Who Framed Roger Federer?

Seeing Federer at No. 5 in the ATP rankings is weird for all of us. God knows how he must be feeling about his tumble, especially because he was No. 1 this time last year.

Even weirder is his schedule this summer that has him playing Hamburg and Gstaad on CLAY, back-to-back. What? So many questions, so little answers, but Roger revealed one important detail about the remainder of his season and, possibly, his career: he has a new racquet!

One of the big critiques against the G.O.A.T. was the small frame of his racquet leaving him prone to wild errors should he not make precision-perfect contact with the ball. Of course, he was doing a lot of winning with his "subpar" 90-inch frame. But it goes to show that Roger will keep making adjustments and finding ways to stay at the top of the game. I was apprehensive about his summer schedule on Euroclay, but it looks like he wants to get a few matches in with his new magic wand close to home before showing it off in the States for the U.S. Open Series. Panic alert down to yellow, for now. It was a deep orange post Wimblegeddon Wednesday.

What do you guys make of Fed's upgrade? Long overdue? Grasping at straws? He's quickly fallen behind the other guys in the Big 4, so we'll see if this gets him back in the mix with Rafa, Nole, and Andy.

R.I.P. Fed's old racquet. We'll miss your shanks.

The People's Champion

There is a little Andy Murray in all of us.

We can point to his awkwardness, his propensity to admonish himself at his mistakes, his dull tone when he speaks, and his less-than-supermodel looks. Even when it comes to his tennis, he doesn't have the awe-inspiring, unmatchable playstyles that his Big Four contemporaries do. He's normal. He's awkward. He's human.

That's what makes him the ultimate People's Champion. He's been the runt of the top guys for years and has had to slog his way to the mountaintop by fighting for every ball, working to improve all facets of his game, and sacrificing living a normal life, even as a tennis player, to become a multiple Grand Slam winner within the span of 12 months. What better way for that to culminate at Wimbledon with a straight set victory over his primary rival of this period of the Golden Era.

His many years of heartbreak, and sometimes embarrassment, at Grand Slam finals could have broken him for good. He could have given in to the superhumans talents of Roger Federer that have dazed him on big stages in the past, or to Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, his age mates in this era who have already experienced wildly dominant periods in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Rather, he retooled his game, hired a new coach at the start of 2012, and slowly began to rewrite his history. He did this all the hard way and found success in the end, which inspires hope in everyone willing to work towards a dream.

The season is not over and his legacy is far from being carved into stone, so I am sure that achieving a seemingly ultimate achievement will not satisfy Andy for more than 24 hours. He will be back practicing for summer hard courts soon preparing to defend his U.S. Open title, something he's never had to do before. Still, you have to bet on him going forward as he has proven time after time that he belongs with the alphas of men's tennis. Except he's just a little more like you and me.

Congratulations, Andy Murray! May the name Fred Perry and the year 1936 forever rest in peace.

Baby, Remember Their Names

Oh, hey there. It's been a while, my apologies. Between my hectic job, singing with Andrea Bocelli, getting sick, and unforeseen social commitments, the time I would normally take to blog was instead used to stare blankly at Excel, interact with other humans, and sleep. However, all of the aforementioned trivial activities take a backseat to the last two rounds of Wimbledon!

We took a wild ride to the semifinals and we've lost a collection of big names, but while the four left on the men's side as a whole are not particularly surprising, but the ladies' draw has been massacred beyond belief, culminating with the ousting of Serena on Manic Monday. The major "pro" for this decimation is that we will have a brand new Slam winner on Saturday. The problem with this foursome can be summed up in a one-word question: "WHO?"

Not to worry! Here's a few ideas to turn each of these girls into a star should they take home the Venus Rosewater Dish:

Agnieszka Radwanska: clearly, in a historical context at least, the "Andy Murray" of the WTA Big Four. Crafty, clever, yet just a tick outmatched by her primary counterparts. She is THE shotmaker of the Circuit (cue highlight reel) and won the Junior Wimbledon crown in 2005. How great would it be if she could nab her first major here, too?

Marion Bartoli: the feisty, spirited competitor who doesn't back down. Her coach/advisor is former Wimbledon champ Amelie Mauresmo, who inspired her to focus on Wimbledon. She bounces and practice swings between points to get in her opponents' heads. Marion will be responsible for the wave of young tennis players skipping around behind the baseline just to piss off the other players.

Kirsten Flipkens: she couldn't even get into Wimbledon last year. Like, they legit would not let her through the gates. She was playing Challengers in Micronesia and Antarctica just to get her ranking up enough to qualify for qualifying rounds of tour-level events! She is just a consummate workhorse. (I'm pretty sure this comes close to the narrative currently out there.)

Sabine Lisicki: she's pretty, she's blonde, she cries when she wins, and she clearly has no respect for the French Open. What's not to like? She's already the oddsmakers favorite and has the title of "I Beat Serena" generating a lot of buzz for her. After all the upsets she has accomplished over the years, it would be more than fitting for her to fluke her way to a Wimbledon title without it being a fluke at all.

