Roger Federer's Crisis of Confidence

Roger Federer tosses away the racket he smashed in his loss to Novak Djokovic in Miami

The Gillette Company is currently running an advertisement in the US with its Terrific Threesome, Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods, and Roger Federer. In the spot, Jeter and Woods, both wearing "cool shoes," strut down a New York City street to the strains of the disco tune "Staying Alive." When they encounter Roger Federer decked out in silver high-heeled platform shoes with a gaudy gold chain around his neck, they give him looks of scorn. Federer just smiles back. The statement "Here's to Confidence," flashes on the screen.

The timing is unfortunate, to say the least. In fact, it is somewhat reminiscent of the American Express Company's "Where's Andy's Mojo?" ad campaign that self-destructed when Andy Roddick lost to a nobody in the first round of the U.S. Open in 2005. It's bad enough that Federer smashed his racket in frustration during his 3-set semifinal loss to Novak Djokovic at the ATP Masters Series event in Miami on April 3rd. Worse is the fact that, after taking a wild card into the ATP Masters Series event in Monte Carlo, he went out tamely in straight sets to his countryman Stanislas Wawrinka in just the third round (April 17th). Last year, Federer was a finalist in Monte Carlo, where he lost to Rafael Nadal. A loss to Nadal is not an embarassment on any surface, but a loss to Stan Wawrinka? True, clay is Wawrinka's best surface, but Federer normally eats him for breakfast. The fact is, Roger Federer has not exactly looked confident in his last two matches.

To tell the truth, Federer's confidence has been almost as damaged as that smashed racket since his loss to Rafael Nadal in the final match of the Wimbledon Championship last year. He made a comeback to win his 13th Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open in September of 2008, but then melted down again against Nadal in the final of the Australian Open this year. So far, Federer has not won a title in 2009. It's early yet, of course, and Roger got a late start last year, too, before coming on strong in the later part of the year, but the clock is ticking. Will he equal or exceed Pete Sampras's record of 14 Grand Slam titles or stall out at a not-so-lucky 13? Federer will turn 28 in August, and most people don't win Grand Slam titles at that age.

It doesn't help that Federer, newly married to his longtime girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec, is expecting to become a father sometime soon. First-time parenthood has to be a major distraction, to say the least. But there seems to be more than that going on. For one thing, Rafael Nadal is at the peak of his powers at age 22, and 20-year-old Andy Murray is hotter than anyone except Nadal this year. (They have both won 3 titles so far this year, but Nadal got his 6th Grand Slam title in Melbourne in January.) Roger Federer appears to have slowed down a bit, which has affected the timing on his groundstrokes, causing many more unforced errors, and his serve is not as reliable as it once was. Against most players, he is still a dominating force, but the young guns, including 21-year old Novak Djokovic, the world's number three player, are a different challenge than they posed a couple of years ago.

As Federer plays on the downhill side of a magnificent career, there are definitely questions to be answered, questions that probably underlie his fragile confidence. Can he still win a Grand Slam title? Can he find a way to be effective against Nadal and Murray, who stand squarely in the path of his record-breaking, or at least record-tying ambitions? Is there a way for a prodigiously talented, yet aging player, to get better at a difficult time in his career? Can he find a coach who can really help him, and will he listen to that coach if he finds him?

The fans on the sidelines have their own answers to these questions of course. A string of wins is all Roger Federer needs to rebuild his confidence. But how to get those wins? My recipe for success would be improved fitness and more aggressive play. After a year and more of mononucleosis and a nagging back injury, Federer has to get into the best phsyical shape possible, which might include building up his shoulders, arms and legs, while still shaving off a little weight overall. He doesn't need to go around flexing his biceps for the crowd like Andy Murray, but it wouldn't hurt for the biceps to get a little bigger. Andy Roddick was sure that he could not lose weight and be effective, but his new coach, Larry Stefanki, showed him that wasn't the case.

