Dimi’s victory in Rome not only positioned him well for the French Open, as he had hoped, but it confirmed what some tennis observers had predicted at the end of the previous year: He was on an inexorable march to number one and to gobble up as many Slams as possible, a groove that hadn’t been seen in a long time. His confidence soared but did not spill over. Dimi knew too well how you could ride the wave of one tournament only to come crashing to shore in the early rounds of the next. He would’ve gladly traded all his Masters 1000 victories for another Slam title, especially the French, his weakest event. Having won the Australian Open, he was greedy for more Slams and was tempted to allow himself to dream of something that was being seriously considered in the sports pages and that had n