Personally, I would love it if Aga wins this one. It's right there in front of her and would ease a lot of the burden she would feel in her career going forward. Plus, I think she's the best player in this draw on this surface. Who do you have reaching the mountaintop? Pick one and say why by leaving a comment. No, you can't still pick Serena.

(Edit: about me picking Aga to win this tournament...but she did win best snub)

In The Baguette

Draws are out, Roger is happy, and Tatashvili may make history by being Serena's second first-round conquerer or by being blown off the court in the shortest match in history (I predict the latter)! Here are my picks for what will, yet probably won't, happen:

1. Serena Williams wins the French Open with Olympics 2012-style domination of the field. She is primed and ready to exorcise all demons from last year and should be a lock to accomplish her goal of winning a match at Roland Garros, plus an additional six more.

2. Novak Djokovic defeats Rafael Nadal in the semifinals in five grueling sets and goes on to complete his Career Slam with a win over Tomas Berdych in the finals. Nole has confidence in beating Nadal on clay once again and two surprise losses in Madrid and Rome won't break his focus for the most important tournament on his calendar this year.

3. Sloane Stephens repeats her fourth-round result. I know she is STRUGGLIN' right now, but I believe in her game and her draw is very manageable.

4. Benoit Paire pushes Nadal to his second ever five-set match at Roland Garros. Benoit is much like Gulbis with his power game. The French crowd will be behind him and should give him the push he needs to...not completely flop.

5. Stanislas Wawrinka is upset by Jerzy Janowicz in the third round. I see the stars aligning and Jerzy's game coming together to give one of the young guns a second-week breakthrough. This will be an especially impressive win given Stan's form this month.

Now that I look at it, these predictions aren't exactly groundbreaking. Oh well. I'm already anticipating an awesome third round. NADAL VS. ROSOL II.

Who do you have taking home the titles? Who do you have breaking through? Leave a comment and let me know! Enjoy Roland Garros, y'all!

Float To The Top

The G.O.A.T. of Float

Now that preparations for Roland Garros are just about over (at least they are outside of France...almost...thanks, Dusseldorf...), most tennis enthusiasts will reflect on this year's Euroclay swing and determine which players have put themselves in the best position for French Open title contention. Unfortunately for those with their eyes on the trophy, they must navigate the draw through seven matches. Eventually for some, there will be a supreme roadblock in the way, a DANGEROUS FLOATER. 

These players are ranked low enough to be anywhere in the draw, even as a first-round opponent to a top seed (Nadal vs. Isner, anyone?). While ranking determines your spot in the bracket, it never is a good measure for seeing who can bust the bracket wide open by turning on the gas and knocking out a major contender. However, said contenders are in luck! I've put together a list of four players from each tour that everyone should have their eye on once the draws are released on Friday. (Each player is ranked outside of the Top 32, a very strategic handicap that stupidly did not consider the myriad of withdrawals, but throw me a bone.)

WTA

Her booty shorts are the best

39. Svetlana Kuznetsova: We all know how capable Sveta is. She's a two-time Grand Slam champ, including Roland Garros, for goodness sake. Then again, she can crap out in round one against a complete nobody. She really is the epitome of a wildcard. Still, Svetlana does seem to get up for the big stage evidenced by her quarterfinal run from nowhere at this year's Oz. It'll be interesting to see if a big name draws her early.

40. Kaia Kanepi: Kaia has been away from the game for awhile with a leg injury, but she has been known to blast opponents off the court with her high-powered game. The former Top 15er made the quarters of last year's French Open, so you know she's competent on clay. Definitely a first-round nightmare for a finesse opponent...if she's on.

44. Simona Halep: I honestly don't know who she is or what she's about or even what her game is like (her matches were always on way too early), but she was BLITZING the Rome field, leaving behind high-ranked victims such as Aga Radwanska and Roberta Vinci. She was stopped cold by Serena, but who wasn't these last few months? Her run from qualies to semis needs to be noted.

54. Magdalena Rybarikova: I personally saw this tall Slovakian qualify for the U.S. Open in 2012. She has a sneaky big serve and an all-court game that troubled Aga in Miami in March. She can definitely surprise a seed early on.

ATP

36. Lukas Rosol: The ultimate floater. We all know what happened at SW 19 last July. He's even more relevant this Grand Slam now that he's nabbed his first title in Bucharest on clay. (Note: he may not even be floating anymore with the amount of withdrawals!)

39. Ernests Gulbis: When Ernie is relevant and annoying Rafa on court and in the media, everyone wins. His matches at Indian Wells and Rome against Nadal were so much fun. They also wound up arguably being Rafa's toughest matches on the way to both titles. And he loves talking smack, which is the main reason why I want him to back it up with a Top 10 victory in Paris NOT AGAINST TIPSAREVIC, THAT DOESN'T COUNT. How pissed off would Rafa be if both he and Rosol end up in his quarter? Ugh, the possibilities.

