It was shaping up to be a fairy tale ending. Xavier Malisse was the last man to beat Brian Baker in a Slam in the second round of the 2005 US Open. Stan Wawrinka beat Baker in the finals of the French Open junior title two years earlier. Had Baker gotten past Simon, he would
There's still a few players that Roger Federer hasn't played. Tobias Kamke, for instance. One thing you notice is that more players can keep up, at least, somewhat, with Roger Federer. We've seen so many players blown out by Federer's aggressive play that it's weird to see that more and more players are able to,
Has Rafa got his mojo back? Maybe. With his wins at Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Rafael Nadal has to be feeling good on his best surface. Still, Djokovic came into the finals with two solid wins, over Tsonga and Federer. His loss to Rafa in Monte Carlo could be blamed on Djokovic's personal loss when
The women's final preceded the men's. The men's had been scheduled for around 4 PM in Rome. The women started a little less than two hours earlier. For a while, it appeared that the women's match would finish routinely. Li Na had won a close first set, 6-4. She was comfortably up 4-0 with a
If you were to place a bet on who had a better chance to beat Rafa on clay, Djokovic or Federer, who would you pick? Federer has only beaten Rafa on clay sparingly. In Hamburg some number of years ago, and in Madrid, during its inaugural start. He may have another win here or there,
Ever since the US Open, Roger Federer has been playing some solid tennis. Indeed, even if you include the US Open, Roger Federer came within a hair of beating Djokovic. Only a go-for-broke return by Djokovic followed by a dig-out return and a Federer slap shot that clipped the net causing the ball to fall
Rome is the last big tournament where many of the names expecting to contend for honors at Roland Garros will play. Let's just say that 2012 is significantly different from 2011. 2011 was the year of Novak, and the question then was "Can Novak win on clay?", and the answer was yes, but. He beat
Tournament organizers must have crossed their fingers for a Djokovic-Nadal final. When Nadal fell to countryman, FernandoVerdasco, organizers must have hoped that the Federer-Djokovic semi would have to do. Only Djokovic didn't accommodate. Like Nadal, Djokovic had complained about the surface. And like Nadal, who lost to a countryman, Djokovic also lost to a countryman
It was close for a few games, then not so much. In their past matches, Djokovic has often stayed toe to toe with Nadal off the ground. Today, not so much. Nadal had chances in nearly every one of Djokovic's serve to break. Djokovic didn't seem able to keep up in long rallies. He went
Rafael Nadal is the acknowledged king of clay. If tennis was clay. Nadal would be the greatest of all time. He puts more spin on the ball than any other player. He's quick, tenacious, and patient: three skills that are invaluable on clay. He's lost on clay fewer than 20 times, and most of it,
