Federer Advances Into Hamburg Semi Finals Haas Ousted

Top seed Roger Federer had to face a fierce test against home favourite Florian Mayer.  He beat Mayer under just two hours of thrilling tennis by 7-6(4) 3-6 7-5.  Federer never lost a set against Mayer in last four meetings, but this time Mayer was at his best.  He pushed Federer to the limits, because Federer had to use all of his abilities to come through this match.

Federer Is welcomed By Crowd

In the opening set all went on serve, none of the player gave any chance to other to even see some break points.  Only Federer had only one break point opportunity in 6th game, which Mayer saved by huge serve. At last this set had to be decided in the tie-break.  In this tie-break Federer played his best tennis got got this breaker by 7-4 to take one set lead in 48 minutes.  In the second set, Mayer started to take control of the match and thrilled the whole crowd by breaking Federer.  This was the only break which was necessary to level the match by 6-3 in 37 minutes.

Federer Hitting Defensive Backhand

This was the only set that Mayer took from Swiss master in his career.  Now Federer tried his best to break Mayer at any cost.  He broke Mayer in 3rd game, but Mayer immediately got the break back.  This was another thrilling moment for crowd.  Federer continue his try and broke him again in 5th game.  Mayer again broke back by support of home crowd.  If Mayer could not get the breaks back then match would be finished earlier.  But that did not happened.  After that Federer played best games of the match to level at 5-5 and again broke Mayer in the very next game, which proved to be decisive.  And time Federer served the match out by playing beautiful service game to love.

Fognini Against Tommy Haas

In another match Fobio Fognini of Italy beat second seed Tve and won 71% of these points.  He also saved 5 of 6 break points that he faced.  He broke Tommy Haas four times which was prove to be decisive statistics.  Haas could not get advantage of opportunities, which Fognini did.  This cost him lose this match.  He could only win 44% points on his first serve.  So overall Tommy Haas could not convert most important points of the match, and tennis is game of opportunities conversionommy Haas in straight sets by 6-2 6-4 in 1 hour 22 minutes.  Fognini showed great defence on his second ser.  This thing cause him an unexpected defeat.

Federer Cruises Into Hamburg Quarters

Roger Federer create a huge improvement in his performance as compared to the previous match, where he had to come back from a set down against Daniel Brands.  In 3rd round match against Czech J Hajek, he was looking more committed.  He displayed a good performance to reach quarterfinals.   He got the victory by 6-4 6-3.

Federer Is Serving Against Hajek

In the opening set, first few games were very tricky one, because both of guys exchange breaks of serves.  Until the score was 3-3.  Now it was on serve.  Federer was serving to get 4-3 lead, but that was not easy because he was 15-40 down in this game and had to face two break points.  He saved those break points by blasting winner and a huge serve.  That was huge boost up for Federer.  In the very next game, Federer tried to break Hajek and was at 30-40 up.  But Hajek served a good one down the tea which Federer only managed to touch.  He hold that serve to get himself into even terms 4-4.  In the next game Federer hold his serve to 30 and forced Hajek to serve to stay in the set.  Federer considered it a huge opportunity and tried his best to break Hajek and take the set.  He produced and couple of set points on Hajek serve but Hajek saved initially all those set points.  But Federer continued his try and produce another set point, and it was moment when Federer converted the set point to take the set by 6-4 in 39 minutes.

Federer Thanking Crowd After Victory

In the second set, Federer quickly hold serve to love in the opening game of the second set.  Hajek also remained firm on his serve and set goes on serve until 3-2.  Now Hajek was serving to level the set, but Federer did not let him to do that and broke him to 15 to take 4-2 lead.  He confirmed that break by holding the very next game to get 5-2 lead.  Now Hajek was serving to stay in the match.  Federer again tried to seal the match there and produced a couple of match points, but all those match points were saved by Hajek due to his huge serve.  Now Federer had to serve it out, and he did that in style.  He fired a huge ace at match point to get his place in the quarterfinals in 72 minutes.  He will face florian Mayer of Germany in quraterfinals.  Federer is 4-0 head to head against him.


In other matches Tommy Haas beat Carlos Berlocq by 6-2 6-4.  In another match Fernando Verdasco beat no 4 seed Jerzy Janowicz, when he was forced to retire.  

