Federer trains with Luncanu before the great RG final?

[Marius_Hancu]

BTW, Luncanu beat last year both D. Young and Cilic, the top junior players at a time, in a tournament.

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http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/ne...952294471.html

Q. I'd like to ask you about your hitting partner. Have you tried working with a left-handed player to prepare for this final against Nadal?

ROGER FEDERER: I played today with a left-handed junior.

Q. A Frenchman?

ROGER FEDERER: A Romanian
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It must be:

Petre-Alexandru Luncanu

http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/sc...s/bs/r5s1.html

Also:
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The ITF's ninth ranked junior from Bucharest was a practice partner
for the Romanian team, and word has it that the sixteen-year-old lefty
was on-court constantly, taking full advantage of the opportunity.
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[DoubleHanded&LovinIt]

Great find, Marius. Roger's always trying to stay ahead. I wonder who Rafa is hitting with this day before the final? Do you have any idea, Marius?

[raftermania]

From Yahoo! Tennis: Rafael Nadal might downplay his chances against Roger Federer in the French Open final, but the 20-year-old Spaniard talks tough when it comes to video games.

"I don't think he can beat me in PlayStation," Nadal said. "I don't think he trains enough for that."

Probably playing against him in Top Spin for PS2.

[guernica1]

That's interesting.. I thought that Fed might have tried to get Bob Bryan to practice with him since he's a lefty.

And it looks like Nadal is hitting with a good Japanese prospect, Nishikori for the warm up to tomorrow.

[FedererUberAlles]

I like how the high up pros practice with the juniors, it's quite redeeming.

[eLterrible]

I think i remember one of the announcers a few days ago or so say that federer/roche had hired puerta as a lefty hitting partner since he was suspended from the tour. I could've heard wrong and they were talking about portas or something but i definately remember hearing something like that.

well, that certainly makes sense, considering that Puerta is one of the top left handed claycourt player in the world...

another Southpaw that comes to mind would be Fernando Verdasco, but he's one of Rafa's homeboys and Rafa would be pissed if Nando practiced with Fed. What about Marcelo Rios? I guess Puerta's game simulates Rafa's game better than Rios'...