Having heard that David Goffin, Roger Federer's fourth round opponent, had posters of him in his room, Federer recalled a match he played against Patrick Rafter. He took a set off of the Aussie, but the Aussie claimed the next 3 sets. He felt, once Goffin claimed the first set, that it was his job
With overnight rains slowing down the court, Djokovic found himself playing his style and possibly better. Andreas Seppi has been on the tour a long time floating around 50 in the rankings, but this year, he lifted his game. In particular, Seppi did it in Djokovic's own tournament. Djokovic decided not to play Belgrade because
Since I haven't reported in the last few days, let's start with John Isner. With Mardy Fish's heart problems causing him to leave the tour since March and Andy Roddick's quick exit and Ryan Harrison not quite ready to make the leap, John Isner has become the beacon of men's tennis. Brian Baker might become
It was shaping up to be a fairy tale ending. Xavier Malisse was the last man to beat Brian Baker in a Slam in the second round of the 2005 US Open. Stan Wawrinka beat Baker in the finals of the French Open junior title two years earlier. Had Baker gotten past Simon, he would
First, Rafa had a much first round than he did last year when he was pushed to a five setter for the first and only time by John Isner. This year, he played Simone Bolleli and had a straight set romp dropping no more than 2 games a set. Andy Murray's opponent, Tatsuma Ito, said
The last time Brian Baker was in a Slam was 2005, seven years ago. He was a wildcard, and managed an opening day upset, beating clay court specialist, Gaston Gaudio. In the second round, he lost in four sets to Xavier Malisse. Malisse is a Belgian player that was once a reasonably high-ranked junior. While
There's still a few players that Roger Federer hasn't played. Tobias Kamke, for instance. One thing you notice is that more players can keep up, at least, somewhat, with Roger Federer. We've seen so many players blown out by Federer's aggressive play that it's weird to see that more and more players are able to,
Andy Roddick had been on the top of men's rankings for so long that it seems a shame to see how far he's fallen. Injuries have meant that Roddick has missed a few weeks or more each year. A noted hard-worker, Roddick's training may have lead to additional injuries. Roddick did not play any of
The French Open (referred to as Roland Garros by the locals) released its main draw. Once again, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are in the same half of the draw. Novak's section has some solid, but not overly tough players. Hewitt is in his section, but Hewitt is not a noted clay courter, and he's
If you were to place a bet on who had a better chance to beat Rafa on clay, Djokovic or Federer, who would you pick? Federer has only beaten Rafa on clay sparingly. In Hamburg some number of years ago, and in Madrid, during its inaugural start. He may have another win here or there,
