There have been talks lately about Federer getting back his No. 1 status next year. In fact, a poll by ATP indicates that most people believe Fed will get back his No. 1 ranking in 2009. I personally would love to see Federer getting back his No. 1 ranking, but I just can’t see it.

Federer is one of the best players of all time. He is up there with Sampras, Laver, Bjorg, and others. But, his time at the top has passed. There are too many young players that have caught up with him. Nadal will probably lose his No. 1 position sometime next year but it won’t be to Federer. If you think about it, Djokovic had such a terrible second half of the year that it’s surprising that he is oh so close to getting the No. 2 position off of Fed. Had Novak won the U.S. Open and played a bit better at Wimbledon, he would’ve put up a good challenge against Nadal. 

Murray is the hottest player on the tour and even though he lost to Davydenko at Masters Cup, he was the star of the tournament by knocking out Federer and beating Roddick and Simon in the process. He will be a major factor next year. 

Let’s not forget about Del Potro, Monfils, Simon, Gasquet, Berdych, Cilic, Gulbis, and even Nishikori. There are too many hungry young guns out there, and I believe it’d be hard for Federer to continue his amazing record next year. Will Federer be a major factor in the next few years? Absolutely. Will he regain his No. 1 spot? I doubt it (and if it happens, it would be for a brief time). That doesn’t mean he will be regarded any less for his amazing career. 

You decide: Will Federer regain the No. 1 position next year?

I have been meaning to post about Andy Murray and his achievements of late. He has simply revolutionalized himself by beating Nadal, Federer, Djokovic (2 times) in a matter of a couple of months. Sure. He was awfully spanked by Federer at the U.S. Open, but that was partly due to his inexperience and lack of consistent serving. But he served a treat by serving bombs at Federer and edging him at Madrid Masters.

Murray is currently No. 4 in the world and is getting close to Novak by the minute. But if you take out the losses to Nadal and Federer, Murray has actually outperformed Novak in the second half of this year. With Djokovic going out to Karlovic last week, Murray had further chances to cement his position as the real No. 3 in the world. So here is the question for the rest of this year. Can Novak catch Federer at No. 2 or will he fail again like he did against Nadal and let Murray take over No. 3? The next Masters Series will reveal a lot about this question.

It seems we won’t be seeing the top guys in action anytime soon. No offense to Roddick, Ferrer, and other guys, but Federer and Nadal are very careful about their schedules. For Federer much more is on the line as he will need to win the two masters series to have any chance of overtaking Nadal this year. For Nadal, he has a huge lead over Federer, and a decent showing in both Masters Series will lock the year-end No. 1 position for him. But it’s great that these guys are saving themselves for bigger tournaments so we can enjoy seeing these guys in action for a longer period of time.

It’s official. Blake will not let us to see him play against Nadal on clay. I think the result really is a foregone conclusion as far as playing Nadal is concerned on his favorite clay. But it would’ve nice to see if James could keep it close with him. James had a few good wins on clay in the past couple of years, including his win over Almagro. But now Roddick and Querrey will have to try to get 2 points from their 4 matches.

I do think that James was dropped by McEnroe rather than him pulling out by himself. James form has been questionable and he seems to have not gotten over his Olympics and U.S. Open experience. After all, he has nothing to show for the U.S. hard courts season, so he may as well take some time off and recharge his battery for a push for that Masters Cup spot.

Just a year ago, it seemed almost unthinkable for Federer to lose his No. 1 ranking anytime soon. He had survived Nadal’s onslaught at Wimbledon and had dominated the indoor season with the victory at the year ending championships. Fast forward a few months and Federer is barely hanging on to No. 2 position. In fact, Fed could lose No. 2 if he fails to reach the quarters, and Novak goes on to win the title. Now many are asking why Federer has fallen so fast…

It’s really simple. Federer was playing out of his mind for the past few years. But he was going for hots that a normal human being wouldn’t be able to make in a consistent basis. You could say that he was going for 10% shots but making them 80% of the time. Well. The law of averages do catch up with you, and that’s why Federer is missing some of those shots. But the other reason for Federer’s incredible run was his confidence. You combine genius and confidence together and you have one powerful mix. Federer today doesn’t have the confidence though his genius is intact. Time is not on his side, and his confidence against Nadal seems to have all but shattered after the heardbreaking Wimbledon loss.

Nadal on the other hand is not as genius of a shotmaker as Federer, but he is close. But his level is so consistent that you can’t find a player who can go toe to toe with him for 5 sets. People give him  1 or 2 sets but ultimately winning 3 sets matters. More than that, nadal is supremely confident on the tour now. He has reversed his losses against Federer, Blake, Youzhny, Berdych, and now Djokovic, so there doesn’t seem to be anyone who goes into a match with Nadal thinking that he can be beaten. That is recipe for disaster really (which is why we have seen so many dominating results lately for Nadal).

Federer Nadal rivalry is more than about tennis. It shows you that in any sport, consistency ultimately beats genius. Whether it’s in tennis, soccer or MMA.

The new rankings for men’s tennis are out, and for the first time in about 5 years, Nadal is leading the ranking. He is leading it by a whopping 770 points! Nadal has 6700, and Federer has 5930. Djokovic is back at 5105. The interesting fact is the gap between Nadal and Federer is almost the same as the one between Federer and Djokovic. At this rate, I don’t believe Federer has any chance of winning the No. 1 back this year, but he can certainly be caught by Djokovic if he stumbles at the U.S. Open. Nadal has had one of the best years one can have, and he is surely going to challenge big time for the U.S. Open title. So he can push his advantage to more than a 1000 points if he wins the U.S. Open. The question at this point is, who gets Djokovic time time around being that Nadal has gotten him a lot when he was No. 2.

