Re: ATP Masters 1000: SHANGHAI

by summerblues Mon Oct 13, 2014 3:24 am

Only saw some of the second set today. Federer not playing anywhere near as well as against Nole, but it was still just good enough to get him the win.

I think that is his 4th title of the year, which is passable. Also, apparently he has been to more finals than anyone else this year (?). In spite of all that positive stuff, or maybe because of it, it is a shame he failed to win either Wimbledon or the USO - they were both quite winnable Sad

by raiders_of_the_lost_ark Mon Oct 13, 2014 9:40 am

summerblues wrote:Only saw some of the second set today. Federer not playing anywhere near as well as against Nole, but it was still just good enough to get him the win.

I think that is his 4th title of the year, which is passable. Also, apparently he has been to more finals than anyone else this year (?). In spite of all that positive stuff, or maybe because of it, it is a shame he failed to win either Wimbledon or the USO - they were both quite winnable

Against Simon, Fed has more options .. which at times could become some what of a problem. Against Djokovic, he has clear idea on what he needs to do and there are not much options available.

Simon gives no-pace slow loopy deep ball which are easy to counter and rally along..but difficult to time and create angles for shots.

Wimbledon was more winable than USopen. Cilic didn't give a chance to Fed in that match, it was just flawless.

by noleisthebest Mon Oct 13, 2014 11:13 am

I don't think Wimbledon was winnable for Federer. He was not playing well enough then as he was still getting used to his racquet on the FH.
There were patches of brilliant play up to then, but not the flow.
I remember saying he needed match continuity as his clay season was interrupted because of the new twins.
Federer started trusting his FH on American hard courts and we could see the difference. It has been getting better ever since, allowing him to play his trademark fast game.
USO, he probably was a bit tired from Toronto/Cincy, but I think the main reason for him not winning USO were the draw, scheduling and very tough conditions - he ended up playing a tired match against a fresh opponent who took the full advantage of his fortunate situation.

Tired Fed and after him tired Nishi, made Cilic look better than he actually was/is.

Cilic has definitely improved under Goran (mainly the serve), but just like Murray in 2012, was very lucky to win his first slam.

It will be interesting to see how he does in O2.

by paulcz Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:50 pm

Just to add some superlatives from Saturday’s semi.

I still can say after two days that it has been the best match played on hc in straight sets. Their matchup is just quite something. So, just my some late perceptions from that match.

I had not seen so determined Fed for that win untill the match. It is useless to mention Fed’s serve and volleys, but his move and his returning was the best I have ever seen from him. His net approaches could not be better or I don’t know what he could have done in a different way. Many rallies were won due to a brilliantly played short slices DTL. His slices kept him in rallies many times and changed Nole’s advantage into his defense or Fed’s net approaches. Totally determined, absolutely focused and brilliant game from Fed. He just played close to his max potential and looked a bit in a trance.

So, now in Nole’s game. Nole played very good match and just due to Fed he did not get many chances, but also some of them were wasted. Something to point it out. He lost his composure quite early in the half of the first set when Fed didn’t allow him to get into the match by his great serve. His approach was more a professor attitude and thought that he would win by relying on Fed’s errors. That was a mistake in that match. Yes, Nole has won some matches by this approach, but this one was absolutely different. Nole needed to take his chances into his hands firmly, i.e. play more closely to lines, with taking more risk. His FH hitting just lacked some speed, the lack of flatness. He made his game more aggressive when going to the end of the match, but it was too late.

Tbh I tend to say that that match has been the best Fed’s net performance fest ever. His speed and anticipation was fascinating and his mind was absolutely focused on the ball.

It is not easy to guess how could the match develop when it would be BO5. But I can dare to say that Fed’s game in these two sets was just his maximum he has ever played on hc.

I start to feel the thrill from their next encounter at the moment.

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