By The Numbers

...I lied again.

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Honestly, the moment I start setting myself goals with this blog is the moment it all collapses around my ears... if that four month long lapse between the end of the Australian and the beginning of the French is anything to go by. No more campaign promises. From now on, I'm just going to write about whatever I damn well please.

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Which in this case, means another round of Jodi Judges Tennis by the Stats Because She Hasn't Seen It, with a chaser of Roger Federer is the Best Thing in the World, Ever. There are worse things to write about.

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So, Roger Federer is the best thing in the world, ever, and he had a handy win over Jan Vacek last night. His serve, which was something that worried me during the French Open (especially in the Match We Do Not Speak Of), looked pretty sweet to me. For a man that averages about 65%, 76% is not sneezeworthy. I love watching him serve on grass (not that I was WATCHING him in this match, per se, but I do love his grasscourt serve) because it just seems to come so much more naturally on it. Federer is the second best claycourt player in the world for sure, but he is not a claycourter - that much is evident when he steps onto the lawn and begins gliding around and prancing about like Pan. It's beautiful to watch... and imagine, when you can't watch.

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I was a little more concerned about his return game - not his best stats ever there. Roger isn't necessarily known for his return game, but it's still generally better than everyone else's. Actually, on a tangent, there's a really good quote that describes that particular Federer phenomenon... I think it was Jim Courier that said it... actually, no, it was Andre Agassi. Here it is:

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"There's probably not a department in his game that couldn't be considered the best in that department. You watch him play Hewitt and everybody marvels at Hewitt's speed, as well as myself. And you start to realize, `Is it possible Federer even moves better?' Then you watch him play Andy [Roddick], and you go, `Andy has a big forehand. Is it possible Federer's forehand is the best in the game?' You watch him at the net, you watch him serve-volley somebody that doesn't return so well and you put him up there with the best in every department. You see him play from the ground against those that play from the ground for a living, and argue he does it better than anybody."

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That is so true. He is better than the specialists in the things they specialise at. But that wasn't what I was talking about, was it? What was I... oh, yes. His return game. His percentage wasn't at its best today - 38% - but these things happen, I guess. It's only his second match back on the grass, and Vacek is approximately the height of a three story building, so I can understand how returning would be difficult! What is important is that Roger broke through when it counted and served well himself - I don't know if he ever faced a break point. I don't think he did. If he did, it certainly wasn't very many, and he saved all of them.

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And to tell the truth, I'd be worried if Roger were blowing all his opponents away 6-0 6-0. It's the second round in a minor tournament. He doesn't need to over-exert himself, particularly after the gruelling claycourt season. This is the closest to an r'n'r tournament that you'll ever find on the circuit, methinks. Roger is doing exactly what he needs to in order to win, and no more. And that is fine. I like that he has gears.

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Rafa and the Djoker both had much tougher matches today over in Queen's. To be fair to both of them, both of their opponents were much higher ranked than Jan Vacek, but of the Big Three, it appears to me like Roger's looking the best on the green stuff. It was an all-Serbian matchup between Djokovic and Tipsarevic (who I have not forgiven for that traumatic Australian Open match!) that could have gone either way in the final set... Djokovic held his nerve, I suppose. Rafa played Kei Nishikori, who is one to watch in the future. He's ranked in the nineties somewhere, but he's only a teenager and he's got game. He won a tournament early this year - Delray Beach, I think... or was it Las Vegas? No, I think it was Delray Beach - where he took out James Blake pretty handily in the final. And by the looks of things, he gave Rafa a run for it here... but nerves will out, I suppose, and Rafa knows all about that.

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One match I wish I could have seen was Gasquet vs Ancic. That one sounded like a barnburning match up, and even though Richou won in straights, it looked pretty tight. They're both consummate grasscourters, and it would have been fun to watch. I wouldn't have minded watching Murray vs Gulbis either, but Murray seemed to spend so much of that match injuring himself that it might have been painful. How do you manage to injure yourself three times in one match? Like, how does that work? Andy Murray must have some stupendous bad luck. I really want to cough into my hand and say 'karma!' but I won't, because I am just too nice.

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And can I just say I really like the preview writeup on the Queen's website? Very intelligent assessment of how matches will progress... to my uneducated eyes, anyway! It will interesting to see how many of their picks are right...

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Today's Results

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Artois Championships (Queen's Club, London)

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Rafael Nadal def. Kei Nishikori, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Ivo Karlovic def. Fernando Gonzalez, 6-3 7-5

Andy Roddick def. Mardy Fish, 7-6 (7-5) retired

Andy Murray def. Ernests Gulbis, 5-7 6-1 6-4

Richard Gasquet def. Mario Ancic, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

David Nalbandian def. Nicolas Mahut, 6-4 6-1

Lleyton Hewitt def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-4

Novak Djokovic def. Janko Tipsarevic, 2-6 6-1 6-4

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Gerry Weber Open (Halle)

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Roger Federer def. Jan Vacek, 7-5 6-3

Marcos Baghdatis def. Fabrice Santoro, 6-4 6-3

Nicolas Kiefer def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-2 5-7 6-3

Michael Llodra def. Steve Darcis, 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3)

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Orange Warsaw Open (Warsaw)

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Fabio Fognini def. Christophe Rochus, 5-4 retired

Guillermo Canas def. Santiago Ventura, 6-2 1-6 6-3

Oscar Hernandez def. Albert Montanes, 6-3 6-2

Tommy Robredo def. Wayne Odesnik, 6-4 1-1 retired

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DFS Classic (Birmingham)

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Petra Cetkovska def. Camille Pin, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Melinda Czink, 4-6 6-4 7-5

Alona Bondarenko def. Sunitha Rao, 3-6 7-5 6-1

Marina Erakovic def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-3 7-5

Yanina Wickmayer def. Michaella Krajicek, 6-3 6-4

Melanie South def. Aiko Nakamura, 2-6 6-4 6-4

Bethanie Mattek def. Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-4 6-2

Nicole Vaidisova def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4

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Campeanatos Internacionales de Tenis Femenino de Espana (Barcelona)

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Lucie Safarova def. Arantxa Parra Santoja, 7-5 4-6 6-3

Ekaterina Ivanova def. Maria Kondratieva, 1-6 6-1 7-5

Edina Gallovits def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-2 6-0

Maria Kirilenko def. Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-1 4-6 6-4