3D Federer Opens Estoril Play Wednesday; Madrid Next for Nadal

by Sean Randall | May 4th, 2010, 10:49 pm
  • 26 Comments

Rafael Nadal has taken a week off allowing some of the other top players to get a shot at ATP clay titles this week – how nice of him. Among them are Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic who are playing in Estoril and Belgrade, respectively. ADHEREL

While Djokovic enjoys another day off courtesy of a bye and being part of the Serbian Open management team (ownership has its privileges), Federer returns to play still seeking his first clay match win.

After a stunning loss last week to Ernests Gulbis in Rome, Federer will play veteran Bjorn Phau in the second round at Estoril on Wednesday.


“I felt good going into Rome, but after one match and intense practice I’m looking forward to the week ahead,” said the 2008 champion.

“For sure, I’d like to win the tournament again,” he added. “As the only Top 10 player in the draw, I have high expectations. But first of all I’d like to record my first win on clay after losing to [Ernests] Gulbis last week.”

High expectations he should have. Except for Federer, the field is bare bones with next to no one who should challenge Roger.

His opponent tomorrow, Bjorn Phau, does have a win in two tries against the Swiss. The German beat Federer way back in 1999 with Roger getting revenge at the 2007 Australian Open. The match will be broadcast live in 3D by MEO, the cable channel from Portugal Telecom, for the first time at a national event.

I have no idea how that 3D works, but let’s hope Fed doesn’t have a case of the shanks tomorrow. That would be quite trippy for the viewers.

At the Serbian Open on Wednesday, Ivo Karlovic, Sam Querrey and Stan Wawrinka are in action. And the highlight of Munich tomorrow will be matches featuring Marin Cilic, Mikhail Youhzny, Tomas Berdych and Nicolas Almagro.

And there were some rumblings that Rafael Nadal may skip on playing Madrid. Well, Uncle Toni has confirmed that Rafa will be in the draw next week – there really should never have been any doubt as he cannot skip BOTH of Spain’s clay events!

CENTRAL start 11:00 am
M Larcher de Brito (POR) vs S Cirstea (ROU) – WTA
Not Before 1:50 PM
[4] A Montanes (ESP) vs D Gimeno-Traver (ESP) – ATP
Not Before 4:00 PM
[1] R Federer (SUI) vs B Phau (GER) – ATP
[WC] F Gil (POR) / R Machado (POR) vs [3] A Clement (FRA) / R Lindstedt (SWE) – ATP


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Del Potro Withdraws From Estoril
Marquee Clay Schedules: Where Will Nadal, Djokovic, Federer And Murray Be Playing The Next Six Weeks
Tsitsipas Takes First Title On Clay Over Cuevas In Estoril
Nicolas Almagro Wins First Title Since 2012 In Estoril Beating Pablo Carreno Busta

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26 Comments for 3D Federer Opens Estoril Play Wednesday; Madrid Next for Nadal

Kimmi Says:

3D, what the..?


madmax Says:

c’moon federer! I think he plays at 1pm today. will be watching in lunch hour.


madmax Says:

No, he plays at 4pm now. But this is something I have found about how underrated Federer’s fitness is. I just hope that he maintains a better performance and closes out matches from hereonin. Time is getting closer now to both slams – FO and his beloved Wimby.

A fit and furious Roger Federer
The world No.1’s fitness is the key element lacking in most players today. This essential, teamed with talent, makes him a cut above the rest.

By Mridubha Kumar

It is one thing to fight your way to the summit, but it is something else altogether to hold your forte there. And a classic case who proves this is 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.

His 2008 Wimbledon final defeat to Rafael Nadal was heralded by many as the beginning of his slump. But the Swiss did well to bounce back to the top last year. He may have suffered a few shockers and upsets, especially in the recent tournaments, but Federer’s dominance in men’s tennis is unquestionable even today. So what goes into making a world-class tennis player like Federer? Is it his unparalleled talent or is it the hardwork?

The Swiss maestro enjoyed an unprecedented 237-week reign at the top of ATP rankings. Though we applaud his game and mental toughness, one tends to overlook the 28-year-old’s fitness, which his success speaks volumes of.

Even after being toppled by Nadal when the Spaniard dethroned him to claim that coveted top-spot in rankings in 2008, the Swiss ace rose like a phoenix from the ashes to prove his critics wrong.

