2015 Dubai Duty Free TC…ATP 500…Dubai, U.A.E.

[don_budge]

Roger Federer is playing in Dubai. That is the good news. Roger is the living proof and he keeps the chain intact. After he gone…listen for a huge sucking sound. And then…nothing.

Novak Djokovic seeded #1 and Andy Murray #3 to Federer's #2. Andreas Seppi a possibility for Roger in the quarterfinals. Tomas in the top half with the #4 seed. Numerous bit players littered throughout. The Big Four seems to be getting a bit old. It's no crime, it happens to the best of us.

Here's the draw…let's just see how this thing plays itself out. Let's see how "the game" unfolds.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/share/event-draws.aspx?year=2015&eventid=495&draw=ms

[klacr]

This is a solid draw. Dubai always brings in the big guns.Funny what a little oil man can do huh

Berdych has to make it through Djokovic if he wants a chance at the hardware.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[gzhpcu]

Shot, the ATP TennisTV server has been down all day!

[klacr]

Tomas Berdych beat Italian Simone Bolelli to get his 500th match win on Tour. Great milestone.

You are not a flake or a schmuck if you win 500 matches at that level.

Berdych is the eighth active player to record at least 500 match wins.

He is the third Czech-born player in the Open Era (since 1968) to win 500 match wins (also Ivan Lendl 1,071 and Tomas Smid 517).

Impressive stuff.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[klacr]

Semis:
Djokovic-Berdych
Federer-Coric

Djokovic and Federer breezed. Coric did as well against Murray.
Berdych went three but I wasn't concerned. Why? Berdych does well against attacking players like Stakhovsky. He has a target. Makes him more disciplined and gives him a specific goal, not too many options.
Berdych is new player this year. only 3 losses. Moving much better as well. Djokovic will still try to move him around though. A big guy is a big guy is a big guy. Can't change that.
Federer vs. the new generation Coric. Federer sees the next big hot shot, the hot shot sees what greatness looks like up close and personal.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Borna Coric vs. Andy Murray

Borna Coric looked rather impressive but once again it looks as if Andy Murray played as meek as a nice little puddycat. A woman cannot teach a boy to be a man…can a woman coach a man tennis player? The proof is in the puddy…I'm afraid that it looks as if Andy hasn't looked all that manly as of late. That disappearing act he did in the finals of the Aussie Open was disturbing. The lack of fight in the fifth set didn't look good.

Coric? We get another look against Roger Federer today. Something about this match tells me that Federer might be set up for a fall. How badly does Roger want this match? Mats Wilander was questioning how badly Roger wants to win these days at the Australian Open. He said something to the effect that he is enjoying the spectacle more than he is enjoying the fight. The fights have to have taken a toll on not only his body but on his motivation to win tournaments such as this one. Afterall if he wins this match he has to play either Djokovic and Berdych and what does he have to gain anymore? It's a difficult position to be in…now he has everything to lose. As Coric says he has absolutely nothing to lose and he plays like it.

Coric certainly kept his feet on the ground against Murray. There wasn't any "body_flying" around the court yesterday. Not that I noticed. So if this kid is any indication of what the future of tennis looks like then we will have to wait another generation before the advent of aeronautical tennis. Except in our dreams…which is fine.

Novak Djokovic versus Tomas Berdych? Well it's a perfect match for Djokovic. Berdych doesn't threaten Djokovic with anything that he can't handle. Standard backcourt play. Very little in the element of surprise department. If Berdych had been playing a more attacking game and had something of a Wawrinka/Federer backhand he would definitely add a couple of tricks in his bag of tactics. But as it is he is facing an uphill struggle when he only game that he knows how to play fits neatly into Djokovic's "wheelhouse".

My question is about the speed of the courts. It the ITF incrementally speeding things up without our being to notice it? Subtly? They know that without Roger in the fold in the next couple of years things are going to be slim pickings with regard to marketability. They have milked Nadal, Djokovic and Murray for all that they are worth…and that really isn't all that much when they are pitted against each other. The act is getting really old and it has always been boring. Borna Coric really isn't any different…is he? Djokovic lite? Without the ham.

[don_budge]

Federer vs. Coric...

It's all Roger so far. He almost seems lethargic but Coric has not demonstrated the patience. First set to Roger 6-2. Federer lethargic…but dominated his serve.

