The Roger Federer Bagel Bakery

How good is Roger Federer?

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I don't think there are enough superlatives to describe it. That was a phenomenal performance against Diego Hartfield last night. Phenomenal. I mean, Hartfield is not exactly the greatest player in the whole world, but you have to be pretty darn good to get into a Slam, and Federer spanked him like a recalcitrant schoolboy.

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My theory? Roger is trying to make his claim to the 2008 Golden Bagel Award totally uncontestable as early in the year as possible. I love it when Roger bagels people. It makes me smile.

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It was an emphatic performance last night. It was a complete demolition. Sometimes you can tell in matches when Roger really wants to make a point, and this was one of them. Last year, when he played Djokovic in the fourth round of the Australian, and Djokovic was making all that noise about how he was going to pull Federer down, Roger came out with steel in his eyes and destroyed him. Likewise with Roddick in the semis, especially after Roddick had beaten him in Kooyong the week before, Roger had something to prove... and we all know how I felt about that 6-4 6-0 6-2 victory. Now, everyone's been questioning his health after that stomach flu, and I think our Rog is a bit sick of it.

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He's not ill. He's oh so very healthy. Ain't no one can doubt it now.

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I love that he can just ratchet it up. He's got gears. He knows what level he has to play and when. And he's just so great, all round! Jim Courier referred to him as a 'highlights package' last night, and I certainly know what he means!

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And he's just so nice. I was talking in my last post about my 'Life Lessons I Learned From Roger Federer' article, and one thing he said a few years back has always stuck with me. 'It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.' I wish I could live by that rule more than I do - it would be nice to be nicer! - but it just blows me away that someone in his position can believe that. Despite fame, fortune and undoubtedly numerous offers of wine, women and song, he's still Roger. He's grounded. He's real. He thinks that being nice is better than being important.

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There are a lot of celebrities - and people - that could learn a lot from Roger Federer.

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Australian Open Day 2 Results

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Diego Hartfield, 6-0 6-3 6-0

Novak Djokovic def. Benjamin Becker, 6-0 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Lleyton Hewitt def. Steve Darcis, 6-0 6-3 6-0

James Blake def. Nicolas Massu, 6-3 6-2 6-2

Marcos Baghdatis def. Thomas Johansson, 7-6 (7-0) 6-2 3-6 6-3

Hyung-taik Lee def. Chris Guccione, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-4

Fernando Gonzalez def. Konstantinos Economidis, 6-4 7-6 (7-2) 6-1

Peter Luczak def. Mariano Zabaleta, 6-1 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-4

Janko Tipsarevic def. Joseph Sirianni, 7-5 6-2 6-7 (6-8) 0-6 6-0

Marat Safin def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-0 6-4 7-6 (7-2)

David Nalbandian def. Robert Smeets, 6-1 6-1 7-6 (7-3)

David Ferrer def. Edouard Roger-Vasselin, 6-2 6-2 6-1

Sam Querrey def. Olivier Rochus, 6-3 6-2 7-5

Juan Monaco def. Carlos Berlocq, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 6-1

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Nicolas Kiefer, 6-4 6-3 6-1

Tomas Berdych def. Werner Eschauer, 6-4 6-4 6-4

Alun Jones def. Albert Montanes, 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-2

Amer Delic def. Robert Kendrick, 6-4 7-5 6-2

Michael Russell def. Fabio Fognini, 6-1 4-6 6-2 3-6 6-3

Oscar Hernandez def. Ivo Minar, 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 6-1

Denis Istomin def. Lukas Lacko, 6-3 6-7 (1-7) 7-6 (7-4) 6-1

Jurgen Melzer def. Jiri Vanek, 6-3 6-4 6-4

Simone Bolelli def. Rajeev Ram, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 2-6 6-3

Fabrice Santoro def. John Isner, 6-2 6-2 6-4

Fernando Verdasco def. Thierry Ascione, 6-4 6-0 6-3

Denis Gremelmayr def. Sergio Roitman, 6-1 0-6 6-4 7-5

Robin Haase def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-0 7-6 (7-1)

Dmitry Tursunov def. Xavier Malisse, 6-7 (1-7) 5-7 6-2 6-1 6-3

Marin Cilic def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 6-2

Vince Spadea def. Radek Stepanek, 2-6 2-6 7-5 6-2 6-3

Sebastien Grosjean def. Filippo Volandri, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 7-6 (7-0)

Juan Martin del Potro def. Santiago Ventura, 6-3 6-1 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Nathalie Dechy, 6-3 6-1

Ana Ivanovic def. Sorana Cirstea, 7-5 6-3

Anna Chakvetadze def. Andrea Petkovic, walkover

Venus Williams def. Yan Zi, 6-2 7-5

Daniela Hantuchova def. Vania King, 6-3 7-5

Sofia Arvidsson def. Marion Bartoli, 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-3

Nadia Petrova def. Nicole Pratt, 6-1 6-3

Sabine Lisicki def. Dinara Safina, 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-2

Ekaterina Makarova def. Agnes Szavay, 3-6 6-4 7-5

Alona Bondarenko def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Catalina Castaño def. Lucie Safarova, 6-1 6-4

Li Na def. Severine Brémond, 6-2 4-6 6-4

Maria Kirilenko def. Meilen Tu, 6-4 4-6 6-3

Katarina Srebotnik def. Lourdes Domínguez Lino, 4-6 6-0 9-7

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Olga Savchuk, 6-0 6-1

Sania Mirza def. Iroda Tulyaganova, 6-4 6-2

Tathiana Garbin def. Eleni Daniilidou, 6-2 6-2

Akiko Morigami def. Michaella Krajicek, 6-2 6-2

Pauline Parmentier def. Martina Müller, 7-5 6-3

Alizé Cornet def. Clarisa Fernández, 6-3 6-3

Caroline Wozniacki def. Gisela Dulko, 6-1 6-1

Yvonne Meusburger def. Laura Granville, 6-1 6-4

Anastasia Rodionova def. Angelika Bachmann, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Virginia Ruano Pascual def. Roberta Vinci, 6-4 6-4

Anne Kremer def. Evgenia Linetskaya, 7-6 (10-8) 6-0

Camille Pin def. Monica Niculescu, 5-7 6-1 6-1

Tsvetana Pironkova def. Olga Govortsova, 6-1 6-1

Maria Elena Camerin def. Christina Wheeler, 6-1 6-2

Mariya Koryttseva def. María Emilia Salerni, 6-2 6-3

Timea Bacsinszky def. Sophie Ferguson, 6-4 6-3

Marta Domachowska def. Mathilde Johansson, 6-1 6-1

Alisa Kleybanova def. Peng Shuai, 7-5 4-6 9-7