Roger Federer hires Paul Annacone as the new Coach

ROGER TO DO TEST WITH PAUL ANNACONE


Dear Fans

I've been looking to add someone to my team and I've decided to spend some days with Paul Annacone. As Paul winds down his responsibilities working for the Lawn Tennis Association, we will explore our relationship through this test period. Paul will work alongside my existing team and I am excited to learn from his experiences.

See you soon

Roger

www.rogerfederer.com/en/roge...

An article from last year with some of Annacone's thoughts on Federer's game.

There are definitely some parallels [between Sampras and Federer],” said Paul Annacone. “Just as it was for Pete, it’s a particularly interesting, challenging time in Roger’s career. But I would look at it with Roger in the same way as for Pete. For guys like that, it is daunting but not that daunting. They are so skilled, they can adjust, but a lot of the adjustment is mental.”

…

Annacone thinks Roger grew accustomed to overwhelming opponents from the back court: to being the better athlete and hitting a more, consistent and heavier ball.

“We are all creatures of habits,” Annacone said. “Roger has won a lot a certain way, and when you’ve done that for four or five years and then in year six or seven, that shot that used to be a winner isn’t a winner anymore, the tendency in human nature is to overplay a little bit. And that’s what’s happening. His couple of patterns that used to be very dominant are still successful against 95 percent of the guys — just not against that last five percent.”

Annacone understandably leans toward Federer’s hiring a full-time coach. “I always feel in an individual sport, it’s up to the guy on court, but as you watch the evolution of careers, it’s good to have someone you trust and who understands you and what you’re trying to do and also your game and the history of what’s gone on,” he said.

…

“He may choose to keep doing what he’s been doing and not tweaking, and that’s his choice as a champion,” Annacone said. “But for me it would be a shame. If you have a lot of weapons in your arsenal and choose not to use them, what’s the point in having them? It’s a matter of managing them a bit differently than he did a few years ago.”

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Nothing to lose attitude - Federer will bounce back even stronger

People have written off champions in the past, so its no big issue they write Federer off and I am not going to discuss that but something more interesting to look for.

Federer all his prime years kept winning slams like there is no tomorrow , and the monster of pressure grew heavily onhis back that anything less than a title is deemed as failure, I still can't figure when another champion had to face this kinda pressure, even Sampras at his prime was not expected to win everything, this is the pressure Federer has to face during his prime years.

Nearing 30, he won a Slam and made two QF, but barring the slam win the other two results are deemed as terrible failure for Fed, I understand Fed's level was so high but that graph has to fall some day to rise back again.

Actually these failures are good for Federer, since he has lost all his precious title he won last year, I don't expect him to win USO 2010 either, but do that mean there will be more pressure on Fed?

Answer would be no, Fed would come back 2011 with nothing to lose attitude and every thing is a win-win situation for him.

Nadal is a great warrior, and everybody do agree he is a mental beast, but how will he cope-up of defending the titles next year, after all he was found wanting physically and mentally in 2009 after a super-success year in 2008, its a tough road ahead for Nadal to stamp a legacy on his own specially all the media focus will be on him more than any player.

2011 could easily be the toughest year for Rafa and hope so his bashers do jump on him if there is a failure, since its easy to win when you have nothing to lose and easy to lose when you have everything to win. Given that there could be a blessing in disguise for Rafa in 2012 since he would come back even stronger with the same attitude.

Can Rafael Nadal inspire his National Football team to win World Cup 2010

The phenomenal Spanish world number 1 continues to inspire Spain.
In 2008,after Rafa conquered his 1st wimbledon title,la Roja went on to win their first Euro title.
In 2010,history seems to repeat itself: just 3 three days after Rafa's second wimbledon success,the Spanish national team goes on to play their first world cup final.
Rafa continues to show the way for another possible dream year for Spain.
Dave Batista Trains With Cesar Gracie Camp

Del Potro absence killing Tennis

Del Potro absence is killing Tennis, atleast Soderling rose to the occasion otherwise this could have been the dumbest year of all which was actually slated to be the best of recent past.

For the record sake I like Nole too, but like the OP mentioned Nole hasn't stepped up and taken the opportunity to win a slam in the absence of many top players.

To add more I dont believe Nole can step up his performance come US open Hardcourt season, he is without doubt a potential player, but he is just not working hard and motivating himself to strive for the best.

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Congrats Rafael Nadal for the 5th French Open Roland Garros Title

What a performance from rafa,sod couldn't blast his way out of it.i feel so sorry for sod he didn't deserve that kind of beating in the final,but he cant complain rafa handed him plenty of chances but he couldn't break through
without dropping a set and his first serve was amazing 95% first serve in the 3rd set when he realy needed it,easily the best player under pressure and controlling the nerves,incredible the last time he won without dropping a set he won Wimbledoncant wait for the grass season.

