2014 Shanghai Rolex Masters...ATP 1000...Shanghai, China

[don_budge]

Tennis in China...this must be 2014. Who would have ever thought? Say...thirty years ago. Around 1984 or so. Nobody...I would venture. But here we are. The Asian swing. Marco Polo.

Djokovic and Nishikori fresh off of their victories. Berdych and Raonic fresh off of their disappointments. Donald Young in the house now ranked 57 in the world. Quietly climbing the ladder. Fafa Nadal back in the saddle...ready to give it another go. Of course...there is the man too. Roger Federer and his compatriot Stan Wawrinka. Andy Murray and Marin Cilic. How much you want to bet that one of these guys takes home the trophy?

http://www.atpworldtour.com/share/event-draws.aspx?year=2014&eventid=5014&draw=ms

Here's the draw...soon it will tell a story. Read it and weep.

[klacr]

Marin Cilic lost to countryman Ivo Karlovic in the first round. Back to Crotia and more partying for the 2013 US Open champ.

Richard Gasquet defeated fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.

Donald Young lost to a qualifier from Tunisia. Need I say more?

John Isner scrapes by Pablo Andujar in three sets.

The first day or so is a bit slow since the top 8 seeds and the big boys don't begin play until Tuesday or Wednesday.
If Djokovic carries that form in Shanghai that he showed against Berdych in the Beijing finals then I hate to say it but all other players in the draw are competing for 2nd place.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[GeoffWilliams]

Joker Knocked him out. Too many good shots in a row for Tbird.: Didn't look like a guy who has beaten Federer. It shows what a guy with great defensive speed and offense fire power can do to a slower guy with fire power.: Rip his guts out. Some guys you know, if you put a machete in their hands, and see if they will behead their opposition, will do it. (Rafa) yes, Raonic, no. The best killers are the ones who enjoy it. Tennis is not a game for the decent, analytical, merciful. Some of Raonics qualities are hurting him on the battle field. He needs to be slapped in the face.

[klacr]

I remained hush the whole week on this Shanghai Masters event. Once we got to the quarters I saw that Berdych was the only seed remaining on his half of the draw. Sadly, the three players on his side were very beatable (Simon, Lopez, Youzhny). But the Berd man laid an egg and lost to Simon, a very cagey veteran ut one that should be hit off court by Tomas the Tank.

On the bright side...Berdych has confirmed that he will be meeting with Ivan Lendl to discuss the possibility and all all likelihood the logistics and contractual terms of a coaching/player relationship. This is what I have been waiting for! Lendl will help Berdych between the ears. Time is ticking for Berdych. With Lendl in his corner...2015 will be the year of the Tberd!

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[tennis_chiro]

...

On the bright side...Berdych has confirmed that he will be meeting with Ivan Lendl to discuss the possibility and all all likelihood the logistics and contractual terms of a coaching/player relationship. This is what I have been waiting for! Lendl will help Berdych between the ears. Time is ticking for Berdych. With Lendl in his corner...2015 will be the year of the Tberd!

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

One's first thought has to be great idea. Lendl should be able to help him focus and realize his potential. But at second thought, what is he going to do for T-Berd. With Murray, it was obvious that Lendl influenced Murray's game, court demeanor and mentality in a very positive manner. But with Berdych, I don't know. Tomas can't get much more dour and serious on the court. He may need to get better at putting down the hammer when he has the chance to do that, but it seems there might be more room for improvement in other skills like defense and improvisation. Not saying that should ever be a primary focus for him, but he is pretty much a one-trick pony: big. Big guy, big serve, big forehand. And sound backhand, but he misses too many short forehands or chances on the forehand side. And I don't think his first serve percentage in key matches is acceptable for a guy who is 6'5" tall (He's actually at 58% for his first 59 matches this year). I watch the stats and sometimes he loses very few points on first serve points (actually at 78% in 8th place through 59 matches on first serves and 55% in 11th place on 2nd serves). If he did that well against the top players, that would be one thing, but I think his ATP MatchFact figures are inflated by his one-sided matches and I often see him with first serve percentages well below 50% and second serve winning percentages well below 50%. Against Simon this week, he did make 57% of his first serves in the match and win 79% of those points, but he lost 69% of the second serve points. More importantly he only made 47% of his first serves in the third set winning just 38% and 22% of 1st and 2nd serve points. Was he hurt? I've seen numbers like that in a lot of matches he loses.

