Great Day on the Clay

What a great battle between Rafael Nadal (The King of Clay) and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in Hamburg.  The result proves that despite a recent set-back against Juan Carlos Ferrero, Nadal is in great spirits leading up to his French Open defense.  Roger Federer routed Seppi 6-3, 6-1 for a spot in the finals, where he will face his Spanish nemesis.  You have to ask yourself: ‘Is Roger officially out of his slump? or is he just REALLY good on clay?”.....It seems to be a little bit of both.  Truthfully, it’s no mystery that Fed has played inspired tennis since signing on with new coach, Jose Higueras.  Jose is a proven winner; he has a low key personality which appears to be clicking well with Rogers’ charismatic, yet low key demeanor.  Needless to say, tomorrow’s final round is something to be excited about, and a win for Roger would send his confidence through the roof, giving him a MAJOR boost towards capturing his first ever French title.  Nadal will be ready, it is clay after all.  As for the WTA Tour, I’m still shocked that Justine Henin retired this week.  It’s sad to see someone with such talent step away from the game; something is telling me that she will be back on the tour one day.  Furthermore, it’s a shame to see Serena struggling with back issues at this stage of the season.  Williams has been playing such inspired tennis, and summer is her time to shine; for her sake, and American tennis, hopefully she’ll be ready to rock on the red clay in Paris.  Hamburg results.

Singles - Semifinals
[1] R Federer (SUI) d A Seppi (ITA) 63 61
[2] R Nadal (ESP) d [3] N Djokovic (SRB) 75 26 62 

Doubles - Semifinals
[2] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d L Paes (IND) / T Robredo (ESP) 63 36 10-2 

ORDER OF PLAY - SUNDAY, MAY 18, 2008
 

CENTRE COURT start 10:00am
THIRD PLACE PLAYOFF - BlackRock Tour of Champions
FINAL - BlackRock Tour of Champions

Not Before 12:30 PM
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) vs [2] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) 

Not Before 3:00 PM

[1] R Federer (SUI) vs [2] R Nadal (ESP)