In my opinion, a new coach and more aggressive play go hand in hand. Federer, who played his best seasons without a coach, is notoriously difficult to coach. Whoever takes on the job must be someone Federer respects and will listen to, who will encourage him in a net-rushing style of play that he knows is effective, but up until now has been unwilling to play consistently. Darren Cahill turned Roger down recently, for reasons of his own. John McEnroe has volunteered for the job, but doesn't seem like a good choice to me. If I were Roger Federer, I would be knocking on the door of someone like Boris Becker, one of his youthful idols. Big, strong, aggressive, tough minded, if Becker can't do a confidence transplant for Roger Federer, I don't know who can. He would certainly be my choice, if he is available and willing.

Will Roger Federer get his mojo (oops! confidence) back? The season is still young. We'll just have to wait and see.

The Agony of Defeat

What, me frustrated? What makes you think that?

Every year, I look forward to playing fantasy tennis. For the past three years, I played on the ATP Tour website, but it looks as if that game is inoperative this year, most likely because the Stanford Group, which sponsored it, is in financial trouble. So I went looking for another site, and it turned out not to be easy. I found a fantasy tennis league at http://www.tennis-pool.com/ and signed up.

The set-up is different. For one thing, you choose teams for both men's tennis and women's tennis. That's a challenge for me, because what I don't know about women's tennis would fill volumes. The reason for that is that I am not interested in women's tennis, but what the heck, I thought I'd give it a try. But wait; there's more. You choose a 10-player team for the WTA and the ATP. For each team, you have $15 million to spend, and each player has a dollar amount attached. The higher-ranked the player, the more he or she costs. That's logical, and I have no complaints. The catch is that you can only trade three players for each tournament. That doesn't work very well, and this week I crashed and burned on the ATP side, at least, before the second round had been completed.

Now that the European clay court season is underway, I wanted to add Rafael Nadal to my team. They don't call him the King of Clay for nothing, and if one of your players wins the tournament, it doesn't hurt so much if all your other players lose early. Unfortunately, Nadal costs about $750,000, and you can only trade three players, so I couldn't add him without exceeding the salary cap. Believe me, I tried six ways to Sunday to do it, but it just didn't work. Up until this week, Andy Murray had led my team, but I was afraid he wouldn't do well on clay, so I wanted someone with a better clay court record. Roger Federer took a last-minute wild card entry into the ATP Masters Series tournament at Monte Carlo, so I chose him and, after much pain, reconfigured my team to accommodate him using only three trades.

The first problem was that two of my players, Steve Darcis and Nicolas Lapentti, had to qualify for the tournament. That was a new experience, because I don't usually pay attention to the qualifying rounds. Lapentti made it, but Darcis did not. Now I was down to 9 players, and the tournament proper had not yet begun. But I took heart, because I had some good clay court players on my team, like Tommy Robredo, Nicolas Almagro, and Igor Andreev, and I figured most of my players were worth one or two wins, even if they didn't go very far into the tournament. Not!

By the end of the first round, I had lost 7 of my 9 players. Roger Federer, seeded number 2 in the tournament, had beaten Andreas Seppi, and Nicolas Lapentti beat Radek Stepanek, seeded number 15 in the tournament, a good win. Then came the second round, in which Federer lost to his countryman Stan Wawrinka in straight sets. Only Lapentti, the qualifier, survived, defeating Russian Marat Safin. Okay, I'm down to one player with three rounds left to play. And who does Nicolas Lapentti face in round 3? Rafael Nadal. Want to bet who will win that match?

As it happens, I'm doing a little better on the WTA side of the ledger, but I am just not interested, even though I will take all the points I can get. But it's the men's side that interests me, and before tomorrow is over I'll be wiped out. And by the way, Andy Murray is doing just fine, thank you very much. Oh, the agony of defeat! (But next week I'll squeeze Nadal onto my team. You can bet on that.)

