Bring on the clay! Spring is in the air when you can hear feet sliding on red dirt. I am really looking forward to this year’s season which has a lot of interesting questions to answer.

• Will Nadal be as unbeatable as always?
• How will Djokovic perform after a spellbinding start to the season?
• Can Federer be able to convince the fans that he’s still a force or will the rivalry between Djokovic and Nadal tighten?
• Is it time for clay court demon Nicholas Almagro to step up and win a Masters title?
• Americans have suffered lately on the dirt, can they turn that trend around?

Read my answer and a lot of other tennis articles here

For Federer fans such as myself this is a pretty controversial or at least disappointing headline. What can the young Spaniard teach the Swiss maestro? Well maybe “teach” is the wrong word and maybe there isn’t a lesson to be learned about “wanting to win” but if there was, I could think of no better player to teach it than Rafael Nadal.

Because one of the problems in yesterday’s 6-3 6-2 beating in ATP Miami semi-finals was that Federer didn’t look comfortable from the second he stepped on court and after going down a break he didn’t seem to have it in him to fight back. We have seen this in Federer before, but it hurts every time. Sports is all about trying hard and giving your all and on this level you won’t get many games playing on 75 percent, even if you are the best player of all time.

I admit it. I believed Federer would lose yesterday against Isner and so I placed a bet on that at 6 times my money. But when I tuned in to the match in the end of the first set I saw a Federer that reminded me of the old, dominating Fed Express. He looked Fedtastic and I realized I was about to lose a little money.

I did lose money in the end, but it was worth it just to see Federer play that kind of divine tennis that only he can play. It had everything, a hot dog shot where he ended up winning the point, blistering forehand winners, laser sharp serves, good returns, and an amazing running shot that nobody thought he would get to, deliciously angling the ball cross-court for the point. It was close to a perfect match for him and it was over before Isner knew what hit him, 6-3 6-4.

I just watched Soderling beat Tipsarevic in straight sets which is an indication that he is back to decent form after a few mediocre performances. This made me think of his chances in Shanghai and the draw in general, which in turn made me realize that both Federer and Nadal are in danger of losing today.

But back to Soderling. Indoor courts were always Soderlings surface. It plays fast, there are no strange bounces and the wind doesn’t upset his serve. This is the part of season where he should play his best tennis.

That hasn’t happened in the tournaments leading up to Shanghai Masters, but we saw some of the old Soderling today.

If he keeps up this play he will likely meet Federer in the quarterfinals. They seem destined to always meet there. It is rough for Soderling who loses 90% of the time, but it is also tough for Federer as Soderling always poses a threat – something we saw in Roland Garros.