It was an impressive 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 victory for Roger against Mario Ancic in the quarterfinals. Roger only lost 10 points of his serve, had 15 aces, and broke Ancic four times during the match. Roger will now face Marat Safin in the semis this Friday. In the past, those two have always had memorable matches at Grand Slam tournaments.

Roger had a glorious straight sets victory over the 2002 Wimbledon Champion, Lleyton Hewitt 7-6 (7), 6-2, 6-4. After the first set, Roger fell into a trend of falling behind in his service games but then serving his way out. It was entertaining to say the least because Roger had to elevate his game to erase the break points.

The quarterfinal opponent will be the last man to beat Roger at Wimbledon, Mario Ancic. I expect that the match will be very high-quality. ESPN360.com here I come.

Roger had yet another stellar victory - this time over Swede Robin Soderling 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 (3) to bring his win record at Wimbledon to 40 over the past six years. I was only able to catch the third set of the match, and in that final set, Roger was broken in the sixth game for the first time on grass this year. Also, at that point in the match, it looked as if Roger’s game dipped a bit, and Robin would eventually close out the set. However, Roger, as he so often does, broke back and dominated in the tie-breaker.

Roger will face France’s Marc Gicquel in the third round.

The Championships at Wimbledon have officially begun, and Roger made his debut in style - a regal-looking cardigan, and shorts with a belt. It was quite classy, and so was his tennis, beating Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 for his 60th straight win on grass. Roger looks to be in great form as evidenced by his performance.

It’s a seven round journey to take home the title, and Roger is on round closer. However, this year’s Wimbledon looks to be very competitive. Yes, Roger is the favorite, but other players are nipping at his heels. It will be very a very good, entertaining Championships.

The bid for the French Open title begins Sunday, May 24, 2008. Roger has a pretty favorable quarter of the draw with players against whom he has decent records. Potential quarterfinal opponents for Roger are either Richard Gasquet or Igor Andreev, but given Gasquet’s unfortunate troubles recently, Andreev is more likely to make to the quarters with his tough, heavy, and penetrating forehand, which provides trouble for a lot of his opponents. In the semis (if Roger makes it, which he should), the most likely opponent will be world number 4, Nikolay Davydenko given his past history of performing well on the dirt in Paris.

I think Roger’s half of the draw will be business as usual for the top players, but the bottom half with be more demanding in later rounds with players such as Nalbandian, Youzhny, Canas, Moya, Djokovic, and Nadal. Slowly but surely, Djokovic is nipping away at Nadal’s number two position, and those two have a potential meeting in the semis. As the three-time defending champion, all the pressure is on Nadal, and Roger thinks that this is his time to strike;

“I’m the one playing aggressive, I’m the one trying hard. I’m the one taking risks in these matches so I think I have a positive chance of winning here.

“Two years ago I was more pessimistic because I saw Rafa was completely dominating the game on clay. But now I think I am really close and I believe I have good tactics.

“I showed that in Monte Carlo and Hamburg. Just one point here and there makes the difference.”

I feel this year’s French Open will be very exciting and passionate because the three top players have some much at stake: Roger completing the career Grand Slam and making a good start in a stretch of very important tournaments in the next three and a half months. Nadal four-peting and retaining his spot as the world’s number two, and Djokovic treatening Nadal and making up more ground on Roger.

Also, the tennis world will say good-bye to one of its finest in Gustavo Kuerten with his official retirement after this year’s French. It should make for most great tennis in the upcoming two weeks.

Roger has made headlines with his calling on Jose Higueras as a potential coach. Also, there have been a lot of sitings of Roger taking in all that Estoril has to offer. Roger met with Valentino Rossi, a professional motorcycle racer, at one of the racing sites in Portugal. But getting back to the tennis, Roger said something every interesting, “We’re now in a different part of the season, it’s back to zero for everybody.” The clay court season is a fresh start for the world’s number one, and with the help of Jose Higueras, Roger feels he is on the verge of playing the tennis that we’re all accustom to.

I look forward to following Roger’s progress in the tournament as well as seeing if working with Jose will be truly beneficial for Roger’s game.