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Federer heads into the French Open in a week’s time with a huge confidence boost after finally defeating the man who stripped him of his Wimbledon title last summer.

Nadal, who had won clay-court titles in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome this year, was visibly jaded from his semi-final the day before, when he needed over four hours to defeat Novak Djokovic. It was one match too many for the top seed, who was unable to squeeze motivation or power out of a weary body after complaining of problems with his knees in that marathon encounter.

“I think this (fast clay) favoured Roger,” said Nadal, who has won nine of 11 clay meetings against his rival.

“He deserved this victory more than I did. He played well. I wasn’t able to play aggressively enough.”

Nadal and Federer, who have contested the last three French Open finals, both head to Paris with the Spaniard hoping to regain his powers after playing and winning for three of the last four weeks on his favoured surface.

Federer won €585,000 ($1.05 million) and a car as he extracted some revenge in the pair’s first meeting since the Australian Open final five months ago which ended with him reduced to tears.

“I’m sorry to have beaten a Spaniard on your court, I’m sorry to spoil the party,” he told tournament director and former great Manolo Santana on the showcase court named in his honour.

The Spaniard’s defeat was only his fifth on clay over 155 matches dating back to 2005.

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Reasons include:

• Tour Calendar (Rome should happen after Madrid, instead of vice versa)
• Court Colour (courts are now bright blue away from the traditional orange clay colour)
• Thinking they are the 5th Grand Slam

I really think Raphael is actually right about all those points. Madrid seems to be making a lot of changes this year and it doesnt seem like any of them is for the better.

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Safin, a former top-ranked player and a three-time champion at the Paris tournament, wants a long break before making a decision.

“I don’t know what happened. Just couldn’t find my rhythm and couldn’t find the game,” the 28-year-old Russian said. “I need to think everything through. I have no pressure and I have nothing to prove or show. I just want to be comfortable with my decision, whatever I will take.”

Former world No. 1 Marat Safin said he’s going to evaluate his future in tennis after his first-round loss.

Safin managed only 12 points in the first set and trailed 2-0 in the second after just 24 minutes. In the first service game of the second set, Safin had four double faults before breaking back to 2-2.

“I need to sit down and relax and just enjoy my life without any tennis [for] a couple of months and then I will see,” Safin said. “If I feel like I want to continue to play, I will. If not, it will be over.”

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Feminism, whats that? I think most females probably don’t like the idea, however it seems to be having a great promotional affect for the tournament. It is kinda portraying a more fun side of tennis.

I still really believe that the ATP and WTA tour are doing such a poor job at marketing and building the sport. Models as ball girls is probably not the best idea in the world, but at least it is giving tennis and tournament a bit more press and stands them out from the rest of the crowd. These types of ideas are only going to help give tennis more exposure and obviously more exposure means more money for everyone involved.

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If you want to see more tennis masters series action, then please head over to their website, atpmastersseries.tv.

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With the Rogers Cup in Toronto starting today who are the players to watch? With Roger Federer and Raphael Nadal both playing it should really be both of those 2 players in the semi finals, but what other 2 players are going to join them? Looking at the draws I really think we will see both Tommy Haas come through the draw to play Roger in the semi, and I think Wawrinka also has a chance to sneak through the Djokovic section of the draw to play Rafa in the other semi.

Who else might have a chance of making the semi finals in the Rogers Cup? You can find the single drawsheet here.

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So we already have 3 out of the 8 field already decided and we have barely just made it past the middle of the year. That means if one of those 3 players dont win the US Open, then whoever does will be straight into the Masters. Well I guess that is just a bonus after winning a Grand Slam.

This year the Masters event is being held out side of China and is making its way to London. Im looking forward to seeing how many people make it to the O2 arena in London to see the best players in the world shoot it out.

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