jenny |

A comment from Rafa regarding Rogers loss at the AO (it’s from an interview for Radio Marca)

The world number two defended criticism of the number one Swiss Roger Federer, following his elimination in the semi-finals of the Australia Open against Novak Djokovic. “The people are exaggerating and the press is cruel and demanding. Federer has spent four or five years as a number one and you can not ask for more. This man is a monster. He lost in the semi-finals, not the first round, after eleven consecutive finals in Grand Slams. ”

Interesting and fair minded don’t you think? Well said Rafael.

Dubai a ‘must win’ for Federer? Duh!!!!

 

It’s either going to get better in a hurry, or it’s going bad – fast.

Federer again finds himself in that strange spot – where winning the title gets him an inch, while losing, even in the finals, sets him back a mile.

It’s not a question of the No. 1 ranking anymore. That’s just a by-product now. Question is whether Federer can win titles on a consistent basis anymore? Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami should be more than enough to answer that question, once and for all. If Federer is not able to get in stride by then, it’s not likely for anything spectacular to happen later in the season.

Ideally, now he needs to win all three – to get his mojo back and regain that intimidation factor. Virus, lack of match play and the new surface alibis have run their course, and many are still prepared to cut him some slack for the trinity. Some are even willing to commend him for reaching as far as he did despite those conditions.

But the bad part of all that is – now everyone wants to see the usual dominating Federer. If not, those alibis will lose strength, transferring power to the slide theories.

Tennis administrators for the first time realized that a final without Federer or even Nadal is not that bad actually. Djokovic and Tsonga were able to create quite a buzz. Consequently the cash registers did not take any visible hit, as feared.

This may begin to reflect at the draws for at least the next few tournaments. Until now draws have been drafted, understandably, to make sure Federer is kept alive till the last match, to milk the magnetic appeal of the superstar.

This AO final may have shown that the younger players, specially Djokovic is able to sustain that ‘monetary’ run, for all the wrong reasons, nevertheless. Djokovic may not be the most popular player but he is the most controversial, and his direct head butting with Federer is only stoking that fire, thereby surpassing or at least matching the Federer charisma.

Translation: Keeping Djokovic alive for the final match may be as significant, or maybe more than doing the same for Federer.

Which means only one thing: There is no question that there will not be any semifinal match between Federer and Djokovic on any surface other than clay, for the rest of eternity, unless there is some drastic uprising soon. They will now be meeting in the finals ONLY.

Rivalries generate interest in a sport, not to mention the revenues that flow consequently. We have all seen what happened after Nadal burst on the scene. But this appears to be an even more juicier rivalry, since the likelihood of Djokovic reaching the finals at almost all events is much higher than Nadal achieving that feat in years past. Add to it the fact that the two hate each other, unlike Nadal and Federer, and you have a golden opportunity to entice fans to drag their carcasses out from under that rock, with their wallets wide open.

You think, Federer was getting those friendly draws because he is such a gentleman and a classy guy? Get freaking real!!! It’s all about cold hard cash. If Federer doesn’t get his act together soon, notice the draws he will be handed down. It’s called living in the real world.

If you look at the line up for Dubai, there are some players Federer would love to avoid all together, specially in the early rounds after the AO showing. Santoro could open with Federer. Then there’s Karlovic in the later rounds. Federer will most likely face Nadal in the semis at most, if not all events from now. Why? Now there are two rivalries to milk. You think, these jokers will pass that. Are you freaking kidding me!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gasquet, Murray (if he recovers from his knee problems), Berdych and even Youzhny may be dangerous under the current conditions.

If Federer gets a good start, most likely he will round up his confidence in the later rounds and who knows get back to his usual self. But the AO loss will apply immense pressure to not just lose, but to avoid a three-setter.

And if he is to go down, it will be better for him to lose to anyone except Djokovic, don’t you think? Two straight losses to Djokovic will not bode well. duh!!!

For fans it’s a win win situation. There is a strong possibility that we may get to watch Federer-Nadal and Federer-Djokovic matches in one tournament.

However, it’s danger time for Federer. He ABSOLUTELY has to win the title at Dubai.

Will the tide turn or is there a tsunami in sight?