Rember - the MC Canada alternates between Toronto and Montreal and Roger has won the last 2 in Toronto but lost in the Quebec city. Do you think he just doesn’t play as well where French is spoken? Kidding.

Simon may be Fed’s toughest opponent until he reaches the final. If he wins today in straight sets I think it will bode very well for him.

Djokovic looked flat yesterday His serve and Dancevic’s inability to read it helped him through, but it will be interesting if it is Murray he meets.

Djoko looked flat? Were we watching the same guy? It’s amazing how perspective affects perception. In my opinion, Djokovic’s returns are what brought him through; Dancevic has an excellent serve - esp out wide - but Djoko got a read on it and broke him easily; plus Dancevic always plays well here in Canada, eh? We know he got to the quarters last year, taking a set off Rafa there too. If anything, I thought Djoko’s serve wasn’t as good as it could be (that inconsistency is his greatest weakness, imo), but his game from the baseline was sharp; he attacked, planting himself on the baseline and pushing Frankie back - hitting deep and powerful groundies throughout.

Sean,

Novak could also face Soderling next, who has a powerful game. He could also run into Safin again, although Marat now has the disadvantage of having to play twice today. So to say Novak’s path is easy is pushing it imo.

Maybe it’s a perspective issue again, but to me Roger’s road is easier; he has a winning record against all those guys (of course that’s the norm for him), save Simon, and Roddick may not be at his best. Gonza, if firing, could be a threat, but otherwise, Roger’s draw to the quarters is easier. Djoko, if he gets by Soderling, then Murray, Wawrinka or Safin, will have to face Rafa or maybe Gasquet - hardly easy!! No one on the bottom half of Fed’s side is a real threat to him (maybe F-Lo IF he can win consistently), so if Roger wins in the quarters he has an easier path to the final. Cillic is a darkhorse but his inexperience may not allow to break through just yet; on the other hand, sometimes that is the very thing that helps a young player to win, lack of experience and pressure.

At least that’s the view from here.

nadal has to defend fewer points than fed in this part of the season so he has lots of chances to become number one sooner or later this year. However, after his atonishing first half of the year im not sure he will be able to keep such a level and play well under all the pressure. … huge dissapointment if by 2009 he is still number 2. besides, federer is gonna put everything he can out there, his best tennis ha sto be played…djockovic’s game is still not fully developed.

Excellent second serves from Djokovic. You can tell he was working on it the last weeks.

Jane,
I agree completely with your assessment of Nole’s performance against Dancevic and I also think Nole has a tough match against either Soderling or an in-form Verdasco although I think he will be confident enough by the time he reaches the qf and sf to tame his prospective rivals(most likely Murray and Rafa).
However,I don’t think Fed has an easy opponent in an in-form and very sharp Simon.You never know in a best of three situation.Both Gonza and Rod beat him the last time he met them on a hard court.I think he’d be confident only against his sf opponent if he can reach that stage.I hope he is able to do better than what he did in the first part of the hard season.
Unlike others,I believe Rafa has a very easy quarter and should easily reach the sf if he gets past Berdych-he should because Berdych has looked ordinary this year-if Berdych can beat Andreev first. Rafa doesn’t have to play any really aggressive power player in his qf.
Personally,I think Davy’s quarter is packed with a lot of quality and evenly-matched players and is the most difficult to call as it were.I’d love to see Lopez play Haas or Youzhny in the qf.However,James and Davy-as indeed Keifer and Tursovov- will certainly have to say something about that.

Thank you Sean, even though had to wait for 2 days to see something on Toronto.

Excuse me if I sound negative: You always go for marketability to please the majority crowd/customers here. That’s ok. That is how market operates.

I agree with you Djoko was not in his best form in the 1st three games. But he picked up after that except at one occasion late in the 2nd set he double faulted and got broken. We have to give Dancevic some credit for his good serve and quick returnability. Whenever the ball was in play, Djoko was on top most of the time (I would day 90% of the time).

