Those familiar with the realm of tennis have known that the swashbuckling and supremely gifted Rafael Nadal has long since occupied a place in Roger Federer's head.
"Rafa" has become a nut that the legendary stylist from Switzerland can no longer seem to crack. Beating Nadal currently amounts to a real mental block for "Fed".
Much to his chagrin, Federer's cranium may be becoming even more crowded.
Don't look now but someone else is bidding to crawl into Federer's skull if he hasn't done so already.
The Scotsman Andy Murray, an emerging and bona fide talent, is threatening to join Nadal inside Federer's grey matter.
This was clearly evidenced last Saturday when Murray dispatched the world's No. 2 player for the fourth consecutive time, a rather remarkable feat accomplished only by the aforementioned Nadal and David Nalbandian. Repeatedly taking down Federer is no easy task. Besting him four straight is a quad "Fed" rarely gives up.
Murray's latest beat down of Federer occurred in a semi-final match at the BNP Paribas Open held in Indian Wells. With his 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 victory, Murray assumed a dominant position in his head-to-head tilts with Federer, having won six of their eight lifetime meetings.
The one bit of solace that Federer can cling to is that in their most important confrontation at last year's U.S. Open, Roger ousted Murray in the finals with a convincing straight sets win. He may be losing to Murray at an alarming rate but in the match that mattered the most, Federer came out on top. Presently, that may not be of much comfort to "Fed" but at least it's worth something.
Initially, things appeared rather promising last weekend for Federer to turn the tide against Murray. In the first game of the opening set, Federer was sharp as he ripped two forehand winners and served a stinging ace to go up 1-love.
A short time later, he was perfectly positioned to seize control of the set. Ahead 2-1, Federer held triple break point and Murray seemed vulnerable.
The old Federer would have pounced. The current version let the opportunity slip through his hands. Federer committed three errors and subsequently allowed Murray to hold. When Murray broke "Fed's" serve right after, Roger's momentum was all but gone and so was the set. Without question, it was the turning point of the match as Federer painfully admitted during an interview after the proceedings.
But though he never really found a rhythm and his game was punctuated by starts and fits, Federer showed enough flashes to rebound and capture the second set.
Even when he's off and struggling to find a zone of consistency, which isn't very often, the artistic Federer remains dangerous. "Fed" was able to extend the match because, though he was constantly fighting himself, some of his considerable magic shined through.
Roger amped up his serve a bit, threw in some nifty passing shots, chipped back many of Murray's offerings and wowed the crowd with a dazzling overhead.
Despite evening the match, however, Federer never gave the impression he could distance himself from Murray. It was plain for all to see that Federer wasn't in control.
In the decisive third set, Murray took an awkward looking tumble in the fourth game. At first, it seemed the Scot might have aggravated a chronic groin injury but that proved not to be the case. Murray quickly gathered himself and was none the worse for wear.
Somewhat surprisingly, the fall seemed to energize Murray and he took the next three points to go up a break. When he broke Roger again to take a commanding 5-1 lead, "Fed" was as good as dead, Fred.
Though Federer put up some token resistance by fighting off four match points, it only prolonged the inevitable. Murray torched him 6-1 in the final set.
The reason that Federer is having such a devil of a time against Nadal and Murray is no mystery. Both of the young and athletic Europeans cover the court like demons, thereby reducing the effectiveness of Federer's powerful groundstrokes and taking away valuable winners from him.
They also, more so than any other players on the ATP circuit, are able to read Federer's intent and anticipate many of his moves.
The net result is that Roger can get antsy and play impatient, going for winners when the situation doesn't necessarily suggest doing so. Nadal and Murray have gotten Federer to rush and hurry and try to end points much too quickly.
If Federer is to regain both his equilibrium and confidence against his two nemesis, he must start to rein in some of his aggression and be more concerned with just getting the ball back instead of going for low percentage shots or outright winners.
It also wouldn't hurt if "Fed" could tighten up his backhand. To say it was balky against Murray would be the height of understatement. Time and again, Federer attempted to pass Murray with backhand blasts only to deposit them in the net or send them screaming long or wide.
Wisely, Murray kept feeding "Fed's" backhand and Roger stubbornly kept trying to win points with it, with little success. Many of Federer's whopping total of 32 unforced errors, 18 in fact, originated from the backhand side. Federer should have known better than to put such a high reliance on a shot that was continually failing him. "Fed" should have changed gears and altered his tactics. Curiously, he chose not to do so.
We already know that "Rafa" Nadal is firmly ingrained into Federer's psyche. Right now, the Spaniard owns "Fed." The more pertinent question is has Andy Murray also taken up permanent residence in "Fed's" head or has he merely been a lengthy visitor? We shall soon see.
But Federer must begin purging the specters of at least one of the two young turks with some positive results or else his head might soon explode.
Thanks to Nadal and Murray, the pressure inside "Fed's" skull is increasing. What Roger needs more than anything else is a quick remedy. And only some emphatic wins against his two tormentors will give Federer the relief he so desperately craves.
Until then, Nadal and Murray will continue to crowd "Fed's" head, giving the Swiss one big pain.