Roger Federer - Slow Motion Topspin Backhand

NO TRIFLE

One of the biggest truffles found in decades has fetched $330,000 (£165,000) at an auction held simultaneously in Macau, London and Florence.

A Macau casino owner, Stanley Ho, made the record-breaking bid for the white truffle, which weighed 1.5kg (3.3lb).

Luciano Savini and his son found the highly-prized fungus after it was dug up by his truffle dog near Pisa, northern Italy, last week.

He said he was overwhelmed by the high price paid for his discovery.

He said: "I thought we were going to beat the record, but not to really get to this amount.

"The biggest truffle of the century and the most expensive truffle of the century. There are no more words to say - it is all very beautiful."

Mr Ho outbid British artist Damien Hirst and Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi to the prize.

US CAPTURES DAVIS CUP

DAVIS CUP FINALS: USA 3 - Russia 0

Bob and Mike Bryan (USA) def. Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-2 Saturday in Portland, Oregon to clinch the 2007 Davis Cup title for the United States 3-0 over the visiting Russian team.

This is the first Davis Cup title for the U.S. since 1995. The last time the U.S. swept the first three matches in a final was in 1990 against Australia.

FOOT BONE CONNECTED TO DA KNEE BONE

Rafael Nadal's foot injury should not keep him from performing at a high level, according to his doctor.

The second-ranked Spaniard was diagnosed in 2004 with a stress fracture in his left foot. The injury has occasionally flared up.

The foot "is not at all a handicap," Dr. Angel Ruiz Cotorro said in a statement Thursday. "Rafa is in perfect condition to continue developing his professional career at the highest level in future years."

Nadal's uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, said in a newspaper interview Wednesday the injury was "very serious" and could threaten the player's career.

He later said his comments were misinterpreted, and Nadal issued a statement saying he was "fine."

Another leg problem, that came to Federer's rescue in Wimbledon [altho' no one mentions it], patellar tendonitis was not addressed.

US vs RUSSIA - DAVIS CUP

Russia have omitted top player Nikolay Davydenko from Friday's opening singles in the Davis Cup final against the USA.

Dmitry Tursunov will face Andy Roddick in the first match in Oregon, with Mikhail Youzhny playing James Blake.

World number four Davydenko will team up with Igor Andreev on Saturday to take on brothers Bob and Mike Bryan.

"We have four strong players, be it for singles or doubles, so the choice was made for tactical reasons," said Russia captain Shamil Tarpischev.

Despite his high ranking, Davydenko has a dreadful record against Roddick and Blake, having lost all 11 matches against the American pair.

And Davydenko's season has been tainted by an ATP investigation into unusual betting patterns during his unexpected loss to Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina in August.

He has denied any wrongdoing, but in October was fined for not trying hard enough during another defeat in the St Petersburg Open. Earlier this month, the fine was rescinded on appeal.

US team captain Patrick McEnroe said he would not be surprised if the Russians made late changes to their line-ups for Saturday and Sunday.

Russia are the defending champions, having defeated Argentina last year in Moscow.

Last year Tursunov beat Roddick in a five-set thriller to secure Russia's place in the final with a 3-2 win over the USA.

Asked if that epic defeat would provide additional motivation, Roddick said: "I don't need any added hunger."

The United States have won 31 Davis Cup titles but none in the past 12 years.

This weekend's final is taking place on indoor hard courts at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

Friday 30 November - opening singles:
Andy Roddick v Dmitry Tursunov
James Blake v Mikhail Youzhny

Saturday, 1 December - doubles
Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan v Igor Andreev/Nikolay Davydenko

Sunday 2 December - reverse singles: Roddick v Youzhny Blake v Tursunov

NADAL - ALL COURTS PLAYER?

Nadal is faced with having to change his type of game to become more effective on surfaces other than clay.
CLICK HERE to see the differences.

GQ

He's beaten one of tennis' toughest clay-court champions and one of the game's greatest grass-court players in the past week and now Roger Federer is once again expanding his horizons in keeping world-class company. You can soon see the Swiss stylist sharing space with former President Bill Clinton, rapper Kanye West, candidate Ron Paul, James Bond and the Flying Tomato.