Federer And Tommy Haas Survived At Hamburg Openers

Former world no 1 and currently world no 5 Roger Federer and German hope Tommy Haas survived at Hamburg second rounds.  They moved into third rounds but they had to concede one set each.  Federer beat home favourite and big serving Daniel Brands by 3-6 6-3 and 6-2.  On the other hand Tommy Haas beat Kavcic of Slovakia by 6-1 4-6 and 6-4.  Both of these matches were interesting to watch, because in both of matches there will a lot of twists and turns especially in Haas match.

Roger Federer was playing for the first time after shocking second round exit at Wimbledon.  He needed victory to boost himself up.  But his opponent was none other than Daniel Brands, the man who teased Nadal a lot at French open and took a set against him.  And it was expected that he will give Swiss master the same challenge and he did that.  In the opening set Federer served a good one in first three service games and continued to tease Brands on his serve.  He took a couple of games to deuce on Brands serve but Brands always came back with huge serve.  At 3-3 Federer was 15-40 up on Brands serve but this time Brands again saved these two break points by cross court forehand winner and a huge serve, which Federer only managed to touch.  And he hold that serve also to get 4-3 lead.  In the very next game Federer was looking bit upset due to missing opportunities in last game.  His first serve did not find its mark and soon he was 0-40 down and was broken.  Brands serve for the set in style by firing a couple of aces and sealed the set at 6-3.  This was the time when there was roaring of crowd all around.

Now fans were looking Federer to come back and he did that.  He increased his first serve %age and won all 17 points on his first serve and gave no chance to brands on his serve.  He needed only one break to serve the set to level the match at 6-3.  In the deciding set there was Federer all around.  He broke Brands twice in the deciding set to seal the match at 6-2.  This was much needed victory with his larger frame racket.  In the whole match Federer fired 9 aces and won 83% of points on his first serve.  In the third round he will face J Hajek of Czech Republic.  And this will be their first meeting.

In another match earlier, Tommy Haas beat Kavcic despite a come back form him.  In the opening set Tommy Haas served well and show beautiful return game and took the set quickly by 6-1.  In the second set Kavcic made a come back and hold his serve firmly.  He broke Haas once to take the set 6-4 to level the match.  In the deciding set Haas again got early break to get 4-1 lead.  In the very next game Haas was on the brink of double break, but Kavcic hold his nerves to hold serve to reduce the Haas lead at 4-2.  Surprisingly in the next game Kavcic got the break back and hold his serve to level the set at 4-4.  Under pressure Haas hold his serve to get 5-4 important lead.  Now Kavcic was serving to stay in the match, but this time he could not hold his nerves and he lost his serve and hence the match despite huge come back.

Federer Breezez Into French Open Third Round

The 17 times grand slam champion Swiss master Roger Federer recorded his 898th victory of his career in second round of French Open 2013.  He beat Indian Samdev Devarman in less than one and half hours.  He beat Devarman by 6-2 6-1 6-1.  He conceded just four games to move ahead( one less than that of the first round).  He played an aggressive tennis and gave no chance to Devarman.  Devarman put some resistance on Federer's serve and produced three break points.  All these break points were save by Federer in style.

In the whole match Federer fire 52 winners as compared to Devarman's only 12.  This shows that how attacking he is playing.  He is again looking like a man to beat.  Federer produced 14 break points out of which he converted 7.  Now he has to face home favourite French man Julien Bennetau.  Julien is familiar with Federer and he knows how to beat him.  He did so in February early this year.  He beat Federer in Rotterdam by 6-3 7-5.

He was only two points from victory at Wimbledon 2012 to pull huge upset.  He was two sets to love up but he could not close the match.  Now Federer is playing at a high level.  He has to make short work of Julien to get himself fresh to meet bigger challengers.  For this Federer has to maintain this level of play.

Djokovic Broke Nadal's Winning Streak At Monte Carlo

At last Djokovic has done it.  He has done that work which no one could do for last 8 years.  He beat eight time defending champion Rafael Nadal for the first time at Monte Carlo Country Club in last 9 years.  He beat his old rival in straight sets.  And with this victory he improved his record to 19-15 against Nadal all time and 12-3 on dust.  He has also become the only man who beat Nadal in final of clay event three times.  Previously he was tied with Roger Federer, who also beat Nadal in two clay court finals.
 

