Add Karlovic to list of Federer killers. Karlovic handed Federer yet another loss this year in the third set tie-break to pave the way for Nadal to clinch No. 1 position this week. Federer was playing fine but he made mistakes on bigger points, and this match alone shows that Federer’s reign at the top is finally over. At least for now. With the way Nadal played last night, losing only 1 game to Serra, you can expect Nadal to at least reach the semis. If he wins this tournament however, he will be No. 1 next week. But even if he doesn’t achieve it next week, it’s all really a formality as he will be No. 1 either by the end of the Olympics or by August 18th. A new era of tennis is finally upon us.

They say confidence does you so much good on a tennis court. Federer was all but confident last night when he basically pulled off a Houdini and even with that needed a major choke job from Robby Ginepri to escape to the third round and a matchup with the mighty Karlovic. So much for Federer trying to get his hard court season back on track.

The forehand is awful. The backhand is more vulnerable than ever, and the serve deserts him everytime he gets to most important parts of a set. He served for the first set against Ginepri twice and got broken twice. Then shanked his way through the tie-break. The second set, Federer was the better player. But once they got to 5-5, it seemed Federer forgot how to play tennis and dropped his serve to allow Ginepri to serve for the match. Thankfully Ginepri chocked like always, so there was no surprise. The third set was a bluh as Ginepri couldn’t find his game and the heat got to him. The way Federer played, I wouldn’t be surprised if Karlovic beats him.

Roddick was struck by a disaster yesterday. He came to court and seemed fine but then sit down and withdrew with back and neck pain. Even more odd that Phillip still had to play a lucky loser in the 2nd round after Roddick came to the court. Roddick blamed it on a rough night sleep, but regardless of that, he has had one awful season with early exits one after another.

With Roddick’s exit, we are almost guaranteed not to have an ESPN live match on Sunday, unless Federer and Nadal make it there. Last week, ESPN chose to show fishing instead of live Tennis. I bet they would’ve shown tennis if an American was involved in it. But with Roddick out and Blake facing Simon (who beat Blake a couple weeks ago), there is a good chance we will be watching fishing again this week.

What do you think of the matches so far? Can Federer bounce back or will Karlovic finally get a win over Roger? Please share your comments here.

I don’t know what Federer has studied in highschool, but even a kid can tell now that the 300 point difference between Federer and Nadal almost guarantees Nadal the No. 1 spot come August 18th when Federer loses 850 poins as opposed to Nadals 300 something points. But Federer did not disappoint. He did say that Nadal was close to losing the No. 2 position a while back and he didn’t. Does that mean that he really believes he can keep No. 1 position? He can if Nadal loses to Youzhny in the third round but if Nadal reaches the semis again, Federer’s No. 1 reign is post. At least for now!

Take that Federer. Nadal has won his fifth straight title (most of them huge), and is now on the verge of taking over the No. 1 ranking from Federer. Nadal had simply no trouble with Kiefer today and beat him 3 and 2 to win his second Toronto hard court masters.

Here is what I know today. Nadal is now guaranteed a run as number one. Coming to summer, we all knew that Nadal will have to do much better than last year and hope for Federer to stumble somehow in order for Rafa to take over the No. 1 ranking. Federer has stumbled enough now to give Nadal the opportunity to take over the No. 1 spot regardless of what Federer does. All Nadal needs to do is win Cincy and there is a good chance he will be No. 1 unless he beats Federer in the final.

Now here is what I don’t know. Nadal’s style of play maybe effective today but depending on the draw, there are still people out there who can hurt him on hard courts. Also, Nadal is injury prone so his reign could end with an injury. But at least he won’t be one of those No. 2s who never reached the No. 1 spot.

Is it just me or won’t it be weird to see Federer seeded No. 2 at the U.S. Open?

OK. Before you come out and call me out, hear this. Have you heard the “action speaks louder than words” saying? That’s what Nadal has used this year to show why he should be and will be the No. 1 player in the world soon. Rafa beat another tough customer tonight in Andy Murray (7-6, 6-3) and reached the final of Toronto Masters to face Nicky Kiefer. So much for Nadal not being able to translate his game to hard courts.

