and now it’s sure: Roger #Federer WD from #MMOPEN and #IBI17 entry lists

see you in Roland Garros pic.twitter.com/DDthxZqTTm

— Michele Galoppini (@MikGaloppini) April 7, 2017

Apparently, this means Federer is not eligible for a wild card at these events since he withdrew from the entry list. Federer said he probably won’t play any clay events before the French Open and I guess this makes it official.

This is somewhat surprising. I thought Federer might take a wild card at Rome and make a serious run at a second French Open title now that he finally seems to have the better of Nadal while Djokovic has been struggling.

That’s more like it! A strong performance from Fedrinka in the doubles put the Swiss ahead 2-1 in the tie with France going into the final day of the Davis Cup final. The Swiss now only need to win one singles to clinch their first Davis Cup title, after Fedrinka defeated Benneteau and Gasquet 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in an impressive doubles display. Stan was once again on fire and could do no wrong, while Roger also picked up his game. Of course it doesn’t hurt your own confidence when your partner is playing so well. I’m just glad that Roger’s back held up well and that it wasn’t a long drawn out match. For the French Benneteau played well while Gasquet was the weak link. I usually never watch doubles but this was quite entertaining stuff. Well my stream wasn’t exactly stable but there were some good rallies and it all went pretty fast. It was a risky decision to play Fedrinka in the doubles but it paid off very well in the end.

Fedrinka’s record in doubles had actually been quite poor in Davis Cup lately but they bossed it against the French in an almost flawless display. The doubles was always going to be crucial after the singles was split on day one and you gotta like the Swiss’ chances now. They only need to win one singles today which you’d think they will be able to do, especially since it looks like Tsonga won’t be available due to an elbow injury. But the tie is far from over. Tsonga also withdrew from the doubles yesterday due to the same problem. The French will probably play Benneteau in the number one singles then which means he will face Roger. Benneteau looked confident in the doubles and he has been a tricky opponent for Roger in the past. Roger didn’t sound too confident after the doubles when he said he hopes it is Stan’s weekend. That would suggest he is still not feeling very confident himself and that he is counting on Stan to get the job done.

Swiss synchrony

Fortunately Stan has hit form right in the nick of time for the Davis Cup final and is playing like he did when he won the Australian Open. If it comes down to a deciding rubber with Stan playing Monfils it would still be a tense affair however. Monfils was in the zone himself against Roger and with the French crowd behind him things could get difficult for Stan. So ideally Roger can take care of his singles, but after what I saw against Monfils I don’t hold out much hope of that happening myself. He just looked very average against Monfils and I’m not surprised that he is counting on Stan to get the job done. Of course you don’t wana see Roger lose both his singles matches in the Davis Cup final, but at least he helped get the point in the doubles. With his injury woes that may be all we can expect from him.Stan kind of owes the Swiss as it is after that poor display against Kazakhstan so it would be fitting if it’s his weekend.

Well this Davis Cup final has been quite enjoyable and in the end I’m glad Roger played as long as his back holds up. The Davis Cup atmosphere is certainly something unique as well as the team format. It is something different and fresh from the usual tour where it is every man for himself. It’s great to see how Fedrinka compliment each other and that their friendship is going strong through it all. It wasn’t always smooth going but they stuck at it and are now on the brink of a historic moment for Swiss tennis. As far as Roger’s singles career goes the Davis Cup would definitely mean something for it, even though I’m not sure how much. I think this is the right time to win it anyway, after he has achieved just about everything else. It’s like a small hole that was left in his resume which he can now fill. And aside from that it could have a very inspiring effect on him going into 2015.

// Hello, tennis fans. As usual I am back with my customary post grand slam post. There always come out new and interesting things from a slam final and one post is not enough to write about it all. I also like to do a post that kind of sums up the tournament as a whole. And finally, I don’t want it to be over that quickly. The slams are always special and the most exciting thing for tennis fans, when there is the most activity on my blog and there is a kind of lull when it’s over so I’d like to extend it a bit longer with another post(or two).