His path to this incredible victory was not so easy.  He also reached in the finals of Monte Carlo in 2009 and 2012 where he was defeated by Nadal.  He won against Nadal in third attempt and second in a row.  Djokovic's participation in this event was uncertain in the start due to some injury, but he participated and showed a slow start.  In his first two matches Djokovic was far away from his best.  But as time passed he continued to get better and better.  In quarter finals and semi finals he showed a good tennis and gave message to the tennis world that he will the man to beat on dust also.  He beat Fognini in semi finals by losing  just 3 games and without facing the break point in the whole match.  That was a clear massage to king of clay that Nole of 2011 has come back.  And he proved that at Monte Carlo 2013.
He beat Nadal by 62 76(1).  The whole match has seen many twists and turns.  In the start Djokovic served first and hold the serve pretty easily and after that he started to strengthen his grip on the match.  He broke Nadal and immediately got 3-0 lead.  But that was not a finish line, he broke Nadal again and he flies to get 5-0 lead.  At this time everyone was thinking that it would be a love set.  But Nadal hold the serve in very next game to get respectability and get himself on scoreboard at 6-1.  After that he broke Djokovic's serve and get scoreboard to 6-2 which tennis fans thought could be come back moment for Nadal  but that moment was short lived.  Because Djokovic broke Nadal again in very next game to take the opening set by 6-2.
In the second set, tennis fans were waiting impatiently for Nadal's comeback.  Djokovic again served first and hold the serve to get 1-0 lead.  In the second game Nadal also hold the serve to level 1-1.  In the third game Djokovic again hold his seve to get 2-1 lead.  Nadal again level the set by 2-2.  In next game Djokovic faced huge test because Nadal raised the level of his game and broke Nole to get 3-2 lead and immediately consolidated the break to get handsome 4-2 lead.  Nole did not lose heart and hold his serve to love to get scoreboard to 3-4.  In the very next game Djokovic broke back to level the match at 4-4.  And hold the serve to get 5-4 lead again.  Nadal again displayed an epic tennis and hold his serve to get himself at 5-5 and then he broke to get 6-5 lead.  That was considered as turning point of the match because if he was able to to get the match in the deciding set, the match would be in his pocket.  He was seving for the second set, but Djokovic had other things in his mind, he was a deternmined man.  He broke Nadal to take the set into the tie break.
After this Nadal looked exhausted because Djokovic took that tie break by 7-1 and sealed the victory in a very special way.

Why Rafael Nadal Is “King Of Clay”

Rafael Nadal is back in action on tour after shocking 2^nd round exit against Lukas Rosol.  He remained away from the court for plenty of months.  He came back and participated in three clay court events.  He won two clay title one 250 and other 500 level by beating David Ferrer.  His come back has given tennis a new life, because tennis courts were looking very dull without him.  Now he made a strong comeback and won Indian Wells master by beating Federer and Del Potro.  His successful comeback is a huge good news for tennis world especially Nadal’s fans.  Everyone who is attached to tennis by any mean knows that Nadal is king of clay and he is man to beat on clay.  This is not only the phrase but the stats on Nadal on clay speak themselves.  He is unbeatable there, he won 38 titles on clay.  His has 255-9 record on clay, amazing record that is.  It means that he played 264 matches on clay and lost only 9 matches, after his debut on tour in 2002.  Lets take a brief look at his amazing stats on clay. 

Frech Open:

Since Nadal participated in Frech open 2005, he lost only one time there in 2009 to Robin Soderling.  He has 52-1 record at French open.  It means that French open belongs to Rafael Nadal.  He will be again man to beat there in 2013.  He won record 7 French open titles breaking Borg record of 6 French open title.  In 2012 he became only man in tennis history who won French open 7 times.  Amazing record that is.  He is only 26 and hungry for more titles.  So won most of matches in French open in straight sets.  The only man who could take him to five sets after Soderling was John Isner in 2011. I think he will collect at least 10 French open title if he continue to perform like this.  Moreover he never lost a best of five sets match on clay outside French open.  And most of his wins are in straight sets. 

