I saw Roddick play Gulbis last night and win in spite of being outplayed most of the match. It showed that no matter how much talent you have (and Gulbis has an amazing amount), you have to be mentally strong to win. It’s not surprising that Nadal is such a great champion, because he’s the strongest mentally. He reacts the same way whether he wins or loses a point and always plays at the same level of intensity regardless of whether he’s winning 6-0 or losing 0-6.
Roger Federer went from being a talented headcase to one of the greats over the past 4 years because he was able to calm himself down after his 2003 Wimbledon win. I think even big fans like me have to admit that he’s facing the biggest crisis of his career right now and I hope he can reclaim that mental edge. There’s nothing wrong with his game and he’s still the most talented guy to ever play tennis but unless he can get his mental act together, he’ll continue to lose to the likes of Dr. Ivo and James Blake. His performance against Diego Alves yesterday was far from convincing. He now faces Radek Stepanek who beat him in Rome and pushed Djokovic hard last year. I am worried.
