Is Nadal already drooling with the prospect of reclaiming the top spot getting real by the minute?

With the big cats failing on hard miserably to pad their point total to create enough separation between them and Nadal for the No. 1 rank spot, Nadal has to be feeling mighty pleased with his backyard just around the corner.

Last year’s dismal showing on clay may come back as a boon for Nadal. More so if the big cats continue on their self-destructive path to keep shedding points on clay.

However, Federer will have far less players to challenge him like they have on hard courts to keep him from dropping major points, if not adding some.

But Nadal’s focus has to be on getting his fifth Roland Garros and No. 7 career Slam. That would be a very decent start given what all he has overcome lately. But if he manages to add another one, specially the US Open, Nadal will have catapulted himself back in the driver’s seat irrespective of what rank he ends the year with.

But I think, Nadal is even more keen to achieve something else: Tarnish Federer’s claim to fame by beating him at Roland Garros AND Wimbledon to make the tennis world question Federer surpassing Sampras at every level.

Getting to No. 8 that way will be far more satisfying than with a career Slam. Heck, even if he wins the FO and Wimby without beating Federer en route, he will have delivered the message.

Today Nadal seems way too distant from winning Wimby for reasons both within and outside his control. But current conditions at the top may facilitate the process if he can effectively handle what’s within his own reach.

Nadal is also aware of another milestone Federer is approaching fast: Most weeks at No. 1. Nadal gets most bang for his buck anytime he is able to thwart Federer from getting to another historic station. That may be far stronger fuel to his psyche than any personal goals he may be pursuing.

Next event with big boys: Monte Carlo kicking off the clay season – April 11.

Last year’s result:

Winner: Nadal.

Finalist: Djokovic.

Semifinalist: Murray.

Third round: Federer (lost to Wawrinka).

Gonzalez before meeting Soderling.

Click here.

Dutch TV presenter wont stop laughing.

Whom do you want to win the Miami title now?

The ONE word that gets thrown around the most when Federer is on the defensive at the pressers.

Have a clue? No, you don’t!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s ‘LOOK’, don’t you think?

Read yesterday’s presser here.

Inside Mirka’s mind when she is watching Federer in a close match.

-Oh no, this will need lot of sucking upto to keep peace at home if he loses this one.

-He might watch the replay so I have to pretend being anxious and concerned even though I give a rat’s ass what happens.

-Hope this does not make him retire early. I am having just too much fun being on the tour and having my own down time WITHOUT him breathing down my neck.

-Wonder if I had married my first choice for a husband life wouldn’t have been so pretentious.

-Another sobbing bitching session to go through tonight.

-Maybe he will chose sex to get over it today – instead of creating even more disparity between his two hands.

-I don’t think the nail salon did a good job last time.

Why is the Nike logo missing from the shoes?

Mirka is questioned on having Mary Jo next to her in the players’ box.

Mirka’s response:

“I don’t want to sit to next to ANYONE prettier or younger than me. Mary Jo fits the bill perfectly. It’s my way of letting Federer know that it could have been worse – that there are many steps he has skipped by being fortunate enough to ‘land’ me.

Having my mother-in-law next to me burdens with the unneccessary need to sham interest every time she opens her mouth. With a needy Mary Jo, I can be my rude self and not care for the consequences.

It also drives home the point that being slimmer does not automatically mean you will be desireable.”

Berdych does what Serrra should have done yesterday: Takes Federer out of his misery and eliminates him.

Federer’s misery may have taken root in the last set at his previous match against Serra Perra when he was broken twice to force a tie break crapshoot win. 61 unforced errors against Berdych made sure that root received ample nourishment to deliver the goods.

Even though Federer’s poor form was partly to blame for that high a number, the real culprit was Berdych’s willingness and ability to keep Federer honest on his forehand side both during the rallies and on his first serves.

The real barometer today to gauge if you are likely to beat Federer rests on how many squash shots you are able to force him into. You pin him by attacking his backhand and then use the open court to fire a winner / take control of the rally.

There’s still nobody in the business who can execute above with clock-like precision like Nadal. No wonder he owns Federer on ALL surfaces.

Murray in recent times has been the most atrocious violator of this cardinal rule reflected in the three straight losses he has had against Federer – Cincy, WTF and the AO – after winning all four previous ones successively.

Berdych did his best with his limited skill set to mix it up keeping Federer guessing out of his freaking mind. That ate deeper into the funk Federer found himself in after playing just two games into the match and having a 2-0 lead in the first set.

Federer has now lost seven of the last eight events he has played. Last title before the AO was at Cincy back in August of 2007 OK 2009. Geeeeeeeezz!!!

Just this season he has just one title after having played five events with losses to four different clowns: Soderling (Abu Dhabi), Davydenko (Doha), Baghdatis (IW) and Berdych (Miami). Click here for more.