60. Daniel Brands: scored a Top 10 win (over Tipsarevic...) in Munich last month, but hasn't backed that up in Dusseldorf, getting run off the court in the first round. Still, this German's got a big game and that's never a bad thing.

67. Ricardas Berankis: I'm grasping at straws a little with the men because, at the rate the Big 4 are going, Stan Wawrinka could be considered a dangerous floater. But let's take a look at this former Junior #1. He's steadily making his way back from injury and made it through qualifying to challenge Andy Murray in three tight sets in the third round of the Australian Open.

So there you have it! I'm sure you have one or two or eight players you would replace with those names above, so leave a comment and your reasoning why "such-and-such" should be considered a dangerous floater, and do it fast. You only have five hours left before the draw is released.

Cleaning Up the Mess in Madrid

Wow, Madrid! That was the crappiest mandatory ever!

Call me an anti-traditionalist American, but clay tournaments are boring. The matches are slow. The rallies are long...and slow. The days are slow...and long. And Madrid 2013 seemed to magnify all of these issues I have with clay and put them to the forefront. Granted, this is all from my own perspective as an observer, but there were many times I was asking for the blue clay back (especially since I was watching on my iPhone at work and I can't afford to stare at the screen too long to locate the ball mid-rally when my bosses tend to swing by often).

ANYWAY, Madrid had quite a few stories, but we'll focus on the ones that were made on court.

The Stan Man Can: the Swiss #2 (but #1 in our hearts...maybe?) has joined his countryman, Roger Federer, in the Top 10 by his recent clay results, including a thorough beatdown of David Ferrer in Portugal, overpowering a red hot Dimitrov, and outlasting Tsonga and Berdych in back-to-back rounds. It's too bad he ran out of gas in today's final. I would've loved to see him give Rafa a bit more trouble, but who can blame him after playing 10 matches in 11 days over two different tournaments? I thought his crushing loss to Djokovic in Melbourne would deflate him, but it seems to have galvanized him. He's a legitimate threat to the Big Four and I look forward to seeing how he fares through the clay swing and in U.S. hard court season.

Baby Boy: speaking of Dimitrov, Madrid 2013 will be remember as the tournament where Grigor showed what he can do and how he can inspire a crowd. He broke through and took down the #1 ranked player in the world in one of the best matches I've seen in my short life. As a Nole fan, it took me a solid 24 hours to realize how great and important that match was to Grigor's growth. He has the complete offensive arsenal. We would all love to see that amount of talent sustained throughout an entire tournament.

Deja Vu: speaking of Dimitrov, his gf can't catch a break against Serena. MaSha lost, yet again, to SW in the Madrid final in straight sets in undramatic fashion. I don't think she'll ever break through against Serena. It's a nightmare matchup for MaSha and SW will never brain cramp against her like she does against other players such as Anabel Medina Garrigues (what was that bagel all about?).

Coming Up Short: speaking of Dimitrov, he and Kei Nishikori scored huge wins against the world #1 and #2 only to bow out in the very next round. Kei's loss was especially disappointing because he lost to No. 113 Pablo Andujar in a very poor display. It takes more than beating one great player to reach the top. These young guns will have to earn there places amongst the best the hard way.

Who does that?

All in all, Madrid made a few waves, but the tournament as a whole...well, sucked. Hopefully the Djokovic and Federer would have the sense to touch a racquet before their first match at Rome later this week. What are your closing thoughts on our first combined clay event of the season, not counting Oeiras? Miss the blue clay like I do? Leave a comment, or unfollow me on Twitter and delete me off BBM. Whichever you prefer.

Parents Just Don't Understand

You gotta feel for Bernard Tomic.

To recap today's tennis news: John Tomic, Bernie's father and coach, was arrested today in Madrid for allegedly assaulting his son's hitting partner, Thomas Drouet. There are also reports of Bernie being physically abused by his father at Monte Carlo, coming away from the attack bleeding.

First, let's all remember that Bernie Tomic is only 20 years old. He's still a kid, as talented as he is. He's been put in an incredibly tough, high-pressure situation. He still really cares for his dad and it would have been hard to criticize Bernie for not getting rid of him from the very first signs of danger.

But after today, enough is enough.

This relationship, as it stands right now, is not working. Whatever pressure he may feel at home or around his family should disappear on the tennis court. Unfortunately for Bernie, his family life and his career have bled together to form a private-turned-public hell. The only way to achieve clarity is to remove his dad from his tennis completely.

We've all seen the crazed parent of a star athlete of all stages, from elementary school soccer to professional tennis. None of their children benefit by their over-involvement. In Bernie's case, he's clearly being negatively affected by his father's antics. I can't help but think back to all the times Bernie has lacked in effort and translate those instances into mental exhaustion. With his father being so close in proximity day-in and day-out, both Bernie's immediate and distant future is at great risk of being completely derailed.

Bernie is at a crossroads, but I don't think it could come at a better time. Should he get rid of his dad once and for all, he may finally feel free of the emotional burden tennis has brought him and let his all-court talent, and love for the game, shine through. No one deserves this treatment from anyone, let alone their own parent. I hope Bernie understands this.