My fantasy tennis strategy is now officially kerpluft [totally undone, beyond hope, s.n.a.f.u., etc.]. I expected Nadal to skip Hamburg as he did last year to rest up for Roland Garros. Did he suddenly forget how many injuries his nineteen-year-old body has already absorbed? That would have left Federer alone in the draw. I planned to choose Federer for Hamburg, Wimbledon, Cincinatti or Toronto, the US Open, and, depending on whether I choose Nadal for Madrid or not, Madrid or Paris. Now what do I do?

Believe it or not, even after the huge disappointment of losing to Nadal with two match points and a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker, I believe that Federer will win Hamburg. I am banking on Federer’s ability to see the match as a positive step on his path to Roland Garros. He has won Hamburg three times and he played Nadal exceptionally well today.

But because I forgot, yes forgot, to put Nadal on my team last week, I now have to use both Federer and Nadal in Hamburg. I’d have preferred to use them both for either Cincinatti or Toronto because the second prize is $200,000 instead of $170,000 for Hamburg, and Nadal did win Toronto last year. But he also lost in the first round at Cincinatti so I have to get my money while I can. How many of you have used both Federer and Nadal in the same week?

Here’s hoping for Federer – Nadal VII. When is pay-per-view coming?

Fernando Gonzalez is having a good year and Ljubicic did get to the semifinals in Hamburg in 2004 so I have them both in the quarterfinals. I don’t know if Davydenko is recovered from his injuries but he’s still in the draw and he’s a gamer. I expect Robredo to bounce back and Monfils to keep rolling. The only surprise in there is Melzer. I have him beating Gaudio in the third round because Gaudio has been so up and down and Melzer is on the rise.

I don’t know why I have Coria through to the third round, I think I’m trying help the cranky little guy get back to his old self.

Here’s the draw as I see it along with big thanks to The Tennis Channel for broadcasting ten hours of tennis a day. I’m going to pray that the channel continues to grow even though its founder and president, Steve Bellamy, is leaving.