Mana Games

[Leena]

Too bad about Coria. He now serves worse than Kournikova.

[nagateja]

I feel Andy Murray is better than anyone this year.
Although he lost to nadal in indian wells finals,i think that guy can really trouble nadal in rolland garros this year.
Remember nadal is trying to get record consecutive 5 french opens.So in each round he has pressure and especially
if he gets to finals,he will be under too much pressure(psychologically) and if his opponent is federer ,then this time
federer may get it.
Remember wimbledon the same was going in federer's mind and he lost.
So i think something different will happen this year although nadal is best on clay.
My options are ROGER FEDERER (or)ANDY MURRAY (or)FERNANDO VERDASCO

[K Z]

I feel Andy Murray is better than anyone this year.
Although he lost to nadal in indian wells finals,i think that guy can really trouble nadal in rolland garros this year.
Remember nadal is trying to get record consecutive 5 french opens.So in each round he has pressure and especially
if he gets to finals,he will be under too much pressure(psychologically) and if his opponent is federer ,then this time
federer may get it.
Remember wimbledon the same was going in federer's mind and he lost.
So i think something different will happen this year although nadal is best on clay.
My options are ROGER FEDERER (or)ANDY MURRAY (or)FERNANDO VERDASCO

I think Andy Murray has no chance in Rolland Garros and on clay in general , koz his style isn't the appropriate one to play on this surface , But u were right on smthing , when u mentioned the pressure Nadal can have , and u complitely right especially if there is a NADAL-FEDERER final .

[Leena]

Murray has the physical skills to do well on clay. But, he has to refrain from getting frustrated and hitting stupid shots like he always does.

I think he'll be #2 after Wimbledon.

[Togtdyalttai]

I think that this is the year Federer loses before the semis in Roland Garros, depending on his draw. And Murray could do well on clay, but I don't think he's going to be ready to challenge Nadal this year. He even said that his goal this clay season was to "make the quarterfinal of one of the big tournaments."

[K Z]

Federer lost in the 3rd round of Monte Carlo , He was just non-existent , he has NO CHANCE against Rafa if continues this way , I thought he will show a better face on clay season than the previous years but the more we are getting deeper in the season and the more he is moving away from sampras' record
and I Don't think he will get better especially after he married
I believe that Roger is the only one capable to beat Rafa in Rolland Garros But it won't be this season I think
congrats Rafa lol

[Togtdyalttai]

[...]I believe that Roger is the only one capable to beat Rafa in Rolland Garros But it won't be this season I think
congrats Rafa lol

Federer will not win Roland Garros, ever. I've been saying that since 2006. He'll be lucky if he wins another slam period, but I think he'll do that somehow.

[El_Dada]

You are right, as much as I like Federer, i think he will never win Roland Garros while Nadal is healthy, let's just hope Roger wins Wimbledon and/or US Open this year. I want him to beat Sampras record badly.

Oh god, how I hate Nadal... hope his knees won't last long.

[K Z]

Do not worry , Roger will break sampras' record , this year or the next one or the one after , but he will do it one day
I just don't understand how he can he play so bad ?
two years ago , he was the master that all players used to be scared of .
This is really strange

[btaylor]

It's really not ALL that strange when you think about it...

Federer raised the bar with his "varied" game consisting of power, mixing up spins, and short slices pulling opponents into the front court where they were uncomfortable...then passing them with relative ease, left, right, and over the top....

He's had them bedazzled and confused about how to respond to this tactical onslaught for 4 or 5 years...

He also knew that they had gotten complacent with their monotonous game of "Big Bang" from the baseline, only confidently venturing forward to "shake his hand...(along with their heads ) confused and mesmerized by his "pretty" game...

It's taken that long for his "smoke and mirrors" to fade and blow away like so much "fairy dust."

They've begun to figure him out, anticipating his short slices and "touch" game, all the while working on their own games, at the same time exploiting his stubborness, unwillingness (or inability) to come up with any kind of "new" game plan...in short, Old Fed has gotten "stale"...

Add to that his willingness to get "drawn in" to that VERY SAME "Big Bang" game with his "whippy" forehand, as if they have the nerve, gall and audacity to challenge The Great Fed's power game...

Unfortunately, he seems to have forgotten that "banging" from the baseline is not what made his bank account so large, NOR his Grand Slam titles to pile up...t'was his uncanny ability to adapt and change tactics that did it...

I don't know the extent of his back injury, but he certainly has lost the ability to hit his "spots" with his first serve (which is now virtually non-existant.)

Once upon a time, not too very long ago, I thought his serve (or confidence in his serve) was beginning to rival Sweet Pete's in that he had the uncanny knack of coming up with the "goods" whenever he needed to...but, sadly, no more...