“Roger’s draw looks dicey”? He has the easiest road to the quarter after Gulbis exited. I wanted to watch Fed-Gulbis match. The only challenge he will face is Roddick in the quarter. Before that, he has Simon and Gonzu or Acasuso.
Whoever comes out of the 2nd quarter should not be a problem for Fed: FeLo/Tursunov; Blake/Bjorkman; Davy/Haas; or Kiefer/Youzhny. Except Roddick in the quarter, there is no one to challenge Fed all the way to the finals.

In the 3rd quarter, like Jane said above, Djoko has a tougher draw: Soderling/Verdasco; Murray/Johansson; or Wawrinka/Safin.

In the 4th quarter, you say “Nadal’s section is pretty cozy…I’m not sure if either Richard Gasquet or David Ferrer has the belief right now to beat Rafa.” A guy (Ferrer) who eliminated Rafa on USO and MC last year does not have belief to beat Rafa? I am not sure if Berdych/ Gasquet / Ferrer are lesser players than Simon/ Gonzu/ Acasuso?
On top of that, Fed does not have anybody like Rafa or Djoko to face in the semi. That alone makes your logic tilted toward one.

Great article about the match from Toronto

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Tennis/article/465579

Hi Jane !

It is strange that it has rained every day in Toronto since the tournament started. It did not affect much on the first day. Safin-Querrey match got postponed last night, and today all matches are indefinitely suspended. I called a friend in Buffalo this morning. It is pretty bad there. I checked the weather channel just now. It is going to be fine from tomorrow.
How is it wherever you are? I always wanted to ask you where in Canada you are from, if it does not compromise your netcrecy.

it’s a breath of fresh air to have a tournament where they press aren’t making a story about which side of the draw novak is on. the wimbledon fiasco must have had a ripple effect and brought everyone to their senses.

Sardino,
Thanks for the link. It was a good piece. I enjoyed reading it.

Hey Shital Green -

Matches are back on I see. Rafa was down a break but just got back on serve, Safin’s up a break, Ferrer won the 1st set, and Cillic is up a break.

BTW, I live on the west coast in Canada, though I’ve lived all over the place in this spacious nation, including 4 years in Toronto.

Federer’s draw looks dicey? What draw are we talking about? He’s got an easy road to the SFs, as always. The draw is lopsided at best. Why are Djokovic, No. 3 and Ferrer, No. 5, two players who could give Fed some trouble, and odd numbered seeds, placed in Nadal’s half of the draw; and why is Roddick the No. 6 seed on Federer’s side? It appears that irregardless of what number Roddick is seeded, he invariably 7 out of 10 times ends up in Federer’s quarter. It doesn’t make any sense to me, but then how many of the draws really make sense and are fair?

It’s obvious from Roddick’s match play against Mahut, that he’s not up to snuff; he’s most definitely lacking in match play since Rome. To reiterate I just don’t get it why he’s on Fed’s side of the draw and Djoko and Ferrer is on Nadal’s side. People say the draws aren’t manipulated, I’d like to see some hard evidence that this isn’t so.

Someone mentioned that there isn’t a story regarding which side of the draw Djoko is on — the answer is simple, the buzz is only relevant when he’s on Fed’s side of the draw. In this instance he’s not, hence there isn’t any threat from Djoko for Fed; Fed as well as his anxiety- riddled fans can sleep peacefully basking in the knowledge that he’ll be sailing through to the finals. All’s well that ends well, and in this case, the story will have a great ending.

Safin is crushing Querrey; it’ll be interesting to see how he does against Wawrinka later, if the match goes ahead. Safin, on hard courts especially, but also given his run at Wimbledon this year, should not be underestimated by anyone - fans, players, pundits. His game is stunning when it’s clicking.

