SHOULD RAFAEL NADAL BE THE TOP SEED AT ROLAND GARROS?
Text and Photos by Henk Abbink

I would say, Why not? Wimbledon, in their seeding, prides itself to not follow the official ATP ranking, looking at a combination of ranking and past results on their holy grass and other grass tournaments. So why would the French Open not do the same when it comes to clay?

Roland Garros decided not to make any exceptions and will follow the ATP rankings. Rafa himself couldn’t care less whether he is (now, after beating Ferrer in the quarterfinal ) the no. 4 or no. 1 seed. He knows that to win in Paris or anywhere else, he needs to beat every player anyway. His uncle Toni, rival Roger and other players felt it would be correct and fair to seed him at no. 1 or 2.

Rafa and Roger meet for 30th time today

1996 Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne. I was playing Michael Stich at the time he was ranked number 2 ATP. I hadn’t beaten a top 10 player at that point. I remember clearly my dad calling me from LA before the match and telling me he was up all night watching countless matches of Stich on video. It was well known that Stich had a huge serve and was very good around the net. I think he won Wimbledon the year or two before. He told me first time he comes to net hit the ball as hard as you possibly can right at him,

"Put a hole through his chest"

When Benoit Paire plays Roger Federer in the semifinals of Rome tomorrow afternoon, it will be the Frenchman’s first semifinal appearance in a Master Series event.

So far Paire has played Federer twice and lost both matches, in Basel last year and Australia this year.

"Federer is the most perfect player"

So Berdych takes out Djokovic in three sets. Didn’t see that upset coming.

Berdych might be ready to bust his way into the elite after so many years of hanging around the fringe, and coming up short to Federer, Nadal, Murray and Djokovic so many times.

T-Berd loves to compete against the best

Took a peek at Gulbis vs. Nadal in Rome and Gulbis is dominating Rafa. And making it look easy. Just beating him on clay from the baseline, pulling him out wide and when the court is open he strikes the winner. Rafa looks like a league beneath Gulbis right now.

The fifth game was interesting because Gulbis couldn’t get a first serve in but he still won it comfortably….

Nadal helpless on clay?

That’s right, folks, good folks who follow Tennis-Prose.com, I am scooping Scoop, dropping a big one here in announcing that Fernando Romboli, 24, ranked No. 452, has been caught violating the Anti-Doping rules. How did they catch this guy! What a great testing program that they catch a guy ranked No. 452 doping.

Fernando Romboli will not cheat himself to a top 450-ranking

In all due respect to the clay events in Monte Carlo and Madrid, I feel the real heart of the clay circuit is Rome and Paris. The stadium in Madrid is weird and the Spanish people who attend the matches all seem dressed up to the nines like they’re enduring the tennis so they can go out to a really super party afterward. It’s only in Rome where the people come out en masse and the courts are so gorgeous with the white statues adorning the stadiums.

The Red Dirt in the Spring

I collected the perspective of Peter Haas, father of Tommy, of Roger Federer for my “Facing Federer” book…

Peter Haas (Father of Tommy Haas): “I know Roger very well. Tommy trains with him sometimes in Switzerland and other places. I’m a total, big-time Federer fan. Basically speaking, Tommy plays just like Roger, they both have the same old school backhand. That automatically makes me a Federer fan. They basically have the same basic type of game from an aesthetic point of view.”

"It's almost unbelievable that this type of person exists"

I was reading Jack Kramer’s old bio this weekend and one chapter had the former great American champion discussing the hypothetical Earth vs. The Universe Davis Cup team.

Right now, I’d select Djokovic and Nadal

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Whaddaya say, people? All I hear from the Steve’s and the adp’s and the Mitch’s and Harold’s on this site is that I don’t know nuthin’ about tennis. And then I come to you good folks at the beginning of this very same week and tell you I just watched Kei Nishikori, yes the same Kei who’s shown game for around 4 years now, manhandle Jurgen Melzer, and I told you that Kei was hitting a nasty ball and ready for a breakout performance.

Kei Stuns the King