Federer joins that eclectic group as one GQ Magazine's Men Of The Year in the new December issue of GQ. The magazine recognizes the 12-time Grand Slam champion as "Court King." Clad in a white Armani Exchange t-shirt, a stylish Federer resembles the young Warren Beatty in the black-and-white photo shot by Liz Collins.

SEOUL PLEASING

Roger Federer defeated Pete Sampras 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday in Seoul. The match was the first of three Asian exhibitions, with their next meeting Thursday in Kuala Lumpur before a final get together in Macau on Saturday.

If the top-ranked Swiss star expected an easy time against Sampras, he found out early Pistol Pete still has his powerful serve. Sampras brought cheers from the crowd at Seoul's Olympic Tennis Arena with two aces in his first service game. The balding Sampras proceeded to break his opponent's serve and then moved 4-2 ahead courtesy of a drop shot.

"I feel pretty good," Sampras told Korean television after the game. "I made it competitive, which was my goal. Obviously Roger is the best player in the world and I retired five years ago. I am grateful that he invited me." Federer was equally happy with the workout a few days after winning his fourth Masters Cup.

"Pete was one of my idols growing up and it's great to play him," Federer said. "It wasn't easy for me, it wasn't easy for him as he's been retired five years.

The 36-year-old Sampras retired in 2002, a year after the only previous meeting between the pair at Wimbledon 2001. Federer won that fourth round match in five sets.

On Tuesday, all the familiar trademark volleys and serves were on display but Sampras, who has won 14 Grand Slams to Federer's 12, was slower around the court than in his 1990s heyday. And he made a number of unforced errors. Federer took advantage to come back and take the first set. Apart from three successive lobs that Federer served up to his opponent in the second game of the second set, the match was a competitive, though lighthearted affair. By that time, Federer was hitting his stride and took the second set with a minimum of fuss.

KING JOHN, THE MAD

JOHN MCENROE

It is almost half past eight on a wet Friday evening when he enters the court for the Legends Cup, but already the demons are swarming like wasps.

He thought they were playing in Brussels – they drove him to Liege!

He thought they’d be staying at a nice hotel beside the tournament venue – they drove him halfway to Luxembourg!

He’s jet-lagged; his back aches; he’s picked up an anger-rash from the press conference and just when he thought his head was going to explode, just when he thought things couldn’t get much worse, they’ve sent him out to play the lovable Frenchman, Henri Leconte.

Leconte with the sweet disposition.

Leconte with the permanent smile. Leconte charming the umpire and throwing water and cola to the crowd. Leconte.

Within four games of the opening set, Mac has had his fill . . .

“FFFUUCCCKKKKKK!” In the fifth, he savages the umpire. In the sixth, he flings his racket to the ground. He loses the set, fights his way back and then loses the match in a tie-break. Boy, is he pissed off.

One watches, waits for the storm to abate.

There’s no handshake. They exchange heated abuse at the net and Mac storms from the court without granting an interview or an autograph.

King John, the triple Wimbledon singles champion.

King John, one of the finest we’ve ever seen.

King John, the outstanding broadcaster.

King John, The Mad.

FEDERER 6-2, 6-3, 6-2

Top-ranked Roger Federer won his fourth Masters Cup title in five years Sunday, overwhelming No. 6 David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. It was the third consecutive dominating performance by Federer, who won his 53rd career title - including eight this year - and ran his record against Ferrer to 8-0.

The Spaniard was no match for Federer's blend of spins, power and volleying skills, managing only 10 winners to 38 unforced errors as he was forced to try to do too much with Federer getting everything back. Federer had 30 winners and 29 unforced errors.

Next up is an exhibition in Malaysia against Pete Sampras, who holds the record of 14 Grand Slam titles that Federer is chasing. The Swiss star will begin pursuit of No. 13 at the Australian Open.

DOUBLES CHAMPS

Canada's Daniel Nestor and partner Mark Knowles of the Bahamas concluded their decade-plus partnership on a high note Sunday, winning the year-end title at the Masters Cup.

The veterans, who are wrapping up their collaboration after 13 years on court and 40 titles, went out winners in a 6-2, 6-3 victory over US Open-champions Simon Aspelin of Sweden and Austrian Julian Knowle at the Qi Zhong stadium.

