How I Learned to Stop Hating and Love the Federer

One of these days, I'm sure, we're going to learn. We keep lining them up, and they keep getting knocked down. Maybe we're trying to manufacture drama, or maybe we're just hoping for it. But we keep saying that someone is going to challenge Federer, that someone is going to touch him, and all Roger does is go out and destroy his opposition.

It's incredible, really. Gasquet performed at an incredibly high level yesterday. And you'd think that would be cause for concern. Nope, not for the Swiss master. Once again, he comes out of the gate cocked and locked, blowing his opponent away. I thought yesterday that Gasquet stood a fighting chance... well, that was just like my idea that Safin could give him a run.

Tomorrow is Federer-Nadal in the finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the fourth time in two years. And this time, I've learned my lesson. I won't think that Nadal can challenge Federer. Not now, not on this court. It could be a very short affair for Breakfast at Wimbledon tomorrow.

But Rafa deserves all the credit in the world for getting this far, beating quality competition in the process. He may have lucked out a bit, though, as Djokovic clearly had nothing left in the tank after some marathon matches this fortnight. The Serb has had a breakthrough year, but he's had to retire a handful of times the last two years. His conditioning needs to get better if he wants to be reach Nadal and Federer's level. I have no doubts he can do it, though, considering the improvement he's shown in his game and his fitness in the last year alone.

Blowing a Gasquet

I said before the tournament that this was the time for Richard Gasquet to step up and make a statement at a major. At 21, he needed to make his move now. A couple days ago, I said a quarterfinal contest with Andy Roddick was the perfect opportunity. I had no idea he would seize the moment, and I could not have imagined that he would do so in such a spectacular manner.

And boy did he ever. After losing the first two sets, he broke Roddick's tiebreak streak and charged to a win in the fifth set, a remarkable and amazing turnaround. It looked for all the world that Andy was headed for another straight set victory, but Gasquet found a level he never has before at a Grand Slam event and felt him behind. The third set was almost like the butterfly emerging from the cocoon, as the Frenchman started ripping backhands, gliding around the court with ease and finding an answer for every move Roddick had. It was a display I will not soon forget.

To his credit, Roddick did not go away or allow his frustration get the better of him. He clearly was frustrated, but unlike a certain Davis Cup teammate, he channeled his frustration and joined Gasquet in battle. By all accounts, he played winning tennis: 22 aces, 60 winners, won 59% of his points at net, only 29 unforced errors (a differential of +31, hardly a small number). Gasquet, quite simply, beat him: 23 aces, 90 winners with 29 unforced errors (a staggering +61 differential), and won a tidy 70% of his net approaches.

It was surprising how quickly Roddick got worried. Typically, someone who is up two sets to one wouldn't be so upset. But when Gasquet ran through that tiebreak in the third set, Andy had the "uh oh" look on his face. And rightfully so, because everyone could see that he was in for a battle.

Once again, Roddick's lack of versatility was thrust into the spotlight. As the commentators noted, there simply isn't a plan "B" for him. He's like the Mike Tyson of tennis: If his haymaker doesn't knock you out, he doesn't know what to do. He lacks the nuance and the moxie to scrap out victories. He's going to simply keep doing what he's doing and hope it works. This is why he kept going to the Gasquet backhand, even as those backhands were screaming past him, out of reach. For most people, it's inexplicable that a guy wouldn't figure out how to adjust like that. For Roddick, though, it's par for the course. It's surprising that with a coach like Jimmy Conners, he can't figure out how to be headier on the court.

And so Gasquet moves onto the semis and faces Federer. If he plays like he did today, he can absolutely beat him. Playing at such a level for two straight days, though, might still be too much to ask. And Roddick has deal with a stinging defeat. With Djokovic winning today, he'll also lose his #3 ranking. This could be danger time for him; if he wants to be a factor in major tournaments going forward, something clearly has to change. He's still a world-class player, but more people are starting to pass him. Federer is past him, Nadal is past him, Djokovic is past him, and now, it seems that Gasquet is past him.