Until 6th game, Levine, 123th ranking Ottawa born American, played impressively with more winners than Nadal’s. From thereafter Nadal came back to do business as usual and take the set.
Levine started making more unforced errors and got broken early in the 3rd game of the 2nd set. At one point (2nd game, 2nd set), it showed that the surface can cause Rafa lose his balance. Second time Levin got broken with his double fault. How miserable that is ! Now Nadal is in a position to dispatch Levine quickly.

Jane,
How are you getting to watch Safin-Querrey match on TV? I don’t even get to see the score of that match.

I am really happy Cilic totally demolished Robredo. Among the young guns, I’d like to see Cilic among top 10 in the near future.

Shital - I was just following Safin scores /stats on the scoreboard at work. I’m home in time to watch some live tennis now, and then can watch what was caught on tape later, which won’t be much since it rained all day. I am happy about Cillic too; I haven’t seen him play much, since the AO, as they rarely seem to air his matches, but I like what I’ve seen when I’ve seen it, if you know what I mean.

Levine had 26 winners as opposed to Nadal’s 9 and still lost. He had 7 break chances and could only convert on one.

Initialy, Nadal showed signs of some apparent rust and lethargy, which is understandble, because of his down time since Wimby. Anyway, toward the end of the first set his form began taking shape and by the end of the match he was looking more match grooved. I expect he’ll be more fired up in his next match.

I’m happy for Safin that he’s beginning to show some of his former good form on hardcourts, albeit at Sam Querrey’s expense. Hopefully, Marat will cruise through Wawrinka, (who can’t hold a candle to Marat in his hey day) if they do meet.

I’ve been watching Nadal’s match and he looked to me so slow. He didn’t move well.

Maybe it is the three weeks off, or maybe he is been cautious with his body.

Did anyone of you notice that?

Looks windy for Fed’s match, hence quite a few errors, but he seems to be having no problem with Simon and is serving well. Simon is hanging around miles behind the baseline most of the time.

I see Roger has his coach along with him here - interesting. Was he at Wimbledon? I know he was around for clay, but I didn’t notice him at SW19.

Looks like it is going to an easy ride for Fed. Simon is no match for him. I have to say Fed looks unbelievably solid.

I do not understand Federer’s fans.If You listen to them, Nole is the worst tennis player,but they are following anething that he says or does,and they hate him so much.If he is so bad,and he is not any threat to Federer why YOU pay attention so much to Nole.

Fed’s coach was not there for him at SW19. He just stayed to coach the American, whose name escapes me.

I have to say, Fed’s hair color is really cool and he is playing well.

Jane -

No - Jose was not at Wimbledon. It is a good sign that Roger still has him around.

The university stadium is tricky - although it is windy there is not too much of a breeze on court level (just look at Roger’s flowing locks - ha!)

Running around to his forehand on the first 2 points and blasting winners - a very agressive start for Fed. I think he wants to send a message here, and poor Monsieur Simon will be the conduit.

Nadal - Djokovic and now Fed!

Big boy tennis is back ! ! !

(Of course do I have major egg on my face should Simon come back!)

Matt:

If you read my 7:24 pm post, you’ll notice I mentioned Nadal looked lethargic. He didn’t appear enthusiastic or full of zest and vigor — maybe he’s being cautious, but his form was definitely not his usual.
____________

Fed, only wanted Higueras around for the FO, but stated he could extend Higueras’ term of coaching for a longer period. I suppose after losing Wimby, he’s decided to revert back to thinking he needs some coaching.

Ginepri should find another coach. Higueras is sort of a chess player, and Robby is the pawn. Too bad.

Simon is not a threat to most of the top 10 players so I’m not at all surprised that he’ll lose.

Looks like Mr. Djokovic is back to remind everyone who was too concerned that the wimbledon final was too classy that there are bucket loads of crass as well, in tennis. I hope safin or nadal dump some cold water on his head, like they have done in the last 4 tournaments. Some people just refuse to learn.

Nadal was a little off the radar to begin with, but got the job done. I hope toni will make him watch the murray match from wimbledon. It will be really good to see nadal beat up a few more of these over-hyped “youngsters”.

