Blame me for Roger Federer’s surprising 6-4, 6-4 loss to Jurgen Melzer today in the Monte Carlo quarterfinals. Forget the swirling red clay and Jurgen’s backhand, it’s the blogger jinx that killed him!
I’d been catching most of Roger’s matches this week in the wee hours, for some reason he’d play in Monte Carlo whenever I had to get up early to do my hair. Kohlschreiber – no problem, Roger made the stylish German player look awkward! Young gun Marin Cilic? More like stunned gun. I read James LaRosa’s take on the media’s kneejerk “Federer is dead!” reaction to Roger’s 6-3, 6-2 defeat to Rafael Nadal in Miami and cried “Amen, brother!” Via tennischannel.com:
Forget the fact that Federer made back-to-back semifinals in Indian Wells and Miami, besting his showings from last year (ditto Doha). Forget that the only players who’ve beaten him this year are Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic (two players it should be noted he beat back-to-back a mere four months ago in London). Forget that Federer hasn’t been beaten in a single tournament before the semis since WIMBLEDON. It was clearly time to go.
Then Fritters and I sat down at dinner last night and agreed that Roger’s days were far from over. Jurgen Melzer in the quarters? An old Fed friend, pushing thirty, who played Roger three times in five months last year and had yet to win a set? I slept in this morning – Friday’s ponytail day, anyway. That’s where it all went wrong for Roger Federer, I guess.
At least I didn’t have to watch Roger waste those seven break points.
At least Jurgen pointed this out, afterwards:
“I have beaten Rafa last year. I have beaten Nole. So this was the one missing,” Melzer said. “I had a few shots on the line, a few bad bounces that were going my way. You need that to beat Roger.“
And at least the semis don’t suck: Murray vs. Nadal and Ferrer vs. Melzer.
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