rhymes450 wrote:Guess the big news is that Nadal lost to Melzer. Can't win em all, I suppose. Federer looked great and extremely motivated against John Isner yesterday. If I was afraid of flying (which I am), I'd still be fairly comfortable travelling on the same plane as Guillermo García López these days. He probably has Harry Houdini smiling in the grave.
Well, it's almost 8:32 Friday morning in Shanghai, Rhymes. If you ever have a long flight ahead, PM me, we'll chat. To me it's the lenght of these trips that bother me, 12 1/2 hours yesterday just did it for me. Doesn't look that time will allow me to watch any Tennis even on TV on this trip, Expo is still going on here, pulling for the Fed express.
I guess with jet lag thrown in, you must be feeling fairly wrecked. The World Expo must be a pretty spectacular event.
Djoko has just destroyed GGL and Murray has taken out Tsonga. Looks as if Fed will have to beat Soderling, Djokovic and Murray if he wants to take this title...not easy. As far as I know, the Fed/Sod match is at 8 pm local time in Shanghai just in case circumstances and energy levels allow you to get to see it, albeit on TV.
Fed, Murray and Djoko in great form. 2,3 and 4 in the world in the semis. Fair dues to Juan Monaco too for getting there. Very good player, great mover and has at least one win over Murray that I can remember. Fed is obviously still a bit upset with the Sod for beating him at RG. Talk about a trashing. Here's the link to 2 and half minutes of highlights, full of "Fed moments". My favourite is the drop shot-lob volley combo at around 1.54 mins on the clip:
Murray did the business in Shanghai and in pretty impressive style. His forehand seems to be getting better and better (and with Corretja's input, why wouldn't it). Fed just couldn't find a way through his defence with any kind of consistency and finally his inability to cash in on numerous break points weighed heavily on him. On the positive side, Fed played a pretty good tournament by almost anybody's standards except his own. His attitude in the last four tournaments has been much better than in the Masters 1000 tournaments earlier in the year after he had won the Aussie Open and seemed to think he could just reserve his energy and focus on the slams. I think he'll be looking for a very big wind-up to the year in Paris and London to set up his assault on Melbourne, which may well be a watershed tournament in his career...or am I being overly dramatic?
As regards Murray, I'm not sure if he's the player with most Masters Series titles who hasn't won a slam but he must be pretty close. I think his best bet for a slam is on a hard court. Even with Corretja's help, I can't see him winning anything on clay and Wimbledon for me is less likely than the AO or Flushing Meadows. In that sense, I think he's at a slight disadvantage compared to the other 3 members of the top 4, and especially Nadal and Fed.
rhymes450 wrote:Murray did the business in Shanghai and in pretty impressive style. His forehand seems to be getting better and better (and with Corretja's input, why wouldn't it). Fed just couldn't find a way through his defence with any kind of consistency and finally his inability to cash in on numerous break points weighed heavily on him. On the positive side, Fed played a pretty good tournament by almost anybody's standards except his own.
You know, I wasn't surprised that Murray won but certainly shocked at the ease in which he accomplished his feat. His serve was huge and of a diverse variety throwing the Swiss off his game. His forehand as you mentioned much improved and his backhand is simply his best shot. Good win for him, he lost that respect for Fed, in a good way.
Federer took the Stockholm ATP 250 event today. He looked out for the count in the QFs at a set and a break down against Wawrinka but then he turned on the style and looked in very good form for the rest of the tournament.
Tomas Muster at the age of 43 plays a 1st round match v Gulbis in Vienna (on Monday I guess). Don't know if it's part of a comeback attempt or just a once-off.
rhymes450 wrote:Tomas Muster at the age of 43 plays a 1st round match v Gulbis in Vienna (on Monday I guess). Don't know if it's part of a comeback attempt or just a once-off.
You mean that tough SOB lefty from Austria? Hey, he was a grinder in his days, always fit, but at that age it's tough to make a comeback. Isn't the senior tour still rolling?
rhymes450 wrote:Tomas Muster at the age of 43 plays a 1st round match v Gulbis in Vienna (on Monday I guess). Don't know if it's part of a comeback attempt or just a once-off.
You mean that tough SOB lefty from Austria? Hey, he was a grinder in his days, always fit, but at that age it's tough to make a comeback. Isn't the senior tour still rolling?
Yep. That's the guy. Good description There's a short article about it on the official ATP site:
Gilles Simon is one of my favourite players because I think he's brave and intelligent. I was disappointed in Shanghai, when he threw in the towel against Wawrinka. It wasn't like him so it was nice to see him show his character today in getting past Nalbandian against the odds in Montpellier. Nalbandian served for the match twice in the 2nd set and was a break up in the 3rd but Simon showed great courage and resourcefulness to come through against maybe one of the most talented players never to win a slam.