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It’s always impossible to say everything I want to say after a slam final in one post so I am back with my customary final thoughts post. Thank you for the positive feedback on my last post and the good discussion as well.

First of all, let me get back to the match for a second. in the first set with Djokovic leading 5-2 and 40-15 on Stan’s serve, it looked for a while like he was running away with the match. If he takes one of those break points he wins the first set 6-2 and serves first in the second set.

But that’s where Djokovic poor break point conversion rate for the match of 3/17(17.7%) began. That is about the same break point conversion rate Federer had in last year’s final of 4/23(17.4%) although Federer had more chances.

It is very unusual for Djokovic to have that poor a break point conversion rate while it is normal for Federer. That is the first clue that Djokovic may not have been mentally as solid as he usual is. Someone commented that Djokovic lacked the ‘animal instinct’ after my last post and I have to agree with that.

//

But knowing that the Djoker is lurking in the quarters should he come through won’t exactly fill him with confidence I think, making him more prone to an upset. But given current form the Djoker surely has to be the favorite if they meet in the quarters. I don’t think four match wins will be enough to get Nadal back to his old level while the Djoker has been impeccable of late. No doubt all the losses against Nadal at the French as well as the pressure of completing the career slam won’t exactly fill the Djoker with confidence either.

I hope that’s not the stress of marriage causing Murray’s baldness…

Congrats to Stan the man. Hopefully after this result people will finally understand why I keep discouraging all the calendar slam talk, and at least wait until someone has won the first three slams of the year next time, which by the way hasn’t happened since 1969. But I suspect the calendar slam talk, at least on this blog, has a lot more to do with Fedfan bias than rational thinking. To expect that someone is going to win the calendar slam after they won the first two slams of the year is bad enough.

But to talk about it after winning just the first slam of the year is sheer paranoia. Anyway another big congrats to Stanimal for another immense performance today against the Djoker in the final as he won his second slam 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. It’s not the result I preferred but I’m happy for Stan. He totally deserves it with the way he played and he proved everyone wrong who called him a one-slam wonder. He was unplayable throughout the tournament and not even the Djoker could stop him.

I feel like the Djoker deserved the title even more than Stan but you already knew that. He was the one who slayed the beast but in the end he was always up against it with his draw. He threw everything at Stan today but Stan in this mode is unplayable like I said. I thought the Djoker deserved the title also because of how close he has been over the years as opposed to Stan being in his first final here, but life isn’t fair and you don’t always get what you deserve. The main thing is that the Djoker gave it his all so he won’t have regrets.

What a man!

// After Nadal’s first grass court title in five years at the ATP 250 event in Stuttgart, there were a fair amount of people who thought we could soon witness another miraculous comeback from Nadal, myself included. Given the strange unpredictability of Nadal’s career trajectory you can never count that possibility out. But it looks like at least for the time being that possibility has come to an abrupt end after Nadal was defeated 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4 by Dolgopolov at Queen’s today.You’d always give Dolgopolov a chance against Nadal given how talented he is, especially on a faster surface like grass. But I figured Nadal would be confident after his title in Stuttgart too. That was hardly the case at Queen’s though because he lost despite being a break up in the third set and having two break points again at 4-4 and 40-15 on the Dolgopolov serve. And still it seems to be the forehand that is letting him down. His form still very much reminds of Roger’s 2013 season.

It’s the strings they make these days, no?

Hi, folks. I hope you are all doing very well. Nadal won his 9th Barcelona title last week and in doing so equaled Vilas for the most clay court titles at 49. This after he won Monte Carlo last week.

Of course, his fans will claim that is another sign that he is back. But what does that even mean? That Nadal is going to start winning slams again? When is he back? When he wins the French Open?

He did that nine previous times as well. I don’t even think if he wins the French Open that it necessarily means he is back. One more French Open was always a possibility. For me, he would be back if he can win a slam off of clay.

I watched some of Nadal’s matches against Fognini and Nishikori. And yes he played well. I couldn’t see much difference between his current self and his old self. But for me, the real test was always going to be when Djokovic is back.