The pair of veterans who will play next season with new partners – Belgrade-born Nestor has already earned a trophy this autumn with Serb Nenad Zimonjic – went out in style.

FEDERER AND FERRER IN FINALS

Roger Federer claimed the most lopsided win in his storied rivalry with Rafael Nadal to race into the Tennis Masters Cup final in Shanghai. After holding his nerve in a tense first set, Federer blew open the match by winning 13 consecutive points at the start of the second set before closing out a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

Federer produced one of the best serving performances of his career, putting 81 percent of first serves into play and, in the first set, firing four consecutive aces.

He ended up with 26 winners to 16 unforced errors and yielded only 11 points in his nine service games.

The ATP World No. 1 hit with conviction the topspin backhand that has so often let him down against Nadal. He was confident on return, opting for a more aggressive topspin backhand rather than his slice. And he found the time he needed to dance around his backhand and unleash the full force of his mighty forehand.

Now the question is whether Ferrer can continue his hot streak. He has dropped only one set in four matches and was fresh, confident and sharp from the start, while Roddick seemed to be showing the effects of the short 20-hour turnaround from his loss to Federer the night before. Ferrer last played Thursday.

NESTOR-KNOWLES IN FINAL

Playing the final tournament of their celebrated partnership, Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor advanced to the Tennis Masters Cup final after beating Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett in the Shanghai semifinals for the second consecutive year. After squandering three match points in the second-set tie-break, Knowles and Nestor took charge early in the match tie-break to win 6-4, 6-7(8), 10-5.

KNOWLES AND NESTOR IN SEMIS

Playing their last tournament together, Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor secured their place in the Tennis Masters Cup semifinals despite losing 6-3, 4-6, 11-9 (Match Tie-Break) against Czech duo Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner on Friday. Knowles and Nestor held one match point at 9-8 in the match tie-break but Dlouhy iced their hopes for a perfect 3-0 sweep of the round-robin stage with a big ace down the middle past a diving Knowles.

Two points later the match was over. On his team's first match point, Dlouhy lobbed over Nestor's head. Incoming server Knowles retreated to scramble the ball back, but Dlouhy hit a winning backhand drop volley cross court to seal the victory.

Both teams finished with a 2-1 win-loss record but Knowles and Nestor advanced because their sets win-loss record for the round-robin stage was 5-3 as opposed to the Czech's 4-4 record. Winning the second set was crucial for Knowles and Nestor, who gave back a break at 5-4 but broke straight back to clinch the set.

RAFA AND ROGER MEET IN SEMIS

World No 1 Roger Federer has set up a Masters Cup semi-final showdown with rival Rafael Nadal after defeating Andy Roddick in straight sets in the final round-robin match in Shanghai.

Federer's 6-4, 6-2 victory over American Roddick ensured the defending champion topped the Red Group and booked a last-four contest with world No 2 and Spaniard Nadal. Bring on Nadal: Federer faces world No 2 in semi-final The match will be a repeat of last year's semi-final which saw Federer edge a close contest 6-4, 7-5. Roddick, who has now failed to beat Federer in 11 matches since 2003, will face Gold Group winner David Ferrer in the other semi-final. Federer, who has won the end-of-season tournament three times, had already ensured his passage through to the last four before today's contest with Roddick. The Swiss had progressed courtesy of Nikolay Davydenko's 6-4, 6-3 win over Fernando Gonzalez which was the first match on court. Federer, who had lost his opening round-robin match to Gonzalez, was back to his best against Roddick and breezed past his opponent in just over an hour. He wrapped up the opening set in 33 minutes as Roddick double-faulted to go a break down in the third game. Roddick was then two breaks down in the second before holding serve, but never looked like staging a comeback as Federer completed victory with a stylish forehand on his first match point.

FERRER, NADAL, RODDICK IN SEMIS

Sixth-ranked David Ferrer dominated No. 8 Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-1 Thursday to reach the Masters Cup semifinals, and helped friend and fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal along with him.

