Nadal out!

Wow, it was rather shocking to hear the news this morning that reigning gold medalist Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the Olympics, claiming he is not in condition yet to compete.  "I've waited until the final moment of my preparation and my training, but I cannot do it."  "It is one of the saddest days of my career. You can imagine how difficult it was to take this decision."  Nadal fan or not, you can't help but feel bad for him to have to miss such a huge event as this, not to mention no longer getting to have the honor of carrying the Spanish flag in the opening ceremonies. 


While neither Federer or Djokovic would wish this for their co-competitor, they would have to admit this makes their road to the gold easier.  Granted, they each still have to get through the early rounds to be in contention, and that can be one of the most difficult parts.  There aren't many easy matches in this 64-man draw, and things can get away quickly in best of 3 matches, as confirmed by Roger Federer not yet having any medal in singles in his previous visits to the Olympics.  However, this new development will, I'm sure, put even more fire into each of them to make sure they are on the podium listening to their national anthem.  And not to mention the number 1 ranking again is on the line, with Federer only 75 points ahead in the race.  

Of course, this doesn't even address the upcoming hard court season.  Likely this is related to Rafa's continued issues with knee tendinitis, and hard courts are the worst for this condition.  Makes things even more interesting, being that he has a lot of ranking points to defend from last year's final at the U.S. Open.


In the meantime, though, anticipation is building and I am anxiously awaiting next Friday's opening ceremonies in London!

New Congratulations Video with Roger Federer

This interview was just done on the day of the 287 week record!  Great to see Roger looking so relaxed after vacation.  Enjoy!!

Roger Federer ATP Tribute videos

Here is the tribute by the ATP for Roger beating the record for weeks at #1:
 

And this 17 Grand Slams Tribute video can't help but bring goosebumps and tears to the eyes of Federer fans:

I'm just loving all the recognition that's being shown to his amazing accomplishments!  Not getting tired of it in the slightest - much deserved!!

Such a sweet number - 287!

Many congratulations to the amazing Roger Federer, not only the greatest of all time in tennis, but the man who some are claiming as the greatest athlete ever!   Tomorrow he officially breaks the all time record held by Pete Sampras for weeks at #1 in the world!

I still remember the sinking feeling a couple years ago when Roger lost to Tomas Berdych in the quarter finals at Wimbledon when realization hit that he was going to lose the #1 ranking again to Rafael Nadal when he was oh so close to breaking the all time record.  And with the run Rafa was on at the time, going on to win his first U.S. Open title, and Roger not having the results we were all used to, it was looking increasing less likely that he was going to be able to get back there, especially with the rise of Novak Djokovic in 2011.

However, many people forgot that we were talking about Roger Federer!  The man who had won 16 major titles knew it was still very possible to take that record, and he knew how to get it done.  After finding his focus once again after the severely disappointing loss to Djokovic in the semis (for the 2nd year in a row after hold match points!), he raised his game and began winning title after title, culminating in the so-sweet victory at SW19 last Sunday, bringing him back to #1 once again.

Though it certainly would have still been sweet to break the record back then, it would have seemed just a natural result, one more to add to the already amazing record book.  But to have it almost out of reach for a couple years, thinking maybe that would be one record he just wouldn't hold, and then to come back when so many had written him off, is just completely incredible!  It kind of makes those difficult years worth it, and the respect for him all the higher.  

How long will he hold #1 now?  So much will depend on the Olympics.  I certainly am dreaming of the gold, and seeing how many more weeks we can add onto the already amazing 287!

Accomplishments of the last 9 months

It's still feeling a little strange not to be turning on the TV the moment I get up in the morning with anticipation to see what the next story line is in the Wimbledon saga.  While I realize there are some smaller tournaments on this week that I could catch some tennis action from, to be honest they pale in comparison to what we just witnessed and it feels better, at least for a few days, to give myself a little breather in preparation for the excitement to come in the mid to late summer, which there will be plenty of!

