King of Queens

Well, it's the morning after what was the morning before, and that US Open victory is still very sweet. I confess that the thought that maybe I had jinxed Federer had crossed my mind... as soon as I started blogging in December last year, he came down with glandular fever! But he's proved me wrong - and for that I am very glad.

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It just had a sense of rightness about it, seeing Federer lift that trophy. I remember watching him holding the runner up plate at Wimbledon, and it just looked ALL WRONG. This was, at the risk of sounding even cheesier than normal, a homecoming. The world of tennis was slightly askew, but one feels it's back on the rails now. This isn't all dependent on Federer - we must remember that his so-called 'bad' year happened at a time that Rafa Nadal had an especially good on - but it just seems like it's back on track now.

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The rest of the year is going to be very interesting - especially if we see some more Roger/Rafa rematches. I confess that I would much rather see them play in one of the little tournaments than one of the big ones, at least till I can be sure that Rafa isn't Roger's head. But even though he didn't play Rafa at the US Open, I think the victory here will go a long way to increasing Roger's confidence. If Roger plays his Ultimate Ninja Tennis, there is nobody in the world that can even come close to touching him. He said in his post-match presser that at times he is starting to feel invincible again, and that is good! I remember well one match where he said he was feeling invincible - the semi of the Australian Open in 2007, where he absolutely decimated Andy Roddick. When he is in full flight, opening up on his shots, when he is in the zone, playing his tennis... you could put six guys on the other side of thet net at once and he'd still win.

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Strange, isn't it, how a guy can reach three Slam finals and a semi and be thought to be having a bad year? This title will help with that a bit, but it won't totally erase all the flak Roger copped in the rest of the year. Honestly, how much do we want from this man? I'm guilty of it as well - I may not be saying that Federer's past it, but I do get very disappointed. And now the media has done this whole about-face, and is all 'actually, we love Roger, we're so glad to see you doing well, we knew you could do it, ra ra ra.' Insert wry smile here. I ALWAYS knew he could do it. Smug smug.

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It's going to be a really interesting rest of the year - and I would love to see Federer taking on the indoor season in style. Somehow, I have a sneaking suspicion that David Nalbandian won't defend his two titles in Madrid and Paris... though, to be fair, who would have thought he'd win them last year? Does anyone else know how he's still in the top ten? Because he has done NOTHING this year. I suppose it must be the hangover points from those selfsame two titles. Matt Cronin wrote an article yesterday that said he was the most disappointing man at the Slams, and I agree with that wholeheartedly. He's had two draws where he could have possibly met Rafa in the quarters, which would be really interesting, because Rafa's never beaten him, and he's crashed out to absolute nobodies.

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So the upshot of that is, I don't think he'll be defending those titles, so who is going to step up to the plate? I would have to make Federer the frontrunner. The pressure's off, to an extent - he's won his Slam, and so now he can chill, but also fight to regain that #1 ranking. There's a good 1000 points between him and Rafa now, but he can certainly pick up a few. Stockholm will be good for that, one thinks, because he didn't play it last year, and I think he crashed out early in Paris, so he can pick up a few there... he has a final to defend in Madrid, but it's not like he usually has much of a problem defending those.

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Of course, Rafa could also put his foot on the accelerator, but he must be so tired right now, physically and mentally. Will he be recovered in time for Madrid? That starts on October 12, so he has about a month, which should give him ample time physically at least, but he will lose the momentum he's been riding, and there will be the pressure of #1... but look at me, trying to twist the facts so Federer looks better. Of course Rafa has a shot. Why would anyone doubt him after what he's done this year?

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Then there's Djokovic, and coming up behind him is Murray, and they both have a chance of having good indoor seasons, though I have to give the edge of Murray (mostly because I don't like Djokovic, and also because he hasn't managed to fully defend one of the things he did last summer... he's come close, but no cigar, Novak.) And then you can never count out Ferrer or Roddick. Kolya might get his mojo back. Safin might pull out a big one again (you never know!) And I think Stan Wawrinka might have a real shot. He's got a lovely game for the indoors, in my opinion.

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But enough about the future. Let's just revel in the now. I know there's other tennis going on today, but it's still really all about the US Open right now. It's about Roger Federer, thirteen time Grand Slam champion, the King of Queens.

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Today's Results

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BCR Open Romania (Bucharest)

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Richard Gasquet def. Oscar Hernandez, 3-6 6-4 6-4

Gilles Simon def. Evgeny Korolev, 6-1 6-2

Nicolas Almagro def. Somdev Devvarman, 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 7-5

Teimuraz Gabashvili def. Ernests Gulbis, 6-2 2-6 6-4

Carlos Moya def. Alberto Martin, 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-4

Jose Acasuso def. Diego Junqueira, 6-2 6-4

Pablo Andujar def. Brian Dabul, 4-6 6-2 6-4

Victor Crivoi def. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 3-6 6-3 6-4

Martin Vassallo Arguello def. Victor Hanescu, 4-6 7-5 6-4

Adrian Cruciat def. Filippo Volandri, 7-5 4-0 retired

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Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic (Bali)

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Flavia Pennetta def. Vania King, 7-6 (9-7) 6-1

Nadia Petrova def. Aiko Nakamura, 6-3 6-1

Sara Errani def. Natalie Grandin, 6-2 6-1

Jill Craybas def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 3-6 6-3 6-2

Tathiana Garbin def. Melinda Czink, 6-2 7-6 (7-3)

Chan Yung-Jan def. Vasilisa Bardina, 6-2 6-1

Anastasia Rodionova def. Julia Vakulenko, 6-2 3-0 retired

Olga Savchuk def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 7-5 6-2