What followed for Nadal, on the other hand, was a year marred by a niggling knee injury that saw him pull out of various tournaments including two Majors. Recently, after winning a record sixth Monte Carlo Masters title, Nadal pulled out of Barcelona Open, admitting his body is still shy of handling back-to-back weeks of tennis.

Another young face is Juan Martin Del Potro who denied Federer the 2009 US Open crown. After a brief moment of success, the Argentine soon went on the sidelines with a broken wrist. His comeback is still awaited. There’s been of flurry of talent in tennis in recent years, but success seems to be short-lived and clearly, no match to that of Federer.

Throw in the names of players like David Nalbandian and Nikolay Davydenko, who have all fallen to injury, the list keeps growing. Somewhere down the line, the players get so engrossed playing and winning that they forget one basic element that goes into making a great player – FITNESS! And that’s one area where Federer outshines them by some distance.

And some statistics raise the magnitude of his greatness even more. Federer has never retired during a Grand Slam tournament. He even holds the record for an unprecedented 22 career Grand Slam final appearances, and has reached the semifinals or better in the last 23 Grand Slam events continuously
.
Even the hot and exhausting conditions at Melbourne Park (Australian Open), that witness some of the finest players fall prey to it due to fitness and health issues every year, have bowed to the fit and furious Federer. The 28-year-old Swiss has won the Aussie Open four times in 2004, ’06, ’07 and 2010.

Federer does not appear in as many tournaments round the year as his fans might want him to, but there’s a well thought out plan behind that. It’s to ensure his body is not worn out. Fedex played all 15 tournaments in 2009 he promised to, even though he won just four of them.

Besides his dominance on the court and his mental strength, there’s one more lesson the others, especially the rising stars, need to learn from him -how to remain fit round-the-year. Being one of the fittest players today, Federer is a glaring example of how important fitness is and without it, talent or hardwork cannot prevail alone.


Polo Says:

I’m on ATDHE.net waiting for the Federer-Phau match to begin. It is number 1 vs number 138.


y Says:

nadal is the best fededrer is the worst nadal will win madrid and roland garos while federer will lose in the second round after that he will be ranked 100 in the world at 2011!!!!


Cbeast Says:

Looks like Feds doing well.Should break here.
Split up with my girlfriend and shes got the tv.
So all I can see is live score:(.OK he breaks.
Plus I got Surgery for my wisdom teeth today…
So if Fed looses this on top of my bad day I will literally go crazy!!

Lolz


Cbeast Says:

y

You sad little person.I knew it would only be a matter of time for the dumb Nadal fans to come out
and start talking sht. Don’t get me wrong I like Nadal and a lot of his fans too. But idiots like you should rather keep quiet. I am a huge Fed fan but you’ll never see me trash talking Nadal for performing poorly.

And one more thing. If Federer does win the French Open again I am sure your little Golim-self will crawl back to the cave you came from. And Smigal shall emerge once more when Nadal wins a Tournament.


Polo Says:

Cbeast. Federer won 6-3, 6-4. Not very impressive but still a win so that is good. Still too many unforced errors at 34 in a 2 set match. Hopefully he will build up from this.

Don’t let other posters bother you. If they sound illogical in their posts, that is a sign that it would be a waste of time responding to them.

Have a good day and hope you feel better.


Ezorra Says:

“If they sound illogical in their posts, that is a sign that it would be a waste of time responding to them.”

Right Polo. In fact I don’t think this y guy is even a tennis or Nadal fan.

Btw, win is a win and therefore, Congrats Roger! I hope you’ll win the tournament!


skeezerweezer Says:

Polo,

Agreed, not very impressive. First serve % was not good either, I hope he starts playing better every match SOON also….

Regarding other posters, you respond to them you give them acknowledgment that you read it and giving them the attention they are craving…..my 1/2 cent…..don’t respond :). OR if you must respond, make sure it is a slam dunk, lol!


Cbeast Says:

Thanks for the Feedback everyone (I do already thx Polo).
Totally Agree.
Yeah am very happy Fed won.A little disappointing that he only converted 2 of 9 break points.
Alas a Win is a Win and I am Happy. I think
Federer’s Game will get better match by match.
Hopefully that will give him the confidence he needs for the French :).


Huh Says:

Hoping for Fed’s win at Estoril. Besty of luck Fed.


Huh Says:

I mean best of luck Fed! BTW, what’s 3D FED?


Raul Says:

How sweet of Nadal!

To give Federer a chance to win a clay court title this year so Roger can feel happy !