The Fantastic Four

Perhaps we can fit this tournament in on time after all. The London clouds have decided they've screwed with us enough, and the men were able to complete the quarterfinals today. And, oddly enough, the person who had the easiest time of it today was Rafael Nadal.

Yeah, Nadal, the same guy who needed five sets in each of his last two matches, had a surprisingly routine straight sets win over Berdych. Many thought the Czech had a great shot at knocking Rafa. Berdych, after all, was the greatest beneficiary of the sort-of subjective seeding. Nadal had racked up considerable court time his last two times out, and there was still doubt as to his prowess on grass, and... well, so much for that. Nadal breezed past Berdych in progressively easier sets.

What wasn't easy was his semifinal opponent, Novak Djokovic's, victory. In what was probably the match of the tournament, he emerged from a titanic, five set, five-hour slugfest with Marcos Baghdatis. Indeed, the audience of Court 1 had a great day of tennis play out in front of them with this match and Gasquet's ascention (which will be addressed in a separate post). But this had it all (except serve-and-volleying): Competitive sets, grinding, battling points, comebacks, momentum swings, explosions of emotion, two men that both wanted it badly... what else could you want? The first three sets going to tiebreaks, Baghdatis coming back from down two sets to level the match, Djokovic finally trimphing at the end. 413 total points played, and Djokovic only won seven more than Baghdatis. That's a pretty competitive contest, don't you think? Ultimately, Novak's superior serving- he served at 70% to Marcos' 50%- carried the day.

And hey, waddaya know... it turns out not playing for a week can leave you rusty. Federer dropped a set to Ferrero, but rebounded to win the next two without much trouble. He'll now face Gasquet, a prospect much less appealing than getting to whip Roddick around again.

Nadal Must Hate the Locker Room

Apparently Rafa missed the memo that you're allowed to win a match in less than five sets. In an apparent effort to make up for his lost time on court the last week, he's labored for the maximum sets in his last two encounters. This time, he looked to be on the ropes against Mikhail Youhzny, then sorta just ran him over after Youhzny's back stiffened up. The first two sets took 81 minutes; the final three 104. Maybe the Spaniard forgot to warm up and used the first two sets to take care of that for him.

Nadal now faces a tough challenge from Tomas Berdych, who had only a little trouble in ending Bjorkman's tournament. The highlight of that match? Bjorkman giving the chair umpire the business in Swedish. Bjorn Borg would be ashamed.

Novak Djokovic, a potential semifinal opponent, gave only slightly less effort in defeating Lleyton Hewitt in four tight sets, including three tiebreaks. He'll take on Marco Baghdatis, another fantastic match that won't be shown in the US because nobody at the TV networks has any idea what fans want to see. The Cypriot took out Davydenko, who played surprisingly well at SW 19 after only winning one match in his career there before this year.

Also, I couldn't help but notice that in the men's invitational doubles, Ilie Nastase and Stan Smith were paired together. Can you imagine a more disparate team? That's the oddest pairing since Dennis Rodman and Jean Claude Van Dam.

Finally, it's about time Roger Federer caught a bad break from the weather. The dude doesn't need any more help in winning this thing. He now needs to win three matches in three days, just like everyone else.

It's Almost Like a Tournament!

Wow, we actually got through a day! Who woulda thought? Nice to see a full day's worth of matches. It's still a little unclear what to expect going forward, though. Heck, Federer hasn't even been seen on court for a few days now. You have to think he'll be a little rusty tomorrow. It must be noted that Rafa finally got through to the fourth round, ridding himself of Soderling 7-5 in the fifth set.

Roddick scored another quick win, disposing of Paul-Henri Mathieu in straight sets. He's looking like he's in top form as he stares another crack at Federer in the face. He only needs to get past Richard Gasquet- who ended the run of countryman and qualifier Jo-Wilfried Tsonga- in the quarterfinals. I wrote previously that now is the time for Gasquet to make the step up to the next level, and he has a perfect opportunity against Andy to prove himself on the big stage.

