A PERSON
Sure, Roger Federer . The other day, Roger said that confidence in his abilities had returned to him, but many had missed those seemingly on duty words by the ears. From now on, we will take Roger’s word. Roger beat Nadal on the ground for the first time in two years and six meetings. This alone is worth a lot. But by doing this, Roger killed several other rabbits. He made it clear that he did not need a coach by and large. He convinced that there was no question of any crisis - it was just temporary insanity. He showed that, as befits champions, he reached the peak of form exactly when it was needed - on the eve of the second Grand Slam tournament of the season. And the main thing is that gracefully hanging Nadal the “steering wheel” in the third set, Roger gave himself a chance at the “Roland Garros”. And everyone understands what this means.
MATCH
After the match with Carlos Moya, Roger Federer opened the veil of secrecy over the reasons for his marvelous defeats this season. He admitted that he had problems with “returning” to the match after losing the first set: all four Federer defeats this season began precisely with losing the first set. In the match with Moya, for the first time this season he managed to “return” to win. And in a meeting with Nadal, he passed the exam on the "return" to the six with a plus.
The first set, Roger began, as it were, continuing the final in Monte Carlo - a lot of mistakes, problems with the pitch and as a result five lost games in a row, two of them on his pitch. And then ... Even Rafael Nadal, by his own admission, still cannot understand what happened next. Roger waved his wand, not otherwise. Time! - the errors disappeared, the feed returned. Roger did not fail to make the first break of the match, and this was only the beginning. Federer seemed to have been replaced: still, changing tactics in the course of the meeting is aerobatics. The Swiss rushed to the attack, went deeper into the court, began to aggressively respond to the top spins sent to him for the backhand, and then, winning in time and space, went to the net or just like that, without a net, delivered crushing blows from forehand. But Nadal was wrong in defense. That's all.
TITLES
Elena Jankovic won the first category tournament in Rome without losing a set, although in the final match against Svetlana Kuznetsova she lost 2-4 in the first game. Until this year, Elena Yankovich did not achieve much success on the ground, however, cooperation with the Spanish coach on the eve of the ground season clearly benefited her. Rome - this is the second soil title Jankovic this year. The first she conquered on green clay in Charleston. A convincing victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova is another strong evidence of the ground suitability of the Serbian tennis player.
The only one whom Jankovic, in her own words, is still afraid on the ground is Justine Henin. The account of personal meetings with Jankovic with Henin is still dry - 0: 5 in favor of the Belgian. Elena reproaches herself that she is always inferior to Justine in three sets. Moreover, in the last three meetings she lost in the decisive set with a score of 4: 6, and the last time lost, leading in the account in the third set of 4: 0. It is the Belgian Serbian tennis player who considers him to be the main favorite on Roland Garros. Nevertheless, having won the title in Rome, Jankovic caught up with her main dirt authority in the number of tournaments won per season - 3. Moreover, if all 3 Justine titles were won in the second category tournaments, Jankovic won 2 out of 3 titles in the first tournaments categories.
NUMBERS
0: 6 - the last time Rafael Nadal lost a set with such a crushing score in last year's Wimbledon finals and also to Roger Federer.
The tie-break of the second set in the second round match in Hamburg between Marat Safin and Juan Carlos Ferrero lasted more than 30 minutes. Safin lost this tie-break, and with it the match - 3: 6, 6: 7.
From the 34th attempt, Daniela Hantuhova managed to reach the semifinal of the dirt tournament.
4 of 4 finals lost this season Svetlana Kuznetsova. There is something to be comforted - Roger Federer of four tournaments in a row in three did not even reach the finals.
Svetlana became the 11th tennis player who managed to reach the finals of tournaments in Berlin and Rome in the same year, as well as the second tennis player after Gabriela Sabatini, who could not win at least one of these finals. In addition, Kuznetsova became the third Russian woman to reach the final of the tournament in Rome after Olga Morozova (1972) and Dinara Safina (2006)
VIDEO
Hamburg Final Federer - Nadal. The last game of the match with all that it implies. Uncle Tony smiles. Apparently, very happy for Roger. Roger is also happy and cuddles with Mirka for joy.
THE WORDS
Serena Williams in Rome voiced her predictions for Roland Garros: "The main favorites are Nadal, Federer, I, Justine and Venus." Perhaps you should not find fault with the words, but the sequence with which the female names are placed on this list is somewhat alarming.
Ksenia VITRYAK