It seems his first serve goes away a little and he doesn't know how to throw in a first serve with a little more spin and work the point a little more. At this point, he should be able to do that. Perhaps Lendl can get him to do that. It wouldn't even be a bad thing if Lendl taught him a little of his wry sense of humor; but please don't make him any more dour than he is already!

don

[klacr]

Don,

Agree on the 1st serve percentage. That's been my biggest issue with his game. Berdych just needs belief. When he plays confident ball, everyone has seen what he can do.

As for his sense of humor, he actually has a great way. Although he does not show it on court as he mentions he is focused on the moment and not trying to waste too much energy on emotions, he is one of the most entertaining players on twitter. He has a huge following on that social media platform and is very honest, straight forward and engaging with his fans. The personality is there.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[klacr]

Federer playing some aggressive and inspired tennis today against Djokovic today. 6-4, 6-4. People annointing Fed champ of Shanghai already but don't overlook Simon. My money is on Federer but Simon has given Federer trouble in the past. Very sneaky game from the Frenchman. Plays to the level of his opponents.

This is the 3rd masters tournament final in a row for Federer. Previous two were Toronto and Cincinnati.Weren't there people claiming it was the end of Federer in 2008? They have been pretty quiet this year.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Resurgent Federer...

Federer playing some aggressive and inspired tennis today against Djokovic today. 6-4, 6-4. People annointing Fed champ of Shanghai already but don't overlook Simon. My money is on Federer but Simon has given Federer trouble in the past. Very sneaky game from the Frenchman. Plays to the level of his opponents.

This is the 3rd masters tournament final in a row for Federer. Previous two were Toronto and Cincinnati.Weren't there people claiming it was the end of Federer in 2008? They have been pretty quiet this year.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Those people anticipating the exit of Roger Federer from the stadium had their share of reasons. But Federer has been resurgent as of late and lo and behold it coincidentally coincides with his decision to change to a larger racquet. Just take a look at this highlight clip from earlier today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OROK85WHy6Y

I don't know what the rest of the match looked like but it sure looks to me that coming to the net has its advantages...which makes you and me look like geniuses. Well at least me. First of all there is the matter of the racquet. This is a real shame in hindsight as one must ask themselves how many matches that he lost to the likes of Djokovic in the past would he have won. He was playing with 90 square inches while the competition was using 100 square inches. This is a travesty in a sport so finely defined as the game of tennis.

But according to these highlights it looks like Roger has rediscovered how to play the net. Here he is closing in and cutting off the angles and anticipating the pass like some of the volleyers of days gone by. His chip and charge looked really lame in the clip...but guess what? I believe that this tactic is going to get nothing but better as he learns and rediscovers how to play the return with less spin and to place it in parts of the court where the server will be off balance.

There are those that have maintained that games like the great John McEnroe could not compete in todays tennis and this is simply not true. It is only that the equipment and the engineering have made it more difficult but here was Roger Federer at the ripe old age of 30 something pulling off some rather acrobatic tactics at the net.

As for Gilles Simon he is one tough customer when he wants to be. He gave Marin Cilic the toughest match of all at the 2014 U. S. Open this year. But Roger's tactics are going to be really tough for Gilles to overcome. Particularly if Roger continues to serve extremely well. It looks as if that was no vacation at all. It looks to me as if Roger went somewhere and put in a lot of extremely hard work to retool his net play and tactics. It is really evident here in the highlight clip that he has really gone to work. Afterall...that is all that this old world truly understands. Hard work.