Masters 1000 Tournaments:

Rafael Nadal has an amazing record in masters 1000 titles played on clay courts.  He has appeared in 20 masters 1000 finals on clay tournaments.  Out of which he won 16 finals.  He lost only to Roger Federer twice at Hamburg and at Madrid in 2009.  He also lost twice to Djokovic in 2011 at Madrid and Rome finals.  No other man could catch Nadal on clay courts masters 1000 events.  He won Monte Carlo Rolex Masters 8 straight years and this streak is still alive.  He also won Rome in 2012.  He would surely won at Madrid if it were to play on red clay.  That event was played on controversial blue clay.  Where he was defeated by Fernando Verdesco.  He lost only this match on clay last season.  Now he will appear in Monte Carlo with 42 match winning streak.  No one was able to beat him on this slow surface since last 8 years.  Amazing! 

Other Clay Events:

Rafael Nadal never lost a Davis cup match played on clay.  And he is backbone of Spanish team in Davis cup.  Also Nadal has a 34 match winning streak at Barcelona and 32 match winning streak in straight sets.  He never lost in Barcelona for last 6 years.  Another amazing fact is that he never lost in April since 2005.  He has 77 match winning streak on tour in April.  Recently he lost in Brazil open final.  That was his only 5^th defeat in any clay court tournament final after Djokovic and Federer.  Also he is the only man who has won two titles 7 or more times(French and Monte Carlo).  He has also won at least two clay court titles since 2005.  I don’t think anyone can match Nadal’s records.  All these brief stats show that why Nadal in named as king of clay.  He will be man to beat on clay again.  Djokovic and Murray are the players who can stop him, but if he shows that level he had shown in previous years, no one will be able to touch him this year also.  I think he will again win at least three more clay court titles this year again( he has already two clay titles in his bag).  But this is just the beginning.

Questions About Federer’s Future In 2013

The world no 2 Roger Federer is not playing at Miami masters 2013 due to limited tournament schedule of 2013.  He lessened the tournament of schedule to take more rest in order to give more impressive performance in 2013.  But tables have been turned when he suffered early exit against low ranked Julien Bennetau at Rotterdam, Tomas Berdych at Dubai semis despite of having match points and adding insult to injury Rafael Nadal ousted him in quarterfinals of Indian Wells masters. 

Now tennis world is again thinking that

1)aIs Federer’s gas in the tank has finished?.  

2) Is He no more the same player as he was three or four years ago? 

3)Another question tennis fans especially Federer’s fans are asking that will Federer add one or more grand slams in his already decorated CV?  All these questions are valid especially after the poor performance of Federer in 2013. 

The answer of the first question is “no”.  Because Federer’s gas in the tank has not finished yet.  He is still amoung the top players in the world and have no 2 ranking.  Moreover, the loss in two or three tournaments does not mean that all the season will continue in the same way.  Federer has achieved almost every thing that a tennis player or an athlete should win.  He has 17 grand slam titles in his exceptional career and he is reigning Wimbledon champion.  He cruise in the early rounds in every tournament despite of his old( so called) age.  He only susceptible to  the top player like Djokovic, Murray or Nadal.  All these and other top players have to work really hard to beat Federer.  So, Federer still has so much gas in the tank that he can achieve bigger goals (even grandslams)  at any stage.  He can never be counted out in any tournament. 

The answer of the second question is “yes”.  Federer is not the same player as he was in his prime.  His backhand is not as strong as once it was.  His serve and forehand are no more devastating as once they were.  But it does not mean that his serve, forehand and footwork are no more devastating.  They are still very dangerous.  He can still hit more winner from his forehand and can fire more and more aces from his big serve.  He can also get cheap points by his well pointed and heavy serves.  He can still manage to change the match from any moment  of the match.  Therefore Federer has to rest more and put his attention to his weak wing i-e backhand. 

The answer of third question is still yes.  He can win any grand slam at any stage.  We have to admit that Federer is king of open era and grand slam tennis.  He knows more than anyone that how to use better techniques to win a grand slam.  He can still show his master class performance to win another grand slam ( probably in 2013).  And as I said in my last articles that his best shot will be at Wimbledon 2013, where he is a defending champion also.  He is man to beat there. 

The bottom line is Federer has still two or three years to achieve more goals, break more records and make new records.  But tennis fans want him in action more and more they want that he should come back in action again.  Lets see what will happen at Madrid 2013.