Fernando's Excellent Australian Adventure

Fernando Verdasco during his Australian Open quarterfinal match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Fernando Verdasco came into the 2009 Australian Open determined to improve his performance at this tournament. With a 4-5 career record in Melbourne and never having managed to get beyond the second round, there was a lot of room for improvement.

And improve he did. This year, Verdasco, who won the decisive match that gave Spain the Davis Cup in 2008, spent his off-season training with Gil Reyes, the man who turned Andre Agassi into a monument to fitness. Verdasco returned to the tour with more stamina and more confidence. He made it to the final of the warm-up tournament in Brisbane, where he lost to Radek Stepanek, and arrived in Melbourne to find that he had a very tough draw, possibly facing Stepanek again in the third round, 4th-ranked Andy Murray in the fourth, last year's Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarters, and the number one ranked player in the world, Rafael Nadal, in the semifinals. But first he had to get past round two.

In fact, Verdasco breezed through the first three rounds of the Australian Open without dropping a set and handing his former nemesis Stepanek a double bagel in the final two sets of their match (6-4 6-0 6-0). But then came Andy Murray, who appears to be challenging Rafael Nadal for the title of the "beast" of tennis. Murray was one of the hottest players in men's tennis in 2008, winning 5 titles and making it to his first Grand Slam final at the U.S. Open (l. to Federer). Murray finished 2008 with his highest ATP ranking to date (number 4) and started 2009 by taking the title at Doha (Qatar Open), beating 2nd ranked Roger Federer in the semifinal and the 9th ranked and apparently revitalized Andy Roddick in the final. In fact, many people considered him to be the favorite to take the Australian Open title this year. I doubt if anyone but his mother thought Fernando Verdasco, a handsome, amiable good-time guy who up to now has been best known for partying, night-clubbing, dating Ana Ivanovic, and posing in the nude, had a prayer against Murray.

It was a taxing five-set match in brutal heat, but Verdasco beat Murray (2-6 6-1 1-6 6-3 6-4) to set up a quarterfinal showdown with Jo Wilfried Tsonga, who rode his appearance in the 2008 Australian Open final (l. Djokovic) and titles in Bangkok and the Master Series tournament in Paris to a current ranking of 8th in the world. This was Verdasco's first appearance in a Grand Slam quarterfinal, and he bounced back after his long match with Andy Murray to defeat Tsonga in 4 sets (7-6 3-6 6-2 6-2).

Now he was in his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal and had to face Rafael Nadal. Nadal, who won his first Grand Slam (and his first singles title!) at age 18 at Roland Garros, won his fourth Roland Garros title in a row in 2008, beating Roger Federer decisively in straight sets. From there, Nadal, no longer just the "King of Clay," went to Wimbledon and beat Federer again in a 5-set final that many people regard as one of the greatest matches of all time. Wimbledon championship in hand, Nadal continued his tear through the ATP with a total of 8 titles in 2008. He took over the number 1 ranking from Roger Federer just before the 2008 U.S. Open, where he lost in the semifinals to Andy Murray. Nadal finished 2008 ranked number one with a match record of 82-11.

Today, Fernando Verdasco lost to Rafael Nadal, but he made a real fight of it, going down in 5 sets (7-6 4-6 6-7 7-6 4-6) in the longest match in Australian Open history (5 hours and eleven minutes). In a battle of left-handers, Verdasco had 95 winners and 78 errors, but it wasn't enough to beat Nadal. He got down 0-40 in what turned out to be final game, then fought back to 30-40 before losing the match on a double-fault. After the match Verdasco said, "I need to be proud for the tournament I made and the level I played today also. I think it was unbelievable match. I [hit] 20 aces. I was serving 210, 215 a lot. So I cannot think about that I made two double-faults in one game, because tennis is like [that] sometimes." Thus ended the first all-Spanish semifinal at the Australian Open.