It's great to see an ageing champion give it the thought and work that is necessary to make the necessary changes. Fortunately for Roger he had it in his tennis DNA. He was brought up to be such a tennis player but he let the engineering of the game distract him from his roots. When he and Tony Roche parted ways he became more and more rooted on the baseline. Plus there is this business about the equipment which cannot be swept under the rug.

[stotty]

I saw the highlights of Djokovic/Federer. The standard was awfully high. Federer is moving so well, and his net play has improved significantly. He has developed his net game so rapidly over the past year or so, and at the age of 33. The man is incredibly gifted.

It's tough to beat Djokovic in this section of the season. It's a fabulous result.

[don_budge]

Retooling…Federer style (don_budge style)

I saw the highlights of Djokovic/Federer. The standard was awfully high. Federer is moving so well, and his net play has improved significantly. He has developed his net game so rapidly over the past year or so, and at the age of 33. The man is incredibly gifted.

It's tough to beat Djokovic in this section of the season. It's a fabulous result.

While you are at it…take a look at this one too. It's a bit longer, but more of the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b19mIfI-HG0

When I said that Roger Federer made me look like a genius I felt as if I have been coaching him. So many of the things that I have been harping about the last couple of years are evident in this highlight clip.

To start off with it's the racquet. I cannot over-emphasize this point. All of this resurgence starts and begins with the racquet. Without the extra real estate none of this happens. With the extra racquet area everything automatically gets just a little bit better…percentage wise? We may as well say that improvement overall is on an individual shot basis equal to the percentage increase of the size of the racquet. But beyond that is a synergystic effect where that sum of improvement is greater than the sum of the parts.

The serve is that much better and when you serve well the whole game gets a shot in the arm. Psychologically this has a huge impact on even Novak Djokovic who makes his living being hard on his opponents serve. When Roger is routinely holding his serve without much discomfort the effect on his opponents psyche is a demoralizing effect. This will open cracks in the opponents service game as their confidence wavers just a bit like the supremely confident Djokovic wavered a number of times apparently in this match.

Roger definitely utilized the underspin backhand more frequently and at the most opportune times. Even on the match point he is cagey in his use of the slice in approaching the net…then he closes. The slice approach with the subsequent close on the net is a lost art and perhaps Roger is going to conjure it back into his act. But is also in the rallying than he effectively uses it to neutralize and to keep Djokovic at bay. Very rarely does Djokovic get very aggressive with his two hander when he is dealing with underspin. Sometimes the ball will sit up a bit on the forehand and he can take liberty with it but I didn't see that on the backhand.

The volleys are vastly improved. There appears to be noticably less backswing on both sides and more encroachment on the net. Less exagerated underspin and more racquet going "through" the ball. Nothing cute…crisper volleying Aussie style. The two factors of backswing and more encroachment nullifying themselves in terms of "power" but the control factor is obvious. Control is power…particularly when discussing volleying. Roger is laying those volleys into places where Novak is really digging out the returns and passing attempts. So many times Novak was hitting up to a quickly encroaching Federer only to see his attempts being knifed away into the other side of the court. Not one swinging volley in the highlight clip…an extremely encouraging sign.

Federer also seems to be slicing the return of serve back more often and tactically this is a stroke of genius for him…even though it is only fundamentally sound tactics. He doesn't have to win the point on the return so why bother trying to swing so hard with topspin when his topspin is only going to land in the middle of the court and set up for Djokovic to take a big swipe at. No…he was playing the percentages in first neutralizing the serve and then going to work on the point.

This has to be a huge psychological boost for Roger Federer which is exactly what he needs at this point in his career. Novak Djokovic was doing his high wire act in Asia looking quite invincable and along comes the resurgent Federer to burst his balloon. Time and time again beating Djokovic to the punch. A more or less routine straight set drubbing. But there was nothing routine about this win…it was revolutionary. That's no hyperbole either.

