This doesn’t have anything to do with Roger, but as I was flipping through the June 2008 edition of Tennis Magazine, I found some ridiculous claims made by Brad Gilbert of page 22. In “Brad Gilbert’s 3 Reasons Why” column, he writes about how Rafael Nadal won’t win a fourth straight French Open title. Given the results of the French Open, and the fashion in which Rafael won, not dropping a set and steamrolling Roger in the finals, I found this column comical, and as a “expert” on the game, Gilbert should be embarrassed.

Reason number 2:

Less of an air of invincibility-Over the past three years if a player was walking on a clay court against Nadal, he basically already accepted the loss. But at press time Nada hasn’t won a title in eight months. No matter who you are, if you start losing, your opponent will begin to believe they can beat you. They’ll want to get payback even more…

Ok, so Nadal hasn’t been as dominant on other surfaces, but he’s only lost two matches on clay, which is what the French is played on, in the last few years, and that is an amazing accomplishment in itself. I think that air of invincibility on clay is still there given his run on clay before the French this year. They don’t call Rafael “The King of Clay” for kicks; there’s a very good reason.

My motive for writing this post is that I recently read an article, “Viewpoint: Too much talk, too many talkers” on Tennis.com, and I found that Gilbert’s opinion fits into what James Martin wrote about. Also, I just don’t like Brad, and my ears are grateful that he left ESPN; I found it nauseating to have to constantly listen to his verbal diarrhea during Grand Slam coverage. Please, feel free to share your thoughts.

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.

I have to admit that I am utterly confused by Roger’s play in the Pacific Life Open. He played amazingly in his first three matches, but crumbled in the semis losing 6-3, 6-2 to Marty Fish. I understand that Roger was plagued with mono during the Australian Open and in Dubai, and that was a factor in his performances. However, this is a surprising loss because of how lopsided the score was. I can’t remember the last time Roger was blown off the court.

Roger said, “so semifinals to start off with at the first Masters Series is a good thing, and I hope I can go from here and win in Miami, and on to clay.” It’s a good thing that Roger has a positive outlook on this and the rest of the season. I think fans are confused because we’re so used to watching Roger win whenever he steps out onto the court. But now, Roger is several months into the season without a title, and I think fans are getting a little impatient and worried about Roger.

Though Roger has yet to win a title in 2008, he picked up very valuable ranking points because of his improvement from his 2007 showing in Indian Wells. This is especially important because it widens a recently narrowing gap between Rafael Nadal and him.

I was browsing through my emails today, and to my surprise, I got an email about an article entitled Why Andy Roddick Will Never Beat Roger Federer . I found this article very interesting, and it hit the nail on the head. However, I think its a little too late for the debate. Andy has fallen out of the picture of being a top contender, and he has been replaced by players like Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer. The train has left the station, and Andy isn’t on it. But if you look at the top three players, Roger, Rafael, and Novak, they play a thinking man’s game. They have power, but they pick there spots. They have very versatile games. On the other hand, Andy is a unidimensional player. He thinks he can blast the ball past opponents, and he has an extremely difficult time adjusting his game. In my opinion, Andy embodies the delusional American mentality - the more powerful you are, the better - and Roger, Rafael, and Novak prove that point.

The ATP came up with its “FEEL IT” campaign in 2007 just prior to the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. You may have seen the commercials that aired at the tail end of the 2007 season. Roger is an integral part of this campaign, naturally, as the #1 player in the world, and he had nothing but positive things to say;

Roger Federer, ATP World No.1, who features in a creative showing past champions of the men’s game, said: “I think ‘FEEL IT’ is a very good idea and I like the legends aspect with all the other great players on my photo. It makes me proud as I’m not only playing against the current players but also against history. The ‘FEEL IT’ campaign looks good and we need something like this as there are a lot of new players coming up as well as players that are well established.”

The ATP captured the essence of what the tour is all about with each one of its star players. They have picked a theme for each player that represents the type of game they play. For example, Rafa is the raging bull, and Novak is a tiger. It adds an almost mystic effect to the game in which in turn makes the game more appealing to current fans as well as new fans who don’t know that much about the game. All in all, I think the ATP is moving in the right direction in marketing this beautiful game.

Source: atptennis

Roger has had a rough start to the 2008 season; first with a stomach flu that interrupted his preparation to the Aussie Open, and second losing in the semis. Personally, I thought that Roger played well even though he was pushed to 5 sets in the 3rd round. Though Roger had a lack-luster performance in the semis, we have to remember that even Roger has tough days.

I think that people have started thinking because Roger lost in straight sets to a younger player that he’s starting to slip. I would have to disagree because Roger is still the man to beat. He’s the #1 player in the world, and the rest of the field is still chasing.