Federer Has Something to Prove at this US Open, For a Change

Former world no.1 and defending champion Roger Federer has more
than a point to prove at this year's US Open. To his thousands of
fans, he need to show that he is not out yet, even though the aura
of invincibility is quickly fading, and to himself that he is still
a strong contender to win grand slams as it was in the past six years.

2008 till date has been a hard year to Roger Federer, and a year
since 2003 in which he had failed to win a grand slam tournament
before August. He had reached the finals of two slams in 2008, but
had failed to clear the final hurdle, which in both cases had been the
resilient and resolute Rafael Nadal. In the Australian Open semifinals,
he lost to Novak Djokovic. If that was understandable, as 2008 wore
down, he also went on to lose to lower ranked players like Blake,
Roddick, Ivo Karlovic, Gilles Simon, and Radek Stepanek, against whom
Fedex had won hands down just months back. Worse, outside grand slams,
he had won only at two tournaments, as opposed to eight last year.

These recent results worryingly points to the fact that the rest in the
ATP tour are fastly catching up with Federer, with some even managing to
get their hands on the key to unlock the Fedex puzzle. True, the bout of
mononucleosis at the start of the year had weaken Federer's game. But
even after recovery, he had failed to rediscover the magic that had
made him the remarkable player he had been just an year back. Now, the
US Open is the last chance Federer has got this year to redeem himself,
and show to the world that he is still right there on the top, and the
earlier losses this year were just an aberration in his otherwise
glittering career. The next two and a half weeks will show whether Nadal's
rise to world no.1 was temporary, or it really meant a change of guards.

Let's wait and watch until then!

Rafael Nadal is the Olympics Singles Champion

It can't get any better than this. An Olympic gold medal, a day before
he'll be formally elevated to ATP world no.1 rankings, dethroning
Roger Federer. In the men's singles final today, Rafael Nadal had defeated
hard hitting Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.

The Olympic gold medal comes as a glittering addition to his already
colorful achievements in 2008, that includes wins at French Open and
Wimbledon, plus victories in three masters series championships. Now,
for the first time in his career, he'll go into next week's US Open as the
top seed, and title favorite. Let's wait and see if he could absorb the pressure
of expectations, and make it three grand slams in a row.

Federer Eyeing Olympic Gold

Roger Federer, who is yet to win a grand slam this year, is pinning his
hopes in the Olympics tennis event, and the US Open next month.
He thinks a win in Beijing would save the season for him, which so far
has not been anything great considering the high standards Federer
had set for himself in the past 4-5 years. After losing the French Open
and Wimbledon finals to nemesis Rafael Nadal, Federer had lost twice
at least to lower ranked opponents in the master's series, and is about
to lose his world no.1 ranking to Nadal come this August 18.

But Olympics tennis have been traditionally a different ball game with
unfancied players making it to the podium most of the times. Last time,
though Federer the overwhelming favorite to win the gold medal, he
was ousted in the second round by unseeded Thomas Berdych in three sets.

Let's see if Fedex will be third time lucky.

What Happened to Roger Federer?

What happened to Roger Federer? Every tennis fan is of late asking
themselves this question after viewing Fedex' performance in the first
eight months of the 2008 ATP tennis calendar. True, he had reached
the finals of two grand slams in this period - the French Open and
Wimbledon - before losing both matches to world no.2 Rafael Nadal -
but, Federer's overall showing in the tourneys in the earlier half of
the year, and post Wimbledon, raises serious questions on the world
no.1's (world no.2 in the next two weeks probably) game and fitness.
Roger suddenly appears to have lost his confidence, and his movements
on the court slowing down considerably that even lowly ranked players,
whom Roger had dispatched so easily few months back, are able to
beat him with ease. It appears that the weight of his reputation,
coupled with the anxiety of losing, is heavily burdening his mind/game.
Recent loses have not helped the matter either.

May be Roger needs a bit of rest, and time to reassess his game plan.
In fact, he himself had admitted that he need to sit back and take a
look at his game. But a tighter ATP tour calendar means he would be
able to do that only after the US Open at the earliest.

Come August 18, and Federer will lose his world no.1 ranking for
the first time in the last 237 weeks to Rafael Nadal. But, he is definitely
capable of making a comeback. However, in order to do that, he needs
to play far better than at present, and of course with a clear mind that
is not burdened by the monster he himself had created in the
last 4 years. Let's hope that Fedex will bounce back to the player he
had been 10 months back.

Its Federer Vs Nadal in Wimbledon Again

Defending champion and world no.1 Roger Federer will meet world no.2 and three-time
French Open winner Rafel Nadal in the 2007 Wimbledon finals on Sunday. The two had
already clashed thrice this year, the last time being in the French Open finals in July, which
Nadal had won in four sets. This year, Nadal is already 2-1 up against Federer.
Overall, Nadal leads 8-4 in their head-to-head meetings.

Interesting Fact

Only two players in the current top 20 ATP rankings had won Wimbledon before -
Roger Federer (4 times)  and the 19th ranked Aussie, Lleyton Hewitt in 2002. 
No. 3 Andy Roddick had lost in the finals twice - in 2004 & 2005 - against R Federer.