After a couple of weeks where it looked like things were getting back to "normal" in men's tennis, Rome saw everything go all topsy turvy once again with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer losing before the semi-finals. Once again, Novak Djokovic took advantage of the absence of the Big Two to claim a Masters Series shield. But honestly, I think he might have one with Rafa and Fed still in the tournament. It's been THAT kind of year.
By anyone else's standards, Federer would be having an average year. But since he spent the last 4 years raising the bar ever higher, he's having an abysmal one. The clay season is traditionally not the best time of year for him, but this year was even worse than normal.
One last big warm-up tournament (Hamburg) before the French descends on us at the end of the month (I still balk at the ridiculous scheduling of this portion of the season. With two retirements in the semis, I hope the ATP feels more pressure to pare it down.)