Davydenko looked great in the 2nd set yesterday against Zverev. Surprised to see him wielding a Dunlop racket. I thought he'd almost sworn to end his career with the Prince he picked up a week or so before winning Key Biscayne in 2008.
Nadal v Federer in the World Tour Finals - Sunday 15.00 Central European Time which I think is 09.00 in New York. Be hard to top the Nadal-Murray epic semi but some match to bring down the curtain on the season. The great thing is that you can see they both badly want to win this.
rhymes450 wrote:Nadal v Federer in the World Tour Finals - Sunday 15.00 Central European Time which I think is 09.00 in New York. Be hard to top the Nadal-Murray epic semi but some match to bring down the curtain on the season. The great thing is that you can see they both badly want to win this.
So who are you picking for the Masters? Nadal-Murray just about run each other out of the court, a great semi as you mentioned, could have gone either way. But any tennis fan will be delighted to see this final match between the top best 2 players in the world IMO, regardless as to who ends up with the trophy.
Even though Rafa seems like the early favorite, I am picking Fed to go all the way, match will be on ESPN 3 at 12:30 EST.
rhymes450 wrote:Nadal v Federer in the World Tour Finals - Sunday 15.00 Central European Time which I think is 09.00 in New York. Be hard to top the Nadal-Murray epic semi but some match to bring down the curtain on the season. The great thing is that you can see they both badly want to win this.
So who are you picking for the Masters? Nadal-Murray just about run each other out of the court, a great semi as you mentioned, could have gone either way. But any tennis fan will be delighted to see this final match between the top best 2 players in the world IMO, regardless as to who ends up with the trophy.
Even though Rafa seems like the early favorite, I am picking Fed to go all the way, match will be on ESPN 3 at 12:30 EST.
Not too sure. Nadal is definitely looking to take this, maybe because it's the biggest title missing from his trophy cabinet and it would be the icing on the cake for what has been a huge year for him. His forehand was awesome today but I thought he blew hot and cold and sometimes very conservative on the backhand wing and Murray was able to pin him down a bit there until he found the legs to run around it and hit those incredible inside out forehands in the breaker. Fed looks to be in very good shape (I always think it's a good sign when he's hitting his backhand with a little more height and top, giving him a bit more margin for error, and doing the real damage with his forehand). He looks totally committed to winning this. I guess he doesn't feel comfortable with the idea of being thought of as the second best tennis player in the world. I kinda feel that psychologically and with a view to the future, he probably needs this win more than Rafa. Sometimes this type of match turns out to be a let down but I have a feeling that we might see sparks flying tomorrow. Hope so anyway.
10spro wrote: match will be on ESPN 3 at 12:30 EST.
BTW, Thks for posting the correct time 10s. Hope folks spotted that and I won't be responsible for DSPers dragging themselves out of bed on a Sunday morning a mere 3 and a half hours before the match starts. I should probably post a photo of myself for people to throw darts at, just in case.
On a completely different note (I hope), anybody with a bit of time on their hands could check out the official website, which focuses on the build-up to the main event:
This Barclay's tournament sure has produced some great matches so far and its not even one of the majors! Is this the last tourny of the season? I was surprised at how easily Fed disposed of Djokovich. He's playing really well, which is nice to see. Who do you think the British crowd will be pulling for? You would think Fed would be a sentimental favorite, but geographically, Nadal may have more fans.
Yeah Jack. It was the last tournament of the season, though the curtain will really come down next weekend with the final of the Davis Cup between Serbia and France.
Not too sure which player the British public prefers but I get the impression that they have a fair amount of respect for both. IMO, the crowds have been brilliant this week, particularly those who paid in to see the last matches of the groups, where players like Ferrer and Roddick were practically down and out before a ball was hit (maybe the format or at least the schedules need to be looked at in that respect) and the atmosphere was still very vibrant. In terms of the interest of the crowds in filling the stadiums, be it the first round or the final, Wimbledon and now the World Tour Finals win out over other tourneys IMO.
Exceptional tournament for Fed. Great to see him picking up the gauntlet and there's definitely life in the old dog yet. Nadal was a bit flat and couldn't really make the rallies as intense as he would've liked. Fair dues to him for scraping a set when he was clearly second best for 90% of the match. Fed and Annacone seemed to be pretty clear about the strategy and it paid off. Not the spectacle I'd hoped for but the result points to a very interesting season in 2011. Murray looks like the best of the rest to me and a real threat to both Fed and Rafa. Here's hoping that Del Potro (his injury was the biggest downer of the 2010 season for me) will be able to come back and add even more interest to the proceedings.