Ferrer's easy 59-minute victory also allowed No. 2-ranked Nadal to advance from the Gold Group of the round-robin phase by eliminating Gasquet. Nadal earlier beat No. 3 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4 in a match between players tired from a long season. He finished 2-1 in round-robin play.

On Friday, top-ranked Roger Federer will seek a semifinal place when he faces No. 5 Andy Roddick, who already has clinched his semifinals berth. Fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko faces No. 7 Fernando Gonzalez in the other Red Group match.

NESTOR AND KNOWLES DOUBLES

Playing their final tournament together, Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor took another step towards the semifinals with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Simon Aspelin and Julian Knowle. The turning point of the match came in the second set at 5-5 30/30, when Knowle missed an overhead to hand two break points to Knowles and Nestor, who converted their second chance.

Knowles and Nestor, who won this year's Roland Garros title, began playing with other partners after the US Open but have reunited for Tennis Masters Cup. With the withdrawal of the Bryan brothers due to injury, Knowles and Nestor are the top seeds at the event.

Despite being 2-0 in round-robin play Knowles and Nestor still are not guaranteed a semifinal place. They play Czech duo Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner in their final group match Friday.

NEXT - FEDERER vs RODDICK

Top-ranked Roger Federer snapped his two-match losing streak, beating No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-3 Wednesday and boosting his chances of defending his Masters Cup title.

Federer still has to beat No. 5 Andy Roddick on Friday, though, to have a serious chance of making the semifinals.

Roddick was sharp as he beat No. 7 Fernando Gonzalez 6-1, 6-4 later Wednesday to improve to 2-0 in round-robin play.

He committed only seven unforced errors and never faced a break point.

Both Roddick and Gonzalez won their opening matches, with the Chilean upsetting Federer. It was Federer's second consecutive loss, the first time he had lost twice in a row in 4½ years.

Despite a few glitches along the way, including 39 unforced errors to just 23 winners, Federer looked extremely focused as he improved his round-round record to 1-1.

Davydenko fell to 0-2 and was virtually eliminated, barring injuries to players above the Russian in the Red Group.

Federer, who improved to 11-0 career against Davydenko and leads Roddick 14-1, was happy he got a chance to regain his touch in Shanghai.

FERRER BEATS NADAL

DAVID FERRER outgunned fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal with 23 winners to 10 (from the ground) to claim his second win at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, where he is now favored to reach the semis.

An aggressive Ferrer blunted Nadal's vicious topspin forehand by stepping into the court and nailing flat crosscourt backhands in response. He made Nadal do the bulk of the running and often had the three-time Roland Garros champion scrambling back defensive slice forehands at full stretch. Ferrer also dictated play with his own forehand, hitting frequent winners to both sides of the court. (But it wasn't always smooth sailing. Nadal won Ferrer's first three service games and took the first set.)

FERRER AND BRICKS

In 1999 in his home town of Javea, Ferrer endured many periods of self doubt. Little progress was made, results weren't coming and hard questions about his future abounded. Each morning Ferrer would arrive at practice riding his small motorcycle, but within minutes it was obvious to coach Javier Piles that his interest had waned. Piles, who remains Ferrer's coach, employed drastic measures to motivate his young charge.

"When he didn't want to work I would lock him up in a dark room of two by two meters and I would put a lock on it so he couldn't get out," says Piles.

Upon reflection, the punishment room was a metaphor of Ferrer's potential: Many people knew of his promise, yet no one seemingly could unlock it. Disenchanted, Ferrer hung up his racquets and took a job as a construction worker.

Ferrer spent a week loading bricks into a wheelbarrow and working from sunrise to sunset. He was exhausted and his weekly paycheck was just 30 Euros. That night, Ferrer called Piles to tell him that he would be on court at 9 am sharp the following morning.

Having experienced what working life is like for the masses, Ferrer realized that the life of a tennis professional was a more attractive proposition. He dedicated himself to the game and Piles never again had to lock him in the punishment room.