Simon has some good shots from the back, but so far they lack the pop of Fed’s or Novak’s baseline games. He seems a little too casual to me, needs to show a little more intensity.

It was windy earilier but seems to have settled down now.

Does anyone know if Safin has to play twice today? It’s scheduled that he and Wawrinka will play after this.

Both Gordo and Mary have commented on Fed’s hair; am I missing something? LOL.

I do wonder what brand of gum Mirka chews. She must go through a couple of pounds of it during every one of Roger’s matches. When I first saw her chomping away I thought mabe it was one of the Blue Jays’ pitchers - in watching some tennis.

I think Juicy Fruit should spend a few grand an get her to endorse their product. Thank goodness it does not appear to be bubblegum!!!

Jane,
I have answered your ‘whence’ question on the relevant thread.

What happened with Roddick/Fish retiring from the doubles match?

Thanks Noel - I just saw that actually, and I totally agree with your wariness. Roger is looking a little more stressed in this second set, hey? With so many break chances for Simon. But Simon’s not been able to convert on one of them yet.

What’s up with Blake? He just lost the first set 1 - 6 to Bjorkman. Blake must be one of those “overhyped youngsters” Friend writes about. LOL.

Matt,
I also thought that Rafa was not his busy self in terms of movement and that affected his positioning for the shots although he did play well when he had to.I guess it is understandable given that it was his first match.The fact that it was against a leftie was probably a factor as well. That ninth game of the first set probably was the key as far as Levine’s confidence was concerned.Once he lost that first set,his chances went downhill.Levine also didn’t serve well while Rafa had more than 75% first serves although Rafa’s return game was not as good as it normally is.

A weird observation…

Is it just me, or does Roger’s coach look like he could be Novak Djokovic’s dad?

Simon is showing some resistance in the 2nd set (exchanged a break conversion), but won’t be enough to disarm Fed.

“I do wonder what brand of gum Mirka chews.”

She looks like a proverbial cow “chewing its cud”, and would like to be somewhere else other than in Fed’s box. The most exuberance I’ve seen from her was at the Wimby finals, but that could have been due to Gwen Stefani and the guy (whose name eludes me) jumping up at every point Fed won.

wow 4 errors from Federer to give Simon the break and the set.

Simon upped his level and took the 2nd set. I am really surprised.

Well Blake seems to be coming around now.

As does Simon, but Fed looked pretty sloppy at the end of the second there. He looks kind of tired. Oh well, on to the third…

I see Gonza is knocked out now. Acasuso is taking out big hitters - first Gulbis and now ‘Fernando the forehand’.

Simon is riding a 6 match winning streak on these hard courts with 5 wins last week in Indianapolis and a win over Donald Young yesterday. It is a good test for Roger assuming he passes it. A loss could just add to the snowball effect although tennis always seems to have a tournament around the corner for rebounding.

Simon is playing MUCH better.

Federer sent his forehand back to the locker methinks.

How important is this set???

Should Federer lose tonight and Nadal win the tournament then the reulting points will be -

FEDERER - 6255 NADAL - 6105

As opposed to Fed winning over Nadal, which will result in -

FEDERER - 6750 NADAL - 5925

For those who are curious.

Two upsets today: Gonzu and Berdych have been knocked today. I am particularly sad about Berdych’s exit.

Berdych needs a few wins and a confidence boost after that injury. He’s not been able to get any momentum going this year.

Fed seems to be in control of this 3rd set, Simon is slowing down now, making a lot of errors, so Fed should pass the “test.”

Fed is such a bad “challenger”; he notoriously gets em wrong. It’s kind of funny given how often he hits the lines!

Does anyone else find him a little “cranky” so far tonight? I don’t know, maybe it’s pressure. But he doesn’t seem to be having a good time out there or anything.

Simon avoided the double break deficit. He is a heady and scrappy player. Federer up a break should find a way through, but Simon is making him work and is still in the match.

Broken at love?? Federer is really struggling with consistent aggression.

