Quarterfinals
It was a very close match, but unfortunately Roger exited Rome losing in two tie-breaks. It was match filled with a lot ups and downs for Roger - he led, he lost the lead, and ultimately the match. Roger will play next week in Hamburg, which is the last event before the French Open.

Round 3
Winning 7-6 (4), 6-3 against Ivo Karlovic, Roger propelled himself into the quarterfinals in Rome where he will face Radek Stepanek. “Props” to Roger for having such a good record against Ivo who towers over every other player on tour. It has to be an extremely demanding task to continuously quality passing shots against a 6 foot 10 inch frame charging the net. But Roger was up for it, and came away with a quality win.

Round 2
Roger faced a tough test in Guillermo Canas in his first match in Rome - winning with relative ease 6-3, 6-3. Roger moves comfortably into the third round while converting three of seven break opportunities in the victory. Roger seems to be getting back to form, and he will need it as the later rounds will be challenging.

Round 1
Bye.

Finals
Rafael Nadal beats Roger 7-5, 7-5 in Monte Carlo. It seems that the norm has been restored - Roger making it to the finals of a clay court event, meeting Nadal in the finals, showing promise that he might pull it off, but Rafael comes up with soon brilliant tennis and Roger is left with the second place trophy. However, Roger has had a great start to the clay court season with having reached two consecutive finals and winning one of them. Hopefully this momentum will carry through into the French and for the rest of the season.

Semifinals
Roger was on his way to a dominating victory over Novak when Novak complained of dizziness down 2-3 in the second set. It will be a repeat of last year’s final of Rafael and Roger.

Quarterfinals
After losing the first set, Roger took out David Nalbandian by dominating the second and third sets. The final score was 5-7, 6-2, 6-2. Roger faces Novak Djokovic is the semis for the chance to play the “King of Clay”, Rafael Nadal

Round 3
Defeats Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-4. This is a much better showing than Roger’s first match. “And I was just happy, after yesterday, (to be) playing so well. Today was fine again. It’s good I reacted so well after yesterday’s tough match,” said Roger. The quarterfinal opponent is David Nalbandian who is always a tough opponent. This will be a true test for Roger - can’t wait for the result.

Round 2
Roger squeaked into the third round with a three set victory over Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (1). In the third set, Roger had a very high hill to climb as he was down 1-5, but Roger got the result that he needed so he can put this match behind him. The third round opponent for Roger will be Gael Monfils.

Round 1
Bye

Finals
Finally! Roger broke through in the Estoril in one hour and 20 minutes against Nikolay Davydendo 7-6(5), 1-2(ret). Regardless of the fact that Davydenko retired, due to a muscle strain, Roger played a solid first set. Roger now has 54 career titles, and a great start to the clay court season. Hopefully the momentum will continue to build with Masters events coming up in Monte Carlo, Rome, and Hamburg.

Semifinals
Roger struggled yet again in the opening set against Denis Gremelmayr, but eventually won the match 2-6, 7-5, 6-1. With this victory, Roger advances to his first final of the 2008 season…sweet. He will face Nikolay Davydendo, against whom Roger has a very good record, but that doesn’t mean anything based on this year’s trend.

I would like to wish Roger the best of luck, and I will be eagerly awaiting the outcome.

Round 3
Roger defeated local hope Frederico Gil 6-4, 6-1. The match was halted to two occasions due to rain. Roger was broken twice, and I think that was due to the match being interrupted. However, Roger got the win and moves on into the quarterfinals in pursuit of his first title of the year.

Round 2
On a rainy day in Portugal, Roger wasted no time in pushing past Victor Hanescu in a dominating fashion winning 6-3, 6-2. Roger seems to be enjoying and taking in all that this new venue of Estoril has provided him with.

Round 1
After a slow start and dropping the first set to Olivier Rochus, Roger played a much better second and third sets. Roger closed out Rochus 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Roger has made headlines with his calling on Jose Higueras as a potential coach. Also, there have been a lot of sitings of Roger taking in all that Estoril has to offer. Roger met with Valentino Rossi, a professional motorcycle racer, at one of the racing sites in Portugal. But getting back to the tennis, Roger said something every interesting, “We’re now in a different part of the season, it’s back to zero for everybody.” The clay court season is a fresh start for the world’s number one, and with the help of Jose Higueras, Roger feels he is on the verge of playing the tennis that we’re all accustom to.

I look forward to following Roger’s progress in the tournament as well as seeing if working with Jose will be truly beneficial for Roger’s game.

Roger’s official site has a new look. The background is now orange in honor of the clay court season. Roger has been the world’s second best clay court player to Rafael Nadal. I think that Roger’s main focus is on the French Open, and he has shown that is willing to put in the time to be prepared by adding a tournament in Estoril, Portugal on top of the other event Roger normally plays in.

A quarter of the season has now been completed, and Roger has yet to win a title. This is the longest streak that Roger has been on since he took over as the world’s number one. I’ve thought about this, and I’ve come to the conclusion that this lull just adds to Roger’s dominance in that it shows that Roger is indeed human with extraordinary talent and ability, and as a person, like you and me, he’s stood/stands head and shoulders above the competition, which is remarkable. However, being human entails not being perfect, and Roger is displaying his human side, which cannot not be sneered at. Just look at his good friend Tiger Woods - he hit a long rough patch, but now, he’s back at the top of his game. As one of my favorite movies, Revolver, points out, “There’re no such things as problems, just situations.”

Here is the new Wilson K-Factor commercial with Roger. I like it because they try to personify the racquet as Roger in the description. It’s a great marketing strategy.