Miami Open (Itau)...ATP 1000...Miami, Florida...United States of America

[stotty]

There was a whole lot of drama going on in this match. You know...it's like a novel that way it plays out sometimes. A drama...the tennis court is such a stage for these sort of contests.

It turned into an ordeal as I said in my other post. The struggle is going to go into the wee hours here in Sweden tonight. I didn't miss a point so far. The great tennis player Roger Federer is on shaky legs at this point in his career. Peter Fleming commented that it was a miracle. He had started to decline with the back problems...the knee. The niggles as Roger says. But somehow he resurrected...he righted the ship and is back better than new. What was Peter getting at? I think I know.

Roger had the motor humming after one set but then he met some resistance and some of the resistance was his own body saying that the strain was taking it's toll. A whole lot of the resistance was a younger pair of legs on the other side of the net that had a whole lot of motivation going on to derail the FedExpress because of the intolerable suffering that he has caused poor Tomas Berdych in the past. It's 18-6 now and that includes a string of seven in a row for the Swiss Maestro. It has to hurt to have it on your racquet and throw the whole shebang away with a stupid double fault. The truth of the matter is that his serve pretty much sucked all night compared to what he is potentially capable of doing with his body. But a little bit of convolution in the pin point may just be enough to upset the apple cart just when you need it most. Let's face it...he gets away with it 95% of the time. That is what talent can do for you...it can hide the little defects. But they add up and when you need it most one day...it just up and goes away. It's like love...where does it go when it's gone?

What an ordeal for Federer and now he is faced with playing another back to back match tonight against none other than Nick Kyrgios. "Nicky...Nicky...put an empty chamber in that gun!" Robert DeNiro to Christopher Walken in the Deer Hunter when they are playing Russian roulette in some Vietnamese hell hole. What does that have to do with this? Let's see if Nick get's through this without shooting himself in the foot. He withdrew from their meeting in Indian Wells but not before taking down the same Alexander Zverev that he took down last night. Which Nick is going to show? How is Roger going to handle it if the good Nick shows? The bad one?

I couldn't work out for the life of me why Roger didn't wrap the whole thing up in two straight. He looked head and shoulders above Berdych for large chunks of that match. He pulls these big oafs around from one corner to the other, making them look cumbersome and decidedly in-athletic. Still...job done.

The match against Kyrgios will be by far the most interesting for a while. Kyrgios's biggest assets going in to the match is that he thinks he wonderful and respects no one. He will happily take Roger down and will even think he's entitled to. I dislike the kid but he makes for drama in a match like this. He has the whopping serve and the talent to pull it off. As stroke pointed out, he seems to be trying, focusing far more than we have seen from him in the past.

Fognini has a shout versus Nadal. His done him in the past and he could do it again. If Fognini is pinging his forehand and taking the ball early, he's a handful.

[stroke]

Nadal is a strong favorite at 1/5 vs Fognini. Roger is a slight favorite at 4/7. Nick somewhat appears to be trying his best most of the time now. His serve is a scary fast twitch motion, as Darren Cahill called it remisnicent of Roscoe Tanner. It really is on the returner quickly. His movement is top shelf. I do not think any other player could beat him in a 40 yard dash, but his movement is way more disciplined than someone like Monfils, who has similar athletic gifts. One thing I think we all know. Nick will not win 18(or 19) Majors. But if he does not win at least one, he can go down as a Marcelo Rios type best player never to win a Major.

[don_budge]

The Incredible Saga of Roger Federer vs. Anybody continues...Nick "The Jerk" Kyrgios next

Yes. I saw it all. First row. Was giving Berdych some words of encouragement. I knew he could do it. And he did...until he didn't. I'm gutted.

The good news, I saw Federer play in a live match in person for the first time. He does not disappoint. His game is as majestic and beautiful as you could ever imagine.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Great for you klacr...I am truly happy for you. You of all people deserve to see the last of the great classic tennis players play the game that we learned to play as boys and learned to love with all of our hearts. Motherfucker...I am happy for you my friend! Your boy had it on his racquet and did not convert but the truth is there was a whole lot revealed about the Tomas Berdych game in that match. I wish I was coaching him...we would take the pluses and minuses and balance the equation. There was some good stuff there but the single most important was his willingness to get his hands dirty and compete. After he got his ass handed to him in the first set he never hung his head and kept plugging. He did...until he didn't. He almost had the horse in the barn but it slipped out of its bridle somehow...these things happen.

Roger v Berdych

At 6-5 in that final set tie-break Berdych needed one really good serve to seal the deal. He went for the boomer but missed it. Notice that Roger's service motion didn't let him down in the clutch once he made that mini-break. Berdych ended with a double. The difference between winning and losing lay in he service motions of the two players.

There was a whole lot of drama going on in this match. You know...it's like a novel that way it plays out sometimes. A drama...the tennis court is such a stage for these sort of contests.

