Let's discuss Rogi at Dubai 2004 here folks. We haven't heard anything so it is safe to assume he didn't pull out I guess. From GM, they said Rogi will meet Marat on first round, Henman on third, and David next potentially When I read that, my reaction is "omg, AGAIN????" .
Anyway, good luck Rogi. Defend your title! LOL, I assume they will dress Rogi in the sheik getup again. I have seen the pic, and Rogi kinda looks like a sheik. He has that spanish/arabic looks methinks.
Federer saves the show and leaves Spaniard singing his praises
World No1 progresses to quarter-finals
Friday March 5, 2004
The Guardian
It is hard to believe Roger Federer was once virtually persona non grata here. This time he arrived with a billing as a player close to becoming an all-time great, bailed out the organisers by appearing at short notice at a local school and yesterday played the most sublime tennis to beat Spain's Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4 and reach the quarter-finals.
After shocks which leave an unseeded player certain to contest the final the Wimbledon and Australian Open champion is not merely on course to become the first man to defend his Dubai Championships title successfully and maintain his lead over Andy Roddick at the top of the world rankings. It is his presence and his alone which is maintaining for the tournament the profile it expects as a $1m (£540,000) event.
It all illustrated how much has changed and how fast for the once profligate 22-year-old. Twelve months ago Federer was required to compete with suspended appearance money after allegations of insufficient effort the previous year. Now any notion of the Swiss not trying would need to be accompanied by evidence of his arms in a truss.
"If he can keep hard mentally, he will be one of the greatest," said Robredo, who produced one passing shot from 12 feet behind the baseline having galloped its full width, and played well enough to goad the world No1 into delivering his best.
Federer's attacking patterns had a more considered quality than Tim Henman's, the British No1 having lost in similar cool, slow conditions on the same court three days before. Despite the flamboyance of the Swiss player's game, he carefully picked his moments to move forward rather than swarming towards the net wherever possible.
"Sometimes I overhit or overplay just because I want to change things," said Federer. "I told myself to play simple and you will win. It's when I start messing around that I get into trouble."
The sixth of the eight seeds to go out was Paradorn Srichaphan, who was bursting to avenge a defeat by Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic in the quarter-finals of the Thai Open which reduced him to tears before his home crowd. But now he was cruelly beaten by an almost identical score, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5.
So frustrated was Srichaphan at dropping serve in the penultimate game that he bounced his racket, cracked the frame and received a code violation warning. He also sat arguing with the umpire at the change-over. Even the sporting Srichaphan errs occasionally.
Go Rogi!! If he dosent ATLEAST make the final i will be pisse-d. I hope that Nadal and Lopez meet in the other semis. They could potientally be dangerous for Roger in the final
Thanks T_D for the article. Yeah, I was saying on the other forum how weird that in a matter of only a month Rogi and Pavel will have faced each other three times. Hopefully three times won't be a charm for Andrei.
BTW has Rogi met with Rafa before? I want to see how their game will match up. Hopefully they can meet here. But one match a time, good luck Rogi against Pavel! Keep your focus, Andrei is dangerous.
Poor Pavel, he seems to be playing good tennis but keeps running into roger early - roger needs to be careful, Pavel has the game to beat him if roger doesnt play well
World number one men's tennis player Roger Federer returns the ball to Romania's Andrei Pavel during the quarterfinal of the Dubai Open tournament at Dubai Tennis Stadium, March 5, 2004.
Rogi!!! Take this tourney, then take Miami or Indian Wells! I hope he meets Lopez in the final, could be a dangerous opponent, but i'd like to see them play again. I hope he meets Nadal soon as well. That would be an interesting contest
Way to go Roger!!! Now go fight and win the title!
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