If Nadal takes the week off, look for the latest Federer-Canas meeting in the final at Hamburg.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
We have a new game in tennis: find the player in the draw who\u2019ll beat Roger Federer this week. If Filippo Volandri \u2013 a wild card – can beat him in Rome, anyone can. Federer was obviously none too happy about that loss because he fired his coach Tony Roche this weekend.<\/p>\n
Federer hired Roche to put more attack and volley in his game but it seems to have knocked Federer out of his rhythm. It could be that focusing so intently on improving his clay court skills and winning the French Open has thrown the rest of his game off. Let\u2019s see if going solo returns some semblance of normalcy to Federer\u2019s game this week.<\/p>\n
Federer\u2019s Half of the Draw<\/b><\/p>\n
Robin Soderling should be Federer\u2019s quarterfinal opponent because Soderling has beaten David Ferrer all four times they\u2019ve met and he\u2019s better than Ivan Ljubicic on clay.<\/p>\n
I expect Novak Djokovic to find a reason not to play Hamburg even though it\u2019s a required event because he\u2019s looking pretty tired. That\u2019s what happens when you\u2019re tied with Rafael Nadal for the most wins this season: you get worn out. Even if Djokovic did play, he\u2019d meet Mikhail Youzhny in the third round and Youzhny has beaten him twice this year. Youzhny has also beaten Tomas Berdych three times this year and that should get him a semifinal match against Federer.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve ignored James Blake because Berdych should be able to beat him on clay.<\/p>\n
Nadal\u2019s Half of the Draw<\/b><\/p>\n
I think Nadal will find a reason to drop out too. That dizzy spell and hospital visit in Rome set up the perfect excuse for Nadal to claim a health problem. I could be wrong \u2013 and if I am, I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll let me know about it \u2013 but I\u2019m proceeding as if Nadal is not here.<\/p>\n
Guillermo Canas beat Nikolay Davydenko in Barcelona. That was before Davydenko found his game and played a superb match against Nadal in Rome, but Canas is also 3-1 lifetime over Davydenko so I\u2019m going with Canas. Canas is also 3-1 over Tommy Robredo and has beaten him this year.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know who\u2019ll win if Fernando Gonzalez and Richard Gasquet meet in the third round, they\u2019ve never played before. Gasquet is a better clay court player but Gonzales has found his game again and reached the final in Rome. It might not matter, though, because Canas beat Gonzalez the last time they met in Hamburg and Canas also beat Gasquet in their only meeting. Jeez, Canas has a winning record over everyone, including Mr. Federer.<\/p>\n
By my calculations, that gives us a Federer-Canas final and that\u2019s a match I\u2019d love to see. I do not believe that Federer would let Canas beat him for a third time this year.<\/p>\n