Good to see the old racquet clap, which was the heart of Djokovic's impersonation of Roger -- back when Novak used to do impressions and crowds (if not players) used to like him. It seems like old times.

Terrific play from Roger this weekend. Only a healthy Rafa could have pushed Roger when he is playing this sort of tennis. Every time he got a look at a forehand he snapped it so hard for the corners that Murray and Djokovic looked surprised and rushed every single time. He was swinging freely at backhands, and hitting hard approach shots off that wing. Great stuff!

Four out of five tournaments for Roger now. That strange loss to Tsonga, after leading 5-1 in the third set of the quarters at Montreal, is the only loss since May.

New York's horrible stadium will be windier, and might not allow for such precise shotmaking, but Roger is looking like a strong favorite.

two!

So it was two kids Mirka was carrying all over Europe this summer. It is reported that after their birth Roger immediately donned a sweatjacket with a gold "2" on the back.

Two more superstars than many expected showed up in Montreal. Roger was a bit rusty against an aging Canandian tonight. Rafa starts tomorrow.

Fifteen!

A surprisingly great match against Roddick for Roger to get his fifteenth. It was great more in terms of the tension than the actual tennis, really, but an incredible match nonetheless. Seems like each got a set through luck (Roddick the first, after escaping four break points and Roger the second after four set points), and a set they earned. The fifth came down to will, stamina and focus.

Andy's career is looking a little bit like this, right now:

But this loss means almost as much to his career as a win would have. He put together a gutsy performance on the one of the biggest occasions in tennis history, and turned a coronation into a memorable battle.

You can count Fuzzy among those a little annoyed that Roger donned that jacket with the gold 15 on it minutes after his victory. But more obsessive bloggers note that a Nike official ran out on court to give it to him in the midst of post-match euphoria. He did not pack it for the match. Thats something I guess.

williams

Serena and Dementiava put on a heck of a match today. Here at fuzzy we like them both. Elena has the prettiest strokes in women's tennis right now, and she has developed the serve to match. She seemed stronger today, and Serena seemed to pull it out on sheer will. Impressive.

But Venus, long the classiest player on tour, was just as impressive, even if Dinara did not push her to show her best stuff in the match. She was even more impressive in her presser. Here is her exchange with a petulant reporter:

Q. This isn't your fault obviously because you played really well, but it's embarrassing for women's tennis to see the No. 1 destroyed in that way, isn't it?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Why do you put it like that?

Q. You played very well.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Are you trying to be down on women's tennis?

Q. I'm trying to be down on the way that Safina is the world No. 1 representing women's tennis.

VENUS WILLIAMS: So you're trying to be down basically.

Q. Not on women's tennis, no.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Okay, because I don't deal with down at all.

Q. It's not down.

VENUS WILLIAMS: I'm just making sure you're not trying to be down, because I respect Dinara Safina immensely, and I think you should, too.

Q. I do.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Thanks.

2005?

This is officially a dangerous flirtation with a jinx, but this Wimbledon has an odd throwback feel where it sort of seems like 2005. Roger moves smoothly through the draw. He dispatches various challenges with grace and aplomb (his instinctive block returns to break Ivo today were gorgeous). Meanwhile there is much ado about what goes on in other matches, but whatever the draw funnels toward Roger simply melts away when it confronts his game.

Maybe its the absense of Rafa? Anyway, a final with Murray would be genuinely unique and a little scary. Haas is playing great tennis and has nothing to lose. Jinx deactivated.

old

Roddick continues to have the best lines at the pressers. From today after his gutsy win over Hewitt:

We have a revival of the, New Balls Please generation here in Wimbledon. Is that because experience is very helpful especially on grass, or are there other reasons for that?

ANDY RODDICK: I don't think it's either/or. It's probably a combination. Now we're just old balls.

It would be great to see him summon that sort of gutsy performance in the semi. He will need all his power, and a bit of the improvisation that he used to fend off a break point in the fifth.

less nervous

Soderling will almost certainly be less nervous and play better today than he did when he met Roger a few weeks ago. It could be a tough match. I hope Roger is ready to get back into the warrior mode that helped him win tough five setters in New York and Paris in the middle rounds of his last two grand slam victories.

Maybe the new relaxed-French-Open-champ-now-tied-with-Sampras Roger will start giving his fans less reason to be nervous all the time. It might take a while to sink in, and with his first backhand shank today Fuzzy will feel a twinge, for sure.

Meanwhile Djokovic's quarter is looking like the smoothest right now. Probably means he will lose today.

