The top three men in the world all played last night - Federer in Halle, Nadal and Djokovic in Queen's. All three won. All three did it in straight sets. I feel like I should be going somewhere with some sort of comparison between the three of them, but as I haven't seen the matches, I can't really do that, can I?
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So I wrote myself into a bit of a hole there. Let's start again.
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Halle, Germany. Federer roared past Nicolas Kiefer, 6-1 6-4. I was able to see a few points - just a few - on a highlights reel, and from those few points, I'm calling it. My boy is back in town. That forehand down the line he hit from about ninety four kilometres out of court... (the score was 4-1 Federer in the first set, Kiefer serving)... that was, to quote some commentators, a 'sick shot.' That's the kind of god tennis that got Federer where he is today - the sublime movement, the total control, the absolute knowledge of court positioning... it's incredible.
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Whenever I think of Nicolas Kiefer, there are two moments in particular that always spring to mind. One is that rally against Sebastien Grosjean in Australia where he threw his racquet during (I think) a diving volley at the net, which completely put Spaz off, which meant Kiwi won the point, even though it was horrendously unfair. I hesitate to say that Kiefer did it on purpose, but it would have been good sportsmanship to concede the point, at least. With Kiwi off the circuit for a year, I haven't seen him play enough to form a well-rounded opinion of him, but this didn't exactly canonise him in Jodi's Hall of Tennis Saints.
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My second Kiwi memory is from that same tournament - Australian Open 2006, one of my favourite tournaments ever. The semi final, Federer versus Kiefer. Federer hits a first serve, misses. He sits a second serve. It's a kick serve ace. It has so much pop on it that it skids into about Row H. It has widely been recognised as the best second serve of all time. Kiwi had this great bemused look on his face. I laughed mightily.
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Federer might not have hit the best second serve of all time in his match against Kiefer today, but he did serve well. Actually, his service has been rock solid all week - he hasn't been broken once. And that isn't for lack of opportunity. Both Baghdatis and Kiefer have had him at 0-40 down. He's fought back to deuce. Don't quote me on this, but I think both Baghdatis and Kiefer had ad in during those deuce games. Federer has saved every break point against him. And that is pretty swell.
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The French Open final is in the past. Federer has said that in his pressers, and we can see that it is totally true. Federer might not have played one of the Nadals of the world on grass yet, but this is a different player than the one that stepped out onto Philippe Chatrier on Sunday. This is Roger Federer, who has won Wimbledon five times. This is the king.
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Rafa has also been acquitting himself well over in Queen's - not as well as Roger, perhaps, but considering Rafa is the King of Clay and Roger is the King of Grass, the expectations are not quite the same. I know a lot of Federer fans have been praying for him to lose this week in Queen's, but I like to see Rafa doing well. If there is one tennis player in the world who has managed to make me totally change my opinion of him, it is Rafa. He had a very handy win against Andy Roddick. Roddick is an excellent grasscourt player, but I'm beginning to think that the day of Roddick might be beginning to pass. Either that, or that injury is still bugging him. Or he's suffering lack of match play... actually, that is a very credible explanation. He had a bye in the first round, then Fish retired against him after a set, and then Murray didn't even walk onto the court. Not the best Wimbledon preparation that Roddick could have hoped for.
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I feel a bit sorry for Andy, actually. Remember back in '03, when he was the next big thing? He and Federer were racing for the #1 spot. Juan Carlos Ferrero was hanging about then as well, and he had a bit of the mystique that Roger and Rafa have now. Federer won Wimbledon and the Masters Cup, but Roddick won the US Open, and he finished the year #1. But then on February 2, 2004, after winning the Australian Open, Roger Federer became #1, and he has held that ranking every week since.
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Who ever would have thought that that US Open would be the only Slam Roddick would ever win? He's been to the final of a couple more - Wimbledon '04 and '05, and the US Open in '06 - but he has fallen to same man in all three of those finals. Roddick made a charge to be re-recognised at the beginning of '07. He played Federer in the semis of the Australian, and everyone thought it would be this huge barnburning popcorn match. It was a popcorn match (for me!), but in a different way. Federer destroyed Roddick. He put him down like a dog.
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It isn't that Roddick has been playing badly over these last few years. He is still an excellent player, and he has held his spot in the top ten pretty solidly. It's just that everyone else is better. What kind of career might Roddick have had if he had not existed at the same time as Federer? I don't think Nadal and Djokovic as players have had particularly large impacts on his career - certainly not the way Federer has - but their results have relegated Roddick to being #4, #5, #6, #7.
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A lot of people assume I don't for some reason, but I actually quite like Andy Roddick. I think he has a great attitude. He's very funny, he respects Federer (which gets you a lot of bonus points in my book!) and he has an excellent attitude. He can take a loss like a man and doesn't become arrogant when he wins. I feel sorry, for his sake, that he had to exist in such an era as this: the Federer era, the return of a golden age of tennis.
