Roger Federer vs. Tomas Berdych: Fed Will Prove He's Back in Madrid Open Final

Roger Federer has consistently been a shell of his former self over the past year.

Granted, Fed-Ex's shell is still leaps and bounds better than arguably 97 percent of the rest of the field, but he will prove at the Madrid Open 2012 final against Tomas Berdych that he is truly back at the top of his game.

The scariest part is that this is the momentum he desperately needed heading into the French Open 2012 tournament later this month. 

Fed-Ex is playing rejuvenated this May, especially after his tough exit from the Australian Open in January. Though it helps that he gets to square off against a Berdych instead of a Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic, it's even more telling that Fed-Ex will be a dominant force throughout 2012.

Nadal and Djokovic were outraged and outspoken throughout the tournament about the Madrid Open "smurf" clay court. Boo-hoo, cry us all a river, guys. I don't care if you are the two best tennis studs in the world, you need to man up like Federer has done.

Fed-Ex could have ripped the court all he wanted, but the fact of the matter is that he remained focused and concentrated on the task at hand. It is this concentration that is most reassuring for all of Fed's fans. His concentration was lacking in 2011 as he fell to foes he would have never lost to in previous years.

As long as Fed-Ex is focused in 2012, he will be able to regain the top spot in the highly competitive tennis world. On Sunday, he will deliver against Berdych and head into the French Open as the biggest threat in the tournament.