What's Eating Roger Federer?

Federer's been irritable the past couple of weeks. My crackpot friend Jacobs might call this a more "interesting" Federer, but I think we all know what it is - a shout-out to me! Clearly Federer's seen the Top 5 Tennis Villains list and was disappointed to not make the cut.

Q. Still seems a bit strange when you said “former champion like me.”

ROGER FEDERER: Former No. 1 I said.

Q. Former No. 1. Does that seem a little bit strange?

ROGER FEDERER: For both of us. I didn't say former champion. I said former Grand Slam champion and former No. 1.

Q. I misspoke.

ROGER FEDERER: Exactly.

Sheesh. This comes on the heels of Federer scoffing at the suggestion that Murray is one of the favorites. Federer's also made it clear that he dislikes being introduced as the World Number 2, stating that he's either #1, Grand Slam Champion, or nothing. Why so serious, Fed?

Pete Bodo boiled it down to this: "Last year in Melbourne, TMF had mono - so that edition of the Australian Open isn't relevant. The implication is that this year, it will be back to business as usual - meaning, another silken Federer triumph. In the Federer era, this will be the grand restoration." Maybe Federer doesn't have anything left to prove. But I think he's feeling the pressure in Australia to live up to this idea, that last year was a fluke. He did win last year's US Open, but I'm not sure if that's a boon (he's already proved he can still win majors) or burden (people are expecting him to win all the majors again).

The pressure hasn't seem to affected his match play so far. He subdued a strong Seppi in the first round, and then took Korolev out behind the woodshed in round 2. His forehand and movement are crisp. The marquee match tonight against Safin would have more cachet if Marat hadn't pooped all over his chances in an interview with Brad Gilbert. "It's going to be impossible" were his exact words. Roger's expected to beat these characters, though. If the semifinal match against Djokovic materializes, that will be a good indication of how he holds up under expectations. As tough as his game is physically, Federer's just as strong mentally. I'm sticking with my prediction that he meets this challenge and holds up the trophy on Feb 1st.