So finally after a long drought Nadal has won a big title again, defeating Monfils 7-5, 5-7, 6-0 in the final. In doing so he tied Djokovic on 28 Masters titles after Djokovic surpassed him in Miami. It was also Nadal’s 9th Monte Carlo title.

If Nadal was ever going to find form again it was going to be during the clay court season. But I wouldn’t get too excited just yet if I was a Nadal fan. Nadal didn’t have to face Djokovic after all and winning one Masters doesn’t mean he is officially back.

But at least he seems to be playing his best tennis since the 2014 clay season. You always kind of figured he’d eventually win something noteworthy again and that it would be on clay. The days of winning anything big off of clay seem to be long gone.

We will see how it goes from here. If he really wants to prove that he is back he needs to win more clay events. Madrid will be interesting when Djokovic is back. He will have something to prove as well after losing his first match in Monte Carlo.

Greetings. Today the ATP 250 events in Metz and St. Petersburg were concluded and there were two first-time winners in Lucas Pouille and Alexander Zverev. Pouille defeated Thiem 7-6(5), 6-2 while Zverev defeated the US Open champ Wawrinka 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.

These two are the most promising youngsters on the ATP currently in my view and I therefore expect them to win many more titles. Pouille is 22 years old and will climb from 18th to 16th in the rankings after his win while Zverev is only 19 years old and will climb from 27th to 24th in the rankings.

Pouille climbed from 78th at the start of 2016 to his current ranking while Zverev climbed from 83rd. For both of them, this has to be seen as a breakthrough season especially with their maiden titles this week.

Pouille has done better because he made two slam quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the US Open while Zverev made two slam third rounds at the French Open and Wimbledon. But Zverev is the younger of the two and titles among teenagers are a rarity these days.

After every post during a tournament, I will select the match for which you can make a prediction and post a link to this page. Then you must make your prediction in the comment selection below. Once the match that I selected begins predictions will close and I will accept no more. Then once the match is over I will calculate the results and adjust the rankings. The rankings will always be displayed on my blog and once the tournament is over I will announce the winner.

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As you can see Roger did decide to play Rome in the end, as he said after he lost in Madrid that he wasn’t yet sure if he would. I’m glad to see he did decide to play. It would have been strange if he did not play after planning such a full clay court schedule and then hardly playing any matches before the French Open. He didn’t exactly get the easiest draw again. Here it is:

It had its moments…

//

As you can see Roger did decide to play Rome in the end, as he said after he lost in Madrid that he wasn’t yet sure if he would. I’m glad to see he did decide to play. It would have been strange if he did not play after planning such a full clay court schedule and then hardly playing any matches before the French Open. He didn’t exactly get the easiest draw again. Here it is:

It had its moments…

http://www.atpworldtour.com/share/event-draws.aspx?year=2014&eventid=5014&draw=ms

Hi folks. Long time no post. It’s been a three week break but could have been twice that long had Roger decided to skip Shanghai. I think the North-American hard court season and Davis Cup took a lot out of Roger, but as long as he doesn’t play Paris I don’t see it being a problem. I think after what happened at the US Open Roger is not satisfied and he is still pushing hard for something better. And of course we as fans are very grateful that Roger is back. It is good timing for me too as for once the tennis is in my time zone being in Thailand, and the school holiday just started here so I hope Roger can do well in Shanghai. It won’t be easy though. Roger has a pretty decent draw up until the quarters, but then he could run into Nishikori who comes off a US Open final and back-to-back tournament wins in Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo. Clearly Nishikori is on a very impressive run.

Just to get back to last week quickly, Nishikori beat Raonic in a close encounter in the Tokyo final while Djokovic destroyed Berdych 6-0, 6-2. Nishikori looks to be the most promising young player right now although Thiem is coming up fast. As for Djokovic he is in devastating form and cemented himself as the king of Asia by remaining unbeaten in Beijing in five tournaments. Against Berdych he was serving for the double bagel at 6-0 and 5-0 but then played a poor game. Did he feel sorry for Berdych? Who knows but to me it’s a shame that he missed out on a very rare opportunity to bagel a player in a final, and more so since it was Berdych. And not necessarily because Berdych is always in the zone against Roger. I just don’t like Berdych very much. Back to the Shanghai draw and Roger will play his first match on Wednesday against the winner of Mayer and wild card Wu.