NOBODY BEATS GONZO 11 TIMES STRAIGHT

Fernando Gonzalez was tired of playing the waiting game. Gonzalez hadn't just been shutout in 10 prior meetings with Roger Federer, he'd been overwhelmingly outclassed in winning just two sets while suffering 10 straight losses to Federer. Today, Gonzalez snapped that streak of tennis torment with a stirring 3-6, 7-6(1), 7-5 victory to stun the top-seeded Swiss at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

NADAL AND FERRER WIN

Second-ranked Rafael Nadal overcame a sluggish start to beat Richard Gasquet 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 Sunday in the opening match of the season-ending Masters Cup.

	Spain's Rafael Nadal, above, joined compatriot David Ferrer as early winners Sunday during the first day of the Masters Cup in Shanghai.

Third-ranked Novak Djokovic was broken in the first game and never recovered, falling to No. 6 David Ferrer of Spain 6-4, 6-4 in the other Gold Group round-robin match.

The tournament features the top eight men's singles players and doubles pairs. Nadal looked uncharacteristically slow and subdued.

Even though both of his knees were taped, Nadal claimed he was feeling "perfect".

Ferrer never let up after getting the early break against the 20-year-old Djokovic, who won five ATP titles this year and reached his first Grand Slam final, losing in the U.S. Open to top-ranked Roger Federer. "

Federer, the defending champion, and the rest of the Red Group open play Monday at 15,000-seat Qi Zhong Tennis Stadium.

NESTOR AND KNOWLES

Canadian Daniel Nestor is banking on memory as he reunites with former partner Mark Knowles at the Masters Cup starting on Sunday.

Nestor and Knowles went their separate ways after a messy, drawn-out split over the summer, with Nestor saying it was time for a change and Knowles far from happy with the decision.

But the points they accumulated in the first half of the year - thanks in part to a surprise French Open title - put them into year-end contention for the fifth edition in a row.

And this week's injury pullout of American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan - 11-time 2007 tournament winners - opens up the eight-team field at the 15,000-seat Qi Zhong stadium.

The Belgrade-born Canadian has tasted success after just a handful of ATP tournaments with new Serb partner Nenad Zimonjic, who's standing by in China as an alternate with his own former partner, Frenchman Fabrice Santoro.

"It's just like the old days," Nestor said of his reunion with Knowles after winning the St. Petersburg title and reaching the Paris final last Sunday with Zimonjic, where they lost to the Bryans.

TENNIS ON TSN

SHANGHAI GROUPINGS

RED GROUP
Seed	Player	Federer	Davydenko	Roddick	Gonzalez	Win-Loss	Sets W-L
1	Roger Federer	x	-	-	-	-	-
4	Nikolay Davydenko	-	x	-	-	-	-
5	Andy Roddick	-	-	x	-	-	-
7	Fernando Gonzalez	-	-	-	x	-	-

GOLD GROUP
Seed	Player	Nadal	Djokovic	Ferrer	Gasquet	Win-Loss	Sets W-L
2	Rafael Nadal	x	-	-	-	-	-
3	Novak Djokovic	-	x	-	-	-	-
6	David Ferrer	-	-	x	-	-	-
8	Richard Gasquet	-	-	-	x	-	-

(Alternates: T Robredo & J Chela)

NALBANDIAN SKIPS SHANGHAI

Former champion David Nalbandian will not travel to the Masters Cup in China as the first alternate because it's too far away.

Nalbandian beat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal twice each en route to Masters Series victories in Madrid and Paris in the last three weeks, and missed out on the eight-man season-ending ATP championships by 11 points.

A three-time participant in the Masters Cup, he won it in 2005 as a replacement.

But he and coach Martin Jaite decided not to attend the tournament starting on Sunday.

After starting the year ranked No. 8 then falling to No. 26 while he was hampered by knee ligament and back strains, Nalbandian said on rising back to No. 9 he will resume training later this month with the intent next year of winning his first Grand Slam title, leading Argentina in Davis Cup, and playing in the Beijing Olympics.

Nalbandian was a Wimbledon finalist in 2002, and has been a semifinalist at the other three Grand Slams.

KICK'EM OUT - SLICE'EM IN

These pictures show the different impact points that the receiver faces on 2 of Roger's second serves.The orange ribbon is the flight of his serve.
The white spot is the point at which Roger hits the ball, the pink where the ball hits the service court, and the yellow the point at which Bjorkman hits the ball.