This was a fundamentally different Roger Federer that is playing the Shanghai Open. Fundamentally different as in tactics. I haven't seen any of his other matches but from what I observed in this highlight clip there is much to be discussed. Again…I find it remarkable that he has gone back to the drawing board and retooled. But then again it all begins with the racquet…which I recommended that he trade in more than two years ago. But in fact I have been thinking about it since day one.

[stotty]

While you are at it…take a look at this one too. It's a bit longer, but more of the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b19mIfI-HG0

Roger definitely utilized the underspin backhand more frequently and at the most opportune times. Even on the match point he is cagey in his use of the slice in approaching the net…then he closes. The slice approach with the subsequent close on the net is a lost art and perhaps Roger is going to conjure it back into his act. But is also in the rallying than he effectively uses it to neutralize and to keep Djokovic at bay. Very rarely does Djokovic get very aggressive with his two hander when he is dealing with underspin. Sometimes the ball will sit up a bit on the forehand and he can take liberty with it but I didn't see that on the backhand.

The volleys are vastly improved. There appears to be noticably less backswing on both sides and more encroachment on the net. Less exagerated underspin and more racquet going "through" the ball. Nothing cute…crisper volleying Aussie style. The two factors of backswing and more encroachment nullifying themselves in terms of "power" but the control factor is obvious. Control is power…particularly when discussing volleying. Roger is laying those volleys into places where Novak is really digging out the returns and passing attempts. So many times Novak was hitting up to a quickly encroaching Federer only to see his attempts being knifed away into the other side of the court. Not one swinging volley in the highlight clip…an extremely encouraging sign.

Thanks for the link. Seeing the highlights one after the other like that makes Roger seem even more aggressive, incredibly aggressive. His forehand looked a dream.

His sliced backhand is a tool he found years ago to re-balance rallies against Djokovic and Murray when things were getting out of kilter. I like the ones his knifes deep and just off centre of the middle of the court. It finds their backhands and gives them no angles either. It doesn't trouble Djokovic or Murray but they cannot do anything with it because in a sense there's nothing for them to get hold of. It's a tactic not available to the others.

I find it astonishing that a player of Federer's age has developed a net game so quickly....so much improved. He played a handful of difficult volleys with aplomb against Djokovic, volleys he would have struggled to deal with this time last year. The racket has certainly helped here but it's not just that. He's learnt greater feel and dexterity on his volleys...naturally...you can't teach it. This is what I mean by him being such a genius. No other player I can think of could branch off into another game style so late in their career.

[don_budge]

It starts with the racquet…it ends with Federer's resourcefulness

I find it astonishing that a player of Federer's age has developed a net game so quickly....so much improved. He played a handful of difficult volleys with aplomb against Djokovic, volleys he would have struggled to deal with this time last year. The racket has certainly helped here but it's not just that. He's learnt greater feel and dexterity on his volleys...naturally...you can't teach it. This is what I mean by him being such a genius. No other player I can think of could branch off into another game style so late in their career.

But Roger Federer was a serve and volley player "originally". He is simply reverting to a former life. He has pulled off a great transformation late in the game but it isn't as if it is something totally unfamiliar to him. Obviously Stefan Edberg has been instrumental in serving as a sounding board with input as well. We can visually see the transformation before our very eyes. It started down under at the 2014 Australian Open before he was derailed by Fafa Nadal. I look forwards to their next meeting…hopefully it is going to be indoors on a fast court real soon. It will loads of fun listening to the griping, complaining and excuse making of the Spanish Stallion.

More testimony to a new and retooled Federer. Highlights from the Gilles Simon/Roger Federer final at the 2014 Shanghai Open. Just in time for some key indoor tournaments at the end of the year when the number one ranking is on the line. Let tennis_chiro do the math but from all indications it is within his reach with a stellar finish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSiwEDBglp0

The start of the match is a bit slow for our "Once and Future King" as he is perhaps still feeling some of the effects of the semifinal against Novak Djokovic. He has less than 24 hours to recycle his stuff to get ready for the final. At the advanced age of 33 he isn't nearly as seamless as he used to be but he is a great actor…in his soul he only plays the starring role. Such is the attitude of a great tennis player.

