Roger Federer is leaving nothing to chance in his bid to win the French Open and complete his own version of the Grand Slam.Federer’s victory over Marcos Baghdatis in Sunday’s Australian Open final gave the Swiss master his seventh Grand Slam singles title and put him on course for a shot at the “Roger Slam.”Federer won Wimbledon and the US Open last year and his victory at Melbourne Park leaves him needing just the French Open title to become the first man since Australia’s Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four titles simultaneously. The World Number One intends to fly his Australian coach Tony Roche to Europe to fine-tune his game on clay ahead of the French Open. Roche rarely travels with his star pupil outside of Grand Slams but is considering going to Europe earlier than normal to help Federer get the one major title that has eluded him.“Tony came to Hamburg last year, which I thought was pretty early,” Federer said at a news conference. “He might come a week early, maybe to Rome. We’ll see about that. “He’s definitely coming for that trip again. I’m very happy about that.”Federer has won seven of the last 11 Grand Slam events he’s entered but the French Open has always eluded him.The 24 year old reached the semi-finals last year, losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal, and hopes the extra work he’s doing with Roche, who won at Roland Garros in 1966, will make the difference.“I think the more time I spend with him, the more information I get about playing on clay. Just being together and working together, it’s very interesting.”Federer said he wouldn’t change a great deal for the French Open as he believed he played the right way in 2005.“Maybe I didn’t play as great as I was hoping to in the semi-final. “But I still gave myself a chance. Rafael totally deserved to win the French. Best player by far on clay last season. I hope he’ll be back by then and I get a chance to play him again.”While Federer was preparing to fly out of Melbourne on Monday with another Australian trophy tucked under his arm and the tennis world at his feet, Baghdatis agreed to stay on another day to thank the Greek community that had supported him. (Reuters)Baghdatis moves up to 27Melbourne: Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis climbed 27 places to a career-high 27th in the new world rankings released by the ATP on Monday after his loss to World No 1 Roger Federer in the final. Federer moved to 7,275 points, 2,660 ahead of World No 2 Rafael Nadal of Spain and 4,490 clear of third-placed American Andy Roddick. German Nicolas Kiefer climbed 13 places to 12th after reaching the semi-finals in Melbourne, while former world number one Lleyton Hewitt of Australia slipped out of the top 10 to 11th following his second-round defeat. Russian Marat Safin, who beat Hewitt in last year’s Australian Open final but did not defend his title because of injury, fell 39 places to number 50. Meanwhile, Sania Mirza slipped two places to be 34th in the latest WTA Tour rankings. Sania, who was seeded 32nd in the season’s first Grand Slam Down Under, lost in the second round to Michaela Krajicek of the Netherlands. The loss, combined with her first round exit in a WTA event in Sydney the preceding week, saw the 19-year-old go down in the rating list. (Reuters & PTI)