The upper pix is a kick serve which bounces high and to the left of Bjorkman before he hits it.

The lower is a slice serve which curls into his right side after the bounce. Bjorkman didn't pick up the difference early enough and dumped this return in the net.

How does a returner distinguish the two:
[1] the ball arcs a little more on the kick serve before the bounce
[2] Roger's impact point on the kick is slightly lower [6-8 inches] and to the server's left than the slice. If you stare at the virtual court upto virtual blindness, you can see the difference.

2007 DRAW

Federer gets Roddick, Davydenko in Shanghai group

Roger Federer will play Andy Roddick and Nikolay Davydenko in the round robin stage of the Tennis Masters Cup.

The top-ranked Federer, who won his third Masters Cup title last year, was drawn Wednesday to play in the Red Group, which also includes Fernando Gonzalez.

The Gold Group opens play Sunday on the indoor hard courts with second-ranked Rafael Nadal facing Richard Gasquet and Novak Djokovic playing David Ferrer.

"It's a tough draw with Rafa, Novak and Richard but all opponents are very difficult here as it is only the top eight players in the world," said Ferrer, who attended the draw ceremony.

Ferrer beat Nadal in the fourth round of the U.S. Open, while Federer beat both Roddick and Davydenko on the road to the U.S. Open final, where he defeated Djokovic. Federer also beat Davydenko in the French Open semifinals.

Federer has won three Grand Slam titles this year to bring his career total to 12, but he lost to David Nalbandian twice in the last three weeks -- in the Madrid Masters and Paris Masters. Nalbandian is ranked No. 9 and didn't qualify for the season-ending tournament.

The Masters Cup will again be played in Shanghai in 2008, but it will move to London in 2009 for four years and be renamed the ATP World Tour Finals.

YOUNG FEDERER

Young Federer Had Nothing

• By Darren Cahill
  Professional tennis coach
• January 15, 2007

BASLE, Switzerland - a typically beautiful Swiss city that's split in two by the Rhine river, rich in history and home to many of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies.

Time has the ability of standing still in Basle. Spend a week there and it'll feel like a month.

So, in the middle 1980s when a close friend of mine, Peter Carter, decided to take an offer to play club tennis for TC Old Boys in Basle, I was horrified.

Peter based himself in Switzerland and quickly became a local. He took a job as one of the coaches at the club and nestled into the Swiss way of life.

Thirteen years ago I was back at the club to catch up with Peter and spotted him on court working out his bright young hope, Roger Federer.

We had spoken about the 13-year-old, but not in great depth, so I sat and watched as they went through their training routine.

No question, he looked good. The kid had a fast arm with a strong forehand and a good feel for the ball. But he was far from perfect, and to be perfectly honest, I thought there was a kid back in Adelaide who was potentially better.

"Whaddya think of him?" Peter asked, stepping from the court. "He looks OK," I replied.

"That's it, just OK?" he said.

"Carts, you could drive a bus through that backhand. Look at that thing. He shanks it half the time, his slice sits up, he takes a huge step when it's outside the slot and he's not stepping to the left on the neutral ball," I said.

"Yeah, but he's gonna be good, isn't he?" Peter said with confidence.

With that, Roger was quickly forgotten.

Two years on in 1995 and it was back to Switzerland to look after Australia's 16-and-under world youth cup team and a first glimpse at the best juniors around the world.

There was some kid from Chile beating the life out of forehands that left dents in the back fence (Fernando Gonzalez) and another from Peru who looked 25 and sported chest hair that would have made Austin Powers purr with admiration (Luis Horna).

Australia drew Switzerland in the first round and two 15-year-olds were about to have their first look at each other.

Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) v Roger Federer (Switzerland).

And parked in the captain's chair for Switzerland was none other than Peter Carter.

I sat confidently as I expected Lleyton to bury this kid's backhand and Peter was going to cop an earful after the match.

Problem was, Roger had improved. He had improved a lot.

But the match quickly turned from a potential lesson in tennis development to a lesson in kid management.

Both guys were setting new records for racquet bouncing, arguing, smashing balls and just straight out whingeing. Roger would even swear in English and I could assume only that he wanted Peter to have no misunderstandings about his frustrations.

