Roger Federer and Darren Cahill: Magical Pairing is Not to Be

It is sad news for Roger Federer fans. Just as we thought things were looking up for the Swiss master, it has been revealed that he will not be adding Darren Cahill to his team of mentors.

Most tennis fans have long been dreaming of a coach-player pairing between Federer and the Australian coach Cahill. Cahill is well known as one of the best tennis coaches out there at the moment, having successfully mentored the likes of Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt in the past.

Cahill helped Hewitt to become the youngest player ever to achieve the end of year world number one ranking in men's tennis. At the other end of the spectrum, Cahill also helped Agassi to secure the top spot and create a record as the oldest player to do so.

More recently, Cahill has worked with Fernando Verdasco...and we have all heard that name mentioned a lot more frequently in the past few months. And rightly so, after Verdasco's fantastic performance against Nadal in the semis at the Australian Open this year.

So when Cahill resigned from his post as Davis Cup coach for the Australian team and was spotted working with Federer in Dubai, Federer fans jumped for joy. Most of us were pleased that Federer appeared to be looking for a way to improve his game, beat Nadal and grab that all important 14th Grand Slam.

Who better to guide him to victory than "Killer" Cahill? Maybe he would be able to give our Federer the boost of confidence he needs after that emotional loss in Melbourne?

When it was confirmed that Federer and Cahill were indeed working together on a trial basis in Dubai we were sure that it was really happening. What a shock then to hear from Federer's agent that the dream partnership is not to be.

This seems to be Cahill's decision rather than Federer's. The reason appears to be his family commitments. Cahill is based in Las Vegas and Federer trains in Dubai...a considerable distance away.

Then of course there is all the travelling. There are so many different tennis tournaments which the players are expected to compete in and they are held all over the world.

It seems likely that Federer will speak out very soon about this, especially as the Indian Wells tournament is just around the corner. It will be interesting to hear his take on it.

There has been so much speculation around him hiring Cahill that it will make a nice change to hear the view of the man at the centre of all of this.

If it is not to be then so be it. I'm sure our Roger will work out where to go from here.

But Cahill, if this is true, then how could you? Building up our hopes and then letting us down like that! How could you possibly say "No" to our Roger?!

As a fan, I'll be disappointed if this is true...but I understand Cahill's reasons so I will forgive him (eventually)!