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Gonzalez Ready To Return Stronger

On 27 February 2010, many Chileans were present as Fernando Gonzalez suffered a dramatic three-set loss to David Ferrer in the semi-finals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco. An hour after the match, in Chile, there was an 8.8 magnitude earthquake and a subsequent tsunami that claimed the lives of almost a thousand people and destroyed cities.

Santiago native Gonzalez couldn't believe the apocalyptic images he saw on the television. For that reason he cancelled his participation at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and took a flight back to visit the damaged areas and send a heartfelt message to the victims of the disaster.

Following the natural disaster, Gonzalez was then hit by another problem - tendinitis in both knees that has furthered impeded his 2010 season.

"There are good and bad moments. Some way or another I haven't felt good on court. The feeling is very important and the past weeks it hasn't been like I wanted it, but I have no doubt it will go back to the way I've always liked it to be", said an optimistic Gonzalez, who will recover back home in Santiago while he waits for the doctor's advice. He has already withdrawn from Wimbledon and he could yet miss the Davis Cup quarter-final tie against Czech Republic if he his recovery takes two months.

What made the tendinitis so bad?
I had calcification in both knees. When one hurts you try to compensate with the other. With good work, rest and rehab I will be better.

Some time ago you said that you learned to live with the pain.
I've had it since the 2002 Australian Open...

So you have dealt with it almost for your whole career?
It's been coming and going. I've had good and bad moments. I had a very bad moment in 2003, after that I could recover well but last year at Wimbledon it started all over again and hasn't stopped since then.

After the defeat in the Roland Garros second round, you will lose important points at the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings. How will you deal with that?
I prefer to have a bad ranking and be healthy, rather than get to a ranking that would be tough to maintain without being in optimum physical condition.

With your absence at Wimbledon you will bring to an end a run of 35 successive Grand Slam appearances.
Some time ago I realised I have played all the Grand Slams since 2002. I thought about how good it was and I was lucky not to be injured. No I'll have to miss one. I hope it's the only one so I can play a lot more.

Next month you will turn 30, you suffer a chronic injury, but you told your Twitter fans that you're not thinking about retirement.
Twitter has been very helpful; it's my main source for keeping in touch with people. Sometimes the media needs to sell more so they publish information about a possible retirement. But that wasn't true. Retirement is not in my head. I still have a lot of goals on my career and I have fun playing. I can't imagine my life without competitive tennis. Retirement is not an issue. They published that without asking me so that bothered me. Thank God there's Twitter so I could tell people that wasn't true.

Twitter and your official web site have become a habit now that you have more free time.
Social networking is very important. People want and need communication. Everyone is connected by their mobile phones, chat and social networks. Tennis fans feel closer because of that. When you're constantly talking about what's going on, what you think, people like that. It's a spontaneous communication.

How long will your recovery take?
The first thing is to feel better, recover from the injuries. The rest will come by itself. I can't make the mistake of playing 25 tournaments. I've always played few tournaments. The important thing is to take it easy and take my rest time seriously; that has always been important in my career.

What's the positive side of being without competition?
The positive thing is that I will have a lot of energy when I come back. I will appreciate more what I have achieved in this sport. When you're out you feel the passion for the game more. I've also done some things that I miss. That gives you energy to keep on playing.

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Roland Garros French Open 2010 Final Preview - Nadal vs. Soderling

No. 2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. No. 5 Robin Soderling (SWE)

Rafael Nadal will look to both win his fifth Roland Garros title and reclaim the No. 1 spot in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings when he faces Robin Soderling, the only player ever to beat Nadal on the clay in Paris, in Sunday’s final. Soderling, through to the Roland Garros final for the second straight year, has already ousted World No. 1 Roger Federer en route to his second major final and will look to win his first Grand Slam trophy.

Head-To-Head

Soderling has won the past two matches against Nadal, including in the round of 16 at Roland Garros last year, which ended the Spaniard’s 31-match winning streak in Paris. That is Nadal’s lone loss at Roland Garros (37-1) and the only time he has lost a best-of-five sets match on clay (55-1).