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Looking at it from a Fedfan point of view, though, it is hard to be sorry. Federer's domination of Roddick (and, in particular, the Roddick serve) has been one of the hallmarks of his domination of the game. But I will always wonder: what would have Roddick been like without Federer?
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How on earth did I get onto Roddick? Oh, that's right, Rafa. Rafa beat Roddick last night, and now he is in the final. And oh! how I will be cheering for him to win. Because he is playing the man who bumped off Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Murray as my least favourite tennis players of all time.
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I can't remember the last time I cheered for David Nalbandian in a tennis match. I think it might be just before never. But I was cheering for him last night. We all know my feelings on Novak Djokovic.
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Unfortunately, my cheering didn't work. Djokovic crushed Nalbandian. LameDave totally showed up. But let me put this question out there: if GoodDave had shown up and had gone up 6-1 in the first set and a break in the second, would Novak have suddenly discovered an injury? An ingrown hair on his left shin, maybe? An urge to sneeze? Or perhaps he might retire because this particular match was mussing up his hair.
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Obviously, I exaggerate a little there, but my point still stands. If I asked that question about pretty much any other tennis player, it would be incredibly insulting. About Djokovic, it is perfectly valid. Think of Monte Carlo, the semi against Federer. Djokovic was fine, apart from the fact he was being beaten. So he retires.
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Let us look at his career history of retirement. His ATP career is only a couple of years old. He has retired something like nine times. I can think of at least four off the top of my head - Roland Garros '06 (against Rafa), Wimbledon '07 (against Rafa), Umag '06 (against Wawrinka) and Monte Carlo this year. Now let us look at Federer's career history. He has been around a whole lot longer than Djokovic - his career is three or four times as long. And how many times has he retired?
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Not once.
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'Roger Federer does not retire,' Federer said once (possibly slightly paraphrased.) 'Otherwise he doesn't walk out on the court.' And he has stuck to it.
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Think back to the Masters Cup in 2005 - the final, against David Nalbandian. Nalbandian won a five set thriller. Federer was basically playing on one leg, and yet he still went on, playing five hours, even staging an almost-comeback from 4-0 down in the fifth.
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Now put Djokovic in that position. I think it is safe to say that Djokovic would never have even played the tournament.
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And that is one of the things that is always going to separate these two. Even if Djokovic does become #1 in the future, he is never going to be the champion Federer is, not if he maintains this kind of attitude. To be fair, Federer's zero retirement thing is pretty unusual, and I'd have understood a few. But Djokovic is just out of hand. Guess what, Novak? You can't retire your way to #1.
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Not that Djokovic retired last night, or this discussion has anything to do with Queen's... where Djokovic, unretiring, beat LameDave Nalbandian 6-1 6-0. He will face Rafa Nadal in the final. But his retiring complex is just one of the myriad aspects of his personality that I dislike.
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I don't like Nalbandian very much either, of course... he of the monosyllabic press conferences. But I will say this for him: he provides many opportunities for amusing nicknames! Not only do we have GoodDave and LameDave, but there is also FatDave floating around. (Not that David is fat. I defy anyone to find a fat tennis player. But sometimes certain photographic angles can make him look that way.) Then there is always Dayveeeeed Nalbaaaaaaaandiaaaan... no other tennis player has a name it is so fun to stretch out! My personal favourite at the moment, courtesy of Drew Lilley's Roland Garros blog, is Headbandian... because he wears headbands.
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Well, I think it's funny.
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Two finals tonight. In Halle, Roger Federer vs Philipp Kohlschreiber... who I always find underwhelming. I am hoping tonight to find Federer overwhelming instead. And in Queen's, Rafael Nadal versus Novak Djokovic. #2 against #3.
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I don't think it will come as any surprise to hear that I will be shouting 'Vamos Rafa!' and 'Hopp Roger!' at the top of my lungs!
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Today's Results
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Artois Championships (Queen's Club, London)
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Rafael Nadal def. Andy Roddick, 7-5 6-4
Novak Djokovic def. David Nalbandian, 6-1 6-0
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Gerry Weber Open (Halle)
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Roger Federer def. Nicolas Kiefer, 6-1 6-4
Philipp Kohlschreiber def. James Blake, 6-3 7-5
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Orange Warsaw Open (Warsaw)
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Nikolay Davydenko def. Fabio Fognini, 6-2 6-3
Tommy Robredo def. Juan Monaco, 6-4 6-4
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DFS Classic (Birmingham)
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Kateryna Bondarenko def. Marina Erakovic, 6-3 6-2
Yanina Wickmayer def. Bethanie Mattek, 7-5 7-6 (7-2)
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Campeonatos Internacionales de Tenis Femenino de Espana (Barcelona)
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Maria Kirilenko def. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, 7-5 6-3
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 2-6 6-3 6-1
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