Federer loses early again, this time in Cincinnati

August 1, 4:07 PMSports ExaminerPaula Duffy

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Federer after tough loss. Photo:AP/David Kohl

Remember that movie, What's Eating Gilbert Grape? Just substitute the name of Roger Federer after the second tournament in a row at which he was unceremoniously bounced before the quarter-finals.

The French Open beatdown from Nadal either unnerved him or just showed us the cracks in the ceiling of his talent. The way he lost at Wimbledon, while a better showing than at the French was just as puzzling to him. You can only be #1 in the world for so long. Just ask Pete Sampras.

The hard court season in tennis leads up to the grand daddy of them all in Queens, NY at the US Open later this month. The top players use these contests as warm ups for the Open but no one in the top #3 ever contemplates losing, unless maybe in the finals. That's why they are winners.

Federer's losses the last two weeks have come in the second and third rounds respectively and will allow Rafael Nadal to overtake Roger in the ATP rankings if Rafa makes it to the final match this weekend. He won rather convincingly last week in Canada and is grinding away in Cincinatti this week.

But for Federer, to whom winning had become a habit and I'm sure an expectation, losing badly one week is bad; losing poorly two weeks in a row is a trend he doesn't want to continue. Not only is it embarrassing but it gives his opponents hope they never had when they faced him.

If France's Gille Simone (who?) and Ivo Karlivich (same question) can do it, anybody in the top 25 has gotten a boost of confidence. That's not good for Roger. He'll want to come out roaring in New York but that was his feeling in England after Nadal took him apart in the French finals. What's a nice Swiss guy to do? I'm happy to recommend a shrink in the NY area for him.