ATP Masters 1000: SHANGHAI

I suppose Shanghai is the last tournament this year here all players will make the maximum effort.
Everyone's playing, Federer defending champion.


Draw:



http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2015/5014/mds.pdf

Order of Play:
http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2015/5014/op.pdf




Enjoy!

How Chung lost! He must have hit the wall!

Lost to Soeda 06 75 63. Did not see the match but typical of a player running out of steam...or injured.

Yes, very strange...esp after winning the first set with a bagel! Must be injured.
Shame.

Allez Richie!

A bit of a crazy tie-break (during which I diagnosed Gasquet gutless about five times), but he wins it in the end

yep.....nothing new about Gasquet.

And it's that Federer-Ramos time again!

Fed looks a bit heavy and rusty but Ramos even heavier and rustier.
What a basher...

Fed playing some of his worst tennis.

though he won 2nd set 6-2, I'm not sure he will win the 3rd.

Its a real low quality tennis wise.

yes Fed slow on the court (only saw the last 3 games.....and obviously cursed him). He will be disappointed though as he can usually improve with the rounds.

I also saw only a few games (first two and last two).

He looked old today.
Shame, the tournament is not the same now.

I think the conds were slow too!...unless it was him being weak.

I thought so, too. The ball looked heavy.

But regardless, Fed was heavy on his feet for some reason.
It seems like he did nothing between USO final and today.

Not the end of the world...though quite disappointing.
Don't know what's worse - that he lost in the first round or that he looked sluggish.

All in all....

Feds playing better than ever.

luvsports! wrote:Feds playing better than ever.

No.  It's the opposition, they're getting better all the time! 2006 Federer would have been double bageled.

And who is raising this all the time????

fed played amzing in his last 2 slams....and suddenly he has a loss in a first round and you jump on it to support your point. poor form really, especially considering how well he played just 3 weeks ago!

Am I not allowed a bit of tomfoolery?

Tanking for the WTF this smart man.

Also bringing up his kids instead of winning more matches, such a stellar human being.

I don't understand why people gloat when Fed doesn't play well.

Tenez wrote:And who is raising this all the time????

fed played amzing in his last 2 slams....and suddenly he has a loss in a first round and you jump on it to support your point. poor form really, especially considering how well he played just 3 weeks ago!

Fed did not play amazing the last 2 slams. He was very good until the final (vs 2006 standard) and then useless in the final.  His serve % was woeful compared to his best and the opponent has no effect on that so you can't explain it away as opposition getting better.

He was bad all over the board v 2006.

Latest from Nadal:

"Sometimes I recover from injuries. This time what I had, with my not having the control of my nerves or my emotion, is like coming back from an injury, too.

It's not a physical injury, but it's a mental injury. And this for me is another challenge.

I am working hard. I've never had such a long period of time without playing at the level that I wanted.

I lost the matches that I should win, close matches, third-set matches. None of these important matches, I won none of those ones. So sometimes it's like a restart.

I believe that I am much better. I don't know what the results are going to be till the end of the season. But I really believe if I continue with the same quality of practices, the same health of my body, I really hope and I believe that I can start the next year with (more) energy  and I believe another level."

Mental injury, my foot!
It's just his ego aching from all those beatings...

luvsports! wrote:Am I not allowed a bit of tomfoolery?

no! after a Fed loss, I lose my sense of humour!

AceofDeath wrote:Tanking for the WTF this smart man.

Also bringing up his kids instead of winning more matches, such a stellar human being.

I wish but I really think Fed wanted to do well here.

noleisthebest wrote:
I believe that I am much better. I don't know what the results are going to be till the end of the season. But I really believe if I continue with the same quality of practices, the same health of my body, I really hope and I believe that I can start the next year with (more) energy  and I believe another level."

Mental injury, my foot!
It's just his ego aching from all those beatings...

I actually believe this. First he says he has less energy....so that's something we have noticed even if it is less obvious than some pretend. Secondly I am pretty sure he feels his game has reached a plateau and there is no way he can maintain this intensity round after round as every match is tougher than 3 or 5 years ago. Even back in 2007 or 8, Toni was saying to Nadal that he had to finish the point sooner.....that his game was ok for the better player but he could not run a marathon to beat a top 100 player. 

I think with more "energy" as he says, he could be a good top 3 or 4 next year.

Glad Nishi beat Kyrgios.
He is such a nasty and negative character. Not a lot going on between those ears...

Tenez wrote:

luvsports! wrote:Am I not allowed a bit of tomfoolery?

no! after a Fed loss, I lose my sense of humour!

Don't worry, my fellow office comrades heard my amplified groooaann. FECKING RAMOS

Johnson not troubling Murray much, despite having a powerful serve and FH.

A classic American school player: Sampras, Roddick, Fish, Harrison...but looks like that school is now dead and buried.

Troicki exploiting Stan's BH with success atm.

FedererKing wrote:

Tenez wrote:And who is raising this all the time????

fed played amzing in his last 2 slams....and suddenly he has a loss in a first round and you jump on it to support your point. poor form really, especially considering how well he played just 3 weeks ago!

Fed did not play amazing the last 2 slams. He was very good until the final (vs 2006 standard) and then useless in the final.  His serve % was woeful compared to his best and the opponent has no effect on that so you can't explain it away as opposition getting better.

He was bad all over the board v 2006.

Fed is so much slower on feet, I don't know how can Tenez not see this. His first serves are slower in pace especially those down the T. His shots are less heavy. His BH weaker than ever. He is  often late on the ball which causes mishits. His defensive running especially on the FH side is slower than ever. 