I keep ruminating over all that has been accomplished with Roger Federer's win on Sunday.  On top of the obvious ones I (and thousands of others) have already talked about extensively (17, 7, 1) I am amazed with the way he has taken the challenge of raising his game to the level necessary to get back to the very top once again, over the two rivals who, between the two of them, have ruled the grand slam world for the last 2 1/2 years since his last major win.  After two heartbreaking losses last year from 2 sets up, he took the challenge of making the adjustments necessary, and look what he has done since then.  Last year he came back and won a 500 level tournament, a Masters 1000 and once again the World Tour Finals which, might I add, is against just the top 8 in world (I always wonder why he doesn't get more credit for this!).


Although he had a disappointing loss against Nadal in Australia, he went on and continued to win a couple 500 level tournaments and two more Masters 1000s, certainly more than what the former world #1 was accomplishing.  He had put himself in a position to get back to #1 in the world.  I think he knew what he was doing by not using all his energy getting to another final of the French Open, in which he would have to play once again the King of Clay, and save himself for what he had a very good shot at - his precious Wimbledon.  Djokovic can have his win in the semis of RG!


If I'm counting right Roger has won 8 titles since last year's U.S. Open (3 500s, World Tour final, 3 1000s and a grand slam).  No one else on tour has even come close to this level of accomplishment.  What a last nine months this has been for Fed fans, to see their hero go through heartbreaking adversity, work through the difficulties, and come back with incredible triumphs.  Victory is all the sweeter, especially to such an amazing degree, after the winless periods.  I couldn't be more proud of him in his successes in fighting back and proving so many wrong who had written him off.  We'll see how the next months play out.  It's easy to get greedy and want him to continue to win everything.  Maybe he will and maybe he won't.  But even if he doesn't nothing can take away what he has achieved.


There are some pictures floating around of Roger and Mirka on a sailboat on their vacation.  I'm going to choose to give them their privacy by not posting them myself this time, but I hope they're having a very relaxing and refreshing time.  They certainly deserve it!

That's why we love him!

I found an ESPN article by Rick Reilly that compares the careers of Roger Federer and Tiger Woods.  Most of it is talking about things such as how many majors they have, etc., which is all great, but here's the part that I was so impressed with:

"Life: The question was "Who's greater?" Greatness is more than what happens on stage. Both men are great athletes, but greatness is as greatness does. Greatness is also in the way you carry it, the way you treat fans and colleagues and waiters. I've never met anybody in tennis more polite and giving and generous than Federer. He treats the woman who cleans the hotel the same as the guy who owns it. I remember once when Federer and I were escorted into a room for my 15 minutes with him. He'd just finished his match, and he was drained. There was a leather recliner and a stool. He took the stool. And nothing I could say would talk him off it.

At the same time, I've never met anybody in golf less interested in others than Woods. If Federer acts like a reluctant god, Woods acts like a hand-picked one. There's a reason that, when Woods is done with people, they tend to rat him out. The Coach. The Caddie. The Girlfriends. You get treated like a beer can somebody's kicking along the road, you want to kick back. Is it just a coincidence that the Federers are still seen socializing with Woods' ex but not with Woods himself?

Tiger Woods still has 9½ years to rise to the place Federer is now. I hope he does.

Maybe his golf will get there, too."

Although I love his tennis so much, a big part of the reason that I'm such is fan is because of the person he is.  You can tell he truly cares about people.  I remember reading that when James Blake was in the hospital years ago, the only tennis player he heard from was Roger.  So many of the tennis players talk about the type of person he is off court, which is why he has won the Sportsmanship award over and over.  And look at the work he does with his foundation, going to the sites numerous times in his busy schedule.

The other thing I love is that he is a family man.  Can you imagine him doing something like what Tiger did?  Absolutely not!   It truly is an honor to be the fan of such a classy person, whose legacy will live on way after he retires.

Roger's CNN interview

Even though I finally figured out how to embed some videos into the body of the blog, I can't figure out how to do all of them yet.  I want to share this video though, so the link will have to do.  There are tons of Federer interviews out there right now (you could see how many he had to do on my previous post with his media blitz), but some are more fun than others, and in this one he talks about his kids along with talk about the match.  Enjoy!

Roger Federer talks about win and family