        Soderling    Nadal
Aces    75    12
Double Faults    25    7
1st Serve %    64%    74%
1st Serve Points     77%    72%
2nd Serve Points     58%    55%
Broken    11    11
Break Points Faced     36    35
Games Served     100    86
Fastest Serve     142mph    126mph
         
1st Return Points Won     35%    40%
2nd Return Points Won     53%    59%
Breaks of Serve     34    34
Break Points     70    63
Pct. Converted     49%    54%
Return Games Played     98    84
         
Forehand Winners     101    106
Forehand Unforced Errors     98    81
Backhand Winners     54    33
Backhand Unforced Errors     88    54
         
Winners    260    179
Unforced Errors     216    146
         
Net Points Played     119    101
Net Points Won     61%    70%
         
Games W-L     123-75    112-61
Sets W-L     18-4    18-0




RANKINGS UPDATE – If Nadal captures his fifth Roland Garros title in five years, he will also return to No. 1 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings. If he fails to win the title, Roger Federer will retain the top spot and will also hold the position until Wimbledon, therefore surpassing Pete Sampras’s record of 286 weeks at No. 1 on June 14. Nadal last ranked No. 1 the week of June 29, 2009 after holding the top spot for 46 consecutive weeks. Soderling is guaranteed to attain a career-high ranking after Roland Garros, reaching No. 4 if he wins the title and No. 6 if he finishes runner-up.

Streak Stopper Super Swede Soda

Many Felt Soda head best times are over with 2009, and that GS streak was just an one-time wonder, but now he is making it a habit to stop significance Tennis streaks to an end.

Last year at the same tournament he ended Nadal's RG streak and now he stopped RF's semi streak from growing numbers.

Semi-final match against Tommy Berdych will be tough, Tommy has a better game than Soder but his consistency is questionable, but given the form of Soderling I back him to make the finals but no case it would be an easy task if Tommy hits his purple patch.

I badly miss Del Potro's game this year, I would have personally loved to watch in form DelBoy vs current Soder in the humid and heavy conditions.

Will there be any more upset?, I guess Melzer can do it, however may not do it.

Wish you all the best RS, now go and prove that you can win a GS.

Queens 2010 Draw out

Although there is still one match still to play at roland garos, the attention slightly turns as the grass court season begins in a couple of days. The draw for queens has been released today with a few familiar and a few new names.

Starting at the top, 2008 champion Rafael Nadal begins his campaign against either Brazilian Marcos Daniel (H2H 1-0) or Slovenian Blaz Kavcic. Nadals next opponent could be Wild card Jamie baker who faces Dennis istomin in the first round. Nadal`s other possible third round opponent is either Jamaican Dustin brown or a qualifier. In the quarter finals he could come up against tricky opponents such as feliciano lopez, Julien Benneateau or Arnaud clement.

In the second quarter of the draw, defending champion Andy Murray has a fairly straight forward draw. He begins against either Crazy Dani koeller or veteran Spaniard Ivan Navarro. His third round opponent is most likely Mardy fish though he beat Fish at the same stage last year. Murray is seeded to face Marin Cilic in the quarter finals who also has a straight forward draw.


In the second half of the draw, 2nd seed and 2008 finalist Novak Djokovic begins against either lowly ranked paolo lorenzi or pere riba. Potential third round opponents are Bernard tomic, Seppi or 2002 Wimbledon semi finalist Xavier malisse. Quarter final opponents for nole include Querrey, ginepri or tipsarevic.

4 time champ And roddick starts against ilya marchenko or igor kunitsyn. Afterwards he could come up against gilles muller or dudi sela with potential quarter finalist being monfils and Gasquet.

Seeded quarter finals-

Nadal-F.lopez

Murray-Cilic

Roddick-Monfils

Djokovic Querrey.

Notable absentees- Verdasco, tsonga and ancic through injury while Hewitt is in halle this year

Note-soderling has pulled out of halle

Increase 250's and reduce mandatory 500's

ATP says it want to make it a Global sport and popularize it all over the world, but seriously Tennis is still American Dominated sport, how man masters,500's,250's and a Slam is played in USA? should they not spread the numbers to other countries who are willing to host more 250's?

Many countries would love to host a Tennis tournament if top players like Federer ,Nadal or Murray take part in it, so wont it be a wise idea to increase the amount of mandatory 250's to 4 and reduce masters and 500's a little bit?


It might look silly to reduce the mandatory masters but if the sport has to go everywhere in the world they either have to be rotated round the countries or the numbers should be reduced to let the top players focus on other smaller tournaments.

The Fact is Federer or Nadal can still pull a huge amount of crowd to the stadium even if they dont play each other, people in Asia, Africa, South America would be more than happy to see one of these icons play there.

So my thinking let the top players square off in Slams and few masters and rest of the season they could choose some smaller tournaments all over the world and play them. In this scenario players will play more smaller tournaments where they are likely to win and most importantly get the ranking points up.

