2007 Roland Garros Picks

Is "RogerSlam" back on the agenda?

Only Roger Federer could fire his coach, then immediately go out and end Rafael Nadal's 81-match clay winning streak in Hamburg and have no one blink an eye... of if they did, quickly brush it off with the thought, "Hey, he's Federer. He knows what's best."

Hmmm, sounds suspiciously like a "Federerism" to me.

But will it hold out for the two weeks necessary to make the 2007 season something truly special for a player who just recently lost in straight sets to the likes of Filippo Volandri? We shall see, but here's what I'm predicting:

**ROUND OF 16**
#1 Federer d. #13 Youzhny
#9 Robredo d. Clement
#4 Davydenko d. #18 Chela
#5 Gonzalez d. #19 Canas
#6 Djokovic d. #12 Ferrer
Grosjean d. Mathieu
#28 Kohlschreiber d. #10 Berdych
#2 Nadal d. #14 Hewitt

**QUARTERFINALS**
#1 Federer d. #9 Robredo
#5 Gonzalez d. #4 Davydenko
#6 Djokovic d. Grosjean
#2 Nadal d. #28 Kohlschreiber

**SEMIFINALS**
#1 Federer d. #5 Gonzalez
#2 Nadal d. #6 Djokovic

...Gonzo is this year's Baghdatis, waking up just in time to make waves at multiple slams. I almost picked Djokovic to finally come of age here, but how can I NOT pick a Federer/Nadal final?

**FINAL**
...hey, I picked "RogerSlam" to become a reality at the start of the season, and that win in Hamburg was enough to hold onto the dream of being able to witness a tennis feat in New York come September that we may never see again in our lifetimes. For history...

#1 Federer d. #2 Nadal



Two down in "RogerSlam." Two to go.



A second opinion from Tennisrulz Head Honcho Pierre Cantin:

4th round:
Roger Federer(1) def Juan-Carlos Ferrero(17)
Tommy Robredo(9) def Filippo Volandri(29)
Nikolay Davydenko(4) def David Nalbandian(15)
Fernando Gonzalez(5) def Richard Gasquet(11)
Novak Djokovic(6) def David Ferrer(12)
Paul-Henri Mathieu def Sebastien Grosjean
Carlos Moya(23) def James Blake(6)
Rafael Nadal(2) def Lleyton Hewitt(14)

QUARTERFINALS:
Roger Federer(1) def Tommy Robredo(9)
Fernando Gonzalez(5) def Nikolay Davydenko(4)
Novak Djokovic(6) def Paul-Henri Mathieu
Rafael Nadal(2) def Carlos Moya(23)

SEMIFINALS:
Roger Federer(1) def Fernando Gonzalez(5)
Rafael Nadal(2) def Novak Djokovic(6)

FINAL:
Rafael Nadal(2) def Roger Federer(1)


All for now.

Read more!

April '07 Awards

Hmmm... Rafael Nadal is the "Player of the Month?" Must be clay court season.

Let me see... yep, it is.

**PLAYERS OF THE MONTH**
1. Rafael Nadal

...first comes Monte Carlo, second comes Barcelona, next comes Rafa pushing a baby carriage through Paris with King Roger inside? Let the countdown to Roland Garros begin.
=============================
2. Bob & Mike Bryan... the titles keep piling up. Houston and Monte Carlo in April gives the brothers five on the season.
=============================
3. Nicolas Almagro... the Spaniard won his second career singles title by defending his Valencia crown.
=============================
4. Paul-Henri Mathieu... the 25-year old Frenchman is still trying to recapture his promising luster of seasons ago. In Casablanca, he won his first singles title since 2002.
=============================
5. Roger Federer... the Lord of the Courts' clay quest is underway, but it began with a rather routine loss in the Monte Carlo final to Nadal. Of course, whether he ends up with his "Precious" in Paris come June is the only "important" result.
=============================
HM- Ivo Karlovic... Ivo won his first tour singles title in Houston? Could he actually finally have a GAME, and not just a big serve?
=============================

**RISERS**
1. Nicolas Almagro
2. Paul-Henri Mathieu
3. Tomas Berdych
4. David Ferrer
5. Mariano Zabaleta
HM- Agustin Calleri & Mikhail Youzhny

**FRESH FACES**
1. Simone Bolelli
2. Robin Soderling
3. Philip Kohlschreiber
4. Marcel Granollers-Pujol
5. Boris Pashanski
HM- Ryan Thacher

**SURPRISES**
1. Ivo Karlovic
2. Albert Montanes
3. Santiago Ventura
4. Potito Starace
5. Ivan Navarro-Pastor
HM- Nicolas Devilder & Oscar Hernandez

**VETERANS**
1. Guillermo Canas
2. Juan Carlos Ferrero
3. Marc Gicquel
HM- Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo

**DOWN**
1. Nikolay Davydenko
2. Dmitry Tursunov
HM- Gael Monfils

**COMEBACK**
1. Younes El Aynaoui
2. Thomas Johansson

TOP PERFORMANCE: Rafael Nadal wins Masters event in Monte Carlo without dropping a set, defeating Federer in the final to run his career mark on clay against the world #1 to 5-0 (7-3 on all surfaces). After taking the Barcelona crown a week later, his 72-match winning streak on clay -- the longest on any surface in the Open era -- remains intact.

IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, HONEY... HONEST!: While hitting balls on court during a weekend fundraiser, Andre Agassi's racket follow-through landed right in the middle of wife Steffi Graf's face. Some blood and three stitches in her lip later, and Andre's "honey-do-this" list suddenly had gotten longer... and he quickly began checking items off before Monday arrived.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH MARAT... err, I mean Dmitry: Ever since helping Russia win the Davis and Hopman Cup, Dmitry Tursunov's name has been a mysterious no-show more than a round into pretty much every tournament he's played.

HEY, NOBODY'S PERFECT(well, except maybe Rafa on clay): Well, Guillermo Canas might have been able to end Federer's 41-match winning streak in Indian Wells in March, but he wasn't able to curtail Nadal's clay run in the Barcelona final in April.

HERE'S A WILD IDEA!:



Technically, the Federer-Nadal exhibition match this week in Mallorca -- Rafa won 7-5/4-6/7-6 (12-10) -- was in May, but it still brings to mind another innovative notion. Rather than construct one of those wild half-clay/half-grass courts like the one in Spain, why not hold a tournament where every round is played on a different surface (with the final surface chosen by the top-ranked player to reach the final?). Yeah, it'll likely never happen. But still, talk about fun.


All for now.

Read more!