The King loses!

Federer loses at Wimbledon. Two straight tourneys losing in the quarters.

Caroline Wozniacki

She is a class act. Beautiful woman and a great player.

The King is dethrowned! Federer loses at Wimbledon

For once, the press room came to bury Caesar, not to praise him. Six-time champion Roger Federer had slipped to a 6‑4, 3‑6, 6‑1, 6‑4 defeat at the hands of Tomas Berdych, failing to make the final here at Wimbledon for the first time since 2003. What followed was an autopsy – of an injured body and a technique against big-hitters that has suddenly become brittle.

“I couldn’t play the way I wanted to play,” said the No.1 seed ruefully. “I’m struggling with a little bit of a back and a leg issue that just doesn’t quite allow me to play the way I would like to play, so it’s frustrating, to say the least. When you’re hurting, you just don’t feel as comfortable. You can’t concentrate on each and every point because you do feel the pain sometimes, then you tend to play differently than the way you want to play. You don’t for example try to hit a running passing shot because you think you won’t be able to pull it off. Under the circumstances I think I played a decent match, but I’ve been feeling bad for the last two, three matches now. It’s just not good and healthy to play under these kind of conditions.

“”The leg came in the finals of Halle, and that kind of never really quite got away from me. It came back a little bit after the first‑round match, and then went away again and just kept creeping back sometimes during the matches. The back’s been feeling stiff the last five days, six days really badly, and also in the finals of Halle. It’s just something that’s been lingering on the grass. It’s normal that the back tends to get stiff in the grass court season because you have to go for many more lower shots. I’ve had that for many years and I think many players have it, but it’s just not nice when it doesn’t go away and you can’t play freely. Your back really hurts on defensive shots and that really hacks you off! And then after that you can’t attack. That’s what I was missing today. It’s frustrating.”

Federer’s loss was the second in a row against Berdych and his second consecutive defeat in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam after setting an unbelievable record of 23 straight semi-finals or better in majors. It also continued a worrying tendency of defeats against big-hitters: Berdych, Robin Soderling at the French Open, Ernests Gulbis in Rome and stretching back to Juan Martin del Potro at the 2009 US Open. Federer however was adamant that it was merely a temporary blip.

“If I’m healthy I can handle those guys. Obviously it’s a pity that Del Potro is not around (due to a wrist injury), because I think he would have a run at world No. 1 or a run at another Grand Slam. It’s unfortunate for him. These guys do play very well, but I’ve played these guys 10 times and they’re not going to reinvent themselves in a year. I’ve got the keys to beat them. Soderling and Berdych have got more consistent and they can be more relaxed now when they play but I had the keys to win today. I just made some shocking decisions. That forehand in the final game where I was up for a break – totally the wrong decision.”

What now for the deposed champion? For the first time in eight years, he finds himself with an empty calendar for the first weekend in July. “If there’s anything good about this, it’s that I’m gonna get some rest, that’s for sure,” said Federer. “I don’t think (I’ll watch the final on Sunday). Two weeks’ vacation. The injuries will calm down after three, four, five days off. Losing here at Wimbledon will no doubt hurt more, but it’s good to stop playing. It’s what I need at the moment.”

Federer will be best advised to avoid all media during his holidays. Not only will someone else brandish his Wimbledon crown, but on Monday he is scheduled to drop outside the top 2 in the ATP rankings for the first time since November 2003. The bigger they are, the harder they fall, and in recent years there has been none bigger than Federer. He proved in 2009 than he can bounce back from adversity, and now he has to do it all over again.

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What is going on this year? Federer and Nadal both struggling.

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There is only one word for this match: unbelieveable!

French Open

Nadal vs. Soderling. Should be a good one if Robin can contain his nerves. This is Nadal’s holy grail so he should prevail.

Federer loses; breaks streak of consecutive semi-final appearances

This upset was not that surprising since Soderling beat Nadal last year in the same round. The injuries that Roger has had in the last couple of months had to play a part in the loss. However, give all the credit to Robin, he took it to him from the start of the second set and never let up. Nadal should play Robin in the finals. Should be a great match!