Nadal does charity once in a while :)

Good boy Nadal. May God Bless you for being Kind to Roger and making him feel a little worthwhile on Clay by not playing the same tournament!

And God will bless you by making you the winner of the French Open 2010 :)


fae Says:

Its a shame when other fans trash players on these blogs, I am indeed a passionate Nadal fan but I also love to watch Federer and have a great respect for him! those who don’t are certainly not a fan of the game and should refrain from commenting on these boards!


dc Says:

@Raul Says:

How sweet of Nadal!

To give Federer a chance to win a clay court title this year so Roger can feel happy !

Nadal does charity once in a while :)
————————————————-

Raul – how generous of 6 GS champion. Letting a 16GS champion win.

If you have basic maths skills, you will realize that

– In terms of weeks of no 1 ranking , Fed has achieved 5 times of what Nadal has(500% percent better than Nadal)
– In terms of GS wins, Fed is 300 % better than Nadal.

And Fed is still young and fit and will achieve more.


madmax Says:

i will never understand why some posters feel such an amount of elation to respond in this way.

Huh, it’s lovely to see you again. you are missed by me – a lot – hopefully when madrid is here, and FO, following, we can enjoy some cheerful discussion with the rest of the decent posters on this forum (which sadly seem to be diminishing). But CBeast, Polo and Ezorra are right. The best thing to do is to ignore.

Enjoy your evening.


Fot Says:

I’m not going to get into these Federer/Nadal wars. Heck, I’m just glad Roger got a WIN! After seeing his last 2 losses, any win, any way, any how, is good to me! lol!

Next up – Clement! Go Roger!


fadingis Says:

i know it´s in the wrong thread but in the text below it says that delpo operated AGAIN :
Del Potro, de 21 años y número cinco del ranking mundial, no juega torneos desde el Abierto de Australia debido a persistentes molestias en la muñeca. *El martes volvió a operarse*, y su fecha de regreso al circuito es incierta. Podría incluso perderse toda la temporada.
and in the same article it says that federer talked aboat delpo and that they have good relationship


NELTA Says:

As far as I know he only had one surgery. I’m not sure why the article says he “returned to surgery”(volvio a operarse)


fadingis Says:

anyway this is the link for a similar article(this one is newer)
http://www.canchallena.com/1261614-federer-pensaba-que-este-ano–del-potro-podia-pelear-el-no-1


Huh Says:

Thanks dearest Maxi:

I also cant tell you how much you are missed by me! It’s a pleasure and a privilege to have friends like you. :) Hope Fed wins the Estoril title so that we both can celebrate, albeit in a simple way! ;)


Huh Says:

I also can’t tell you how much you are missed by me! It’s a pleasure and a privilege to have friends like you. :) Hope Fed wins the Estoril title so that we both can celebrate, albeit in a simple way! ;)


Huh Says:

MAXI:

Thanks for being so nice and lovely towards me sweet. :P You are dearly missed by me too. Nevertheless, keep enjoying! :)


madmax Says:

Huh, I have written to you on the other thread, but as this is also a federer infotext, here is the same link.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/8087015.stm

Relating to Estoril, there was a short interview with Federer prior to the tournament but the press agent referred to two things (in interview) that Roger had said about Rafa and also about his “perceived arrogance”. First time I’ve seen this.

(Presser was in Estoril, but referred to ESPN Magazine in interview). *hope this makes sense!*

My favorite Federer quote from the ESPN Magazine’s recent cover feature on Roger Federer, from an interview done at Indian Wells this year:

“I think it’s a pity he (Rafael Nadal) gave up his pirate pants and the sleeveless. I thought our styles were colliding even more then. I kind of miss it.“

And some more words of wisdom from Roger – this time on his perceived arrogance:

“(W)hen I got to No. 1, I realized being only humble and always pretending everybody else is the favorite sounds odd, you know?

When I am No. 1 in the world and I say, ‘It’s a miracle’ if I win, who is going to accept that?”

Read more: http://www.gototennisblog.com/2010/05/03/federer-fest-in-estoril-a-pity-about-rafas-pants/#ixzz0nBGiyqKi


Anna Says:

Roger isn’t the only one missing the pirate pants and sleeveless. Thats probably the single most request from Rafa’s fans, but I think he’s done with that. He’s a big boy now.

I remember Roger back in the ponytail days, and he never seemed so much humble as just shy. I think Fed has always been pretty much honest in his assessments. He certainly didn’t hold back in saying Rafa was the man to beat (favorite)on clay.
Can’t wait for the Madrid draw.

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