Simon takes the break back and levels the match at 3-3.

Noel:

See my post to you on the same thread you answered jane’s question. thanks.

Good game. Federer breaks Simon right back.

And now Fed gets the break back, again, after a nice long rally between these two. You gotta give Simon credit for fighting hard in these last two sets. After the first one, I thought it’d be a rout, but it’s turning out to be a fun match.

Fed breaks Simon right back. The 7th point of the 7th game in the 3rd set was the best Fed played today, which gave him break point. And the next point he played really well, too.

Wow rare to see Federer give up two breaks…

Simon squanders double break chances. And then, he gets one more. He breaks back again to level the match at 4-4.

whata roller coaster… can either of them hold? sheesh!

Ups, I’m sorry, I didn’t read your post, Von.

Yes, Rafa looked rusty and slow, and Federer doesn’t look pretty good either.

Finally, Simon holds. The match is getting more interesting by minute.

Federer loses!

3 straight breaks - I am not about to write a eulogy, but Federer is struggling mightily at present. Hats off to Simon. 7 straight on hard courts and a win over Fed.

Wow…that’s a great win for Simon. He held his nerve at the end there.

Pretty hard loss for Roger - wow. Sorry to his fans; he just didn’t seem himself tonight.

It look MONO is back.

Are you kidding???? GOSH!!!!! Federer lost to Simon?!?!?! GOSH!!!

Simon upsets Fed. Shocking !

Matt:

“Ups, I’m sorry, I didn’t read your post, Von.”

I’m inconsolable, in that, you don’t read my posts. Are they that bad? Maybe I need to change my style of writing? And, this is a loaded question, where every anti-Von character will be taking some shots at me. Oh well, par for the course, n’est-ce pas?

What ia the excuse for that?

It is sad to see the GOAT losing in the first round.
My condolences to Fed fans.

What’s the last match were Fed was bounced in the first round?

That was a pretty important match for Federer confidence wise….the last thing he needs right now is a first round loss. Will surely make things immediately very interesting for the #1 contention.

wow… when’s the last time Federer’s forehand cost him the match…

Oh my, Giles Simon, my apologies to you. I said you weren’t successful against the top 10 players — I’m now wiping the egg off of my face. i know one guy that’s going to be smiling now, and the winnwer is — ANDY RODDICK. This sudden turn of events now places a whole different complexion on the draw, and Djoko, Roddick, Nadal and every other Joe will be licking their chops.

If Nadal goes deep in this tourney, then that No. 1 spot that’s looming on the horizon is within his grasp.

Fed will still be No 1 at the end of this week, but next week…..
What freaking excuse can he have for that? He moved like crap, hit like crap, why couldn’t he serve?

Mary:

Dubai.

Wow…this is serious.

I think Federer is having a tough time mentally.

Once you start losing, your confidence goes down quickly.

Shital, referencing Federer as the GOAT is out of sync with the majority opinion on the matter. The consensus has always been that he needs to win the French open to achieve that status in the near term or in the long term amass so many Slams that he is deemed it by virtue of being prolific.

Mary,
Fed was ousted by Murray in Dubai this year, also in the “first” round.

blah,

I’d argue Fed’s forehand errors were part of the reason he lost in the final set at Wimbledon; he whacked a few into the net, including on match point if I am not mistaken. It’s a great shot but for over a year now, he’s been shanking them on and off.

51 Unforced Errors in 3 sets. what was that?!
Simon just kept the ball in play and wait Fed to make the mistakes. He was broken 0-40 in 3 games. I never saw that before, not even in that Fish match.

He seems to have lost his temper with someone in the audience. This is the turning point in his career, now I have to admit it! Nadal will be number one after Cincy. He just need to make one final in one of this MS. It was painfull to see Fed start so good and suddenly collapse like that.

Losing to Rafa at the French was not good.

Losing to Rafa at Wimbledon was pretty disastrous.

Losing to Simon in the first round of Toronto..that’s got to be pretty damn near catastrophic for Roger.

