Tennis

There are two people alive in the world right now of whom it can be said that everything that could have been said has in fact already been said. Bob Dylan and Roger Federer. There was a time when it was hip to write about a Swiss tennis player who was obviously going to conquer the world.

But now that he has, the adulation tends to get repetitive. You can of course talk about the way he moves his body while hitting a forehand down the line, which for a tennis fan is akin to a dancer watching MJ perform the Moonwalk for the first time.

Or the tiniest amount of frustration that owes its quasi-existence to a point won without putting to use some superhuman shot that for a moment removes him from the court and puts him squarely inside your head. You start imagining that what just happened was just your imagination.

Roger Federer may not be atop the tennis world anymore but he still has an unshakeable habit of shattering tour records.

On May 28, Federer tied American Jimmy Connors' record of 233 grand slam match victories at the French Open en route to potentially, his 17th major tennis title.

Federer beat German Tobias Kamke 6-2 7-5 6-3 in the first round and can surpass Connors's professional-era record with a win in the second round.

The 16-time grand slam title winner is now 233-35 lifetime at the major tournaments.

 "I think that's a big one, because that was longevity. Jimmy is obviously one of the greats of all time, and was around for 20 years," Federer said about his latest record. "I love the big tournaments. I have been so successful for such a long time and to already tie that record, at 30 years old, is pretty incredible, so I'm very happy.''

Federer also revealed his goal of eclipsing Connors's record of 109 tournament titles although he is 36 titles away at the moment with 74 titles.

Novak Djokovic might have to get past Roger Federer if he is going to win a fourth consecutive Grand Slam title in the 2012 French Open.

Just as in 2011, the draw has a potential Federer-Djokovic semi-final in Roland Garros. The road to the semis won't be easy for Djokovic, as he may have to face local boy and No. 5-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Djokovic, a three-time finalist at Roland Garros, may also face former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in the early rounds.

In 2011, Djokovic lost to Federer in four epic sets, which ended the Serb's 43-match winning streak, and turned Djokovic's last loss at a major. Since then, he won Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open.

If Djokovic wins this time, he would become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win four Grand Slam trophies in a row.

The journey will probably not be easy for Federer, either. The 16-time Grand Slam champion could face Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion in the fourth round.

Rafael Nadal made history once again by capturing his seventh Barcelona Open title with a marathon 7-6 (7-1) 7-5 victory over David Ferrer.

Nadal is now the only man to win two different events at least seven times each.

Last week, he claimed an unprecedented eighth-straight title in his spiritual home of Monte Carlo when he defeated top-ranked Novak Djokovic.

This is Nadal's 34th victory in a row at Barcelona after being defeated by Alex Corretja in 2003, and improved his finals record on clay to 34-4. This is also Nadal's fifth straight title at Real Club de Tenis.

The clay-court specialist has a 14-4 record against Ferrer after winning the 48th trophy of his career.

Up next for Nadal is the Madrid Masters, which is his least favorite clay tournament, as he only has a 24-7 record.

Nadal holds the all-time best winning percentage on clay 241-18 (93%), and will be gearing up to make more history at the French Open. Nadal has been almost unstoppable at Roland Garros with a 45-1 record, and he can surpass Bjorn Borg's total of seven titles if he comes out on top this year.

They are the prime medal prospects for India in London. But forget about the medal, now their chance to have a place in the summer Olympics is in complete disarray.

With the June 11 deadline for naming the doubles pairings for the Olympics fast approaching, it is not sure whether Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza will be able to take the London flight this July.

For Sania, it is sheer bad luck, but for the rest of the two, it is lack of consistency, battle of ego and internal politics.

Paes and Bhupathi began their clay season last week at Monte Carlo Masters.

Unseeded Serb-Swiss combination of Viktor Troicki and Stanislas Wawrinka stunned the sixth seeded Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna in the second round on Wednesday.

It took just 56 minutes for the hot favourite Indian pair to go down in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.

Rated at number six in the ATP World Doubles Rankings, the Indian duo utterly failed to put up a fight.

Paes, pairing with Radek Stepanek won their first match 6-3, 6-3 against Juan Sebastian Cabal and Eduardo Schwank.

But the fifth seed pair lost to top seed Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 6-2, 6-0.