The most popular male tennis player in China swamped on arrival

Hi folks. I hope you are feeling better after reading my last post and that you realize by now that Roger’s loss is not the end of the world. I received a comment a couple of days ago asking me what I thought about Roger changing his racquet and strings, because it was something Brad Gilbert said Roger should consider. That got me thinking. Ever since Roger passed his prime people have always been coming up with changes Roger should make after a disappointing loss. And then when things are going well again they have nothing to say. Well that was just silly. Losses are a natural part of tennis, and it doesn’t always call for a change. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t place for change, which is why I’m making this post. Roger just lost for the first time in 9 years before the quarter finals of a slam. If there was ever a time to make a change it is probably now.

When things weren’t really going well for Roger he hired Paul Annacone, and it has been a successful partnership. That was a pretty big change and it paid off. I’ve been thinking about this equipment change idea as well as a different fitness routine which would focus on strengthening the upper body. Lets face it. The game has become very physical and Roger is often getting overpowered. Berdych is one player who routinely overpowers Roger and in recent times Murray overpowered Roger in Melbourne. Nadal also overpowers Roger with brute strength. There are more examples I’m sure, but I just named a few off the top of my head. Roger has never been the biggest hitter in the game. But he had more than enough power in his prime to keep any big hitter at bay. What made him such a tough opponent is that he stood on the base line and took the ball on the rise.

He played very fast and his opponents were under constant pressure. It was just another level from what they were used to, which is why Roger almost never lost in his prime. It was only when Nadal showed up and used brute strength and unbelievable speed, as well as a match up advantage that Roger’s aura was infiltrated. Roger was as close to perfect as a player could come, and it took something extraordinary to make him vulnerable. Ever since then Roger became slowly but surely more vulnerable. The other players that started beating him more regularly were the power hitters like Berdych, Soderling, and Tsonga. Del Potro also beat him in the US Open final. Roger hasn’t always struggled with these guys. He does hold winning head-to-heads over all of them, and pretty convincing ones too. It’s not just these guys though.

Murray and Nadal are both strong guys and I have seen them both overpower Roger. It is just that extra upper body strength that they have. Just good old muscle. I think if Roger is going to make any changes from here on one of them would have to be strengthening his upper body. You can see strengthening his upper body was never really a priority for Roger because he is pretty skinny up there. That is not to say he is weak in the upper body. Of course he did some work there, but because he was such a natural talent and great timer of the ball he didn’t strengthen it as much as Nadal or Murray for instance. These guys can really muscle the ball. I’m not saying Roger should muscle the ball. It’s not how he plays. He plays with talent and timing. But strengthening the upper body could just give him that little extra to be able to compete better with these guys.

The other thing is the equipment. Roger plays with a Wilson BLX Pro Staff 90 racquet which you can view here. The 90 stands for the racquet head size, which is 90 square inches. That is pretty small folks. This is not a racquet I would ever recommend for a club player. I played with one of the first Head Prestige frames early on as a player and it had a 90 sq in head as well. The sweet spot is small and it is not easy to play with. Later on I switched to the 98 sq in Head Prestige, and played with it until the end. Check out this article in the New York Times about the racquets of the top 3 men. It was written back in 2011 but as far as racquets go the top 3 hasn’t changed much at all. It’s a very interesting article which you should read. What is so interesting is that Roger, Nadal, and Djokovic all have a different playing style, and therefor each uses a different racquet tailored to their specific needs.

Well what an interesting first day of the Davis Cup final that was. A couple of weeks ago this is the opposite of what you would have expected to happen. Stan confidently disposes of Tsonga 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the opening singles and then Roger gets straight setted 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 by Monfils. It seems like Roger and Stan can’t play well for the Swiss at the same time. Of course Roger’s back injury had a big role to play in his loss to Monfils, but given how Monfils played he may have lost anyway. The French have the advantage of playing at home and being able to train on clay while Roger and Stan was still playing in London. And of course with R0ger’s injury he couldn’t train the way he wanted to. He said after that match that the injury didn’t bother him on his ground strokes(did it both him on his serve?) but the fact that he couldn’t start training earlier on clay was a problem for him.

