Daggers at dawn ...

Rafa was in reflective mode in the immediate ending of his match in Madrid yesterday as his on-court interview revealed.

On his hopes to play Federer at Roland Garros, Rafa said:- "In Paris, we’ll see who makes it to the end ... Federer has the potential to win in Paris, to win anywhere. He is a favorite there, but the tournament begins not with the final but with the first round. I hope to play with him in the Paris finals. If you give me a paper now, I’d sign it.”

He was quick to deflect from any sort of excuse-making by declaring:- "I normally do not make excuses. If I’m tired, it’s because I used more time in the semi-final than he did. It stinks to play four hours yesterday, yes. That can’t be denied. But the reality is that (today) he played better than me."

Rafa made sure to point out that the fast court and altitude of Caja Majica in Madrid favoured Federer’s game, and that this loss wasn’t going to effect his chances at Roland Garros:- “My feeling is that this tournament has nothing to do with Paris. I ’m not saying that I will play better in Paris, but this surface is completely different from Roland Garros.”

Federer - in contrast - was in more (unsurprisingly) upbeat mode, revealing that he played with more aggression, served well and took his chances when they came. After the match, he also revealed that he’s tweaked his mental strategy as well:-

Interviewer:- "Two things stood out today. Nadal ordinarily keeps you waiting at the net before the match. This time you kept him waiting. And instead of serving, you decided to receive. Psychology?"

Feds:- "I simply thought to do something differently today. The players allow him to do too much, let him determine his rhythm. From the time one leaves the locker room to the first rally, twenty minutes have passed against him. Normally, five to ten minutes should be it. So today I simply took my time to see how patient he is. And today I had little to lose, so I did it with humour. Perhaps it helped that I played more relaxed."

Woooooo ... crafty old fox, Roger Federer. He probably always felt that it was “below” him to use mind games and on-court gamesmanship to his advantage, but now he’s realized he needs to use every advantage to beat the superhuman Rafa, and therefore it is "game on" to use such tactics.

Lets hope this is drawn to Rafa's attention and he wises up to his auld adversary that as far as Feds his is concerned, the gloves are now off, and he will use any tactic going in his attempt to beat him. One of the last people to take the p*** out of Rafa was Soderling ... and look what mincemeat he made out of him in Rome. Get a grip, Rafa old man - things are about to get dirty ...