I mean, Rafa’s win at Wimbledon was exhilarating rather than Roger’s loss shocking…but this loss…this is just stunning.

Thanks, Jane.

I just don’t understand how someone can unravel like that after winning the first set 6-2. Simon was not playing out of his mind or anything.

Although I am a fan of Fed’s, I am enjoying the drama, just to see where this is all going to lead.

Daniel,

I could not understand what Fed was complaining about; he was telling the crowd to “be quiet” but he was ‘out of sorts’ I thought. And it was early in the second set, when he was winning, so I don’t know why he was so bothered. He seems to have lost the calm demeanor tonight which cost him his focus. But you’re right - so many unforced errors.

Mary,

I agree; it’s not that Simon was playing out of his mind. So I am not sure what was up. Very strange looking match. Maybe Roger has some stuff to work out. I don’t know. But that’s a hard loss, drama or not.

Von,

It sure does open up that side of the draw though doesn’t it? What did I tell you to keep alive?

“he was telling the crowd to “be quiet” but he was ‘out of sorts’ I thought.”

Fed did an Andy Roddick at the AO.

Fed’s forehand has been his unoing for the past 18 months, however, i still hear some say tht his is the best forehand in the game.

I’ve stated before, and will reiterate again, depending on what time of day a match is played the court could be a player’s enemy. Today, it was rainy and windy, which accounted for Fed’s serve being as ineffectiv as it was. I would hazard a guess that the court was cold, hence it disallowed the ball to zip through as it normally would on a hot day, accounting for the meager amount of aces.

Well, it is painful but he is just human.

He’s been playing so freely during three or four years because he was so ahead and he knew he was the best, head and shoulders above the rest.

But know, this year, he feels he is being challenged seriously for the very first time, and he knows this guy (Nadal) is here to tame the tennis world, and add to this that after Nadal it comes Djokovic who will surely tame the tennis world sooner or later.

I think that for the first time during his reign, he feels the pressure, he feels unsecure.

It is not easy when you don’t feel anymore that you are the top dog.

I did notice that Fed’s coach looked antsy in the first set. Also, Mirka looked like crap-not saying that to make fun- I just wonder what is really going on in Camp Fed.
It may have done him some good to read the press after Wimbl.

Von,
Ref: “i know one guy that’s going to be smiling now”

I was thinking exactly the same thing just a second ago. This opens a big opportunity for Roddick. He better not waste it. And he has a winning record against Simon (H2H 1-0 last year at Miami).

But Simon is playing very well on hard court this year. He just won a title at Indy, plus right after AO Open, he defeated Djoko at Marseille. Roddick cannot take him lightly, though.

Sorry to Fed fans but this makes everything a lot more interesting.

Let me extract earlier quotes from this blog -

Shital Green said “Roger’s draw looks dicey”? He has the easiest road to the quarter after Gulbis exited. I wanted to watch Fed-Gulbis match. The only challenge he will face is Roddick in the quarter.” Later he wrote, “Looks like it is going to an easy ride for Fed. Simon is no match for him.”

Von said “He’s (Federer’s) got an easy road to the SFs, as always.” Later he wrote, “Simon is not a threat to most of the top 10 players so I’m not at all surprised that he’ll lose.”

And of course I earlier wrote - I think he (Federer) wants to send a message here, and poor Monsieur Simon will be the conduit.”

Well, well, well!! Isn’t this what makes the game so great.

THIS PRETTY WELL ENSURES THAT RAPHAEL NADAL WILL AT SOME POINT SOON BECOME THE NUMBER ONE RANKED PLAYER IN THE WORLD.

With FEDERER now dropping to 6255, at the very worst NADAL, who is defending semi final points of 225 will wind up with one of the following - if he wins this tournament - 6105, if he loses in the final - 5955, if he loses in the semis - 5830, if he loses in the quarters - 5730.

