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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sylvester80 who wrote (74070)	1/28/2007 7:47:48 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Federer proves unstoppable telegraph.co.uk

To: sylvester80 who wrote (74070)	1/28/2007 7:51:36 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Putting it on the Table: Kucinich Says Bush Risking Impeachment opednews.com

To: sylvester80 who wrote (74070)	1/28/2007 3:08:57 PM
From: LTK007	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 89467

is he the best ever???(eom)

To: sylvester80 who wrote (74070)	1/28/2007 6:43:18 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Patrick Smith: Federer floats in rarefied air __________________________________________________________ OPINION The Australian January 29, 2007 theaustralian.news.com.au One Melbourne paper just gave up. Or at the least the columnist did. He decided that it would be pointless to provide any analytical preview of the Roger Federer-Fernando Gonzalez final for all previous attempts had come to nothing. Like Federer's opponents. It was not a bad thought. Federer's domination of tennis is such that he has no weaknesses to attack and opponents have no defence he cannot break. It has led to 10 Grand Slam titles, only the French Open and its clay has yet to be Federised. Last night's opponent had played Federer nine times previously for nine loses. He had managed to win just two of 24 sets. He was more sacrificial lamb than underdog. Improvements in his game have been many of late. It is said that he is calmer, a better thinker, a backhand has been discovered where previously there was a blank, he is fitter and his forehand has gone from an unsophisticated gattling gun to missile launcher. Jimmy Connors was said to have reprogrammed Andy Roddick too. Federer allowed Roddick six games and not a shred of dignity in their semi-final. Without Connors he might not have won any. As his opponents improve, Federer blossoms. Each year he is better again. To reach the final Federer dropped neither a set nor a bead of perspiration. Whatever amount his opponents improve by, Federer squares it. Tennis is mostly dead other than the four Grand Slams. Davis Cup can titillate if a country's best players commit but tennis is like thoroughbred racing. It spikes at its carnivals and disappears in between. It is a trend all around the world and in most sports. The four golf majors draw attention, the rest of the circuit yawns. Except when Tiger Woods plays. Federer and Woods have become friends, probably because they have something in common that they can share with no one else. Soulless critics have said that the pair are bad for their sports in that they have become so invincible as to be boring. This is an ignorant observation. Woods and Federer have shown their sports can be art, too. They have taken golf and tennis to levels rarely reached in the past. All this then should have seen Gonzalez capitulate last night. Nerves alone would beat him in his first Grand Slam final. Indeed in the early games he committed sloppy errors, rushing rather than configuring points. But he did not concede a game and Federer began a run of errors, particularly with his forehand that he clobbered long time and again. These were nervous shots, too, for Federer's ambition to the best player ever makes him fret like mortals. Such sloppiness gave Gonzalez a break of serve and a 5-4 lead. Federer immediately wrenched it back after Gonzalez had two points for the set. And he did it with style. He chopped off a Gonzalez pass with forehand volley, then watched his opponent drag a forehand into the net. Deuce. Federer drove a forehand down the line and then flashed a backhand pass by Gonzalez and his lost serve had been retrieved. In the 12th game Federer had four set points which he could not convert. And in turn Gonzalez needed three attempts to clinch the game. The first set went to a tiebreak which Federer won decisively, the final point was a devastating off-forehand that the champion drove into the corner. That was the first set done with and, in effect, the final. It was as though Federer had required the first set to calculate and appraise all the improvements and fresh elements in Gonzalez's game. That done, he made the necessary adjustments to his own strategies. Rebooted, he dismantled the Chilean. The first set had an element of spontaneity about it as the two best players here this fortnight sought control. After that, it had a growing sense of predictability and inevitability. Soon it was as though Gonzalez was a small car and Federer's racquet a remote control. Federer moved him around the court as he so desired. Parked him, reversed him, made him turn left and right. If Gonzalez thought he had hit a brick wall it was only because Federer had crashed him into it at speed. Part of Gonzalez's improvement has come through a greater tenacity. When Federer crashed him, the Chilean bent him selfback into shape and hit the road again. In the seventh game, though, Federer ran his batteries down. The second point came to Federer via a 24 shot rally. The game went to deuce four times and Federer broke on his fourth game point. Two games later he had won his third Australian Open with a backhand down the line. The tournament champion fell to the ground in joy. The tournament high-flier fell to earth with a thud.