That ‘flipping a switch come Slam time’ gets rather difficult with a pattern now developing. Further Federer may need to be reminded that getting to the finals is a big help if winning the title is one of your goals. He has reached just two finals in his last eight events.

With the official start of the clay season next, this may not be the ideal record to go in with considering what you have to vindicate from last season.

Federer has got to be thinking of that Davydenko match at the AO when he was in all sorts of trouble before pulling it together to win the AO which is providing ample juice today to ride over the recent woes with some dignity. If not this would have been devastating.

Federer must be hoping for Berdych to go all the way to offer some consolation Ljubicic provided to Nadal and Djokovic at IW.

This match was another reminder for all you freaks to not miss ANY Federer matches from now on – irrespective of what round it is or who he is facing from across the net – unless you want to beat yourself up when he is gone. Take what you can get now and run with it ’cause I think it’s on. It will only get steeper with occasional flashes.

Hot shot rally between Federer and Berdych.

Click here.

Nadal set for Tsonga showdown.

Click here.

Verdasco after beating Cilic.

Click here.

Nadal after beating Ferrer.

Click here.

Photos.

Federer vs Berdych Miami 2010 3rd set tiebreak

Press Conference Roger Federer – Fourth Round. From Rick. Thanks.

RICK

Nice to get (what seems like — I didn’t see the match) an honest, straightforward, no B.S. assessment….

Press Conference
Roger Federer – Fourth Round
Miami, Fl., U.S.A.

01.03.2010

March 30, 2010

T. BERDYCH/R. Federer

6 4, 6 7, 7 6

An interview with:

ROGER FEDERER

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Obviously backhand was off tonight. A lot of errors. Unusual for you. What was the problem out there? He was playing well, obviously.

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, it was a tough match. Look, it’s no secret I’ve struggled the last, what is it, five matches I’ve played here in the States. It’s disappointing, I think, my performance overall, if I’ve got to analyze right now after the match.

But I fought as much as I could under the understood circumstances with my game having issues at the moment. Definitely lack timing. I don’t know where that comes from because I played so nicely in Australia. So it’s disappointing to not be able to back it up.

Maybe the sickness did take it out of me more than I thought. Maybe the break was quite long. I’m kind of used to those things, and I still, you know, think I could have done much better.

I was a couple points away this week and then also in Indian Wells had my chances. It’s disappointing having had a chance to move on. Maybe I had a chance to sort of turn around my game.

But, you know, we’ll see how it goes forward.

Q. What will you do to step back and assess this one?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, this is not stuff you can go too harshly on yourself. I tried everything I could out there. I thought he played a good match. It’s hard to judge his performance, because I look at mine only.
When I’m not playing my best, it’s hard to judge my opponent, to be quite honest. But he’s a good player, so I knew the danger coming in, especially with the timing issues I’ve had already the last couple weeks.

But I thought I worked hard enough to iron those things out. Maybe I did. It was still the confidence lacking, and that’s what kind of cost me these last two tournaments.

Only fuels my desire to go back to the practice courts and come back even stronger. I don’t like to lose these type of the matches.

I’m looking forward to the clay court season now. It helps to kind of move on to a different surface. Then this has nothing to do too much with the clay court season, and that helps.

So I’m looking forward to that. Definitely need to practice harder, and that’s what I’ll do.

Q. Your first match you said that you felt the conditions were a bit strange and the balls were flying all over the place. Do you think that was the case tonight as well, or was it different?

ROGER FEDERER: I’m a bit confused with how I’m feeling the ball at the moment. Sometimes it flies and sometimes it doesn’t. It’s a lot to do with how you feel at the moment.

Tonight it definitely felt really slow. Normally Tomas or myself serve around 10 to 20 aces a match. It was almost impossible to get it past the other guy, you know, with the serve.

So conditions are so slow sometimes here, and then during the day they fly like crazy. So I guess it’s got something to do with the conditions, but the issue is really my game. The conditions, usually I get used to those after a couple matches at the latest.

Q. Berdych, you’ve known a lot years that he has top 10 talent, right?

ROGER FEDERER: I would think so.

Q. What is it, consistency you think?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, if you look at the top 10 the last years, they’ve always been tough. It’s not so easy just to get in there and hang around, you know, just think it’s normal to be in there.

It definitely needs a special effort and a special sacrifice, and, you know, then you need some serious mental skills to handle the traveling and everything. It’s not so easy. With different surfaces and injuries, it’s demanding.

Or you do it the easy way and just win a big one. Then you’re in if for a little bit and then you get better chances and seeds. But I would have thought he would have made his move a long time ago to be in the top 10.

Seems like he’s coming back strong. That’s good to see, because he’s and incredible player and he’s got incredible shots. Almost let this match off the hook again. He got lucky tonight.

Q. Did you think after you won the second set that you were then gonna win the match at that point?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I thought it was back to even, if not maybe a slight advantage for me because I had the momentum.

