Article thetimes 13-01-07

The Times

January 13, 2007

Federer rested, relaxed and ready to continue world domination

Neil Harman, Tennis Correspondent, in Melbourne

Swiss looks to put Connors in shade

Roddick salutes Murray’s game

It is a sobering thought for the 127 players in the Australian Open draw alongside Roger Federer that his advantage is more extraordinary than anyone imagined.

Federer, the world No 1, starts his campaign in 2007 with 8,120 Indesit worldranking points, nearly twice as many as Rafael Nadal, his nearest challenger, which is why, come mid-February, the Swiss will overhaul Jimmy Connors’s record of ranking superiority, taking his run of consecutive weeks as No 1 to 161. No one can accumulate enough points to deny this further endorsement of Federer’s authority.

It is when you begin to add together the points of the rest that the measure of Federer’s eminence is realised.

It takes four players from Spain — Nadal, Tommy Robredo, David Ferrer and Juan Carlos Ferrero — to overhaul the points total of the 25-year-old from Basle, or eight from Argentina, nine from the United States and ten from France. There are probably not enough fingers on ten hands to count the number from Britain required to reach Federer’s total. Andy Murray, the world No 15, has 1,505 ranking points. It is amazing.

Whether Federer feels the pressure — it can be difficult being that good — the defending champion remains nonchalant. Although he has said that he does not like the innovation of round-robins in tournaments on the ATP Tour, he has started his year at a round-robin exhibition, the AAMI Classic in Kooyong, rather than playing any of the five “legitimate” events.

“You have to look at the big picture,” Federer said yesterday. “I played 97 matches last year, I needed a rest. I wasn’t in the mood to play a tournament in the first week of the year. I also wanted to have a life, to have Christmas and new year and take it easy, practise, have enough time off and come here rested and not exhausted.

“For me, it was most important to come to Melbourne in the mood to win the Australian Open, not feel like it’s a pain. I’ve done the right thing.”

During the night, Federer was completing that preparation in the AAMI final against Andy Roddick, who has the burden of increased expectation in the US that he is the man who can scale the Swiss peak.

Roddick’s 6-4, 6-4 victory over Andy Murray in the semi-finals yesterday was that of a man in touch with his game. There is something about seeing Murray on the opposite side of the net — it may have to do with a straight-sets defeat in the third round of Wimbledon last year — that brings out the tiger in Roddick.

“We want to use each other [in this event] for preparation, to find out where our form is,” Roddick said. “It’s always a little difficult to tell how well you’re hitting against Andy because he mixes it up so well. I don’t know that you ever feel totally comfortable against him — there’s not a lot of rhythm. But I’m definitely a lot farther ahead as far as hitting the ball than I was last year at this time.

“Murray’s got an amazing feel for the game. As opposed to some of us, he’s a real player, not just a hitter. He constructs points well and it’s always a mind game playing him.”

Murray practised for two hours with Federer this week, determined to give a good account of himself. “I don’t have a problem going on court losing 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 in a practice session, but I don’t want to lose 1 and 1,” the Scot said. “As long as I go on court and perform well and keep it close, so the other guy doesn’t have an edge the next time you play him.”

Nadal, who insists that he is fit after withdrawing from the Sydney event last week, meets Robert Kendrick, of the US, in the first round in Melbourne. Kendrick almost ended Nadal’s Wimbledon ambitions in a five-set second-round match last June.

The women’s event pales by comparison. When the prospective quarter-finals were displayed on TV in the players’ lounge — Sharapova v Schnyder; Clijsters v Hingis; Petrova v Kuznetsova and Dementieva v Mauresmo — some aficionados could barely contain their indifference.

Jeremy Bates has left the LTA to pursue other sporting and business interests. Bates had been with the LTA in various capacities since retiring in 1996 after a 14-year career. His most high-profile position was as Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain, while his final appointment was as the unofficial replacement for David Felgate as director of performance.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5205-2544657,00.html