2 Heads R Better Than 1

But seriously, Hamburg literally started as Rome ended so we'll wrap the two tourneys up in one post.  OK so Rome we touched on a bit...up until....the Semis! yes! Big showdown with Nadal and Davydenko! That was intense, it almost felt like we were watching a best a five set match. Both players played soooo well the first two sets both went to a tie break Nadal taking the first and Davy the second. At this point it was clear that the match was a battle of the wills and as odd as this sounds it appeared to me that Davydenko was battling on his will to win whereas Nad was battling on his will not to lose (call me crazy but as he kept increasing his winning streak I kept feeling the pressure and it was getting more intense).

Anyhoot! By the third set Nadal's will took the match as he won that set 6 4.After the match he fell to the ground with relief and he even cried awww. I didn't even realise till then how much it took from him, his parents were teary-eyed- it was a beautiful moment I was ready for the victory speech but soon remembered it was the Semis. It was just like watching a final I tell you. and after watching the "actual" final" Zar and I agreed that the Semis was truly the final. In the final match Nadal played Fernando Gonzalez from Chile. This match was routine Nadal played very aggressive and won the titleYeay!

And off to Hamburg we go! Take it away Zar! d-dum chiisssssh

Thanks Leez 

For me this year's Hamburg tourney was all about "back to basics" 
Last week we saw the strange way in which Federer lost to Fillipo Volandri at the Masters Series Roma. I don't say "strange" because of the fact that he lost to a player ranked much lower than he is; I think it is senseless to think that Federer must NEVER lose and we must all drop our jaws in shock everytime he looses a point much less a set or God forbid a match.

The loss was strange because Federer played in a way that can only be described as wild and reckless. then it got even stranger because soon after we heard that he and part time coachie Roachie had "mutually" agreed to part ways. The "mutually" I didn't buy for a second, Fed would not have split with Tony Roche in the middle of the clay court season, one of the very reasons he hired him in the first place, if there wasn't some serious trouble in the waters.

For me, I think it is clear that Roach has contributed to Federer's game in a positive way...Fed's improving net games serves as proof of that. However, I have always wondered if it was ever a situation where there were too many cooks in the kitchen. We have to remember that for some time before Roach after the split with Peter Lundgren, Fed was his own full time coach and he was doing a fine job at that! With Roche as a part timer, I think that Federer retained some of that independence and self reliance turning to Tony as somewhat of a consultant. That could have been problematic; especially when they were trying to solve the clay puzzle, because I'm sure they didn't always see eye to eye on everything. Of course, this is all major speculation, but it just seems as though Fed needed to clear his head a bit and he did that by eliminating one of those exta voices that made things a bit muddled for him.

Federer's win and Nadal's loss has been both their gains.
 
Both players have now cleared the slates. Federer now has made some considerable moves to cast aside some of the mental demons that have been plaguing him over the past few weeks. For him the wins means that he's more motivated and has more self belief as he has always said that the road to the Roland Garros title has to pass through the Spanish phenomenon.

For Nadal the win means that he no longer has to bear the burden of the winning streak, because let's face it 50% of the beauty of any winning streak is the how and when it will all end, because it is at that point the accomplishment is truly sealed in history. Besides we agree with Nadal when he said during his on court interview that if he had to loose the streak, it should be to Federer because he's the man no?

What does it all mean:
Who knows? I think it's pretty funny that the tennis world seems to be already predicting a dramatic Federer- Nadal showdown at Roland Garros 07 when the day before Sunday's Hamburg final, Nadal lifting the trophy at RG was a foregone conclusion along with a Federer early round crash out and the demise of his career as world #1... fickle fickle fickle.