Roger Federer just dominated a  formidable opponent for what seems like the first time in months.  Facing Radek Stepanek in the Round of 16 in Rome, whom Federer lost to in the same event last year, Federer rolled over the Czech Vet 6-4, 6-1.  In other startling news, James Blake lost to a qualifier in the first round.  Ok, so that was a bit sarcastic, Blake’s slow start has obviously become cause for concern.  However I am not as concerned as others; he hasn’t lost a step or lost his mechanics, he has simply lost some confidence.  All it takes is a big match or two to get that back, and once he does I’m confident he’ll be back in the later rounds of most events. 

One piece of startling news from Rome is Andy Murray crashing out early to qualifier Juan Monaco, he certainly seems to be taking it in stride though.

Weakest No. 1’s in history.

John McEnroe offers Federer a phone call.

Wertheim mailbag & Ad In/Ad Out.

Andy Roddick discusses his wedding.

Great idea here from Jim Courier.

I’ll be completely honest, I have no idea what is going on in the Tennis world right now.  The Red Sox have won seven in a row, the Bruins just swept the Canadians, and the Celtics are in an epic battle against the Chicago Bulls.  On top of that, American Men are avoiding the European Clay so far like Jennifer Capriati avoided clean living back in the early 90’s.  That was a bit harsh, Capriati’s win over Hingis in the 2001 Australian Open Final remains one of my favorite moments in Women’s Tennis, but I still like the line.  Speaking of Capriati…

Some great news here if you are a fan of reality TV, and Jennifer Capriati.

Todd Woodbridge has some harsh words for the ITF.

Latest Wetheim mailbag.

Great piece on an up and coming player.

Monfils not sure about his status for Roland Garros.

Ravi Ubha of espn.com offers up some players who need to turn it around ASAP.

Great article from Joel Drucker on player development.

A few noteworthy items from the past few days on the tennis front. 

First and foremost, Dinara Safina took over the No.1 spot on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour this week.  She took over the spot from American Serena Williams, who Safina actually lost to in the finals of the Australian Open earlier this year.  Safina takes over the top spot, much like Jelena Jankovic, having never won a Grand Slam.  Some people complain about that.  I don’t.  I simply think it is reflective of the major problem in Women’s tennis right now where so many of the big names don’t compete as much as they should (if you think that comment was pointed in the Williams sisters direction, you are correct).  Bottom line is Safina has been the most consistent player over the past year and as a result, is also now  considered the top player.  Furthermore, she and her brother Marat are the only sibling pair in history to both be ranked No. 1. Kudos.

Here are some other headlines:

Nadal wins in Monte Carlo again.  Color me shocked.

Andy Roddick married his future ex-wife last weekend.  As soon as they get divorced, she will be my wife.  Just kidding, hope they are a star couple that actually lasts.

Safina may be a Russian No. 1, but she is not Russian’s No. 1.

Ad In/Ad Out from Jon Wertheim.

Bonnie Ford interviews Monica Seles about some rather intense topics.

The new roof on Wimbledon’s Centre Court has been raised.

 UPDATE #2: As of 10am on Friday, Tennis.com is still reporting that a couple of Australian News outlets are still suspicious over the betting patterns from the match, but the amount of money bet was only $1.4 million as opposed to the originally reported $7.

UPDATE: As of 4pm EST the quote from below has been removed from the tennis.com news ticker (although it still remains a headline on the main page)…Ill keep updating if anything new happens.
Patterns are a very important part of tennis.  For example, Rafael Nadal has formed a certain style of play to continually beat Roger Federer and take over the number one ranking.  Another example would be how Novak Djokovic has shown a pattern of quitting in big matches when the chips are down.  And still another example would be how Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello gets himself wrapped up into gambling allegation with Russian players.  Lest we forget his match against Davydenko in August of 2007, and the melee that followed, here is a link with the story.  Fast forward twenty months or so to this year’s Monte Carlo Master’s Event. (more…)

- Upsets about early in Monte Carlo: Gilles Simon went down in the first round to qualifier Andreas Beck in straight sets, Janko Tisperavic takes out Monfils easily (do French players just start getting scared about Roland Garros 6 weeks out?), Robredo goes down to Juan Monaco, Stepanek to qualifier Lapentti, Almagro ousted in a 3rd set breaker by Montanes, and Berdych fell to qualifier Fognini.  At least no Americans were upset.  Oh wait, that’s because no Americans are actually playing (in the singles draw at least), as Blake, Roddick, Isner, Querrey, Fish, etc etc etc are all missing.  I’m sure it has absolutely nothing to do with our epic success on the European Red Clay.

- In ‘other’ news from the past few days, Roger Federer got hitched.  This is one step in a long road for Federer to put a nix on these rumors.

- As Peter Bodo points out, Easter weekend brought a resurrection for certain tennis players. 

- Great article from Joel Drucker on time management for tennis and life.

- Just learned some American gals have started a successful campaign in Charleston, as Bethanie Mattek-Sands and qualifier Shenay Perry advanced to the second round.