Novak Djokovic is continuing his great year, advancing past Keifer in four sets. He now takes on Hewitt. History demonstrates that the person who eliminates the Aussie tends to win in major tournaments. Could this be a portent of Sunday? Probably not, but it's fun to think about.

Sadly, it's also worth noting that the top-seeded pair of Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond were dumped from the mixed doubles on Centre Court by the British pair of Alex Bogdanovic and Melanie South. Doubles doesn't make it onto Centre Court often. It would've been nice for a Bryan to show off his skill better.
On a similar note, the Williams sisters withdrew from the doubles today. After Serena's calf adventures, this seemed like an inevitable decision. Still, it saddens me. How do we know which sister will scream louder now?
The Bryan brothers, however, eased into the fourth round of the men's doubles with a straight set win.

The rest of the picks

I'm going to pick (explanationless) the rest of the tournament, match-by-match from here on out.

Men's singles:
3rd round - Djokovic over Kiefer; Soderling over Nadal
Round of 16 - Roddick over Mathieu; Tsonga over Gasquet; Davydenko over Baghdatis; Hewitt over Djokovic; Berdych over Bjorkman; Youzhny over Soderling
Quarterfinals - Federer over Ferrero; Roddick over Tsonga; Hewitt over Davydenko (in 5); Youzhny over Berdych
Semifinals - Federer over Roddick; Hewitt over Youzhny
Finals - Federer over Hewitt (in a good match)

Women's singles:
Round of 16 - Sharapova over V. Williams
Quarterfinals - Henin over S. Williams (I'm only going back on my past prediction because of the calf strain); Bartoli over Krajicek (how did this happen); Vaidisova over Ivanovic (either a letdown for Vaidasova, or she is playing the best tennis of her life); Sharapova over Kuznetsova;
Semifinals - Henin over Bartoli; Vaidasova over Sharapova (but only if she gets this far. I'll take Sharapova over Ivanovic, who I genuinely like, just not on grass)
Finals - Henin over whomever gets here

OK. So I didn't get through without comments, so what? Henin gets her slam; Fed continues domination. Though I will say that Henin is lucky and will benefit from that injury.

This is Getting Ridiculous

Rain has shortened play yet again! What do we have to do to get a full day of play in? We're still not through the third freaking round. Really, this is borderline comical at this point.

But hey, at least Hewitt got through in a relatively routine two sets today. Ferrero also scored a straight set win over Janko Tipsarevic. That's about it, though. Nadal, mired in the third round, didn't even get onto the court today. If he manages to get to the finals, he'll be playing every day from here on out.

Oh Look... Rain

It's a good thing that there was play yesterday, because today's shortened play could have really logjammed the... oh, wait. There wasn't any play yesterday, and we're looking at a serious backlog. And wow, how charmed is Roger? He gets a walkover on Tommy Haas, so he doesn't even have to worry about any of this. We're into Tuesday now and the men aren't even through the third round. I mean, how insane is that? I don't think Federer really needs that much help to tie Borg.

It's a real shame, because this could've been the best day of the tournament. After Henin dispatched a weak challenge from Schnyder, we had the Serena saga. When the cameras focused in on her calf, I had to cringe. I've never seen a muscle bunch up like that before. That had to hurt. Most every athlete has had to deal with cramps at some point, and everyone who has knows how much they suck. I don't believe Serena for screaming out in pain or her overtures to delay... but I do blame Hantuchova for her butter-like mental toughness. It's pretty pathetic to see your opponent get hurt bad... then roll over. Her killer instinct is as sharp as satin.

Nadal is going to have to wait yet another day to try and get into the fourth round. What looked like a potential routine finish has turned into a fifth set and a serious problem for Nadal in his quest to get back to the finals. He's up 2-0 in the final set, but he needs to finish Soderling off as quickly as possible, as Youhzny had an easy time of it on court and won't be afraid of the bull.