Despite what must be a disappointing loss, Fernando Verdasco made his Grand Slam breakthrough and will rise into the ATP top ten for the first time when the rankings come out on Monday. He apparently found a new seriousness of purpose through his pivotal role in the 2008 Davis Cup final, achieved a higher level of fitness by training with Gil Reyes in Las Vegas, and received much-needed self-confidence through a 2-hour private conversation with Andre Agassi on Christmas Eve 2008. Vardasco won't reveal any details of his talk with his childhood idol Agassi, but it seems to have given him a shot in the arm. On the eve of his match with Nadal Verdasco said, "Right now I'm believing so much about me and I just think that I can beat anyone." Let's hope he can keep hold of that belief. Vamos, Fernando!

Understudy Gets Eleventh Hour Chance in Shanghai

Radek Stepanek showing off his socks?

They're playing the ATP Tour Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai this week. In this end-of the-season event, the top eight men's players in the world compete in a round-robin event, followed by knock-out semifinals and a final. The winner goes home with more than a million dollars, the equivalent of a Grand Slam purse, plus ranking points and bragging rights.

Before the event started, Frenchman Gilles Simon, ranked ninth in the world, got his chance to compete in Shanghai when number-one player Rafael Nadal withdrew because of a knee injury that occurred in the final tournament of the regular season. Czech player Radek Stepanek was on vacation in Thailand when he got an eleventh hour call to come to Shanghai to substitute for Andy Roddick, who had sprained his ankle. Stepanek grabbed his chance and took off for Shangai. Unfortunately, he didn't have any tennis gear with him, and his own equipment did not arrive in time for his match against number-two Roger Federer.

Stepanek went begging for equipment among the other players. He didn't even have contact lenses with him, but his prescription was made up in Hong Kong. Finally, with a racket borrowed from Novak Djokovic and socks borrowed from Andy Murray, Radek Stepanek took the court. He lost in straight sets to Federer, but he has the chance to play one more match in the round-robin before being eliminated. By that time, Stepanek will have his own equipment, but if I were he, I'd keep Andy Murray's socks. The way Murray has played this year, those socks may have some magic in them

What Do Tennis Players Do When They're Not Playing Tennis?

In this photo, Spanish tennis player Fernando Verdasco is advertising underwear. At least, that's one of the things he's showing off.

Admittedly, professional tennis players, with their eleven-month season, don't have a lot of spare time. But they know how to make good use of the spare time they do have. One of the things they do is appear in advertisements. Given their fitness and toned bodies, it's not unusual for tennis players to go shirtless in ads, as is the case with Fernando Verdasco (left). Of course, you can find just about anything on Youtube, and there is an almost 10-minute video there of shirtless tennis players, including Andy Roddick, Feliciano Lopez, Dmitri Tursunov, Tommy Haas, Robbie Ginepri, and Rafael Nadal. In fact, current number-one player Rafael Nadal goes shirtless in a commercial for Nike. On the other hand, he covers up for a Spanish commercial for a milk drink called Cola Cao. This is a bit more reminiscent of the many ads of tennis players, including Pete Sampras, Venus and Serena Williams, Andy Roddick, and, Ana Ivanovic (2008) sporting their milk mustaches in the highly popular "Got milk?" series of ads.

Although many tennis players take off their clothes in ads, some advertise other products while fully clothed. Top players, like Roger Federer, have many top of the line sponsors, such as Nike, Wilson, Rolex, and Mercedes Benz. For a couple of years now, Federer has been doing advertisements for Gillette with golfer Tiger Woods and French soccer player Thierry Henry. Recently, Gillette has replaced Henry with New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, at least for the American market. This is not unusual. Rafael Nadal makes commercials for Nike in Europe, but up to now they have never aired on American television. Now that he is the number one tennis player in the world and the 2008 Olympic gold medalist, Nike will probably make an ad with Nadal for the American market. Based on this year's U.S. Open series "Road Trip" commercial with Nadal and John McEnroe, Nadal has possibilities, but they will need to clean up his English. But he does a great job driving the bus!