While his 2nd serve is certainly no "lolly-pop", neither is it a "weapon"... it allows him to retain some degree of competitiveness against MOST of the players ranked below him (for the time being), but he sure ain't got a "Hoot in Hell" chance of winning the French or ANY OTHER major, for that matter, solely relying on THAT...

And oh yeah, (while I'm on a roll ) it doesn't help matters much to have probably the WORST service-break percentage in ALL of tennis...at ANY level...(OK, I may be a TEENSY BIT harsh here, but not much...)

Don't get me wrong here...I absolutely LOVE the guy, but this is PRECISELY what I, personally, think is going on with his game...

[Leena]

I think there's many reasons for Roger's decline:

1) Physically, he can't deal with pace like he used to. I don't know what the reason here is... injury, not getting in the phenominal shape he used to, simply getting older... but since the mono excuse the Fed camp used forever, he hasn't been the same in countering pace. Which leads to...

2) Roger is playing too aggressive. Especially notable on the serve and forehand. I think that stretch where he was serving like Sampras in clutch situations ('07 Wimbledon) gave him some false bravado. He's not a big server, and can't expect it to save him.

3) A gradual shift in confidence, for both Roger and his opponents. I don't think Roger from 2005 is that much better than he is now. He won sooo many close matches then that the opponent "gave" to him. Over time, people have seen he's vulnerable, and the mystique has faded (if only the women's side could see that with Venus & Serena...). This is largely due to...

4) The ATP is really good right now. Gaston Girlio isn't winning slams. It sucks when you were the King of the Hill, and now lose to Rafa every time. Eventually, Murray and Djokovic will pass him too once they can get the job done in slams. Roger's confidence has to be shattered.

[btaylor]

Maybe the other guys are just getting BETTER, better SHAPE, better able to counter and run down more balls than before, better able to hang in there and "turn defense to offense"...yada, yada, yada....serve...yada, yada...return...yada, yada...break serve........

[R.Gasquet]

About Feds confidence, if you watch Fed in TMC 2007, against Nadal in the semis he won 6-4 6-1 and he played awesomely. Then mono struck, he should have missed the AO to and everything else to recover fully. Losing to Djokovic set the tone for the rest of the year, losing matches he shouldnt have. Like Simon, KARLOVIC :X Roddick, Fish, Murray(in dubai) etc. The only time I saw him play well, truely brilliantly, was the USO and look what happened. It pains me to say it, I dont think Federer will win another Grand Slam

[btaylor]

Losing 5 or 6 matches within a year doesn't end a career...

The match he lost to Karlovic wasn't all THAT devestating, I believe it was 3 tiebreak sets, and Karlovic dug out a couple of awesome (lucky?) shoestring volleys to "squeak" by...heck, it was (and STILL IS) the ONLY time he has beaten Fed in I believe, 9 or so matches (most of them tiebreak sets...)

Against a server like Ivo, the "law of averages" dictated that sooner or later he HAD to lose ONE of those deciding tiebreaks...

Similar situation with Roddick...every now and then if he plays and serves "out of his mind" and Roger has an "off" day Andy can win...

Blake, at the Olympics, was ON FIRE, and ONLY IF and WHEN the "king of slap-happy, low percentage" tennis can "fire" his shots within the lines for a WHOLE match, he truly can beat ANYBODY and just about has, Rafa included...let's not forget that he also can LOSE to anybody (even your grandmother ) and just about has...

Mardy Fish, reasoning that he couldn't win against Roger playing his "usual" game (probably after a chat with his good buddy Blake) attempted and was able to summon up a similar brand of "kamikaze, devil may care" tennis, going for "broke" on nearly every stroke, making nearly all of his "high risk, low percentage" shots (a strategy that lasted only for THAT particular day )

I believe that Ivo, Fish, and Blake have only beaten Fed ONCE in all their career meetings, while Roddick is something like 3 and 15...so no big deal there...

What's more troubling is Fed's record against the other 3 of the BIG 4...(Nadal, murray, and Djokovic)
Since the "mono" incident, he is a combined 0 and 11 against that threesome....0 and 5 against Rafa, 0 and 4 against Murray, and 0 and 2 against Novak...

This, combined with his Master's Series title drought over the last year, along with his growing inability to "close" even when he is leading in these important matches, is starting to show us that maybe "Fedex can't deliver" anymore...

[Leena]

The match he lost to Karlovic wasn't all THAT devestating, I believe it was 3 tiebreak sets, and Karlovic dug out a couple of awesome (lucky?) shoestring volleys to "squeak" by...heck, it was (and STILL IS) the ONLY time he has beaten Fed in I believe, 9 or so matches (most of them tiebreak sets...)

Ivo's half-volleys aren't lucky... he's unusually good at them considering his height and questionable athleticism. That was the only time he's defeated Roger, but he Ivo always gives him a good match. But, then again, he gives everyone a good match. Then usually gags in breakers.