Totally agree that it’s time for a fresh approach to Roger’s match-up against Nadal. I’m really hoping Cahill takes some of the weight off Rog’s shoulders so he can actually enjoy playing Nadal again! I think having Roland Garros as the next major is a good thing for Rog – assuming he makes it to the final against Rafa, he can’t play him much worse that he did last year, can he? Of course, we shouldn’t assume that he’s waltzing into the final with guys like Murray, Simon, Tsonga and Djokovic all playing well.

Quote Boris Becker,
“Federer is motivated, he radiates joy when playing. This was seen in Melbourne. He was superior to his opponents, played freely. And then came Nadal. I can see it, he visibly cramps up. This is due to Roger’s lack of experience playing against players who can meet him eye-to-eye.”

So true Boris. So, so true.

Go for it Roger! Go for it Cahill! Roll on Roland Garros!!

So you like the idea of con artists in the tennis field? Well, in my work, we see everyone as some sort of con artist and we’re all inclined to stretch or shrink the truth as we see convenient, whether we intend to or not.

I don’t feel Nadal is lying about his knee. He definitely has some issues, but I feel that his camp is using it for everything that happens to him. It’s a universal excuse and a bit overworked, imo. For instance, in Rotterdam he had an injury timeout and it was assumed by everyone, including the writers, that it was tendinitis, however, it was eventually stated that he pulled a muscle in his leg. It seems to me that the knee thing is a very convenient excuse now and I don’t feel it’s fair to his opponents. He has so many injury timeouts — too many, imo. I mean how could someone be in so much pain, as his camp leads us to believe, and the guy sprints around like Usain Bolt. It’s not possible. I hurt my toe and it stings for hours or days.

Yes, there are some straight shooters. I believe Murray and Roddick are pretty truthful. We don’t hear much from the players outside of the top 10 so it’s kinda difficult to judge who’s upfront and who’s not.

I like this idea of tennis con men/women. (But do you really think Rafa is a conning us with his knees? To me it seems very legitimate, especially considering the way he plays!)

You seem to be a pretty tough judge of character – so who do you think are some of tennis’s straight shooters? Or is everyone a conman at heart? I think Andy Roddick’s been pretty faultless so far this season.

I’m not saying the Paris injury was faked because of Davis Cup. I thought he faked it to have more time to prepare for the TMC. Maybe he didn’t fake the Paris injury, but he didn’t show any kind of physical distress before the pull out, and considering he’s never before talked about his back causing him any problems, is the reason I’m thinking he faked it. I think he lost in the TMC because he was outplayed by Murray and the back was a very good excuse and a believable one, due to the recent Paris pullout. That sounds credible to me. Of course it will, because I’m saying it, and I like to think I’m right. right?

The DC pullout is so very suspicious. How could he be training so much with a back problem? Doesn’t that make you wonder just a tiny bit that something’s not too kosher? He flew in two sparring partners, which says he means business and big-time training. So what about the back is it now OK?

I don’t see the big deal in beating Pete’s record. If he does that, then what next. His pleasure will be gone, and his tennis will suffer. I don’t think it’s fair to his fans also, they deserve to support a player who is 100% committed to playing full-time, not part-time in the slams. That’s what the Williams sisters do and look what has happened to the women’s field.

Right now because he’s focusing only on the slams and forsaking the smaller tournaments, his tennis, as well as the sport is suffering. That’s not the way someone of his caliber should be thinking and acting. We all talk of consistency, but with Fed’s shift in focus, his consistency will suffer. He’s focusing on beating Nadal alone, and due to his one-tracked focus, Nadal, Murray and Simon are beating him. What is going to happen very soon if he doesn’t stop focusing on Nadal, is that other players will beat him before he gets to meet Nadal and then he won’t be crying only when beaten by Nadal, but when the others do it too.

Nadal is on my list of con artists too with his never-ending knee problems. Jimmy Connors was one of the biggest actors around. Henin was guilty of some con stunts herself, but Serena and the Djoker takes the prize.

Sometimes I’m not sure what point I’m trying to make, either

The main thing that Pierre stressed, that Roger didn’t in his own statement, was that the emotional stress and pressure that Roger felt in Melbourne had a negative negative effect on his back. I find this mind-body explanation for the injury pretty interesting, considering how much Roger (and his fans) want him to beat Pete’s record.

I also thought people would like to hear what Paganini had to say – it’s rare to get such unbridled explanations from anyone in a player’s camp, especially when the player is Roger Federer.

But I agree that Pierre’s statements did jive pretty well with Roger’s, and that this kind of stuff is only interesting if you’re semi obsessed with Roger Federer in the first place.

Just wondering – do you know for a fact that Roger got the appearance money just for showing up to a party? Not sure if that is true, but it would be interesting to know. Considering he was training in Dubai, I assume someone just asked him if he’d come and show his support.

In terms of cooking up some big injury scheme since Paris – that seems a little far fetched to me. I’m a big believer in the simplest explanation is usually the right one – so Roger got a back injury, pulled out of Paris and then lost early in TMC either because he was injured or because he was outplayed (or both). Seems kind of crazy to fake an injury in November just because you don’t want to play Davis cup in March.

I do agree with you that the DC withdrawal was really disappointing. (Andy Roddick is really looking great right now – he takes a stand on Dubai and makes DC a priority – you can’t get more stand-up than that.) I think Peter Bodo was right in his recent article – Roger’s only looking to win Majors now and is doing everything he can to make sure that he’s in shape for them. He doesn’t care about DC or the smaller tournaments, which is a real shame for the fans. At the same time, most of his fans really want him to beat Pete’s record, so they’re willing to forgive him almost anything. But I can see how non-Fed fans could see some of his actions as being pretty selfish.

Who else is on your con artist list? Justine Henin? Jimmy Connors?

Federer a jewel? Laughable. the guy’s a perfect con artist. He didn’t want to play Davis Cup so he faked the injury. He has been playing a game with the DC committe for Switzerland for years and always dangling them on a rope. It would have been suspicious and too obvious if he played Dubai then pulled from Davis Cup. He had no choice but to pull out of both. Why would he care anyway, he got the appearance money from Dubai, enjoyed the party. Pulling out didn’t hurt him since he didn’t have any points to defend. Good job Federer, you’re now on my list of the top ten con artists in tenns and without tennis balls too.

http://www.rogerfederer.com/en/rogers/news/newsdetail.cfm?uNewsID=868

Van you do make an interesting point – not sure why Pierre said that Roger wasn’t injured. It seems that would just make public sentiment worse, especially with the Davis Cup pull out (although rumor has it that he could still decide to play in Alabama. . .)

Perhaps the interview was supposed to be about something else, and the reporters sneaked in a few questions that the PR-unsavvy Paganini wasn’t expecting? Don’t know, but it’s definitely good stuff!

Now look at Rafa. His knees are practically falling off his legs. He has to tape them on so tight every match! I really don’t know how long he can last at this level. If Rafa’s knees/health gets worse during the next few months, there could be a window open for Roger at the French,IMHO.
I’d say for Roger, who cares about Wimbledon. You already have 5 wimby’s. Work reeally hard on winning French. Go for the GOAT title. More important

Let me ask you all this, though: Do you think Paganini will be Federer’s fitness coach much longer? That’s a lot of loose-lipness for a fitness coach. Tiger Woods would have had a guy fired for thinking about contradicting him in public!