WILL FEDERER WIN?

Since the trashing at Roland Garros at the hands of Nadal, Roger Federer has looked like an ordinary player. The loss at Wimbledon was not expected even by the most ardent followers of Nadal. Of course, one should not forget the loss of Federer to Novak Djokovic the first Slam of the year at Melbourne. With the scrappy showing so far in the year and the US Open, things are not looking rosy for the Swiss.The players who lost the match even before stepping onto the court until a year ago, are now confident of standing upto the fight.

In case Murray reaches the finals, Federer has a great chance to win at least one Slam this year. That would also enable him to win five consecutive championships.But if Nadal manages to put it past Murray and goes to the finals, the Spaniard becomes the favourite.

While Nadal has gone from strength to strength, Federer seems like a player who is just playing from his memory. Occasionally there are the familiar Federer streaks of pure brilliance, but mostly they are overshadowed by misses.

PEAKS BEING CONQUERED?

Sachin Tendulkar has been getting out in the 90s. He is unable to add to his tally of international hundreds. At the rate of the matches played by him and the 90 plus scores, there is little wonder that Sachin has the maximum. Fans and the commentators alike are anguished over the ‘failure’ of Sachin.

Roger Federer lost to Nalbandian and then to Gonzalez. In the season ending Master’s event at Shanghai where the top eight players compete, Federer lost to Gonzalez after taking the first set. His long time rival Andy Roddick was demolishing his opponents in the round robin event. Suddenly, there were some questions asked about Federer. Even if the Swiss master made it to the last four, there he had to go past his other great rival Nadal.

The failures of Sachin and the losses of Federer grabbed attention. There was a talk of the peaks being conquered.

Sachin has the maximum number of 90 plus scores in one dayers and he also owns the record for the largest number of tons. Any batsman would be proud to own the 90 plus scores and be called a good player. Similarly, there are very few players who can boast of a credible head-to-head record against Federer. Any player, who can match the accomplishments of Federer over the last two seasons in his entire career, would surely be considered as a good player. Such is the phenomenal record of the Swiss maestro.

In the fourth one dayer at Gwalior, Sachin looked at his best toying with the bowlers of Pakistan. Any doubts over the form of Federer were brushed off with disdain as was evident in the wins over Roddick and Nadal. As the clichéd saying goes “form is temporary, class is permanent”.

Sachin is in the final legs of a great career while Federer is someone who is till far away from the mid-life crisis of tennis professionals. There will always be moments when some opponent can score a point but there can no doubt over the greatness of these two players.

Mount Everest has been conquered many times since the day Hillary and Norgay set their foot on the tallest peak in the world. Flags of many nations have been planted at the top but Everest stands where it is. Sachin and Federer are setting the benchmarks for other players. Their achievements cannot be conquered while their records may be broken some day.

ANOTHER LOSS FOR FEDERER!

For a second time within a month, David Nalbandian has defeated Roger Federer. The Argentine was the winner in the Master’s event at Madrid. Now Federer has lost to Nalbandian in the Paris Master’s. Fans surely remember the win by the Argentine over the world’s best player at Shanghai last year.

It is three times that Nalbandian has beaten Federer in the Master’s series. This is an achievement that not many players in the ATP tour have.

I have a suspicion that Federer switches off when it comes to the season ending events and that he reserves the best for the Grand Slams. In the recent seasons, it is only Nadal and Safin who have stopped the Swiss master at the big events.

Despite the defeat, Federer is truly one of the all time greats. I take this opportunity to share with my fellow bloggers the comments of an Australian gentleman named Rod Laver. By the way, Laver is the only player to have won all the four tennis majors in the same year, twice.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF FEDERER'S LOSSES

Roger Federer lost to David Nalbandian in the Madrid Masters. It was a rare event. Then Federer struggled to get past Michael Berrer in the first round at Basel.

Federer is expected to win all his matches. There are very few answers to the spectacular success of the Swiss, except may be on the red clay of the French Open. Now with these two losses, there are questions asked. Rightfully, the master fends them off as laughable.

The two losses just show that everyone including the truly great can have off days and there are times when the opponents can raise their game to great levels

WIMBLEDON 2007

FEDERER IS THE FAVOURITE

The 2007 edition of Wimbledon is less than 24 hours away. The most intriguing question is regarding the fifth crown for the reigning champion, Roger Federer. If the Swiss manages to do it, he will equal the record of Bjorn Borg. Borg won the top prize in tennis for five years in a row. It is a special record, which eluded even the great Pete Sampras. With the French Open record of Borg matched by Nadal, and with the grass court ability of Federer, there is little to bet against the top seed.

However, Nadal advanced to the final in 2006, only to lose to Federer. That is not impossible and Federer has the clear edge on a surface that is not favoured by the Spaniard.

Justine Henin is given the top billing in the women’s side and she just won the Eastbourne event beating Amelie Mauresmo. Both are contenders and strong challenges are expected from the likes of Sharapova and Serena Williams.

Indian fans would like to see Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi do well but with different partners. Bhupathi is to team up with Sania Mirza for the mixed doubles event.
Speaking about Sania, the Hyderabadi is to partner Sahar Peer from Israel in the women’s doubles. Will this partnership elicit reactions from the moral police?