Winning Moments : Part 2

Continuation to my previous post, here are the 5th to 8th Grand Slam winning moments from Roger.  Now he got the cleaner and fresher look (maybe Gillette have just signed him to a lucrative contract during this times).

Wimbledon 2005

defeated Andy Roddick 6-2 7-6 6-4

US Open 2005

defeated Andre Agassi 6-3 2-6 7-6 6-1

Australian Open 2006

defeated Marcos Baghdatis 5-7 7-5 6-0 6-2

Wimbledon 2006

defeated Rafael Nadal 6-0 7-6 6-7 6-3

This is where the 1st of seven Grand Slam finals meeting starts againsts Rafa.  More Roger-Rafa rivalry to come...

Anyone can comment.... ROGER IS STILL THE GOAT!

I just realized commenting was disabled on this site... trust me. all your comments are very welcome.  Especially for those who doesn't think that Roger is the Greatest Of All Time! hehe

It's been quite a quiet week (tennis wise), but I'm still looking forward for the next tournament which is just 1 1/2 weeks from now.  (Shanghai Rolex Masters).

Last year's edition was won by Nikolay Davydenko, which is a tough competitor and he has been giving Roger a run for his money on their recent meetings.  So it's really interesting how he will fare in this year's edition considering he was struggling a bit on recent matches.

I haven't really seen the draw yet but will update everyone ASAP once it's available.  I heard Nadal is competing now in Thailand, so is Del Potro ( Last year's US Open Champion ) who just lost his match in the opening round coming back from injury.  I'm not sure about the other big names out there, but hopefully most of them will be able to complete in Shanghai next week.

Winning Moments : Part 1

Let us travel back in time and revist the glorious moments of Roger capturing his grand slam trophies one after the other...

Wimbleson 2003 

 defeated Mark Philippoussis 7-6 6-2 7-6  

Australian Open 2004

 defeated Marat Safin 7-6 6-4 6-2 

Wimbledon 2004

defeated Andy Roddick 4-6 7-5 7-6 6-4

US Open 2004

defeated Lleyton Hewitt 6-0 7-6 6-0

These were all the early years of Roger as you may have noticed the hair and stuff are a bit different.  Just see how everything changes when you have Gillette as one of your endorsements.

Men's Rankings

Here is the ATP Men's standings as of today.  There is not much points to defend for Roger coming to the end of the season, however the same can also be said for both Rafa and Novak.

If Roger can sweep through and win all the year end tournaments, he can at least move up to the 2nd spot to close out the 2010 season.

The most important tournament would be the ATP World Tour Finals which would feature the top 10 players battling out againsts each other.  Federer would need to prove to the other elite players that he is still the man to beat coming 2011.

Rank	Name & Nationality	Points	Position Moved	Tournaments Played
1	Nadal, Rafael (ESP)	12,025	0	19
2	Djokovic, Novak (SRB)	7,145	0	21
3	Federer, Roger (SUI)	6,735	0	20
4	Murray, Andy (GBR)	5,035	0	18
5	Soderling, Robin (SWE)	4,910	0	24
6	Davydenko, Nikolay (RUS)	4,150	0	25
7	Berdych, Tomas (CZE)	3,760	0	24
8	Verdasco, Fernando (ESP)	3,330	0	25
9	Youzhny, Mikhail (RUS)	3,295	0	23
10	Roddick, Andy (USA)	3,180	1	21
11	Ferrer, David (ESP)	3,135	-1	23
12	Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried (FRA)	2,895	0	22
13	Melzer, Jurgen (AUT)	2,605	0	26
14	Cilic, Marin (CRO)	2,540	0	23
15	Monfils, Gael (FRA)	2,320	0	27
16	Almagro, Nicolas (ESP)	2,150	0	28
17	Ljubicic, Ivan (CRO)	2,120	0	24
18	Baghdatis, Marcos (CYP)	2,030	0	27
19	Fish, Mardy (USA)	1,946	0	20
20	Wawrinka, Stanislas (SUI)	1,855	0	21

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Rankings/Singles.aspx

Roger Federer's commercial blooper

Saw this new video which seems like a commercial with Wilson that he's doing.

Next Stop.... Shanghai 上海劳力士大师赛

After each of the grand slam, Roger usually takes a short breather before competing again.   His next tournament would be in Shanghai, and I'm flirting with the idea of going there to watch the games.

Of course, this would not be possible.  Because the plane ticket would cost me around 600+ sgd at least, factor in the accomodation, tournament ticket, and pocket money tarannnnnnnn! That would equate to chicken rice budget lunch for me for the next 3 months.

Office site of the tournament - http://www.shanghairolexmasters.com/English/index.html

Roger did not compete last year which is won by Nikolay Davydenko.  Hopefully Roger can win this tournament and prove his critics wrong about his recent subpar performance.  He may not be the same player that he was, but he can at least have a strong start and finish in 2010 and end the season in a bright note!  But of course, we'll have to wait until the ATP World Tour Finals which would be a months time from now.  Good luck for the year-end hard court season!

Missing the Swiss Miss

Before Roger Federer became a household name in men's tennis, there was another Swiss who's making headlines and dominating the women's scene at a tender age of 17.

Martina Hingis was the undisputed world number 1 women's player in 1997 and this has quickly captured my interests in tennis during my high school days (okay, I belong to the same generation yes).  To be honest, I was not really hooked to the game.  I even felt stupid during that time how they keep the scores by adding 15 for every point ( why not just use 1,2,3, & 4.. that simple right?). Why? because I was only watching WOMEN's tennis because of the pretty babes :P

Even before the countless Russian "va" babes cropped into the tennis scene a few years later, Hingis not only have great looks but she also displayed great finese in her game and not reliant solely on her strength and power.  Thinking back, she was like the Roger Federer of women's tennis at that time.  Elevating the popularity of the sport and added more excitement into the game.