It was a huge opportunity for him to maybe snatch victory in straight, because I kind of handed him the first set. Then in the second set I had so many chances it felt like I was gonna hump me at the end and then he didn’t, so I was kind of happy with that.

Look, I never felt great the whole night. I just fought with what I had. I knew it was gonna be a tough third set, because thank God he wasn’t in too many of my service games in the second set, which made it a bit easier for me to relax and concentrate on the return games.

But, look, I had tons of chances at the end. Match point was my serve, I mean, what more can I do? I tried everything I could. It’s just not happening for me at the moment.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports

Rafa’s post match interview. From Jenny. Thanks.

JENNY

Rafa’s post match interview.

Click here.

Roddick responds to ITF stance on Davis Cup. From Bjornino. Thanks.

BJORNINO

I found this on the “Ticker” at http://www.tennis.com
Perhaps u wanna post it, TP. Cheers/Bjornino

Very funny as always from Roddick:

Roddick responds to ITF stance on Davis Cup March 30, 2010
After reading on TENNIS.com that the ITF had secured a unanimous vote from its European and Asian members in defense of its current Davis and Fed Cup format, based on four principles (to be played annually, feature a home-and-away format, be contested in association with national tennis federations, and to conform to the rules of tennis), Andy Roddick tweeted, “in the most unshocking news of the day, the itf does nothing … my favorite is rule number 4 “conform to the rules of tennis” as opposed to what? conforming to the rules of basketball? nascar? common sense?”—M.C.

A nice interview with Juan Carlos Ferrero, aka JC, Juanqui, el Mosquito. From Jenny. Thanks.

JENNY

A nice interview with Juan Carlos Ferrero, aka JC, Juanqui, el Mosquito.

Click here.

Nadal going bald already?

Federer vs Serra Sony Ericsson Open 2010.

Clijsters after thrashing Azeranka.

Click here.

Roddick on reaching the quarters @ Miami.

Click here.

Soderling on reaching the quarters @ Miami.

Click here.

The ‘tongue’ factor in tennis.

For which players their tongue is as close a part of their tennis action as any other body part? And which other ‘sports’ do they continue using it?

Federer.

Ferrer.

Boris Becker: For rock people, Becker was amazed at how Agassi ALWAYS knew which side he was going to serve. Agassi recently revealed it was the side of the mouth Boris’s tongue was sticking out.

You got more? No, you don’t!!!!!

Photos.

Who is most likely to screw up a FEDAL final at Miami?

Quarterfinals at Miami.

Verdasco vs Federer / Berdych.

Youzhny vs Soderling.

Nadal vs Tsonga.

Roddick vs Almagro.

So will the Semis look like this?:

Federer vs Soderling.

Nadal vs Roddick.

If it does, Soderling has a better shot at upsetting Federer than Roddick has in doing his part against Nadal. Or is it the other way around? Or will Tsonga screw everything up even earlier?

Who is this?

When told that Nadal’s behind is bigger, Federer came back with this. I think it was totally uncalled for.

Moya with Nadal’s son?

Nadal’s win over Ferrer could have far reaching consequences.

Hopefully it could impact far beyond the title in contention here. If not, at least the run here should get a massive boost for Nadal with this win. This was his first test. Failing at this one would have brought back pain and misery Ljubicic unloaded on him at Indian Wells. That injury lost its sting – partially -only after Ljubicic won the title.

Ferrer proved himself against Karlovic in the previous match to validate Nadal’s claim for this to be a vital win in his quest for a significant title before holding court on clay.

With a final against Federer appearing more likely than not, Nadal desperately needed this win to prove more than just a win against Federer in the finals. If Nadal wins against Federer here, ‘the Roland Garros and Wimbldeon’ rumblings of Federer winning without Nadal will gain an early traction bound to play with Federer’s head IF he can find space for it there after what’s already in there, courtesy Nadal and his team.

Federer knows how important this win was for Nadal’s confidence. The only way to counter it is to go out and have your own statement win before the final. Berdych is a very worthy and comparable opponent to pull that off a few hours from now.

But as both inch closer to Sunday, they WILL be fighting the ‘trap’ match syndrome, if Federer is not already there after this statement win from Nadal.

Whoever screws up a FEDAL final now HAS to freaking match Ljubicic and win the whole freaking enchilada. If not he SHOULD be thrown to the lions or Ricky Martin. Or both?

Did you know?

………..a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh exactly the same amount. A pound!

The difference between muscle and fat is an issue of density and volume. Muscle is denser than fat and takes up less space in your body which can give you a leaner look overall.

Why isn’t anyone answering Chieko’s ‘valid’ question?

Pommesdesuisse said (on ‘Giving a new meaning to an already screwed up nose).

It looks like a skilled nose to me…!

Chieko said

I am sorry what is a skilled nose?