I had to do a double-take Tuesday when scrolling through the Hamburg scores. According to official ATP results, Tommy Haas lost in the first round of Hamburg to Robin Soderling after he retired in the second set due to a pollen allergy. That’s right, a freaking pollen allergy. That is, a runny nose, watery eyes, etc.

Think of all the great heroic efforts in sports: Terrell Owens playing the Super Bowl with a cracked leg, Curt Schilling pitching in the MLB playoffs with a stitched-up, still-bleeding ankle and Willis Reed hobbling in the NBA with a broken leg. Those guys sucked it for themselves, their teams and their fans. That’s sports. The competition. Testing the limits. Going against the odds, but not quitting due to something like an allergy, which affects many of us especially this time of year but we get thru it.

After playing an epic five-set 5-hours plus marathon in Rome on Sunday, not surprisingly both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have decided to pass up playing in Hamburg, which would have required the two to compete on Tuesday.

I’m sure Hamburg tournament organizers were glued to the screen yesterday hoping the match would go short. But at soon as it went five you know they were sweating thinking these guys won’t post.

Two forehands. That’s all Roger Federer is thinking about right now, two forehands.

Federer had two championship points in the fifth set with Rafael Nadal serving 15-40, 5-6, Sunday in Rome but missed them both. Both were makeable, both were missable. Nadal took the blow, recovered, pushed a tiebreak and took the match from the World No. 1.

Talk about a dagger right through the heart of the mighty Fed.

We all know Patty Schnyder has some issues. She’s a nutjob on the court, a nutjob off the court and now without a doubt a nutjob in cyberspace.

After visiting her new “book” site “The White Mile” at www.the-white-mile.net Patty and fellow freak/husband have outdone themselves.