Although Federer has lacked the dominance that marked his game during the mid-to-late 2000s, people forget that he still has gaudy records against even very highly ranked players. In Group B alone, Federer had a 14-1 record over Soderling, the vast majority of these matches played since 2008. He had a 10-0 record over David
Let's start with the top seed and work our way down. Rafael Nadal Rafa's level generally never drops too low. Everyone points to how he never gives up, and while that's certainly one factor in his incredible ability to win, everyone says that about Lleyton Hewitt, and he's struggling to get in the top 20.
When Soderling and Ferrer met for the second of their three round robin matches, the two must have gotten tired of seeing each other yet again. This was their sixth match of the year. They met at Wimbledon where Soderling won in 5 sets fourth round. They went the distance in Bastad on clay which
Andy Murray, the only player in the field from Britain, knew the drill. Decked out in an argyle outfit that recalled the early years of Ivan Lendl, but using black as the background instead of white, Murray was a man on a mission. Last year, he, Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro and Fernando Verdasco
If you were a fair-weather tennis fan the last two years, someone who just watched the semis and finals of the Slams and maybe not even the Aussie Open, you might have thought of Soderling as a one-hit wonder. Oh sure, he upset Nadal and reached the final, but what has he done since? Clearly,
Technically, Davis Cup play doesn't start for the French for a little over two weeks. Next week, the tour takes a one week break, then only the top 8 will play in the year-end ATP World Tour Finals. The week after that, the Davis Cup finals between France and Serbia takes place. Even so, it
In the last few years, Spain has won the battle of the Pyrenees. Indeed, the French style of play seems so antithetical to play on clay that it's amazing that any Frenchman has contended for clay's greatest title. Monfils has reached the semifinals before. And yet, as athletically gifted as he is, he plays like
Let's start in Basel. Roger Federer is a five-time finalist at Basel. He reached the finals back in 2000 and 2001 before he became the Roger Federer. He also won the title three times in a row starting in 2006. However, last year, in 2009, Djokovic decided to play on Roger's home tournament. In a
The semifinals are set for Basel and Valencia. Basel is Federer's home tournament, no doubt one reason it is an ATP 500 event. Fortunately for tournament organizers, Federer is still in the tournament. The semifinals include Roger Federer playing Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic playing Victor Troicki. Let's took at the top of the draw.
With the Paris Masters and the ATP World Tour Finals and the Davis Cup finals up ahead, the end of the men's tennis season is wrapping up very soon. This week, a pair of ATP 500 events are being played: Valencia (in Spain) and Basel (in Switzerland). Last year, Djokovic went on Federer's home tournament