Players will again be less injury prone as they wont be stretched a lot in smaller tournaments , and these tournaments can substitute their training duration. Murray did say about this, he preferred a tournament rather than heavy training in the off-season or in-between tournaments.

Negatives -

Quantity will be increased and Quality will be decreased [ a bit like WTA] but unless the sport is spread all over the world , we cannot expect starts from other countries to shine in the American- Europe Dominated sport.

Del Potro & Gonzalez out of Indian Wells

Del Potro's injury woes continue as he cites his old gammy right wrist as his reason for pulling out. Gonzalez has pulled out for a noble cause as he aims to stay in Chile to help out those affected in the Chilean earthquake.

Rafael Nadal has also announced today that he will be playing in Indian Wells after he spent the last few weeks practising.

Del Potro's pullout from this tournament means that victory for Nikolay Davydenko, who has no points to defend at all, will send DelPo to 6th in the Rankings. Gonzalez will almost certainly fall back to 12th as Tsonga has 45 points to defend and Gonzalez will drop 90, though Verdasco has 180 points to defend from reaching the quarters last year. Theoretically Youznhy could overtake him as well with a run to the final, but 13th is as low as Gonzalez could go.

Importance order of grand slam tournaments

The French Open has had more one hit wonders (people who won no other majors) or people who only won that major than any of the other grand slam tournaments in the open era. However you could argue that that is down to it being on a different surface to the other grand slam tournaments. OHW include Gaudio, Moya and Noah, people who only won the French Open include Kuerten and Brugera.

The Australian Open has also had one hit wonders like Thomas Johansson, Djokovic and Korda. You could argue this down to different factors. One it is at the start of the season and takes some players by surprise. Two it used to not be viewed as on the same level of importance as for example Wimbledon. For example Borg didn't use to play it.

However Wimbledon and the US Open seem to have the most number of winners who also won at least one other different grand slam tournament. Winners of both include Sampras, McEnroe, Becker, Federer and Agassi.

The following data is for the Open Era. Source = en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...

8 players have only won the Australian Open, who also only won it once. This includes Tanner and Johansson.

11 players have only won the French Open, 9 of which only won it once. This includes Bruguera and Costa.

4 players have only won Wimbledon, all of which won it once, including Krajicek and Stich.

3 players who won US Open didn't or haven't won any other Grand Slams. They all won it once and they are Andy Roddick, Juan Martin del Potro and Manuel Orantes.

EDIT: Kafelnikov won the US Open

2009 ATP World Tour Awards - Roger Federer wins again

Roger Federer was formally recognized for his triumphant return to the top spot in men’s tennis on Wednesday, as the 2009 ATP World Tour Awards were announced.

The 28-year-old superstar collected Player of the Year, the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award and ATPWorldTour.com Fans' Favorite Player of the Year presented by RICOH honors. Federer was named Player of the Year for the fifth time after finishing as ATP World Tour Champion and his fellow players voted him with the sportsmanship award for a record sixth consecutive year, surpassing Edberg, who was a five-time recipient over eight years. In a poll of fans, Federer was voted ATPWorldTour.com Fans' Favorite for the seventh straight season.

ATP World Tour Doubles Champions Bob and Mike Bryan were announced as the Doubles Team of the Year for the fifth time in seven years.

Former ATP World Tour pro MaliVai Washington, a winner of four career ATP World Tour titles and a finalist at Wimbledon, won the prestigious Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year award for his charitable efforts.

Juan Martin Del Potro is a good clay court player

Time and again People completely forget one major thing, Juan Martin Del Potro is from Argentina, which breeds clay-courters, Even-though Del Potro prefers Hard courts due to his style of play, he is well used to clay courts more than Hardcourts,

Rafa without doubt is the favorite but to say he will 99 out of 100 times is really silly, he has lost to Soderling last FO, what's soderling - Nadal percentage now in FO ?

For your notice, Del Potro Rafa encounter in RG was a close affair in the first set at 7-5, that Del Potro was not even half good as the current version is.

So its not myth that Del Potro is good at clay as he is quite used to clay from his childhood days.

Del Boy will struggle on grass and Wimbledon without a doubt is much harder slam to achieve than RG , this is down to the simple fact of his movement in grass, do you see how many guys slip in grass, last year Wimbledon was just a prime example.

TO think Murray is bad on grass is absurd again, its just Roddick's game and experience proved crucial on winning last year's Semi against Murray, that doesn't make Murray a bad grass court player eventhough I won't name him as exceptional grass court player.

Nole in grass is mystery, he could end up like Safin or he might even conquer it many times,we have to wait and see.