He is transitioning and it is remarkable how quickly he has accomplished what he has. He wasn't quite ready for the U. S. Open with his new bag of tricks but he nearly was. Gael Monfils nearly took him down and then it was "The Sleeper" Marin Cilic who finished the dirty deed. But here at the Shanghai Open he is playing two out of three which makes it a bit more to his liking. Was it indoors too…even better.

He was just a tad slow getting off of the mark with his serve as Simon Gilles is in a "zone" of his own as well. Simon has been playing good ball as of late. As aforementioned he gave Cilic his best run for the money at the Open and he has continued his tough play here as indicated by his wins over Stan Wawrinka, Tomas Berdych and Feliciano Lopez. But Roger recovered nicely at the end of the first set and guess what bailed him out. The slice backhand. Look how cleverly he manoeuvres Simon around the court keeping him off balance to recover the break of serve at the last moment and into the tiebreaker. I find that he needs to drive the ball with topspin less and less off of the backhand. A great strategy is to play aggressive and tactical defence off of the backhand side while playing with abandon and aggression off of the forehand as you have duly noted.

To play with tactical defence and subtle aggression off of the backhand while playing the heavy hand in aggressiveness give the Federer game an added dimension. A dimension of contrast that may be helpful in keeping opponents off balance…particularly opponents that play right handed two hand backhands with strong forehand grips predominately from the baseline. Roughly 99.99% of the players in the modern game. Ok…maybe a slight exaggeration but you get my drift. The slice is insidious…while it doesn't "trouble them" as you put it…it troubles them mightily. They cannot get their teeth into their shots and this they find perplexing and even taunting. He can toy with their heads too. The change of pace and spin from the forehand to the backhand give him another ploy to use…another card to play.

In the final he continues to close in on the net. Demonstrating that he has the mind set that enables him to continue to press the issue at the net despite getting passed now and then. The net player must believe that if he gets passed once the odds are in his favor next time around. If he is passed twice there is no way that it can happen a third time in a row…thus is the mindset of a net player. By mixing up his service locations he is setting up the point for his follow up volley and approach shot. His approach's are more consistently underspin off of the backhand. Federer is playing much more intellectual tennis now as opposed to a year ago and the reason why is that he has more options…more viable options. He could have tried this stuff until the cows come home last year but he would have been beaten down almost all of the time. He didn't have the racquet to get the job done.

As the equipment guru asserts...

If you are going to be in a war (every match is), you better bring the right weapons to win and you better make damn sure you are wearing a uniform. Ask a soldier what's more important: the gun or the person aiming it. Bring a pop gun to a knife fight and the knife will win.

Either you're Nazi or Allied.

I'm not certain what the Nazi issue is…it may just be to illustrate a point.

I wish that instead of Federer going to 98 square everyone else was required to dial back to 90 square. Then we would see a quantum leap in the tennis entertainment value in general.

[GeoffWilliams]

The average pro sq/ in. used is 98.5. (Lots of 100 babs out there.) Some hangers on at 90-95. Dropping everbody down to 90 would cause shorter rallies. The people love the longer rallies, as suspense builds and pressure builds, the more each player has on the line for any given point. (The real reason matches last longer; longer rallies and bigger sweet spots, higher tech equipment coupled with higher tech players.) Feder ex was 20/35 against Djoker, but at one point he was 17/32, about 50%. If I win 50% of my net points, I go down easy.

[klacr]

Edberg is happy.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[hockeyscout]

As the equipment guru asserts...

I'd actually put Geoff into the category of coaching guru. I am sure we all agree he knows his stuff technically as well.