With Federer defending the title at both Cincinnati and the US Open he CANNOT gain any points. NADAL on the other hand lost in the FIRST ROUND AT CINCINNATI (5 points to defend) and the ROUND OF 16 at the US OPEN (150 points).

To put it simply - FEDERER COULD WIN CINCINNATI AND THE US OPEN AND ALL RAFA WOULD HAVE TO DO IS MAKE THE SEMIS OF TORONTO, THE QUARTERS OF CINCINNATI AND THE SEMIS OF THE US OPEN AND THE POINT TOTAL WOULD BE -

FEDERER - 6255 NADAL - 6350.

Now - the Olympics are going to be free points for Federer and near-free points for Nadal, but realistically, the record of 1 person consecutively being the number one player in the world is about to come to an end.

I almost expected this upset.I wrote about the in-form opponent that Fed was playing in my 1:33 p.m. post although I never expected Fed to be so rusty.This is the second time now this year and Fed’s crisis-esp on hard courts-gets deeper.Not a single hard court final this year for a player who once dominated the surface.

Gordo thanks for the Math…but please…at least get the guys name right…hes not the famous painter…its Rafael.

I also thought Roger’s road would be easier, but I made an exception of Simon, because I knew they had not played before and that he had won last week; however, after the first set I totally thought Roger would win - and when he got the second break in the 3rd I did too. I think we all did. Roger’s loss was truly a shock this time.

Shital:

You’re right Andy has a golden opportunity. As you probably noticed from my posts, I’ve been fretting about Andy being on Fed’s side of the draw, well, I take that back. Andy, is a question mark though, he has that niggling back problem and has come into this tournament very match deprived — having only played approx. 8 matches from May in Rome to the present time. That’s not enough to get him in the swing. We’ll just have to hope and do the wait and see game.

He played well against Simon in Miami, but that was a different Simon. Let’s hope simon gets tired from too much match play plus the exhiliaration of taking out Fed.Only time will tell.

Gordo,
Unpredictable things happen in sports. This is one of those instances.

Keep sharing the math with us until it actually happens in the ATP ranking chart. You have been proving good entertainment (in a positive sense).
Thanks !

“Let’s hope simon gets tired from too much match play plus the exhiliaration of taking out Fed”

Emmmmm…lets not

Vulcan - and Mr. Nadal -

Sorry for the first name spelling mistake.

But I am right with the math!

Gordo:

“Von said “He’s (Federer’s) got an easy road to the SFs, as always.” Later he wrote, “Simon is not a threat to most of the top 10 players so I’m not at all surprised that he’ll lose.””

I am a girl, a she, not a “he”. But it’s difficult for you to know that as Von is usually affiliated with males rather than females. No problem.

___________
jane:

Yes, you did say, keep the hope alive. I just hope Rover moves his bloomin arse and makes the most of this opportunity. However, Acasuso has given Roddick some problems in the past, so it’s a wait and see proposition.

Von -

all these nice bloggers and here I am like a bull in a china shop!

First I get Nadal’s first name wrong, and now label you a dude.

Heartfelt apologies. Now I know!!!

Gordo - you’re the local Fed-Nadal math expert. Could you throw Djoko in there next time, even though I know you don’t like him??

If a player wins a tournament he won last year, he gets the winner’s points right? It’s only if he loses that he loses the points because he didn’t defend them, right? Or if he didn’t win and goes beyond last year’s results, he gains. I don’t know. I just check the rankings on Monday and leave the calculating to others. LOL.

Gordo thanks again, and after many years of watching tennis I think your explanation has finally allowed me to understand the concept of “defending points”…guess I just never stopped and thought about it long enough.

I’m a bit down with this defeat.

Now is clear to me that Nadal will be nº1 after the USOPEN and perhaps before the USOPEN.

But on the other hand I’m happy for Nadal. He’s a great guy, a great fighter and he deserves it totally.

Anyway, I always knew that this day would come sooner or later, that Federer could not be nº1 forever.

Not that it makes it easier to watch.