Roger Federer, who risked annoying the ATP leadership in an attempt to save next week's 2.45-million-dollar Masters Series from losing its status, finds that for him the tournament has even greater importance than he anticipated.
Federer had already been keen to provide the under-threat tournament with a promotional fillip by regaining the title he has won three times before, and to boost his French Open hopes in a fortnight's time by delivering his first consistent clay court performance of the year. Now, though, these things have become a matter of even greater urgency, for the most successful player of modern times is facing his biggest mini-crisis in more than three years.
The 25-year-old announced Sunday he has split with his Australian coach Tony Roche, who has worked with him since 2005. The decision follows Federer's poor run of form in recent weeks, with the Swiss going four tournaments without capturing a title.
Federer said: "I thank Tony very much for his efforts over these last years, during which I appreciated the 12-15 weeks per season we would work together. "I am also grateful for the sacrifice he made, travelling so far from his home in Australia and leaving his family."
Federer earned a mere six games in a shock defeat to the world number 53 Filippo Volandri this week in Rome - his heaviest setback since a 2004 loss to Rafael Nadal in Miami - and has now gone four tournaments without a title, his longest drought since becoming world number one 171 weeks ago. There is only one tournament left for Federer to get his clay court game together before the Roland Garros Grand Slam, where he could become the first man to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously since the great Australian Rod Laver 38 years ago.
"I don't know what's gone wrong. I have to analyse it myself," said Federer, who has been attempting to do that over the past three days during extra work on the practice courts.
John McEnroe thinks Federer should change tactics when he plays Nadal again - though that is starting to look more like an if. "He should step it up and put some pressure on Nadal by going to the net more - make him hit passing shots on the big points," McEnroe said. "I'm not saying do it on every point, but he needs to give Nadal a different look."
Some claim Federer's mentality is wrong and that he is too friendly with Nadal. Federer produced a surprisingly calm facade after a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Nadal in last month's Monte Carlo final. "Roger looked too happy after that defeat," reckoned Mats Wilander, the three times former French Open champion. "He should see that losing to Nadal is unacceptable." Wilander suggested Federer should release some of his emotional control and get angry, although given the embarrassing problems Federer had in keeping a check on this emotion before he reached maturity, it seems unlikely he will risk it.
These issues have overshadowed Federer's unprecedented criticisms of Etienne de Villiers, the chief executive of the Association of Tennis Professionals, who has plans to drop both Hamburg and Monte Carlo from the Masters Series.
And if the German-speaking Swiss player can return to somewhere near his best form here over the next week it may help his views also to prevail on the worth of a tournament which is only missing one player, Andy Roddick, from the world's top ten. All this will certainly give a political dimension to the dissenting Federer's return to the Hanseatic port.
PROBABLE SEEDS: 1, Roger Federer (SUI); 2, Rafael Nadal (ESP); 3, Nikolay Davydenko (RUS), 4, Novak Djokovic (SER); 5, Fernando Gonzalez (CHI); 6, Tommy Robredo (ESP); 7, Ivan Ljubicic (CRO); 8,James Blake (USA).
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