Baby bye bye bye.

Let’s take a short stroll down Memory Lane. Remember 2007? That good old year when Dootsie decided she’s had enough of hating Roger Federer and got herself some first class tickets on the Federer Express?

There I was, all wide-eyed and Fed-loving for the first time in my life, fresh from the Australian Open semifinal during which Roger ‘converted’ me, I couldn’t wait for Indian Wells to roll around.

My guy was on a 40+ match winning streak and closing in on his own record. He just won his 10th slam, surpassed Connors for the most number of consecutive weeks at No 1. He was awesome, fierce, and on top of the world. Somewhere along the line, he got hot too. It helped with my conversion and I’m not afraid to admit it.

Indian Wells was going to come around and make life awesome, because for once, I was a rookie Federer fan and lovin’ it.

And then, THIS HAPPENED.

It’s okay, a blip in the minor scheme of things. Bring on Miami OH WAIT –

The result is that I spent the next few months trying to figure out if I jinxed Feddypoop onto a losing streak.

The whole point of telling this convoluted story is that the particular player who turned me into a superstitious tennis freak and sowed the seeds for this blog all those years ago is set to retire from tennis this week.

“There were many [career] highlights, but beating Roger two weeks in a row was amazing.

“I was great for me and then in 2008 I was in the top [15] again and one year after that I’m coaching, and will make my retirement official this week.”

Roger, who’s in Miami and spending a lot of time practicing with Serbian youngster Filip Krajinovic, also commented on his past tormentor.

“He was always a grinder and always gave his best on the court, so you always knew you were in for a tough match,” Federer said after a hitting session with 351st-ranked Filip Krajinovic.

“It was a bit different losing to the same player back-to-back. It hadn’t happened to me in years.”

In his retirement, Canas will be doing some coaching in the States, taking Odesnik and Capdeville under his tutelage.

“My life is different, but I’m happy in the role I’m doing right now.”

That role involves teaching promising juniors as well as young pros such as Odesnik and Paul Capdeville.

“He’s so mentally tough it rubs off on his pupils,” said Odesnik, who’s over a sprained ankle sustained in a first-round win in Delray last month. “He’s made tennis interesting for me again.”

Source: Sun-Sentinel

Best of luck, I won’t miss ya.

xx doots

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