Gulbis!

The best part of last year's Wimbledon, before the final, was Safin taking out Djokovic in round 2. It was the beginning of Novak's long slide from being considered a possible #1 last year. Now Murray is the hot player. Can a very streaky Ernest Gulbis put it together for a match and beat him tomorrow? It would be memorable.

Fifteen?

It was a shock to hear Nadal was out. Here at fuzzy we are nervous about the way many are treating a 15th slam for Roger as inevitable at this Wimbledon. Djokovic in a semi could still be very tough, for example. But Roger has looked graceful in the first two rounds, especially once he takes off the silly jacket and vest.

A fifteenth would be great to watch. And it would make for a more pleasing graphic if Roger's wins could be stacked in three rows of five rather than two of seven.

that was good

Really nice to see Roger win the French! Boy did he want it. He earned it too, with that perfect tiebreak when the match might have turned, and with his consistently gutsy play all week, punctuated by artful, lilting dropshots.

There is a lot of talk that now that the pressure is off him he will play with greater freedom and begin to beat Murray, Djokovic and Nadal. Here at fuzzy, we buy it! Think of it this way: Roger was one set from both Wimbledon and Australia in the last year. At Wimbledon it was two points, as Rafa served at 6-7 30-all. If Roger wins those he has four straight slams, his most dominant run ever.

But without getting caught up in what-ifs and what-may-comes, a great day for Roger and his fans. He seemed to be crying during the entire last game. Crazy. But its good that he cries both for wins and losses.
And Soderling won us over with his play all week, his speech, and especially his obvious concern for Roger after that strange incident.

On to the grass! Lets hope Rafa is fit, I already miss seeing the guys together on the second Sunday.

a pain

Monfils on why its hard to play Roger:

"I think the difference is based onthe fact that his game is really a pain in the ass, you know, more than any other player... When he hits the ball just after the bounce, I don't really know where to place myself on the court."


"He's one of the only men who, you know, when he is an attacker, when he attacks, I'm like anybody else. Others can be attackers and I know I'm going to run, no problem. With him, I will try and slide on one side. He hides his shots, you see. You know, his short chips are a pain in the ass, a real pain in the ass. At the end of the day, it gets on my nerves... It pisses me off. I can't do anything. "

Killer

Monfils offered his own reflections on Roger's gutsy winner on break point against Haas:

"But, you know, the way he did it, it was like, I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill you. He was like incredible. A killer."

All the Assets

Things were looking a little sideways for Roger for most of three sets. Both he and Haas agree it was break point at 3-4 in the third that turned the tide. Roger had the instinctual confidence to step around a floating return to hit a risky inside-out forehand. It was beautiful from there.

Haas said: "That's why he's Roger Federer, you know."

Roger on the turning point: "I was in a very tricky position, I must say this. But that's when I thought 'I have all the assets in my hands to change this match,' and that was the case."

Monfils looks inspired this year, and it should be a great match.

Even better at losing

A genuinely shocking result today. Soderling was absolutely killing the ball, but Nadal was, as he pointed out, leaving too many short.

A few things: Nadal handled it very well, from a classy handshake with a player he dislikes to a classy press conference. No one will be thinking about Djokovic's loss now.

This loss also is a reminder how unbelievable Roger's string of 19 straight semifinal appearances is. So many things can go wrong in a tournament, and even a healthy Nadal on a bad day can lose to a hot player. If not for his mono last year, Roger might be shooting for his 16th straight final.

Lets hope he gets there this time. Nadal hopes so. From his presser:

"Federer is the favorite, in my opinion... Federer is my favorite.... If one guy deserves it, that's him."

monf!

Monfils earning a break of serve. Next up Roddick.

Better at losing

Nole continues to struggle in grand slam tournaments.  He has not reached a final since his breakthrough over a year ago.  But at least he did not retire from this one.  He is getting better at losing.  He still seems to have a strange sort of mental fragility to him.  But taking his lumps the right way might save him from the rain of criticism that has forced him to become defensive and a lot harder to like.

Well done

Roger's raised finger to his box may have been wishful thinking. But even Rafa was happy to congratulate him for a job well done:

Besides, the boys look so much happier when Roger wins:

Great playing by Roger yesterday. Lovely drop shots, attacking tennis, serving and persistent backhands down the line. And he showed good nerves when down two breakpoints in the final game.

okay

For the eternal optimist it is nice to see Roger back in a final against Rafa. Rafa has been looking forward to it too. From a recent interview with a Spanish newspaper. Lets hope he is right!

