2011 Sony Ericsson Open - ATP Seeds Part II: Roger Federer
World Number 2 Roger Federer
The Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer, is seeded second at the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open. His seeding at the colloquially known Miami Masters is thanks to his number 2 ranking on the South African Airways ATP Singles World Rankings, which he attained last year after
the French Open. FedEx is 29 and turned professional way back in 1999. He recently changed coaches and now is under the guidance of the legendary American Paul Annacone.
Federer's first trip to the Miami-Dade parks' Crandon Tennis Center was rather uneventful and quite brief. Participating in the tournament in his second year as a pro, he was knocked out in the first round by then world number 106 Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark.
Not surprisingly, the Swiss Master has won two Miami Masters titles already. In 2005, he defeated then then up-and-coming Rafael Nadal in 5 difficult sets, coming back up from a 2-0 deficit to claim the title over the then world number 31. In 2006, he trounced
Croatia's Ivan Lubijicic in straight sets to again claim the trophy. In addition, he has reached the final here once more, when he lost again the then world number 10 Andre Agassi.
Federer has been top seed at the event on numerous occasions. He had top billing four years straight, from 2004-2008, and then again at the last iteration of the tournament in 2010. Both his victories here came as top seed, however,
his final appearance against Agassi came when he was world number 12. In 2009, Federer made it to the Semi-finals. On the way, he defeated Kevin Kim of USA, Nicolas Kiefer of Germany, Taylor Dent, also of the USA, and most notably, Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals.
In the Semis, he lost in three sets to Novak Djokovic.
In the next year, the last edition of the event, Federer went out in the fourth round in a rather dismal performance. As top seed, he received a bye in the first round. His second round opponent was Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, whom he defeated in straight
sets. France's Florence Serra suffered a similar fate against the master, but Czech pro Tomas Berdych stopped Federer in his tracks by handing him a 3 set defeat.
By anyone else's standard, Federer has had a good 2011 so far. The 16 time Grand Slam champion won his first tournament of the year in Doha, where he defeated Nikolay Davydenko in the final. Since, however, he has fallen at the hands of Novak Djokovic every
time the two have clashed. In the Australian Open, Federer looked in sublime form. However, the Serbian 23-year-old easily put the 29-year-old's title hopes to rest, defeating him in straight sets in the Semis. In Dubai, the same fate awaited the once unstoppable
right-hander. Djokovic outplayed him completely to take away the title from him in the final, again in straight sets.
In the Indian Wells Masters, the tournament that just ended today, Federer went out in the semi-finals again thanks to Djokovic. FedEx made it to the semis without dropping a set, defeating Stanislas Wawrinka, Ryan Harrison, Juan Ignacio Chela and Igor Andreev
along the way. He was bundled out in three sets by Djokovic though, but at least this time he was able to take a set away from the Serb.
With an 18-3 record so far this year, Federer is obviously one of the favorites at the Miami Masters. However, his world number 2 ranking has just been taken away from him by Djokovic, who is in sublime form this season. Even more
than Nadal, Federer looks vulnerable against the 23-year-old. If he is to indeed win this tournament, the master must pull out all stops and take down Djokovic for the first time this year.
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