The end result? Federer defeated Hewitt in three sets.

It turned out to be a rare victory for Roger over Lleyton in the early years as Roger's development into a top player was stuck on the rollercoaster ride of expectation.

Then in 2002, Peter died in a car accident while holidaying in South Africa. Those close to Carts were gutted, and still are by the loss of our friend.

Maybe it was Roger's wake-up call, maybe it put some life lessons into perspective or maybe it was just plain coincidence, but Roger started to mature.

The regular glimpses of brilliance mixed with occasional signs of negativity and self-doubt were replaced with a guy starting to feel comfortable in his own skin.

Then came the 2003 Masters Championship in Houston. Even though he had broken through at Wimbledon earlier that year, this week would define him.

Just before Roger stepped on the court to play his first match against Andre Agassi, he was pulled aside by a gentleman with a vested interest in the tournament and given a verbal dressing-down.

It shocked Roger and it was obvious to all that he was clearly shaken.

Roger had apparently made some negative remarks about the event in Houston to which the gentleman took personal offence. He was probably within his right, but the timing was extremely questionable.

History would suggest this occasion was going to be too much for Roger. A bad record against many of the top players, lack of success in the US, matched by the recent controversy, were all ingredients for a poor Federer showing.

The records will show that Roger saved a match point that day against Andre and found a way to win when all the odds were stacked against him.

What it doesn't show is the respect he earned from a legend that day. Andre believed we had just seen what truly lies deep inside Roger.

Minutes after the match, disappointed and soaked in sweat, Andre muttered these words with his head down in the locker-room: "This kid is a genius. He's going to change our game."

Roger went undefeated to win the 2003 Masters Championship, beating Andre again in the final.

His record since that event speaks for itself. But more significantly, his domination over players who previously had caused him trouble has been simply staggering.

There are two things I believe.

In more than 30 years of being a fan, spectator, player and coach of this game, Roger is the best tennis player I've seen.

He probably needs to complete his career by winning in Paris to be regarded as the best in history, but even that can be debated.

Secondly, Peter would be damn proud. Not just for what Roger has achieved inside the lines, but more importantly, for the man he's matured into outside the lines.

Roger holds the most important job in our game as the world's best player and he carries that responsibility beautifully - much like the way he plays.

ROGER RACQUET

Tennis fans may lust after Roger Federer’s racket strung with Roger Federer’s string. But if they bought a racket customized to his specifications, they might regret the choice.

For one thing, such a racket would be hard to control. “You either have to have a real Roger Federer fetish or really good skills,” said Nate Ferguson of Priority 1, based in Florida, who does customization work for Federer and other top professionals like Novak Djokovic. “Of the 100 guys out there at the top of the game, none of them play with Roger’s racket.”

Ordering a racket strung the Federer way is a bit like ordering a Starbucks coffee. Just ask for “a Wilson 16 gauge gut main string and a Luxilon Big Banger ALU Power Rough cross string,” and then hope you won’t have to say it again.

This configuration – gut mains and polyester crosses - is opposite to what is generally recommended by stringers – polyester mains and gut or nylon crosses. The racket itself is a Wilson K Factor Six One Tour with a 90-square-inch head. The precise weight of his customized racket is a secret. This racquet is very heavy around 13 ounces. Most racquets weigh in around 9 ½ ounces.

Assuming you’ve overcome the hurdle of ordering the strings, you would also need a bit of cash.

Federer is plays with 12 rackets, swapping on or near every ball change and alternating string tension depending on the bounce of the ball (and his mood), so a full arsenal of customized Federer rackets would cost about $3,500, including the cost of the rackets.

THE ROAD TO SHANGHAI

David Nalbandian secured the first alternate position at the Masters Cup in Shanghai by defeating Rafael Nadal in Paris. Nalbandian says he doesn't know yet whether he'll make the trip, but two years ago, he got in as an alternate and ended up winning the event.

The final list of qualifiers is Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick, David Ferrer, Fernando Gonzalez, and Richard Gasquet.

Qualified		Next In
Federer Nadal Djokovic Davydenko	Roddick Ferrer Gonzalez Gasquet	Nalbandian Robredo Murray Haas