There was a question whether Tomic could play Federer the way he played Dolgopolov or even Querrey and Verdasco. That is, hit off-pace shots and hope to befuddle Federer. The thought was perhaps he couldn't and would have to up the pace. Tomic felt confident he could take the match to Federer, but he still
It's often been said that Bernard Tomic plays like no one else. If comparisons are made to active players, it's often to Andy Murray who often uses change of pace, but even he plays a bit differently to Tomic, or to Alexandr Dolgopolov. Well, wouldn't you know it, the draw happened to put Tomic and
These days, second round matches can be pretty interesting. Let's take a look at a few of today's more intriguing matches. Haas vs. Nadal OK, Haas shouldn't really pose any problems to Nadal. He's a veteran, but injuries have put him on the sideline for many years, so he's played rather infrequently. Although Nadal was
Here's a little discussion concerning off-court talk. First, there was the remarkable comeback by Bernard Tomic over Verdasco. Aussie commentator Darren Cahill felt like Verdasco's fitness would be too much especially as he went up two sets to none. Cahill was very impressed by Tomic's ability to hang in which Tomic attributes to playing possum.
A few months ago, an academic accused the Slams of pairing Federer and Djokovic in the same half. Indeed, this happened all four Slams in 2011 and all but one Slam in 2010. It's happened way more often than statistics would tell you. At the Australian Open, Federer and Nadal finally fell in the same
Let's take a look at how the top four are faring then quickly talk about the other players that might make noise realizing, of course, that someone might play better than expected (or worse). Novak Djokovic This is difficult. Djokovic did not play that well after the US Open. Most of Djokovic's losses came after
After some complaints that Federer and Nadal had been on opposite halves of the draws in Slams (all four Slams last year and often 3 of 4 Slams in previous years) despite the changing seedings of Federer and Nadal, this year, the Australian Open put Federer and Nadal in the same half. Let's work section
At the end of November during the conclusion of the year-end championship at London, Roger Federer hoisted the trophy once again. This meant a lot to Roger. He had not won a Slam all year. He was defending a large number of points from his successful foray at the end of the previous year. Andy
Doha tournament organizers surely didn't expect this. When you have Federer and Nadal in the draw, you hope for Federer and Nadal in the final, or at least one or the other. Federer had to withdraw due to a back issue that had him in danger of missing his match against Seppi. He worked a
One reason Federer struggled against Seppi was due to a back injury, which Federer said was a muscle spasm. Although he did play against Seppi, he wasn't able to hit as hard as he was accustomed which may explain how Seppi took a set off the Swiss maestro. Federer said his back hadn't improved enough