Hingis stayed at the peak of her game for almost 4 years before going down with an injury which eventually slowed down her game.  On February 2002, she announced her retirement (1 of a number of retirements to come..... I guess its a trend nowadays to "unretire") and the Swiss Miss that we knew was never the same again.  She showed glimpse of her old form during her comeback, but it didn't get her deep enough into tournaments so she eventually decided to hang up for good.  Even though there are a number of younger and hotter tennis babes coming up, the game and the "beauty" that Martina brought to the sport will surely be missed.

Separated at Birth Too?

Too "Fed" up by the top 3 players of the world in my posts? I've got a couple of others if you didn't like my previous twin discoveries of men's tennis.  They are quite widely know as they still ranked among the top 50 players and have ranked as high as top 10 before.

Jo-Wilfred Tsonga                              Muhammad Ali

James Blake                                      Vince Carter

Nikolay Davydenko                          Michael Stipe of R.E.M.

Ivan Ljubicic                                      Zydrunas Ilgauskas

John Ishner                             Freddie Prinze Jr.

I know, I know... bald guys who look alike are easier to find

Tweener Winner

Looking back, even though Roger was unable to defend his US Open crown last year and an early exit (I consider his Semi Final exit as early since we had won this title for 5 consecutive years) to this year's edition of the slam, he still left us some of his spectacular shots for the fans to enjoy.

Of course who could ever forget that ridiculous "tweener" againsts Novak ( ironically who beats him this year in the semis ) in the semis which he won in straight sets 7-6, 7-5, 7-5 in a tight match. 

This year in the first round of US Open 2010, Roger didn't disappoint the fans as he relinquished another "tweener" shot againsts his 1st round opponent Dabul.  His opponent can only turn his head and shrugged his shoulders and just wonder "what can I do?".


Even though Roger was not able to go all the way, he still managed to come up with some surprises which exemplifies his greatness.  We can't expect him to win all the time like he always did as he reaches the pinnacle of his career, but we can be sure that every time he steps on the court, magic happens.

Separated at Birth?

When I started watching tennis in 2006, I can't help but notice some of the familiar faces on the court.  I knew I've seen them somewhere way back before I can comprehend what a match point means.

Roger Federer                       Quentin Tarantino

Rafael Nadal                                 Taylor Lautner

Novak Djokovic                  Jason Kapono

Judge for yourself.  You know any other player looking for their long lost twin? Feel free to post it here.

Which R is it? Roger or Rafa?

I realized that tennis fans/critics really have very bad memory.  They flip flop just as quickly as you change your mind of what to wear for the day.

2 years ago when Roger lost hist No.1 ranking and Wimbledon trophy to Rafa, people started talking about Roger's fading game.  They say this is the passing of the crown, Roger should retire, he's already passed his prime, blah blah.....

Then came 2009 where Rafa went down with tendinitis on both of his knees which opened up the opportunity for Roger to take his first French Open title, his 15th Grand slam title in London, and get back to No.1.  Roger even won the AO in 2010 which firmly stabilizes him as the GOAT in tennis history.

Things can quickly change in tennis, same as how a single point can turn around the whole match.  With Rafa winning the next 3 slams after AO, Rafa has gone up into the debate of tennis GOAT which many people believe he can even surpass all what the mighty Roger have achieved.

	Roger Federer	Rafael Nadal
Head to Head	7	14
Age winning first GS	22	19
Age winning career GS	28	24
No. of GS	16	9
ATP Masters Title	15	18

I think let us all seat back and watch how these 2 will fair for the next 3 or 4 years as Roger plans to play on until at least the London Olympics in 2012.  When both of them hang up their sneakers, that would be the perfect time to debate who really is the GOAT. (The info above is only accurate as of this writing.)

AO 2010 - Could it be the last?

After the recent crowning of new US Open 2010 champion Rafael Nadal, I can't help but think was AO 2010 Roger's last Grand Slam trophy of his career?  For now, I'm quite confident that the answer is still unclear even though it will definitely gradually lean on to "Yes, It is." until Roger wins another Grand Slam title.

A couple of reasons why we should not discount Roger even with his subpar, unroger-like 2010 performance.  (If you consider 1 Grand Slam title, 2 QF appearances, and 1 SF appearance subpar.... which can already be considered as any tennis player's dream season ).

1. Roger is still winning tournaments (AO 2010 and Cincinatti Masters).  But he was just not as dominating as he was which gave us the illusion that he's losing his game.

2. Remember the forgettable 2008 season? Where Roger lost to Djokovic in AO 2008 semi finals, lost to Nadal in Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals, lost to James Blake in the Olympics, and lost his No. 1 spot in the rankings.  But then he rebounded in 2009 proving his critics wrong by winning a career grand slam and earning his first Roland Garros title, winning Wimbledon, and taking back the No. 1 ranking. (You can argue though that Rafa was not healthy for 2009)
3. If Pete and Andre can win Grand Slam titles when they were age 31 and 33, why can't Roger achieve the same?

All of these will be answered in a year or two, we just have to see how Roger will perform in 2011 and see if he can come back strong again as he did in 2009.  If indeed AO 2010 will be Roger's last, I'm just happy to be there in Melbourne, to witness the greatest tennis player in the history to win his last Grand Slam title.