Federer Makes Emotional Visit To Ethiopia

World number one Roger Federer sends the ball spinning into the net. His opponent, Ethiopian teenager, Jirata Demksa, smiles and prays the Swiss is having an off day.

But Federer just pauses and, taking a deep breath, serves a blistering ace. The 17-year-old, realising he's beaten, simply shrugs.

"He's the best tennis player ever," he says. "I am just lucky we played ping-pong."

Jirata says he will never forget taking two points from Federer in an impromptu game of table tennis at a school the tennis ace funds in the poor country. For Federer, this week's visit to Ethiopia was one that moved him to tears.

"When I arrived at the school and all of the children were singing, it was very emotional," Federer told Reuters. "They sang, 'Roger, our Father' to me. I didn't really understand it at the beginning but I still had tears in my eyes.

How many more for Roger Federer?

Well, after the US Open final, I predicted Fed might never win another slam - so much for that! I am redeemed a little bit, though, by having predicted he'd get one or two more at most, and I'll tentatively stick with that for the moment - the competition is still great, and his occasional inconsistency (as in the Davydenko match) is bound to start biting him soon. On the other hand, he proved today that he still has the world-beating game when he feels like it, so anything is possible!

So, I'll repetitively predict he'll get one, maybe two more slams at best, most likely at Wimbledon - the competition is strongest on the hardcourts, and his chances at Roland Garros depend very much on how Nadal and Del Potro fare. What does everyone else think?

Federer Wins Fourth Australian Open, 16th Major Singles Title

Contesting his 22nd career Grand Slam singles final, World No. 1 Roger Federer collected his 16th major title with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(11) win over No. 5 seed Andy Murray at the Australian Open on Sunday.

The 28-year-old Swiss master, appearing in his 18th final from the past 19 Grand Slam events, notched his fifth win over Murray from 11 contests in the two-hour, 41-minute clash as he regained the title he lost to Rafael Nadal last year. It was a repeat of the 2008 US Open final (Murray's first in a major), which Federer also won in three straight sets.

Federer becomes the fifth man to win at least four Australian Open titles (2004, 2006, 2007, 2010) and only the second to do so at Melbourne Park alongside Andre Agassi. It is his first Grand Slam title won as a father, with his wife Mirka giving birth to twin girls six months ago.

"Coming here at the beginning of the year and playing so well, it's a beautiful feeling," said Federer, who edged ahead of Pete Sampras to win a record 15th major at Wimbledon last year. "I definitely had to play some of my best tennis tonight to come through. That was clearly the case."

Top Players Projected Route in AO 2010

Projected Routes with possible/ example opponents:
FEDERER R1 Andreev; R2 Chela/ Hanuscu; R3 Oscar H/ Montanes; R4 Hewitt/ Simon/ Baghdatis; QF Verdasco/ Davydenko/ Ferrero; SF Djokovic (or Tsonga/ Haas/ Soderling); F Nadal/ Delpo/ Murray

DJOKOVIC: Easy first week? R4 Youzhny/ Gasquet/ Robredo; QF Tsonga/ Haas / Soderling; SF Federer/ Verdasco/ Davydenko; F Delpo/ Nadal/ Murray

DEL POTRO: R1 Russell; R2 Blake/ Clement; R3 Troicki?; R4 Cilic/ Wawrinka; QF Roddick/ Gonzo; SF Nadal/ Murray; F Fed/ Djoko

MURRAY: R1 Qual; R2 Gicquel/ Bolelli; R3 Melzer; R4 Ferrer/ Monfils; QF Stepanek/ Karlovic/ Nadal; SF Delpo/ Roddick; F Fed/ Djoko

NADAL: R1 Luczak; R2 Mayer/ Lacko; R3 Isner/Kohlschreiber/ Zeballos; R4 Ljubicic/ Fish/ Stepanek/ Karlovic; QF Murray/ Monfils/ Ferrer; SF Del Po/ Roddick; F Fed/ Djoko

Also of note is a potential Roddick vs Gonzales in the 4th round (last 16) with the winner potentially playing Cilic or Del Potro.

I know there are other posts about the draw but I thought summarising the top players routes all together would be helpful.

I also thought that it would be useful to show more than one possible opponent where there isn't a clear favourite.

John Isner wins his maiden ATP title

John Isner hung tough to win his first ATP title by defeating Arnaud Clement in 3 sets [the last set won in a tiebreaker].Isner had a great run in the tournament where he defeated 3 top seeds before reaching the finals.American John Isner upset his third seeded player at the Heineken Open, defeating No. 8 Albert Montanes of Spain 6-2, 7-6(5) to book his place in Saturday’s final at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in Auckland.

For those who forgot its John Isner who defeated Andy Roddick in US Open 2009.