It turned into an ordeal as I said in my other post. The struggle is going to go into the wee hours here in Sweden tonight. I didn't miss a point so far. The great tennis player Roger Federer is on shaky legs at this point in his career. Peter Fleming commented that it was a miracle. He had started to decline with the back problems...the knee. The niggles as Roger says. But somehow he resurrected...he righted the ship and is back better than new. What was Peter getting at? I think I know.

Roger had the motor humming after one set but then he met some resistance and some of the resistance was his own body saying that the strain was taking it's toll. A whole lot of the resistance was a younger pair of legs on the other side of the net that had a whole lot of motivation going on to derail the FedExpress because of the intolerable suffering that he has caused poor Tomas Berdych in the past. It's 18-6 now and that includes a string of seven in a row for the Swiss Maestro. It has to hurt to have it on your racquet and throw the whole shebang away with a stupid double fault. The truth of the matter is that his serve pretty much sucked all night compared to what he is potentially capable of doing with his body. But a little bit of convolution in the pin point may just be enough to upset the apple cart just when you need it most. Let's face it...he gets away with it 95% of the time. That is what talent can do for you...it can hide the little defects. But they add up and when you need it most one day...it just up and goes away. It's like love...where does it go when it's gone?

What an ordeal for Federer and now he is faced with playing another back to back match tonight against none other than Nick Kyrgios. "Nicky...Nicky...put an empty chamber in that gun!" Robert DeNiro to Christopher Walken in the Deer Hunter when they are playing Russian roulette in some Vietnamese hell hole. What does that have to do with this? Let's see if Nick get's through this without shooting himself in the foot. He withdrew from their meeting in Indian Wells but not before taking down the same Alexander Zverev that he took down last night. Which Nick is going to show? How is Roger going to handle it if the good Nick shows? The bad one?

You see this is what tennis is all about and then you realize it that it is running on fumes. A 35 year old waning superstar is carrying the whole thing on his back. I watch every single point that he plays at this point in his career...it's been way past my bed time here in Sweden the last few matches. On the other hand I cannot be bothered watching any of the other prepackaged, canned leftovers that the tour is trying to pass off as "professional tennis". It's a product that fading into the backdrop. It's worn out and boring. I watched just a couple of minutes of Nadal and Sock and that was enough. I can't remember watching any other matches but I did drop in on a couple points here and there before quickly become disinterested. Bored. Waste of time.

The ordeal...Roger has to play with the kids. He has a wife who while looking after things is still a woman and still a wife. We all know what that means. Roger is lugging around a lot of suitcases these days. He camps out at the Ritz with an entourage but it is never enough. Afterall...when it all is said and done he is all alone out there. Just him, his opponents, their tennis racquets...and the balls. Yeah...the balls. It takes an incredible amount of balls to do what he is doing but it almost looks like he is on fumes himself now. The last two matches looked pretty spotty and the ups and downs were rather pronounced. He would like to see more consistency but the old legs are just not rested enough. That walkover over Nick Kyrgios at Indian Wells was huge. He isn't getting any such relief this week. Plus...if he gets by Nick he will be facing another tough hombre. Unless "The Fabulous One" just happens to pull one out of his shorts. A play on words considering who he is playing.

[stotty]

Yes. I saw it all. First row. Was giving Berdych some words of encouragement. I knew he could do it. And he did...until he didn't. I'm gutted.

The good news, I saw Federer play in a live match in person for the first time. He does not disappoint. His game is as majestic and beautiful as you could ever imagine.


Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Never mind....

You witnessed a great match. Roger was in full flow for spells....there is no better sight in the modern tennis than Roger in full flow.

[don_budge]

Roger v Berdych

At 6-5 in that final set tie-break Berdych needed one really good serve to seal the deal. He went for the boomer but missed it. Notice that Roger's service motion didn't let him down in the clutch once he made that mini-break. Berdych ended with a double. The difference between winning and losing lay in he service motions of the two players.

Amen.

[don_budge]

Yes. I saw it all. First row. Was giving Berdych some words of encouragement. I knew he could do it. And he did...until he didn't. I'm gutted.

The good news, I saw Federer play in a live match in person for the first time. He does not disappoint. His game is as majestic and beautiful as you could ever imagine.


Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Amen.

[klacr]

One set all and 3-2 to Roger. The camera pans round the stadium and who do I see? Our very own Klacr!

Yes. I saw it all. First row. Was giving Berdych some words of encouragement. I knew he could do it. And he did...until he didn't. I'm gutted.

The good news, I saw Federer play in a live match in person for the first time. He does not disappoint. His game is as majestic and beautiful as you could ever imagine.


Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

Roger v Berdych

At 6-5 in that final set tie-break Berdych needed one really good serve to seal the deal. He went for the boomer but missed it. Notice that Roger's service motion didn't let him down in the clutch once he made that mini-break. Berdych ended with a double. The difference between winning and losing lay in he service motions of the two players.

[stotty]

One set all and 3-2 to Roger. The camera pans round the stadium and who do I see? Our very own Klacr!

[don_budge]

Rafael Nadal...

