By Sandra Harwitt

Can Roger Federer rule pro tennis again? The answer to that question is not if he’s going to play like he did against Rafael Nadal on Friday night at the Sony Ericsson Open. Rafa owned Roger in the 6-3, 6-2 semifinal match – Federer 31 unforced errors, Nadal just 10.

Federer shanked balls left and right, and all around the court. It was a sloppy performance that spoiled a golden opportunity for the Swiss to show he still has some muscle. Standing in front of him was Nadal and Djokovic – beat them back-to-back for the title and the discussion as to whether Federer still has it would be silenced.

The crowd, hoping for a highly anticipated battle that never materialized, tried to lift Federer with a resounding chant of “ROG-ER, ROG-ER- from nearly all the 14,638 spectators. It did not work.

This was the first time the two have played on U.S. soil since the 2005 final blockbuster where Fed rebounded from two sets down to win 2-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-1.

To his credit, Federer didn’t back away from acknowledging he didn’t bring anywhere near his best to the court, which is a requirement if you’re going to attempt to beat the world No. 1 on a hard court that is playing nice and slow to Nadal’s strength.

He also didn’t back away from saying that Nadal played incredible tennis, only offering one break-point possibility to Rafa in the two sets.
But more power to the Swiss Master: He still believes.

“I know I can do many more things in the game,” Federer said. “Sure, it’s disappointing losing a game like tonight, but those are the matches I work extremely hard for in the off-season and practice, and I’m very excited by what’s still to come.”

FYI: Federer backs Nadal over Djokovic for his first Sony Ericsson Open crown on Sunday.

It’s All in the Numbers: Novak Djokovic continues to astound with the numbers he’s putting up this year. He’s won every tournament he’s entered – Australian Open, Dubia and Indian Wells. He’s made it to the fourth month of the year without losing a match – 24-0 for the season. In fact, if you go back to last year you can credit him for two winning performances in the Davis Cup final, so he’s 26-0 since the last time he lost a match.
Here at the Sony Ericsson Open, Djokovic has served 40 games and has yet to be broken. That is no easy achievement as almost any player will tell you.

Nevertheless, Djokovic doesn’t think he’s Superman and untouchable.

“I don’t feel invincible,” Djokovic said. “What I feel is big confidence. What I feel is that I’m playing best tennis of my life. This is as simple as that.”
Best April Fool’s Joke of the Day: Andy Murray gets the prize for teasing Twitter followers with the following: “Will be announcing my coaching decision at 2 pm today statement will be released on my website thanks.”

Later in the day, Murray tongue-and-cheek tweeted he was hiring little-known British player Ross Hutchins, citing his reasoning for the hire: “Felt like I needed another yes man.

Yes, a lot of folks fell for the prank, including Britain’s Sky Network which ran the item for quite a while before discovering it was a just all in good fun funny from Murray.

One feels, however, that this joke could backfire on Murray. Fans want him to show personality and when he does they frown. Then when he’s vanilla ice cream they complain he’s way too boring.

Hey, it’s April Fool’s Day –  Good one, Andy – you’re quite the Randy Andy, at least for today.” However, we hope that it’s also an indication that you realize you need to up your ante when it comes to a coach if you’re going to secure that elusive Grand Slam title.