Don’t hit the panic button just yet, we’re talking about Roger Federer after all. But the world No. 1’s loss to Ernests Gulbis, a player ranked almost 40 places below him, in his opening match at the Rome Masters 1000, has to cast at least some doubt over his ability to defend his French Open crown this year.
Sure, it was Federer’s first match on clay this season, but it was a vastly different performance to the imperious manner in which Rafael Nadal kicked off his clay court campaign at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters a couple of weeks ago.
Article continues at http://blogs.bettor.com/Federers-shock-Rome-loss-a-wake-up-call-a10641.
Tags: call, Federers, loss, Rome, shock, wakeup