Nadal closes the gap on Federer

Thanks to his first round exit at the Dubai Open, Roger Federer can now feel Rafael Nadal breathing down his neck in the world rankings.

The Swiss master has been World No.1 for a record 215 consecutive weeks, but now finds himself only 350 points ahead of the Spaniard. The last time another player got this close to him, it was Andy Roddick back in May 2004.

At only 26 years old, Federer of course still has time on his side, but the young pretenders (Nadal, Djockovic, Berdych and even Murray) are all beginning to close the gap.

However Federer will not be easily flustered. Indian Wells is the next Masters Series event, where Nadal is the defending champion. Whilst this may mean he likes the courts, it also means that he has points to defend.

The ATP ranking system means that as Nadal won Indian Wells last year (earning him 500 points) he now needs to win it again otherwise he will drop points. For Federer however, who went out in the first round last year (only 5 points gained), he has nothing to lose and can only gain points.

For all the talk of Federer’s fading powers, it would come as no surprise if he were to win Indian Wells, and to finish another year as World No.1, with the youngsters still in his slipstream.

Roddick back in the big time

After this two weeks there can be no doubt that Andy Roddick is back to the kind of form that saw him to the US Open title in 2003.

In his debut appearance at the Dubai Open the big serving American No.1 dispatched both Rafael Nadal (7-6 6-2) and Novak Djockovic (7-6 6-3) on the way to the final of the Dubai Open. However his work was not done yet, and he still had to overcome a spirited challenge from Spaniard Feliciano Lopez (6-7 6-4 6-2) to clinch the title. Some debut.

What makes this result even more intriguing is that it came just after Roddick announced his split from coach Jimmy Connors. Connors was drafted into Team Roddick to improve both Andy’s backhand (which was becoming increasingly fragile) and also to toughen him up mentally. Connors was perfect on both fronts, having possesed the best two handed backhand of his generation, and also an iron will to win.

The official reason for the parting of ways according to Roddick was, “We did the mentor role as well as you can from a distance, but when I’m going from Australia to Austria to California to Memphis to Dubai , it becomes difficult. It was a matter of logistics as much as anything. I was happy to have spent some time with a legend.”

How fitting then, that along with his booming serve, it was Roddicks backhand and nerve that saw him through to victory in Dubai. A leaving present from the great Connors perhaps or just coincedence? My money is on Jimmy!