Sometimes the ads take advantage of an aspect of the game that a player is especially known for, such as the Powerade commerical with big-serving Andy Roddick. In one of the great ad campaigns that went astray, Roddick was the subject of a series of American Express commercials for the 2005 U.S. Open in which Andy was looking for his "mojo." Unfortunately for Roddick and his sponsor, Andy lost in the first round. Obviously, he couldn't find his mojo when he needed it. Often, even second-rank players have multiple sponsors and do ads for all of them. For example, American player Robbie Ginepri does ads for Underarmour, a clothing company, as well as for Babolat, the French manufacturer of strings, tennis rackets, shoes, and other tennis gear. Babolat's premier American player is Andy Roddick, who also is sponsored by Lacoste, another French company.

Mind you, sexy commercials are not the exclusive province of male tennis players. Probably the queen of advertising is Maria Sharapova, whose beauty and tennis prowess make her a sponsor's dream. Her sponsors include Colgate, Canon, and upscale clothing and shoe manufacturer Cole Haan. Canon has recently done a series of amusing ads in which Maria is upstaged by her pet Pomeranian, Dolce. Actually, "Dolce" in the commericals is a dog actor named Beowulf, because Sharapova's own pet dog did not respond as well to the camera.

Probably the most notorious advertisement involving a tennis player is the Canon "Image is Everything" ad with Andre Agassi. It took years for Agassi to live down the "all flash and no substance" image it portrayed. Today, with tennis players represented by image-conscious agents like IMG, the Agassi Canon ads probably never would have been made, but that would have been a shame, because they capture an image of "cool" that would be hard to replace. These days, Agassi, who won 8 Grand Slam titles before his retirement in 2006, prefers to be known for his foundation and charitable work, which earned him a spot in Time's list of 100 most important people of 2008. But, you know, those were great ads.

My Ups and Downs in Fantasy Tennis

Today, Andy Murray beat Roger Federer in the first semi-final at the ATP Masters Series tournament in Madrid. I can only describe my feelings as mixed. Roger Federer is my favorite tennis player, but I had Andy Murray on my fantasy tennis team for this week, so his victory was a good thing for me. After several weeks of disastrous results, two of my fantasy team were among the four players left in the semi-finals. That left my other guy, Gilles Simon (pictured), a very hot young player from France, to play the ATP's new number one player, Rafael Nadal, in the other semi-final, and, beyond my wildest dreams, he won.

I have been playing fantasy tennis on the ATP Tour website for the past three years. My first year was great. I fulfilled my goal of ending the season in the top 200 out of more than 12,000 competitors. Last year wasn't so good, and again this year I'm struggling, although I have not yet given up on my goal of ending the year in the top 500. After Murray's and Simon's victories today, my ranking is 643 out of 11,823 teams entered, with only two weeks left in the season, so you can see that I have an uphill battle. Nevertheless, I now have a lock on the title in this week's tournament, one of the biggest on the tour after the Grand Slams, so my ranking will be going up, no matter what.

The way the Fantasy Tennis game works is, you can choose 8 singles players and 1 doubles team for every week while the game is being played. My team is called Gremlins, because that was the only name I could think of when I registered to play the game. In 2008, it started on April 20th with the ATP Tour Masters Series tournment in Monte Carlo. Whatever prize money your players win during the tournament is credited to you, and the fantasy players who win the most prize money are ranked the highest. As of today, my team has won $15.068,757 for the season. The catch is that you can only use each player 5 times, so no matter how you try to manage your resources, by the end of the season most of the top 10 players are used up. Fortunately, there are always a few lesser-ranked players who turn out to have a very good year, like Argentine Juan Martin del Potro and Gilles Simon, who has done so well for me this week and those are the players I am relying on right now. Next week I have to cover three tournaments, in Lyon, St. Petersburg, and Basel, and then the last week of the season consists of only one tournament, the ATP Masters Series event in Paris. Don't ask me what players I'm going to choose for the coming week because the tournament draws are just being announced. Whoever they are, I just hope they have a good week.