Federer's French Open Final Is His Semis; & NHL Game 4

First of all, I apologize for the large time gap in posts. Now with that out of the way...

I'm sorry, but there is no way that Fernando Gonzalez or Robin Soderling are going to beat Roger Federer in the French Open finals. I don't care how hot they are. So in my eyes Federer needs to defeat Juan Martin Del Potro in the semi-finals tomorrow and he'll almost certainly capture the elusive French Open title. And this will crown him as the best male tennis player of all time. I know Pistol Pete would still be tied in grand slam titles with Roger, but Pete's resume still has a massive hole - he never won the French. How could you say Roger isn't better for that simple reason? In the end, that will be moot though, because Federer is going to win another grand slam on top of this potential French title. But lets be clear, Del Potro isn't even close to being a pushover. This will be Federer's toughest match of the tournament, beginning to end. Tommy Haas came out of the gate flying, but couldn't finish Federer (or anyone for that matter) as usual. Gael Monfils is way too hot-and-cold, and Federer jumped all over him. But Del Potro is the best all-around player of the bunch. I expect this match to be a dogfight, and one in which I wouldn't be surprised if Del Potro wins. But with Nadal at home for the first time in his career and not holding the trophy, Federer is on a mission. This, in my opinion, is his one and only chance to win the French Open. And Federer knows it.

One note on the Andy Roddick meltdown again Monfils in the 4th round. Roddick is 100% right with his anger. If you didn't see it, Roddick was consistently complaining to the chair umpire that the light was too dim to play, and that he wanted the match suspended. In the second set, not only was the sun setting, but there was significant cloud cover that rolled in. No joke, it was 9PM local time in Paris when they started the 3rd set. The fact that the chair umpire did not suspend play is a disgrace. Who's call was it to even start this match that late in the evening? Why not make it the first match the next morning? I'll tell you why. They started the match out of stupidity, Monfils then wins the first set, Roddick complains in frustration about the sunlight, the French officials don't mind, and they simply decide to keep the match going. Why? Monfils is French.

One last thing, Game 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup finals is tonight. This series has had amazing action, especially in Game 3. The only difference in the series has been goaltending. Games 1 and 2 would have been a toss-up if Fleury had played half-decent. Detroit is going to come out flying tonight, and the only way they lose is if Crosby wakes up. He's actually not playing bad, he's just being so heavily covered that he seems invisible at times. But he is creating his chances, he's just not finishing them. If that doesn't change then the Pittsburgh ship is sunk, they'll lose tonight and they'll lose the series. But no matter the result, tonight's game will be another back-and-forth game with a plentiful amount of offensive opportunities. So enjoy it.