Rafael really annoys me. Getting up in the middle of the night and watching him was even more annoying than usual. Watching his obsessive compulsive self absorbed behavior from my dream like state only confirmed what I believe about him. He's not very bright (no fault of his own) and he's is as a consequence without a perspective about the reality of things. He actually believe that he adores all of the adulation that the throng of idiots heap on him. At one point Jack Sock took a spill on the court and Fafa the actor tried his best to feign some interest in the condition of his opponent although it's obvious he doesn't care on iota about anyone else other than himself. He gives proof of that small detail every time he goes into his infantile preserve return where he begins by plucking his underwear out of his ass or whatever it is that he is doing. He doesn't care that his opponent has to wait that inordinate amount of time just for the honor or receiving his serve. Or how about the anal retentent behavior of the water bottles therefore making his opponent further wait on him. What about the obsession with the lines on the court or the business of crossing paths with the opponent at the change of sides. The list is getting longer.

The ultimate cut was the challenging of match point on a line he had a clear view of robbing Roger Federer of a glorious moment...making him wait until Retard Boy had his way. The runner-up speech at the same Australian Open should have been concluded with someone yanking the mike out of hand after 15 seconds of his self congratulatory speech to himself. Every expression on his face reveals how self centered he is without a hint of class or an idea how he comes off. It doesn't matter that the herd will make a big deal out of him...the herd is always headed in the wrong direction.

Jack Sock is equally uninteresting. Anyone that wears a baseball cap backwards to play tennis professionally in loses me from the beginning. There can be no redeeming qualities...except to say...it's a sign of the times. The forehand is really obnoxious. He hit one three meters to the left of his backhand sideline. Number one...the forehand cannot be that good and number two...the backhand cannot be that bad. Nadal just plunked the ball to the forehand side of the court and Sock looked at it helplessly.

Then there were the two commentatoes. The dim witted English accent idiots that sound like a couple of computer generated voices...programmed to lavish praise at every conceivable opportunity. What a team. Between the two of them they kept up a nonstop stream of garbage for a backdrop of the play...which was absolutely terrible. They were using words like "sublime". I was wondering if we were watching the same thing...or if we were even in the same universe.

[don_budge]

I woke up...nature call. Turned on the computer to see a bit of Sock and Nadal. I'm not exactly sorry that I did but it confirms everything that I believe. The tennis and the characters are both very annoying. It took barely two games. Good night...Irene.

[John Yandell]

He's not good looking and he will lose to someone, soon.

[stotty]

I was going to watch Nishikori and Fognini...but it is getting late and I am going to bed. You see how I am...if Federer is not involved then it doesn't matter. Good night cruel world. Tomorrow is another day. I guess that I am tired from yesterday...last night. I can understand why Roger seemed to be a little cranky.

Well I watched it, along with my wife, the adoring Fognini fan. My wife says Fognini will win the whole event because she is willing him on. I told her she cannot will the bloke to win because he's 4000 miles away and cannot her cheering. My wife disagrees. If she wills hard enough, it will happen, she says. Fognini is Italian and good-looking and therefore trumps all other players in the tournament as far as my wife is concerned. I said if Fognini wins the tournament I will eat my hat.

Anyway I missed most of the first set but from what I did see, Fognini played well and Nishikori barely showed up.

[don_budge]

I was going to watch Nishikori and Fognini...but it is getting late and I am going to bed. You see how I am...if Federer is not involved then it doesn't matter. Good night cruel world. Tomorrow is another day. I guess that I am tired from yesterday...last night. I can understand why Roger seemed to be a little cranky.

[don_budge]

I missed the second set as it was getting late and I decided to go to bed.

I was getting tired too. Understatement. It was way past my bedtime. The match was an hour late so it started around 11PM here in Sweden. I wouldn't be able to stay awake for any other tennis player but with Roger Federer playing...I stayed awake. I forced myself to. I learned something...I always do from Federer. He is like watching a movie...a movie called "Match Play and Spin of the Ball". Yesterday's chapter was a narrative about how to play successful tennis when you are less than one hundred percent. The tennis tour is a one trick pony show and the pony is Roger. There isn't a single player that can hold my attention for the duration for a tennis match. But Roger versus anybody is enough for me.

I struggled to stay awake. There were moments that I thought to myself...go to bed. At times I fought to keep my eyes open at times. I found myself hoping that Roger would break Agut and get it over with. I tried to get myself prepared to stay up if it went three sets. I pushed myself to the limits...to watch Roger Federer play tennis.

He was really struggling. With the sound off you didn't hear him exhorting himself on as he yelled "come on!" way more often than he usually does. He slashed at imaginary things with his racquet. He was muttering to himself. It was a tough match for him...much tougher than Juan Martin Del Potro was. It was tough because he wasn't prepared. He didn't have enough time to get prepared.

It was a fascinating match given all that was going on internally. He will have time to get ready for Berdych though. It looks as if Federer is really playing himself into form for this tournament. The semifinal will be the interesting match. If he is able to continue to gradually raise his level it will be awesome. Whoever it is better be ready. The one thing I will be watching for in the match with Berdych is the Federer serving game. If he is able to get this back on track...good night Tomas.