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.

You have all heard comments made by players that “the guys is No. 1. He is the best.” But is being No. 1 synonymous with being the best in the World? Is Roger the best player in the world?

Yes and no in my opinion. Achieving the No. 1 status in the world means that you are the most consistent tennis player in the world. It’s sort of like being the No. 1 seed in the NBA. But at the end of the season, whoever has the most Grand Slams should be the No. 1. The Tennis Masters Cup is simply the pro bowl of tennis and does not show who is the best player in the world. Winning it would help break the tie in my opinion (if two players have won 2 player have won 2 slams in a year).

But going back to Roger Federer. Roger Federer still is the best player in the world due to the fact that he is better than Nadal on 2 surfaces and slightly better on the third. I know I am going to get a lot of heat for claiming that Roger is better than Nadal on grass but he really is. Nadal played out of his mind in that match and Federer was maybe playing 90%. I firmly believe that 10% makes a whole lot of difference at this level.

The problem with Federer is that he loses his focus and confidence against Nadal. You have lost to your rival 12 times and the other 6 times that you have won were really close. You can’t go in to a matchup with this guy claiming that you are still confident. This stuff wears on you and your mind. That’s why I felt Roger would’ve beaten anyone else with ease in that Final except Nadal.

But Federer’s status as the best player in the world is under the threat due to the fact that he has been poor on more important points. History shows that true No. 1s take advantage of break points and important points better than the other guys in the top 10.  The difference between a very good player and an excellent player could really be a couple of points (break points). Federer has been poor at breaking his rival Nadal, and he has paid the price this year. The same can be said for his performance against Djokovic, Tipsarevic, and Stepanek. Does that mean Federer is on the decline? Maybe but he is still the best. But others are closing on him and Federer’s shotmaking ability will not be able to justify his position for long.

So the No. 1 ranking should really be about slams and that is why Nadal will assume that ranking at the end of the year. Nadal is actually in a very interesting position. He can end up the year as No. 2 with 2 slams. That really shouldn’t be possible. Having said that, Federer has not lost in 1st rounds, so you can’t blame him for having enough points to hold off Nadal. At the end of the day, Federer can solidify his position as the best player in the world by beating Djokovic and Nadal convincingly on the hardcourts. Anything but that and it’s bust for the Fedex.

Three slams down and you still haven’t won a big tournament. If you were Federer, what would you do to protect/regain your status as the best player in the world? Would you get a new coach? Maybe train harder? Cut down on promotional events? What would you do if you were Federer?

I personally would hire someone like Matts Wilander or Andre Agassi to see me through the rest of my career. I would also try to go back to the drawing board and find out what I have done right 6 times against a Nadal that has beaten me 12 times. I would also try to work on my backhand more to make it more of a weapon than a liability.

What would you do? Please share your thoughts…

So the Grass and Clay seasons are over now. The double champ Nadal is now going to go to the hard court season with more than realistic chance of becoming the next No. 1. Federer is far back in the race with Djokovic right behind him. If all goes according to the plan, Federer and Djokovic will be fighting it out for the No. 2 position with Nadal sitting comfortably at No. 1 by the end of the year. But Nadal will not have it easy in the hard court season. He is certainly not ranked No. 1 on hard courts. Here are the top 10 hard court players based on earlier results this year:

1. Djokovic: No question. He is the best hard court player in the world now. At least until somebody beats him at the U.S. Open. The Australian champion will be hard to be at New York. I expect him to be in the final like last year.

2. Nadal: You may ask, Nadal over Federer? It’s simple really. Nadal has been doing better on hard courts than Federer, and he has Federer’s number now, having beaten the champ at his home court (Wimbledon).

3. Federer: Federer has had a mediocre year on hard courts this year. He has lost to Murray, Fish, and Roddick, besides his loss to Djokovic. He will have a tough time reaching the final of the U.S. Open if he is grouped in the same half with Djokovic.

4. Davydenko: Davydenko is a consistent hard court player with wins over Roddick and Nadal in Masters series this year. So he would be a contender at the U.S. Open.

5. Ferrer: Ferrer is going to be a threat on any surface, but he won’t win the U.S. Open. He will eventually lose out to one of the big guns but he can take out the likes of Roddick on the hard courts which is not easy.

6. Murray: Murray will have a better chance of reaching a semi at the U.S. Open than Wimbledon. He still has ways to go to challenge the top guys but he can cause an upset (maybe if he faces Federer?).

7. Roddick: He is always a dark horse. But don’t expect him to get past the quarters.

8. Blake: A quarter finalist at best. I don’t expect Blake to do any better this year.

9. Gasquet: Gasquet is a good hard court player, and he showed he has improved a lot at Wimbledon. Having said that, he could be upset by anyone on any given day.

10. Gulbis: Hard courts are now faster than Grass, and he will be even more dangerous than he was at Wimbledon. I expect him to reach the quarters, minimum. He is more than capable of beating Nadal on hard courts. But I can’t see him beat a Federer or Djokovic.

Honorable mention: Tsonga. He would be my No. 5, but he is out of the U.S. Open and therefore not worth talking about this year. He will be back stronger next year.