Over the past four years, Roger Federer winning a title that wasn’t a grand slam wouldn’t be headline news. Heck, even Federer winning grand slams became so routine that it was just another blip in the sports section.
However, Federer won his first title of 2008 at the Estoril Open after Nikolay Davydenko retired with a leg injury. Federer had won the first set 7-6 and the second set was at 1-2 when Davydenko cried uncle. Even though the title came by such a default move, I can’t imagine Federer is going to be too upset about it. It’s a title …read more

Roger Federer practiced with a new coach in Portugal to try and rebound from his less than stellar start to the 2008 season. (If you’re Roger Federer, anything less than perfect is an unstellar start.)
Jose Higueras from Spain coached Federer for a few hours over the weekend. Higueras won 15 ATP titles.
Whether Higueras had any effect on Federer’s game is hard to tell, but it didn’t stop Federer from finding himself in a tricky situation. Down a set to Olivier Rochus of Belgium at the Estoril Open. Federer routed Rochus in the final two sets (6-3, 6-2) but Rochus is …read more