Djokovic is flying on the court in comparison. I can see Djokovic has improved on his serving, but not much since 2011. And its not just Djokovic there are other players too.  He almost has no chance vs Djokovic in BO5.

But losing to Ramos-Vinolas in such a poor form?? Did he just came to Shanghai immediately after a vacation?


This must be a real weak era, if this Fed @ 34 is #2 then this has to helped by the new generation not rising up.

Here is the list of most improved players for the last 10 years.
Didn't realise Klizan was in it:

2005 Rafael Nadal Spain
2006 Novak Djokovic Serbia
2007 Novak Djokovic (2) Serbia
2008 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga France
2009 John Isner United States
2010 Andrey Golubev Kazakhstan
2011 Alex Bogomolov, Jr. United States
2012 Marinko Matosevic Australia
2013 Pablo Carreño Busta Spain
2014 Roberto Bautista Agut Spain

I read that Nadal was nominated for Stefan Edberg award this year.
Is someone in ATP taking the piss here?

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:

FedererKing wrote:

Tenez wrote:And who is raising this all the time????

fed played amzing in his last 2 slams....and suddenly he has a loss in a first round and you jump on it to support your point. poor form really, especially considering how well he played just 3 weeks ago!

Fed did not play amazing the last 2 slams. He was very good until the final (vs 2006 standard) and then useless in the final.  His serve % was woeful compared to his best and the opponent has no effect on that so you can't explain it away as opposition getting better.

He was bad all over the board v 2006.

Fed is so much slower on feet, I don't know how can Tenez not see this. His first serves are slower in pace especially those down the T. His shots are less heavy. His BH weaker than ever. He is  often late on the ball which causes mishits. His defensive running especially on the FH side is slower than ever. 

Djokovic is flying on the court in comparison. I can see Djokovic has improved on his serving, but not much since 2011. And its not just Djokovic there are other players too.  He almost has no chance vs Djokovic in BO5.

But losing to Ramos-Vinolas in such a poor form?? Did he just came to Shanghai immediately after a vacation?


This must be a real weak era, if this Fed @ 34 is #2 then this has to helped by the new generation not rising up.

Fed WAS slow today, but was as fast as the wind all summer. how else can a player try SABR?
Come on rotla and FK, you play tennis, can't you see how difficult it is?
If it was easy they'd all do it!

But you have to have lightning speed an reflexes for Fed's super aggressive game.

Look at Stan, he moves like a tank co pared to Fed, and is 4-5 years younger.
Yesterday's match was not the indicator of anything. He was just rusty after the break.

Feds movement isn't the main factor letting him down it's his FH power being not what it was. He is faster than most of the 21-25 year olds!!

His reflexes are close to what they were in his best days imo. He can still stay top 5 for 2 or 3 years probably due to keeping fit and being focused.

He still hates losing and has the hunger to win slams and improve his game. What more can you ask?

noleisthebest wrote:Troicki exploiting Stan's BH with success atm.

Stan is often a slow starter...

AceofDeath wrote:Feds movement isn't the main factor letting him down it's his FH power being not what it was. He is faster than most of the 21-25 year olds!!

His reflexes are close to what they were in his best days imo. He can still stay top 5 for 2 or 3 years probably due to keeping fit and being focused.

He still hates losing and has the hunger to win slams and improve his game. What more can you ask?

Exactly!
I really appreciate the effort he puts int his training every day.
His body must ache, but he still gets out of bed and hits the treadmill so he can face the physical super-athletes/freaks.

People don't give him enough credit for what an exceptional athlete he is. He is an amazing package.

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Troicki exploiting Stan's BH with success atm.

Stan is often a slow starter...

Yes, I noticed that.
He nearly lost his first two matches at USO like that.

It's good to have him at the top.

Finally got some time to watch...and it's Nadal-Karlovic.
Nadal is pretty physical. Plenty of grunting and hard ball whipping.

I'd like to hear why other think he is weaker. Even his serve looks pretty fast.

Watching Ivo now, yes, I'd take his serve I think.

I don't know whether it's his tight top/shorts, but Ivo looks like he's piled some muscle this year.
It's definitely making his serve even more deadly.

Actually, I noticed quite a lot of players are now wearing shorter shorts.
I'm not complaining!

Sampras/Roddick/Safin "baggy" era was horrible.

Nadal returning three serves from Ivo with FH winners.
No, there is no problem with his bicep whatsoever.
Mind you, Karlovic choked (utterly pathetic!) His serves had at least 20% less speed.

So, instead of leading by a set, Karlovic is now serving to stay in it.

noleisthebest wrote:Watching Ivo now, yes, I'd take his serve I think.

I'm taking this one back. Sticking with Fed's serve! And FH, BH, volley, footwork, bank account....

Nadal also running fast as a bullet.
I hope those who say he is declining are watching this match.

He'll be ready for clay 2016. The more he wins, the quicker he'll get there...
And as I type this, stupid Karlovic DFs and gets broken, Nadal wins the set from 1:3 to 7:5

At last, Karlovic unglues himself from the baseline and takes the game to Nadal in the TB!

Nadal, once in the forecourt - like fish out of water, just does not know what to do.

One set all!

Third set TB.
Idemo Ivo majstore!

Ivo's started to play grunting game with Nadal

Wow, what a second serve  from Ivo, bomb ace on the T!!!!!
(and that's after 2nd serve let).
Now that's what I call guts!

...only to doublefault a few points later.

And that's it - vintage Nadal squeezes past.