And lets face it Roger’s clay form hasn’t exactly been the greatest in the last couple of years. So I think the French made the right decision to play on clay, even though Stan is adapting very well. You gotta hand it to Stan. He really stepped up when he was needed. Who’s the cry baby now? Haha. That was maybe the best Stan has played since the Australian Open this year. My connection was very poor but his ground strokes was lethal and he just dominated Tsonga from the base line. When Stan plays like that he is a joy to watch and almost impossible to beat. Monfils was in similar form though. At least my connection was good for Roger match, only to see him getting blasted off the court in straight sets! It wasn’t much of a contest. Monfils was by far the superior player. He was clearly feeding off the energy of the crowd and afterwards said he played one of the three best matches of his life.

Who’s the cry baby now?

Monfils was ripping winners from all over the place and his serve was huge too. Roger on the other hand was really struggling. He just looked altogether unimpressive and clay has now become by far his worst surface, whereas before it was just his worst surface.Clearly it didn’t help that he got injured in London and the fact that he couldn’t hit the clay courts as soon as he was finished there, but like I said he may have lost anyway. That is just how well Monfils played. And then of course having the home crowd on his side helps a lot. The French are not known for being mentally the strongest players, but they are an altogether different cup of tea when they play at home. With the home support they all of a sudden seem almost invincible. So the home advantage for the French is definitely big here. Even if Roger was 100% fit this would have been a challenging tie.

Howdy, folks. A lot of discussions and entertainment on my blog as usual so thanks for that. Next week is the inaugural tournament for Istanbul and today the draw was released. Roger is, of course, the top seed while his clone Dimitrov is the second seed. This is probably the weakest ATP 250 I have ever laid my eyes upon, and I’m 100% serious when I say that. I can’t remember seeing a weaker draw. I guess they offered Roger 100% of the appearance fees available while Dimitrov did it just to play in the same event as Roger.

That is how desperate he is to be like Roger and why he is still losing 6-3, 6-1 to Monfils in Monte Carlo. The third seed in Istanbul is Cuevas while Giraldo is the fourth seed, so really there is not much room for error for Roger here. Anything less than a title would be a failure if we are being honest. After what happened in Monte Carlo it is a good opportunity to set the record straight because it is a weak event and a title is a title. But like I said the flip side of that is that he has to win it.

Even if he loses in the final it would look like another failure. There was quite a lot expected of Roger after winning Dubai and making the Indian Wells final. The Monte Carlo loss was a setback, not necessarily because Roger lost but the way he lost. Losing in straight sets to Monfils after being 5-3 up in the second set tie-break with a serve to come reminded of the Roger that lost in Melbourne to Seppi. If he wins Istanbul then that would kind of cancel out the loss in Monte Carlo and he can go to Madrid and Rome with a clean slate.

As for Barcelona today Nishikori destroyed Klizan 6-1, 6-2 who is a player I happen to have a lot of respect for. I also watched that match and Nishikori was on fire. He will play Andujar in the final who had a terrific 7-6(6), 6-3 win over Ferrer today. I watched some of that match too and Andujar did incredibly well to come back from 3-6 in the tie-break, and that after he lost his serve when serving for the first set at 6-5. So really a terrific mental effort from a player with a great attitude and that is always good to see.

// Hi, folks. With 2015 drawing to a close it is once again time to look back at what happened in tennis this year. No doubt it’s been a one-man show aside from Wawrinka who won his second slam at the French Open with a brilliant display of offensive tennis.For me who became a serious Djokovic fan this year it has been my favorite tennis season as a tennis fan yet. For Fedfans, it’s been a mixed year because although Federer had his best season since 2012 he lost in two more slam finals to Djokovic and still couldn’t clinch #18.As for Nadal fans, it has been a very difficult year but it ended well for them because there is no doubt now that Nadal is back even though there hasn’t been any progress for him in solving the Djokovic puzzle.Finally, like Federer, Murray had a very consistent year but could not break through again on the big stage. It’s just very hard to do with someone as dominant as Djokovic around which puts some perspective over what Wawrinka achieved.