"When I beat Roger Federer in January, in Melbourne, in the final of the Australian Open, I felt an animal excitement. But afterwards, I felt an emptiness and a loneliness indescribable. As if I had no more aim/no more purpose. To me, Federer is still the number 1 in the world. I want to meet him again on court. I know he can beat me."

alone

Djokovic must have felt pretty lonely out there today trying to fend off another gutsy Rafa comeback in front of a Spanish crowd. Rafa seemed to wrong foot Djokovic for loopy winners on every big point at the end. Great stuff. Tennis is more interesting when Novak is playing with confidence.

Evolution and regression

"A few tears here and there," Federer said. "It was nice."

Though he could have been discussing his career, Roger was actually talking about his recent wedding to long time companion Mirka.

Roger showed emotion of a different sort during his recent match against Novak, when he crushed his racquet after missing some easy forehands.

This is shaping up to be the most interesting year in Roger's career -- much more so then last year's struggles when illness obscured the depth of the changes he was going through. On to the clay!

Regular or Fancy?

Andy Murray is officially becoming a real bother. It was a bit unfortunate that in the third set yesterday at the Indian Wells semi Roger sort of fell apart rather than making Murray earn it. If Roger had played well we could have gotten a better sense of whether Murray is truly playing the sort of tennis that could allow him to win a major this year.

Two takes an Murray's game from yesterday's press conferences:

Roger: “I’m old, he’s young; makes a huge difference.”

Rafa: "He can play regular or fancy."

Oy

It hurts to post that image. Its hard to know what to say about today besides that it confirms again both Rafa's grit and his incredible class and sportsmanship. On Roger's tears, he said:

"It was an emotional moment, and I think this also lifts up sport, to see a great champion like Federer expressing his emotions. It shows his human side. But in these moments, when you see a rival, who is also a comrade, feeling like this, you enjoy the victory a little bit less."

I don't know what else to say about Federer's tears. They are much tougher to witness when they come after a loss, and it does seem to steal some of the joy from Rafa. I really believe that it was the introduction of Laver and the other "legends" that put him over the edge, but Roger claimed in the presser that he just hates to lose.

The fact that it was Roger's serve that let him down most seems to imply that he really just does let something go screwy in his head when playing Nadal. Brutal stuff today. But great tennis. These guys are great for the sport. I hope they do it again in France.

Here we go

Finally Roger and Rafa play their first slam final on hardcourts. It is hard to imagine it living up to the Wimbledon final in terms of the suspense and the drama. But with Roger in top form, and the surface encouraging both shotmaking and defense, there is great potential for the actual tennis, in the sense of the quality of the points, to be better. This should be good.

Same as ever

Roger has now made it to 19 straight semi-finals in grand slams. The demise of several of the guys who were anticipated to surpass him this year remind us of several the ways something can go wrong -- bad conditioning or a bad day (Djokovic) or you run into a hot player (Murray). To have been so consistent for over four years now is a testament to Roger's ability to find ways to win.

As Del Potro put it after their match: "He's Roger Federer. If you don't be good, you lose."

Roger looked like his old self against Del Potro, though delpo did make it pretty easy to step in and rip winners. Meanwhile Rafa looks as good as ever. In the past he has wilted in hardcourt grandslam semi's. I don't think he will this year.

long night, one hopes

If the tennis goes long enough tonight in Australia it will be possible to wake up early and see Roger play Safin with your coffee here on the east coast.

In 2005 they played a classic semifinal in Australia where Roger had match point but tried a between the legs shot and missed. Marat went on to win the tournament.

Safin, who tends to call Roger "the Federer," reflected on the match: "His life has changed and it didn't go too bad. He won a couple of grand slams afterwards, and me, I got injured,... so we went in different ways.... I want to be in his shoes."

Haircut

Fuzzy has been growing out his hair all fall so he can flick it out of his eyes between points like Roger. But Roger cut his hair short for the Aussie Open. He looks about seven years younger.

Stalking Rafa

It should be a very exciting Aussie Open. Djokovic came within a match of passing Roger for the #2 ranking this week. Roger will, I believe, bring the same intensity we saw at the US Open. And Murray is playing out of his head.

When was the last time we looked at a draw and did not wonder whether Rafa or Roger got stuck with Djokovic? With Murray playing so well there will be three guys looking to catch up to Rafa before the clay season comes and he becomes untouchable again.

Wii

Not counting exibitions, Roger's season is off to a fine start. Fuzzy has uncovered this photo of Roger practicing off season, which could help explain why.