Roger Federer is out of the Monte Carlo Masters. Jurgen Melzer got him 6-4, 6-4 in the quarters on a windy day that kicked clay in the air and made playing conditions extremely difficult. Melzer, seeded seventh in the tournament, now moves on to play fourth-seeded David Ferrer in the semis, while Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray square off in the other semifinal.
Despite the fact that Federer had never lost to Melzer before today, when I took a look at the draw yesterday I thought out of the four quarters, Melzer had the best shot at pulling off an upset. I didn't know the Austrian would win, and probably wouldn't have picked him, but I thought he at least had a chance. In fact, I figured the other three matches would be relatively easy wins for the favorites -- Nadal over Ljubicic, Murray over Gil, and Ferrer over Troicki. As it turned out, they were all straight-setters. It speaks volumes that I pegged Roger Federer, arguably the greatest men's tennis player in the history of the game, as the vulnerable one. That's just the way it feels these days. When I saw him play in Miami a couple of weeks ago, the joy didn't seem to be there. At his best, which was almost always, his play seemed effortless, as smooth as silk. Now it looks like a chore. I really do hope it's simply a bad patch and he'll rebound to challenge for more major titles. But, taking into account his age (he'll be 30 in August), the absurd length of time he dominated the game, and the way he has fared recently against Rafa and Nole, it's getting harder and harder to ignore the reality that Roger Federer hit his peak and we're now witnessing the denoument of his monolithic career.
No comments:
Post a Comment