Djokovic and Keifer are locked up in a tight affair, with Djokovic up a set and 6-5 in the second. I love to see the German giving Novak all he can handle; he's a game player. And you gotta love seeing Jonas Bjorkman advancing to the final 16 again, beating Wayne Arthurs in a match you could see in a few months on the senior tour. It's nice to see a guy having his greatest success late in his career.

Hewitt and Canas are locked up in a very non-grass court type of battle. It's bound to be entertaining, but you'll never get to see it in America. Go USA! And Gael Monfils is getting whipped by Davydenko of all people. As if we needed more evidence of the decay of grass tennis, that is further evidence.

But, once again, the combination of rain and poor decision-making have really made getting through this tournament by Sunday a real problem. Could we see another People's Monday? That would make up for everything.

A scream of pain

As Serena Williams lay on the grass of Wimbledon after announcing before her match against Daniela Hantuchova that she felt healthy again, the collective tennis world wondered what was wrong.

It looked like she had pulled up with a calf cramp.

After winning the first set and being down in the second 4-1, Williams rallied to a 5-4 lead with Hantuchova serving. At 15-15, Hantuchova bounced both her serves. After the next point, Williams was walking to the service line when the turf appeared to grab her a bit.

She had said during the break at 5-4 something that sounded like "calf and thigh," but it wasn't completely audible. Points later her left calf cramped up. She hit at it with her racket while standing on one leg. Then she collapsed.

After some treatment and an attempt at stretching, the trainer brought out the bag of ice. With the application of the bag, Williams let out a scream of pain that seems like it would have come from Dakota Fanning's mouth.

What is even more amazing is that after taking the medical timeout, Williams came back, conceded the game and took service.

She served using only the power in her arm and forced a tiebraker, winning the game point at 30 on a 110 mph serve. Yes, she was only using her arm for the power.

In the tiebreaker, Williams went down 4-0, won two points and was changing sides.

Then the rains came.

At this point, it's 6-2 6-6 (2-4) Williams, and it's just been reported that the injury is a spasm-induced calf strain. This is not going to get better today. The clouds are starting to part, according to the ESPN crew, and Williams is going to have to make a choice — play with pain and see what happens in the next two days (if she wins the tiebreak; I doubt she'll play the third set) or retire now and reduce the risk of further injury.

Tradition and Sense

I've never been the biggest fan of traditions. I often find them outdated, outmoded, and unnecessary. Some are great; most are not. The same goes for Wimbledon, where some rethinking is needed.

By nature, I'm a pragmatic person, and traditions often are not pragmatic. It's not that I'm against the concept, it's that I don't want them to interfere with what I think is a better way of doing things. Many times the reason for keeping a tradition alive is just because that's the way it's always been done, and that is what I have a problem with. Traditions with reasons are good. Traditions without them are usually dispensable.

For instance, the no advertisements: All for it. Who doesn't love not seeing a bunch of crap all over the court? Putting the "Mister" and "Miss" honorifics in front of people's names: Again, great. A nice nod to English culture.

The all-white? Not a fan. There is no reason for it. People wore all white centuries ago because they were wearing long sleeves and pants (or dresses), and they were quite hot. White is the coolest color to wear, making it a rather efficient choice. Overheating because of clothing isn't a problem anymore. Ergo, wearing all white is hardly needed.

I can live with the rule, though. Not playing on Middle Sunday, though, makes me want to rip my eyebrows off. There is absolutely no reason to suspend play for a day in the middle of the world's biggest tournament. What's more, with the rain of the first week and what has been fine weather today in London, not playing is needlessly making the players suffer. Guys on the bottom half of the draw, who aren't even through the third round, are now at a competitive disadvantage, as whoever advances to the finals will now have to win four matches in six days just to get there.

Please tell me what sense that makes, how that helps anyone. Sure, it makes Monday that much more exciting, but is it worth the cost? The tournament is really costing itself money here. Tournament officials had better hope the skies remain dry for the next seven days, as even one more rainout will cause serious problems.