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.