Nadal was awesome in that final, too, but I thought Roger played some wonderful tennis. No-one was going to get the better of Nadal for that title, but it's great to see the Fed skills in full flow again. Just beautiful - but then I'm biased!

No, I always thought this would be Rafa's. It meant so much after losing it last year, and boy is he in great form!
Can't see anyone touching him in Paris, either (though as the ultimate Fed fan, I would love to think different!).

Thanks Rob. I was a bit surprised too about Federer: he took the wild card last year when he'd played more matches.
From an entirely selfish point of view, he'd better not go out of Rome too early: I have tickets from mid-week onwards—assuming the planes are flying, of course!
But Nadal was fabulous last week: I think he's made a good decision to pull from Barcelona.

Always been a fan of the serve and volley, particularly the wonderful BH version of a Navratilova or an Edberg. Without some leavening by ground shots, it can be a boring play if following a huge serve—producing a maximum of a three-shot rally over and over—but the volley is surely tennis's most charismatic shots.
And you rightly identify that many players are finding it a useful tool against players who routinely rally from two or three metres behind the baseline. Nadal is working the volley pretty well these days—though I wish he would use it a little more often. Federer's serve volley game is even better. Davydenko is doing the same...
Bring it on, I say!

Just to let you know I've checked in here too, though the comments are elsewhere.
I still think Djokovic may come back strong for this swing, especially now the long anticipated dumping of the coach has happened. He was a shot in the arm this time last year, so I hope he finds his mojo again soon.

Thanks Rob. You can probably tell I enjoyed writing this one. Though I have to say that, once I started, I enjoyed the clay season one too.
Some articles are definitely harder work than others! Just never know which ones they will be...

An excellent and succinct review and preview, Feng. Shocks all round these last few weeks, but I'm pleased not only with Roddick's clear PR ranking here, but that he's got that first Masters in way too long. Also pleased to see the likes of Ljubicic and Youzhny injecting some different style into proceedings.
And the breadth and depth of Spain—this has been the *hard* court season, and they *still* dominate the rankings!

Enjoyable read and, yes, great news for Andy. I'm delighted with this win. I was seriously impressed not only by his play but his willingness to address the problem (like losing that first set to Rafa), and come back with a different tactic. Brave and bold, and those are formidable weapons to add to the already fit, dedicated, big serving Roddick.
He will have his work cut out on clay, as there have been some great comeback performances from the clay experts in recent weeks, too. The Spanish spring to mind.
And Federer will have to come up with something good soon if he's to keep his rivals at bay. The aura slipped just a fraction in north America.

Thanks, Claudia. Just glad to have you back...

Great to have your wonderful writing back, and what a story to tell! I knew some of Von Cramm's story, of course, from my research on Don Budge. Theirs was an inspiring and heart-lifting friendship. But there is much more here that I didn't know and, as mentioned above, it shows just what impact those war years had on, in particular, the European players and the public.
So sad, to some extent, but inspiring too.