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Roger Federer loses to Ernests Gulbis

Roger Federer faced a crushing defeat under the hands of Ernests Gulbis by 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. It is a regretful experience as per Roger himself. He has not been able to figure out what went wrong in the match.

This time he bowed out before the quarter final which shows that he has certainly having a bad time on the court and yet again a dismal performance from his side. Even the spectators were in shock as Federer was the clear favorite but Gulbis addressed the spectators by stating that even he had to win. He has won the French Open title only once in 2009. But this time his form seemed pretty ordinary. One and a half hour got on his nerves and proved difficult for him to match up to his level of playing.

Federer looked a bit annoyed at the press conference as he did not feel that Gulbis was having any sort of discomfort while playing and yet he asked for a medical time out that too a prolonged one. Roger was not able to match up to the level of tennis Gulbis was playing in the last two sets especially and he faltered. Federer lost his focus and the fifth set was completely an all round shoe by Gulbis. It looks very strange while viewing the score card as this was Gulbis’s first round into the quarter finals and Federer being the most experienced and holding the record of highest number grand slams under his belt such a kind of performance was not expected.

The usual class and nimble foot was missing and his trademark backhand shot was not to be seen in the match. It was also a matter of luck and perseverance which Gulbis had.

Toni Nadal Keeps Rafael’s Head Under Control

Most of the people believe that the incredible record that Rafael Nadal has set up at Roland Garros of lifting the trophy 9 times in 10 years would never be broken or even matched, but, Toni Nadal, Rafa’s coach as well as uncle, has a slightly different opinion.

Talking to the reporters after his nephew’s victory against the Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic in the final yesterday, Toni said, “I don’t think it’s an unbreakable record. If Rafa can win it 9 times, there is no reason why another guy in the future can’t do it, but, yes, you are right it’s one hell of an achievement. It’s not an easy tournament, the French Open and to keep winning it time and time again, it takes a lot of effort and I am feeling very proud of him today.”

When asked if he thinks his nephew is a class above the rest among the currently active players, the 53 year old Spaniard said, “No, I don’t think so. Yes, he is a player with enormous abilities, but, I would not term him special. He is like anybody else.”

Well, Toni might be modest about the achievements of his nephew, but, the truth is that Rafa is indeed an extraordinary tennis player. To create dominance over one of the Grand Slams in an extremely competitive era of tennis, it’s not something that everyone can do.

With this French Open title, Nadal has now equalled Pete Sampras’ record of winning 14 Grand Slams. Now, the only man who is ahead of him in this regard is his arch rival Roger Federer who has won 17 Grand Slam singles title.

Considering Nadal’s recent form, it’s very much possible that he would surpass Federer in a couple of years’ time.

NADAL vs HEWITT

Rafael Nadal will lock horns with Lleyton Hewitt in the second round of the ongoing Sony Open Tennis tournament.

It would be a great contest. Nadal would be looking to put up a good show after his disappointing exit from the BNP Paribas Open where he was the defending champion, He suffered a defeat in the third round there which was a huge surprise for his fans all over the world.

Hewitt, on the other hand, seems to be back in the kind of form that had made him a superstar way back in 2004. He has been consistent of late and has been beating top players on the tour.

The Australian didn’t look at his best in his first round match against the German player Robin Haas yesterday though, but, he somehow got over the line in three sets.

However, against Nadal, he would not be able to get away with a poor start, that’s for sure.

As far as the head to head record of these two players is concerned, it’s 6-4 in the favour of Nadal. Hewitt actually had been leading it by 4-1 at one point of time, but, because of a number of defeats that he has suffered against the Spaniard in the recent past, he has fallen behind.

The last time that Hewitt had got better of Nadal was about 8 years ago and that’s a long time.

The Australian would like to end that win drought tomorrow, but, it would require a special performance from him.

Nadal is all pumped up for this tournament. He has been training hard since that Indian Wells defeat and would really go hard at Hewitt.

It’s surely Nadal who is the favourite purely because of his class and his range of shots.

NADAL WANTS TO WIN

Rafael Nadal is looking to win the Mubadala World Tennis Championship for the third time.

Nadal couldn’t take part in this tournament last season as he was struggling with fitness. This year, he has made a fantastic comeback after getting fit and has achieved a lot of success. He is currently the no. 1 player in the world.

Nobody had expected Nadal to win so many matches in his first season after the comeback. He was coming back from a horrible injury and he was believed to take some time to get into his groove. But, the Spaniard showed why he is considered one of the all time greats. He hit top form straightaway after his comeback and went on to win a lot of titles in the season including a couple of Grand Slams i.e. the French Open and the US Open.

Talking to the reporters yesterday, Nadal said, “I have performed pretty well of late and I am determined to start the new season on a high. I had not been able to participate in the tournament here in UAE last year and I was gutted about it, but, I had assured the supporters that I would be back and I am really glad that I have done that.”

When asked if he had expected that he would get to the top of the world rankings this soon, Nadal said, “No, I had not expected that to be honest. At the start of the last season, if I had been told that I would lift two grand slam titles in the season, I would be surprised.”

“At the moment, I am just looking to continue my good form. As I said before, I want to begin the upcoming season on a good note.”

NADAL WINS

Rafael Nadal has defeated Ryan Harrison of USA in the opening round of the ongoing US Open. Nadal won the match in the straight sets by 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

Nadal has entered this tournament as the top favourite. His form on the grass courts has just been magnificent in recent times. With the win over Harrison, he has now extended his winning streak to 16 matches on grass courts.

Nadal hadn’t taken part in the US Open last year because of a nasty knee injury which kept him out of the game for a very long period. But, after his comeback, Nadal has shown some great form. He has won a total of 9 titles this season.

The Spanish no. 1 has played a total of 57 matches after his comeback and he has won 54 out of them.

In the match against Harrison, Nadal began with a bang. He sneaked a breakthrough in the very first game of the opening set and then, held his serve in the next game to enhance his lead to 2-0.

In the next 7 games, neither of the two players dropped his serve and when the 9th game finished, Nadal was ahead by 5-4.

Harrison had to get a breakthrough somehow in the 10th game to drag the set further, but, he wasn’t able to do so. Nadal held on again and won the opener.

The Spaniard continued on his merry way in the second set as well. He held his entire serves and broke the service of his opponent a couple of times to clinch the set easily by 6-2.

At the start of the third set, Nadal played some ruthless shots and Harrison didn’t seem to have any answer of those shots. He lost his serve consecutively in the 1st and the 3rd game and got down by 0-4.

The American player needed to play some extraordinary tennis to get himself back into the match from that situation, but, he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t stop Nadal from holding his remaining serves and ended up losing the contest.