I simply believe that Nadal will be a major contender for the U.S. Open if he stays healthy. There are not many guys who can beat him on hard courts now and in a best of 5 sets matches, he is simply tough to beat. Add to that the fact that he has won close to 30 straight matches on clay, grass, and hard courts, and you have a superb all around player.

Unfortunately for Kiefer, Nadal is no Blake or Simon. But Kiefer should be proud of reaching the final that on the paper belonged to the soon to be former No. 1 Federer! 

We are still not done with the Toronto masters but the Cincy draw is out and unlike other years, Cincy could be a historic tournament. You may ask why. It’s the first tournament that Nadal has a chance at taking the No. 1 spot if Federer fails to reach the quarters. With the draw that Federer has, he will probably have to go through Ginepri, Karlovic, and Roddick to reach the semis and meet the resurgent Murray there. Djokovic and Nadal should really make it to the semis again as Murray won’t be around to spoil their meeting like he did tonight by beating Novak.

My favorite match up is Nadal Youzhny and then Nadal Ferrer. But Ferrer and Youzhny need to make it there so we may not get these match ups after all. I think Cincy will be Novak’s tournament. He doesn’t really have anyone who can beat him in his draw and he should go on to face the winner of Kiefer - Gilles Simon - Blake in the quarter.

My pick is of course Nadal to win the whole tournament. Regardless of his match against Gasquet tonight and Murray tomorrow, Nadal is the best player on the planet right now, and with Federer losing his grip, it should be Nadal’s tournament to lose. Of course, Djokovic will have something to say about that.

Federer is out but Toronto Masters has served up some amazing matches for the quarter finals. First up we got Cilic vs. Simon. Then we have Blake vs. Kiefer. Blake really has the chance to reach another masters final, but he needs to stay focus or this chance will slip away like others. With no Federer or Roddick in his path and with Davydenko out, Blake simply is out of excuses.

But the two other matchups are even better. Nadal will face a red hot Gasquet who dominated Ferrer last night. My pick is still Nadal as he wants that No. 1 position so bad. But he will have to wait another week as Djokovic will take him and Murray out before winnning the tournament.

So here is my pick: Djokovic beats Murray (3 sets). Nadal beats Gasquet (3 sets). Blake beats Kiefer (3 sets). Cilic beats Simon (3 sets).

Semis: Djokovic over Nadal in 3. Blake over Cilic in 2.

Final: Djokovic over Blake in 2.

Who are your picks? Please share.

So much for Roddick Federer rematch at Toronto. First Roger Federer lost to Gilles Simons in a shocking fashion. Then Roddick was completely outplayed today by a Cilic, who, had he not been nervous, should’ve won the match in straight sets. But a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Roddick is all that matters.

Djokovic also won with not mush fuss over Soderling. It seems Djokovic and Nadal will have to battle it out in the semis for the title. Nadal needs to win this tournament to have a chance to take over the No. 1 ranking in the following week. In the meantime, Federer and Roddick will hope to have a better week next week.

Nadal continued his impressive form this year by beating Jesse Levine in straight sets to reach the third round of Toronto Masters. Federer? He lost in three set to Giles Simon by dropping 3 straight service games in the final set, losing it 6-4 in the third after being up a break a couple of times in the third. The defeat all but secured No. 1 ranking for Nadal.

We all know that Nadal is the real No. 1 with 2 slams and like 20 masters series this year. But Federer still prefers to cling to his No. 1 ranking (a flawed ranking) as he declared today that he is still the No. 1 player in the world. Here is what the master said:

Of course he has still won two unbelievably difficult tournaments and whoever wins those is supposed to be No1. But I have had a very good end to the past two years. It’s hard to snatch the No1 position, he knows that.

So is Federer suggesting that Nadal will struggle to get to No. 1 even though he has won 2 slams? Here is the fact. Nadal needs to reach the finals of the next two master series and he could be easily No. 1 regardless of what Federer does. It won’t be easy, but unless Nadal goes on a tear of bad results, he has really not many points to defend. I think losing No. 1 could be actually good for the Fed. Maybe he will start figuring out what he needs to do to figure Nadal out instead of clinging to his No. 1 status.