Rob McLean - Rafa competion praying for a Soderling moment
David Ferrer didn't believe he could beat Rafael Nadal on clay in Rome, and no one else did either. Ferrer, by all accounts likes to read one book a week. Unfortunately Brad Gilbert's tome 'Winning Ugly' is probably not on his bedside.
Nadal looks the hottest favourite to regain the French Open since, well, last year when he was beaten by Robin Soderling. Will lightning strike twice? Hand Nadal the title now is the general concensus.
Thankfully, no one can be absolutely sure. Some years ago I asked the late, great correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, John Parsons, if Pete Sampras, near the end of his career and coming off the back of a humiliating defeat by Swiss journeyman George Bastl on an outside court at Wimbledon, could win the US Open. "Not a hope in hell," Parsons said. Sampras won his last Slam and retired. Always think Goran Ivanisevic.
Ferrer joins a huge club, including Roger Federer, that can't get their head around the brilliance of the Spaniard on clay but they will clutch at straws hoping that someone can 'do a Soderling' in three weeks' time.
Before that we have Estoril this week, where Federer plays, and then Madrid where Federer, Nadal and Andy Murray all take part. As I said last week, the absence of Murray from tournaments or his early exit mean the profile of foreign events is much lower in the media. Monday morning I was scouring some of the papers for the Rome Masters final report but barely a mention in the tabloids. No Murray, no story.
However, for those desperate to stay in touch, I have discovered - old news to lots of tennis enthusiasts - the delights of live streams on the computer from the ATP website (£13 for the week), and it was tuning in on my debut that I saw a player who maybe, just maybe, could make a big breakthrough.
Come on down Ernests Gulbis, who looks like a cross between Steve Coogan and a young John McEnroe and whose name that is a headline writer's dream - the 'importance of beating Ernests'. We have seen a few of these puns as a result of his displays against Federer (winning in three) and Nadal (losing in three) in Rome.
Gulbis had been touted as the next big thing but his only previous claim to fame had been due to some unsavoury headlines regarding his private life.
His first Tour win recently in Florida against the giant 'serving out of a tree' Ivo Karlovic got him off the mark and he looks like having the game for all surfaces.
What is refreshing about the Latvian is that he is not a tennis automaton who trains 10 hours a day. He appears to be a throwback to a time when players played hard on and off the court. He is also lucky to have rich parents who have backed him all the way.
Whether this sort of lifestyle will help him to reach the very top remains to be seen. He only has to look at two players of recent years, Mark Philippoussis and Mikael Pernfors, fine players who burnt the candle at both ends and never quite maximised their potential.
Philippoussis and Pernfors have just played in a seniors event in Boston, which the Aussie won by beating John McEnroe. Pernfors, it may be remembered, is famous for two key moments in the history of tennis: Losing to Jimmy Connors at Wimbledon from two sets and 4-1 up and being McEnroe's opponent when the American was disqualified at the Australian Open.
Meanwhile, last word on Federer, who goes into the Estoril event in Portugal out of form and needing to get match-tight. No one will dare write off the great one until he falters before the semi-finals at a Grand Slam. The last time, incredibly, was back in 2004, but his hopes of retaining the French Open will be hanging by a thread if he doesn't have a good run. After this he will only have the Madrid event for preparation. Is it worth the bother with Rafa around?
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Date published :
05 May 2010 - 07:38:29