I already made posts where I emphasized the significance of Djokovic’s personal slam which he completed this year at the French Open but I haven’t dedicated a post to that specifically and I think it is due.

And the reason I think it is due is because of the lack of attention it received in the mainstream media. One reason it did not receive the attention it deserved in the mainstream media is because Federer and Nadal are their favorites and the fact that Djokovic achieved something neither of them ever could, was upsetting to the mainstream ‘pundits’.

Djokovic is viewed as the outsider because he is from Serbia and because he is a serious threat to Federer and Nadal. Of course, there isn’t any legitimate reason for him not getting the recognition he deserves.

It is simply because of bias and because the mainstream western media is one of the worst evils this world has ever seen. That goes for all things, not just tennis. It is also because the mainstream media are not true tennis fans.

That’s right. I am that excited about this young player called Dominic Thiem. Having already broken into the top 40 in the world at the age of 20 his future is bright indeed. He is currently 21 years old and with his result in Miami he has already risen from #52 to #43 in the rankings. If he defeats Murray in the quarter finals he will rise to a personal best of #34 in the rankings(previous best #36). This guy is the real deal folks. He possesses everything needed to become great. I know it is early days but he has a fantastic attitude which is the most important thing. I have already referred to his attitude in my last post and yesterday after he defeated Anderson, Murray was asked about his next match with Thiem.

Murray responded that he practiced with Thiem before and that the guy is extremely respectful, a hard worker, and has a great attitude. I have also noticed that he is very humble, which goes hand-in-hand with what Murray said about him being extremely respectful. To me that is probably the most important thing. Kyrgios and Coric are going to be great players too but they are too cocky for my liking. I still like them but I just like Thiem much more. And then there is that epic one-handed backhand compared to Kyrgios and Coric who have two-handed backhands. So I don’t know about you, but my requirements for being a fan of a player is their attitude and an attractive playing style. Of course Roger have both of those which is why I am such a big fan.

But if Roger does have a flaw if would have to be that he sometimes appear arrogant and that he can fall apart mentally at the end of long matches. As far as those go I don’t see Thiem having those problems. I am not trying to say in any way that Thiem can be better than Roger or as a good as him. I am merely saying I like his attitude and his game, and I know how quickly Fedfans get ideas. But this is Ultimate Tennis now so need for me to worry about that anymore. Roger is still pretty much the ultimate tennis player for me. And Thiem’s game is actually quite different as he has long loopy strokes with a lot of topspin on them, not unlike Nadal. He is definitely not a moonballer like Nadal though.

He is an attacking base liner. He also has a fairly big serve. Probably around the same pace as Roger’s. He doesn’t have the hands Roger has(nobody does) but he has good touch and is a good shot maker. He is also the kind of guy who has it all but he stands quite far behind the base line and takes big cuts at the ball. Although he potentially has some limitations to his game he seems quite complete at the same time. For me it is a fresh change up from Roger’s game anyway because like I said he doesn’t stand as close to the base line as Roger, but he takes bigger cuts at the ball and has bigger swings. He is a bit more like Stan in that sense. He is more a powerful base liner with a good serve who prefers the base line.

I think he’d be a great clay court and hard court player. Probably grass or indoor courts won’t compliment his game very well. But like I said he has a complete game that can adjust to any surface. But yeah his very likable personality and very likable one-handed backhand makes me an instant fan. He can really hit that backhand with unreal power. Harder than Stan even. In a rally against Mannarino yesterday deep in the third set he blasted three backhands hard and deep to Mannarino’s forehand until Mannarino couldn’t handle the pace anymore and made an unforced error. Just unreal hitting. That shot is just a beauty to behold. And he hit some good touch shots too. I remember one particular drop shot in the third set as well which Mannarino could not reach.