Mentally, this was a huge win for Federer. Not sure why some people want to write him off already just because he hasn't won every GS event as he used to with the exception of the French Open, but overall he had a good year and this win shows everyone that he will be on top yet for a couple of years.
His backhand was lethal, served superbly and handled Rafa's heavy topspin with great aplomb. And on this surface some shots were kicking pretty high above shoulder level. Maybe Rafa lacked the stamina in the third set after his epic semi vs Murray but he's still the #1 player in the world.
Murray has indeed made great strides and I also look forward to Del Potro's comeback who should fit in the top 10 if his wrist heals properly.
Caught the first of the two Federer-Nadal charity matches played in Zurich yesterday. Nominally, it was a friendly match but in reality you could see that neither of these guys is for giving up any psychological ground in the run up to the 2011 season. It was played in a very serious atmosphere and resulted in a very hard-fought win for Fed. Has whetted my appetite for the second match,which takes place today on clay in Madrid at 7 pm Central European Time.
Watched the second set of the exhibition til the final set. I think any mental advantage that Federer can gather from his last win in London, to yesterday's exhibition in preparation to the Aussie Open is going to be huge for the Swiss. His serve was spot ON and he seems to be getting his confidence back with his forehand which deserted his game during the first half of the season.
TBH I was ready to turn the thing off at the first sign of a trick shot or contrived rally (I have no real interest in watching exhibitions) but the intensity surprised me. These guys clearly respect each other but yesterday's match made it clear that they are more rivals than buddies. On clay, you'd expect Rafa to do the business but the psychological pressure is on him a bit now. Fed looks very clear about how he wants to play with Annacone, who one Spanish commentator remarked tends to bring players back to their essence, i.e., Fed is an attacking player and that's the way he has to play, come what may. Nice way to round off the year.
Could've sworn the Eurosport commentator said yesterday the 2nd match would be on clay. That was definitely not the case and it made sense, given that the next few months are on hard. Entertaining match...honours even and with a start date of Jan 17, the Aussie Open isn't far away.
Just settling down to watch the Del Potro v Dolgopolov 3rd round match at Indian Wells. The Argentine's comeback is gaining pace, especially after the win at Delray Beach. Could be an interesting test for him against one of the up and coming players (and maybe the most unusual in terms of style) on the tour.
rhymes450 wrote:Just settling down to watch the Del Potro v Dolgopolov 3rd round match at Indian Wells. The Argentine's comeback is gaining pace, especially after the win at Delray Beach. Could be an interesting test for him against one of the up and coming players (and maybe the most unusual in terms of style) on the tour.
Rhymes, I've been following his footsteps with great interest along Milos Raonic. Del Potro should be one of the favorites along Federer.
rhymes450 wrote:Just settling down to watch the Del Potro v Dolgopolov 3rd round match at Indian Wells. The Argentine's comeback is gaining pace, especially after the win at Delray Beach. Could be an interesting test for him against one of the up and coming players (and maybe the most unusual in terms of style) on the tour.
Rhymes, I've been following his footsteps with great interest along Milos Raonic. Del Potro should be one of the favorites along Federer.
Delpo has just taken the 1st set on a tiebreak. He's hitting really well off the ground and his great mental strength brought him through the breaker. Gotta be impressed by Dolgopolov's variety though. Unique player.
Speaking of Raonic, he and Fed look to be on a collision course for a 4th round meeting. That could be some match-up.
The Indian Wells SF clash between a resurgent Del Potro and Nadal promises to be an intriguing battle. Hope not to miss it but the time differential probably won't help my cause.
rhymes450 wrote:The Indian Wells SF clash between a resurgent Del Potro and Nadal promises to be an intriguing battle. Hope not to miss it but the time differential probably won't help my cause.
Hope you can record it. The other semis is as exciting as Federer would love to make sure that the recent success Djokovic had over him is not a fluke.
rhymes450 wrote:The Indian Wells SF clash between a resurgent Del Potro and Nadal promises to be an intriguing battle. Hope not to miss it but the time differential probably won't help my cause.
Hope you can record it. The other semis is as exciting as Federer would love to make sure that the recent success Djokovic had over him is not a fluke.
In the end no problem. Very euro-friendly scheduling. 7.25 pm here in Madrid as Delpo leads 1-0.
The other semi also promises as you say. Djokovic looked imperious against Gasquet and Fed likewise v Wawrinka. Fed will want to start turning round the recent h2h with Djoko but it could be tricky.
There's a short article about it on the official ATP site:
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