The ATP Tour has moved to Rome and fitting of the world’s style capital (Romans are the most show-offy people in the world in my opinion – in a good way) most of the talk today was about Federer’s new haircut. Being a big fan of Federer, I take notice of these changes while part of me wants to scream – get on with your lives, it’s a haircut! But even the smallest features of the famous makes headlines so I shouldn’t be surprised. What should have received a headline of some kind was Federer’s play against Italian Potato Starch (his …
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It was never in doubt was it? (Okay, maybe at 15-30 against Ferrer). Rafa was going to take his fifth title of the year in seven tries (two finals) since his injury time-out. The king of clay was simply too good against a slightly nervous or tired Stan “the Man” Wavrinka today in the Madrid Open final and rolled over the Swiss by 6-2 6-4. Going into Rome and then Roland Garros, it’s hard to see who’s going to challenge Rafa with the form he’s in. Federer? The only one who is even remotely close to his clay court game …
David Ferrer played a great match against Rafael Nadal yesterday in the quarterfinals of Madrid Open. He hit the ball aggressively, used his backhand up the line to great effect and managed to get a lead of 6-4 4-2. Then something happened. Nerves, doubts, you name it. Nadal broke back to love and managed to level the match at 4-4. Nadal then broke Ferrer and was serving for set at 5-4. But Ferrer broke back and then held his serve. 6-5. You couldn’t help but think that Ferrer could win the match. It was definitely there for taking and Nadal …
I don’t want to be a grouch, but the above is not really the most exciting line-up for the Madrid Open Quarterfinals. The absence of Djokovic and Federer stand out as glaring holes and personally I would have liked Haas and Dimitrov to beautify the draw with their all-court games and one-handed backhands. But enough whining. We still have some great matches to look forward to. My pick for the Madrid Open Semi-finals: Nadal, Nishikori, Murray, and Tsonga. Some thoughts on the separate matches: Nadal vs Ferrer. Ferru is a runner, a terrier, but how is he going to beat …
What a line-up we have at Madrid Open (formerly Madrid Masters) today. We have lots of top players in action, Nadal, Federer, Murray Ferrer, Berdych, Tsonga, to name a few. The most interesting match-ups in my mind is another battle of the double-handed backhanders (yesterday we had Tommy Robredo vs Tommy Haas in a well-played match) with young hot-shot Grigor Dimitrov taking on Stanislas Wavrinka, in-form Tommy Haas playing clay-demon David Ferrer and hard-hitters Verdasco and Tsonga pairing up in a heavyweight contest. Federer and Nadal are also playing of course, but as a heavy favorites. Murray and Simon will …
A great way to improve your tennis is watching practice videos where you can focus on pro player technique. Since Federer is my favorite, I mostly watch his videos. You can definitely pick up a trick or three in those videos. Since Nicolas Almagro hits the ball with such power I was curious about how a training session with him would look like. You rarely see people throw their rackets while hitting, but Nicolas sure is  a hot-headed guy. Look how he tries to blast the ball. The guy must be really angry. And really fun to watch.
Today is the day of the Wimbledon final, another one where history is about to be made. Either Federer wins his 17th grand slam and his 7th Wimbledon title or Andy Murray is the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win the cherished home slam. If Federer wins he’s again back to #1 in the world, which would be a huge achievement for the 30-year-old, mostly because 90 percent of the tennis journalist, experts, pundits, whoever you asked, thought it was almost impossible and yet again Federer shows us that for him, nothing is. I still have …
Today Roger Federer took one step closer to the number one position in the world through beating Novak Djokovic in a fireworks display that ended 6-3 3-6 6-4 6-3. Since I’m such a Federer fan and a “racquetaholic”, I’ve managed to set up a good deal exclusive for Tennisnerd readers. The first offer is $30 off on one of my favorite racquet series, Dunlop Biomimetic. I was always a fond of 200 and 300 (Verdasco), but 500 (Almagro) is great for players with loads of top spin and an aggressive game. The second offer is on the more control-focused Wilson …
Sometimes we doubt Federer’s resolve and hunger to keep on winning tennis matches. He has been prone to leave the court mentally in critical stages the last few years and the way he deflated against Djokovic in the French Open semifinal doesn’t exactly fill a Federer fan with confidence. Against Julien Benneteau in the third round of Wimbledon yesterday there were plenty of moments to doubt Federer’s form and will to win. He looked nervous and slightly sloppy while the Frenchman, possibly inspired by Lukas Rosol’s amazing upset against Nadal was on fire, smacking down heavy groundstrokes, moving in to …