Roger Federer - What can he do next?

Two losses in this year so far - one in the first round recently & another in Aus open - there is already a talk that Federer is getting predictable and can be beaten by many other players. Almost all the champions face this dull, lull period of slump before they resurge to gain glory again. So what can he do next? Obviously a true champion he is, he'll find a way to come back and be on top again. What he can also do is hire a full time professional coach. He's playing tennis without a coach since parting with Tony Roche last May. With all due respect to Tony Roche, he truly is not the type of coach that modern players would opt for. Jimmy Connors has just resigned as Roddick's coach and IMHO, he could be the ideal coach for Federer. Connors had great many success with Andy and even though there are not many wins to show for, he truly brought Andy out of slump, fine tuned him and brought him back at the top level. Connors could be the guy who could provide solution to the unresolved lefty mystery that is haunting Federer at French open for the last several years.

Davis Cup

India beats Uzbek in the Davis cup to advance to the next round after a thriller played by Prakash, son of Vijay Amritraj. It was almost unnoticed and not so well documented in any of the major Indian websites, goes to show the non-popularity of the sport in India. The win should have got the same attention that Ishant Sharma was getting in the last couple of days, if not more. Inspite of friction between Leander, Mahesh and Prakash, the team came out victorious. Kudos to the Indian team.

Roger "Emperor" Federer

I am really looking forward to this 2nd week of Australian Open (especially the next match b/n Federer and Blake) ever since a five setter was played by Roger. As much as I like his brand of tennis, I like some of his post match comments and interviews. Here's a sample.

I was always a great fan of Sampras, but now, I am even more obssessed with Roger's style and dominance. Here's a guy who has no full time coach, still almost plays perfect on almost all surfaces, has been in almost all grand slam finals in the last 4 years or so and winning 11 of the last 16 slams.. phenomenal. Even great Sampras was not so dominant in his good years. (Thanks to David Higgs picture from Aus Open website)

Indian "Challenge" @ Oz Open 2008

With Mahesh and Leander opting to play doubles only and with Rohan Bopanna and Prakash Amritraj losing their way in qualifiers, the ONLY Indian challenge @ Oz open in singles is Sania Mirza. Though criticized by majority of the group (The best indian model to ever play tennis), Sania still offers some hope for Indian tennis followers, by inching ahead, slowly though, in the WTA circuit. She may not end up winning great many championships, but definitely have refreshed tennis enthusiasm on young Indian tennis aspirants. Another Indian origin US player Rajeev Ram, did not show enough promise by losing in the first round.