Roger Federer will kick off his 2010 Estoril Open campaign on Today afternoon when he takes on Bjorn Phau for the third time in his career.
Federer is not on top of his game at the moment but he is, of course, still a monumental favorite in this one. The Swiss is the reigning French Open, Wimbledon, and Australian Open champion and his grip on the No. 1 ranking should be secure for at least the next two months. Federer, however, is still looking for his first clay-court win of the season as he lost his Rome opener last week to eventual semifinalist Ernests Gulbis.
Phau, some may be surprised to learn, actually has a career victory over Federer however that was from a match way back in the previous millenium as Phau beat Federer in straight sets back in Washington 1999.
At that time Phau had a bit more promise but as it has played out the German has never been ranked in the top 50 and his current ranking of 138th means that he can't be expected to take a set off of Fed in their match.
When you look at Phau's recent tournaments there is absolutely NOTHING to suggest that he can beat the top ranked player on tour. Phau has not been successful on tour this year nor has he had successful career (0 titles, he's 30) and he's probably only about 6 months away from being ranked outside of the top 200.
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