Everyone was pointing to how many matches Federer has won at Wimbledon and how few matches (like 0) that his opponent, Albert Ramos, had won. Given the effort Federer took to win matches at Roland Garros, he must have been thrilled giving up only 3 games. Defending champ, Novak Djokovic, fell an early break
Having heard that David Goffin, Roger Federer's fourth round opponent, had posters of him in his room, Federer recalled a match he played against Patrick Rafter. He took a set off of the Aussie, but the Aussie claimed the next 3 sets. He felt, once Goffin claimed the first set, that it was his job
Since I haven't reported in the last few days, let's start with John Isner. With Mardy Fish's heart problems causing him to leave the tour since March and Andy Roddick's quick exit and Ryan Harrison not quite ready to make the leap, John Isner has become the beacon of men's tennis. Brian Baker might become
It wasn't a pretty match, by any means. There seemed to be a lack of rhythm and flow, and thus, it was one player striking the ball well, and the other not as well, and vice versa. Berdych started off the match strong with an early break and rode that break to a 7=5 first
With the favorites, Nadal and Djokovic, out of the tournament (Murray opted to skip due to injury), it was up to Federer to rescue the tournament. Federer had an easy win over Tipsarevic, relying once again on some aggressive net-charging, a strategy he seemed to abandon when serve-and-volley fell out of style. While he wasn't
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,
Of the top four, Nadal has looked the most solid. In three matches, he has not dropped a set, and most of the wins have been comfortable. Dolgopolov was expected to be a tough guy to play. With his change of pace and big forehand, Dolgopolov troubles many opponents. But he produced too many errors
It's easy, at the conclusion of a grueling Australian Open, to believe all of tennis is being played by the top four. The entirety of the top four took a week off. For some, like Rafa, it's rest and training. Rafa promised not to play until Indian Wells and has chosen not to play Davis
Juan Martin del Potro had it all. He beat Nadal in three easy sets in 2009 in the US Open semifinals. Then, he took down Federer in five sets in the finals to be the only player outside of Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer to win a Slam since 2005. Six years of Slams have only
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