Federer And Nadal Will Face Their First Tests

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will face their 2nd round opponents today.  Where Federer will face Denis Istomin, and he is leading head to head by 3-0 against him.  For Istomin it is looking impossible to defeat Federer and do huge early upset of the tournament.  Federer never lost before semi finals since 2003 at this tournament.  And he has an impressive record against low ranked players.  So it is expected that he will make short work of Istomin.  But taking his performance into consideration, Istomin may take advantage and provide him a tough challenge.  However he can not defeat him at such a stage.
Rafael Nadal's first opponent is home favourite Ryan Harrison.  It is their first meeting in the career.  For Ryan Harrison, the only hope is that, Rafael has not been playing on hard courts since last year's Miami.  And he can take full advantage of that defeciency of Rafael Nadal.  Recently Nadal has won two tournaments but these were on clay.  He is two time former champion of this tournament and very much optimistic about his return on hard courts.  He may struggle a little bit against American hope, but he can handle Ryan Harrison very well.  And he will win this match in straight sets comprehensively.  Ryan Harrison will create excitement but that will be of no use against the man of such a caliber like Nadal.

Indian Wells Master " The Draw"

First of all there are two things which tennis fans are looking for are the return of Nadal in action on hard courts and the number two ranking of Federer is on the line at this tournament.  Because, if Andy Murray wins the tournament, he will become no 2 player in the world.  It can also happen if Andy Murray reaches in the final and Federer loses in the semis.  Therefore it would be very interesting.  Now take a brief look on Indian well draw.
Novak Djokovic Half:
Djokovic's may have to face Jo Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals, which would be an interesting match up, because Last year at French open Tsonga could not win even having match points against Djokovic.  If we follow the seedings, there is no real obstacle for no 1 seed. In the semi final he could face his rival Andy Murray who is fallen in his half this time, therefore it can be epic, if they happen to meet in semis.  But if we see history, Andy Murray has not won a single match here since 2010.  Therefore, he did not play in whole of February, to keep his focus on this tournament.  In the way Murray has to face tough test of Juan Martin Del potro. Djokovic is riding 18 match winning streak since his loss at paris masters.  After that he won year ending championship, Australian Open and recently the Dubai open.  So if somehow Andy Murray reaches in the semis, it would be very tough for him to beat Djokovic.
Prediction: Djokovic d Andy Murray
Roger Federer's Half:
Roger Federer has to face the old foes in his draw.  He has to face the ghost of the past.  He can face Julien Bennetau to whome he lost in Rotterdam this year.  He can also face Wawrinka or John Isner in the forth round.  The most interesting early rounds encounter will the Match between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.  Because he has fallen in his Quarter.  It will happen for the first time since 10 year that both will meet before semis in a tournament.  Nadal is back on hard court since last year's Miame masters.  So his early round matches could be very interesting.  In his way he can face American Ryan harrison, Janko Tipserivic.  All are out of form this time, which will be advantageous for Nadal.  Also in this half are David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych.  Who will likely to meet in the quarter finals.  It will be great chance for both of these guys to reach in semis of this tournament for the first time in their carrers.
Prediction: Federer d Tomas Berdych
The Final Prediction;
Federer d Djokovic

Federer Will Come Back Strong At Indian Wells

Federer's 2013 start was not so appreciable for his fans.  But there is a lot of tennis to come in 2013 season.  Although Federer did not performed well so far, but his is still no 2 player in the world and has ability to come to the top.  Therefore it will not easy to count him out in any tournament.
The next tournament will be Indian Wells Masters event starting from the 7th of March.  Federer is defending champion here.  He defeated Nadal in Semis and John Isner in the final last to claim his 4th Indian Wells title.
Now he is bidding to win his 5th title here.  Despite his disappointing performance at Rotterdam and Dubai, he will come back stroger and will go deep into the draw.  In the draw there will be all top players waiting for him.
It is true that Roger Federer is not the same player that once he was, but he has enough gas in the tank that he can beat his top rivals.  His experience is more than any other players on the tour.  He is mastrer class and
he always proved his critics wrong, when they counted him out.  So lets see what will happen at indian wells, but Federer has ability to defend this title.