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OK guys, I know the MLB All Star game is on tonight. Tomorrow night we have the ESPY’S. Then, Thursday the British Open Golf Championship gets underway (albeit at the horrific hour of 4:00 am EST in the states!). All three are events I cannot wait to watch! But I have my own priorities, and Roger Federer news is always at the top of my list! After the great Swiss was dismissed in the second round at Wimbledon, he announced he had added two small tournaments to his schedule. (He was certainly playing a reduced schedule this year, especially as compared to last year when he won Wimbledon and regained the #1 ranking). So, one had to assume something was in the works! As a Fed fanatic, I will admit he has had a sub par year so far this year and it was time to make some kind of a “change”, a tweak in equipment perhaps. Well folks, that is exactly what the great Maestro is doing! Roger opens play tomorrow in Hamburg against Daniel Brands using a new, 98 ” square head Wilson racquet. Fed has played with his traditional 90″ square head Wilson racquet for more than a decade, refusing stubbornly to change. Many analysts have called for Roger to upgrade the size of his racquet, especially in light of his age, and the racquets used by his top competitors. For example, Andy Murray, current Wimbledon champ uses a 98″ racquet. Rafael Nadal and world #1 Novak Djokovic both use racquets that are 100″ in diameter. So at long last, we see the picture. Roger has announced his intentions to play at both Hamburg and Gstaad, Switzerland in the small tournaments to test out the long anticipated equipment change. Very smart move by Mr. Federer and his team. Gives him an opportunity to get used to the larger racquet before the North American hard court swing gets underway leading up to the US Open. This racquet will provide him with a larger sweet spot along with more power and more spin. Cannot wait to see how Roger and this equipment change perform. Here’s to hoping it turns this 2013 season around for Roger and also enables him to perform at peak performance for a few more years to come. He is currently ranked #5 in the ATP rankings, his lowest ranking since 2003 (gasp!) and noone wants to see his brilliant and unparalleled career end on a downward swing (no pun intended). I hope this equipment change brings Fed right back up to the top of tennis, where he rightfully belong before he bids us adieu (a day that will be sad for anyone who truly loves tennis and appreciates his unmatched greatness)!
