McIntyre Tennis

Federer Injured in Paris

By Mike McIntyre

Roger Federer was forced to withdraw from the Masters tournament in Paris on Friday with an apparent back injury. He woke up with stiffness in his back and decided to avoid risking further injury. Playing well of late, the injury is no doubt legitimate. Federer is not the type of player to call it in. Fortunately for him there are no major tournaments left this year except for the season ending Masters Cup in November. Even if the injury is worse that it appears, he has plenty of time to recover for the start of the 2009 season.

The withdrawal certainly benefits American James Blake who now receives a direct pass to the semi finals. This marks the first time in his career that he has made it beyond the round of sixteen in Paris. Blake will be looking to advance further to solidify his chances at qualifying for the year-end Masters Cup in Shanghai.

Despite losing Federer, the tournament still boasts three all-star quarter final matchups. Andy Roddick takes on in-form Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, world number one Rafa Nadal faces Nikolay Davydenko, and in an already completed match, David Nalbandian knocked off surging Andy Murray. It seems that there's just something about Nalbandian that click at this time of the season.

Safin Considering Retirement

By Mike McIntyre

After a 6-0, 7-6(4) first round loss at the Paris Masters to Juan Monaco on Monday, enigmatic Marat Safin claims he is contemplating retirement from professional tennis.

“I need to think everything through. I have no pressure and I have nothing to prove or show. I just want to be comfortable with my decision, whatever I will take.”

“I need to sit down and relax and just enjoy my life without any tennis (for) a couple of months and then I will see,” Safin said. “If I feel like I want to continue to play, I will. If not, it will be over.”

While Safin has failed to win a tournament since his Grand Slam victory in Australia in 2005, he has still displayed some strong results in 2008. Despite a lackluster 24-24 record on tour this year, he has managed to make the semi-finals of Wimbledon, and the finals in Moscow just over two weeks ago.

Often players will say things in post-match press conferences that they end up regretting later on, or simply forgetting about. Lets hope that this is one of those instances. While consistency has never been one of Safin's strong points, tennis fans accross the globe certainly appreciate his volatile and occasionally brilliant play on the court. The tour would be much less enjoyable without his unique brand of tennis to watch.