[jjbrouwer]

I agree with you about Sampras and Roddick. I found Sampras boring to watch and Roddick the same. They have a one dimensional way of playing which involves raw power. Sampras was great at the net too but his ground strokes were not good enough to give him a chance at the French Open on clay.

Roddick has better ground strokes but not as good as Sampras at the net.

Federer is the complete package - brilliant ground strokes, decent volley game, decent serve (not powerful but plenty of variety) and the imagination to pull off incredible winners.

Personality-wise I don't like Roddick either. He is a whiner who spent most of his match against the Russian complaining that the guy was keeping him waiting.

If you wanted to assemble the perfect player - a combination of McEnroe's genius, Borg's temperament and expertise, Lendl's power and ruthless attitude - you would come up with something like Federer.

The only missing ingredient is Connors' will to win. And Roddick can learn that, I suppose with Connors coaching him.

My prediction: Federer 3 sets to 1. Maybe he'll win one of those sets 6-0.

[beyond the sea]

Your prediction is looking conservative, jj.

;-)

This looks like a physical and psychological *ss-kicking.