[gzhpcu]

Federer 6-2, 6-1. Think if Roger hadn't been lethargic...

[don_budge]

Quick courts favor the "Old Guy"

Federer 6-2, 6-1. Think if Roger hadn't been lethargic...

Yes, very deliberate...and the courts seemed to be a bit on the quick side. Who will he play in the final?

[klacr]

Love Roger attacking the net. Coric gave him little trouble. Hope the 18 year old took notes after that clinic. Has a ways to go.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[klacr]

semis

Clinic by Federer over the young 18 year old Coric. Coric spent too much energy on emotion. Pumping fist after every point won. Gesticulating in frustration with every point lost. A roller coaster of emotion that takes his eyes off the execution and onto an outcome he cannot control.

Federer used his full arsenal and got in close to that net. real close. Volleys had some extra bite

But the real match was the 2nd semifinal between world #1 Novak Djokovic and consistent Top Tenner Tomas Berdych. The best way to describe it is if I used the words from an 1859 novel by Charles John Huffam Dickens titled

"A Tale of Two Cities"

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Berdych pushed it to three sets with a strong showing in the 2nd set beating Djokovic 7-5, putting the disastrous 1st set behind him with momentum in his corner entering the 3rd set. It was the best of times My mood was good. There was belief that he was going to do what so many claimed he had no shot. There was a light at the end of that Djokovic tunnel that Berdych would get through. This was his moment. A chance to hush the critics. Like he did before in Melbourne against Nadal, Like he did in 2010 at Wimbledon vs. Federer and again in NYC in 2012.

Djokovic Beat Berdych 6-0 in the first set. It was the worst of times. My worst fears of Djokovic once again embarrassing a hopeless and helpless Berdych. It was not pleasant to watch as a Berdych fan. His play was foolish in the first set and the last set. He had Djokovic on the ropes and inability to come in to take volleys was the epitome of foolishness. A Friday of follies and deep dark despair. His 2nd serve returns on big points were his undoing. He had a better 2nd serve return point % but on big points that advantage disappeared. Turns out, the talking head media authorities were right after all. They got their way. Djokovic won. Just like the times before when they had played. 16-0 vs. Berdych on hard courts. As good as things had looked, the ending was still shitty. Berdych left with nothing but another defeat.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[GeoffWilliams]

Djoke is faster, more consistent, hits better shots under pressure, hits faster shots. The only thing he does not do as well as Berd is volley. None of these guys succeed when they try to bring each other into net on hard. What a shock: 16-0. It'll be 32-0 by the time they are through. Nobody beats Berd 33 times in a row.

[don_budge]

The Sequence of Events…From coin toss to handshake

Borna Coric looked rather impressive but once again it looks as if Andy Murray played as meek as a nice little puddycat. A woman cannot teach a boy to be a man…can a woman coach a man tennis player? The proof is in the puddy…I'm afraid that it looks as if Andy hasn't looked all that manly as of late.

Federer 6-2, 6-1. Think if Roger hadn't been lethargic...

Yes, very deliberate...and the courts seemed to be a bit on the quick side. Who will he play in the final?

Clinic by Federer over the young 18 year old Coric. Coric spent too much energy on emotion. Pumping fist after every point won. Gesticulating in frustration with every point lost. A roller coaster of emotion that takes his eyes off the execution and onto an outcome he cannot control.

Federer used his full arsenal and got in close to that net. real close. Volleys had some extra bite

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

This forum is a great concept if used as a tool. But of course every invention comes with a curse. I like how I am able to conjure up these quotes from prior posts to support my thoughts and to have a nice running conversation with some rather gentlemanly fellows about all things tennis. There is the potential for logic and clear thinking. But every invention comes with a curse…if you know what I mean.

The sequence of events unfurls like a continental gripped John McEnroe backhand. First we had what appeared to be an awesome display of teenage tennis from Borna Coric as he dismantled the hapless Andy Murray whose lesbian coach Amelie Mauresmo (a lesbian coach for a man on the ATP tour is an anomaly and it deserves a mention and in no way can this be construed as a misogynist remark, it is merely a statement of fact…retardo) could not make the trip to Dubai. She had other things to do…leaving poor little old Andy all by his lonesome and he came up looking really lost.

At the onset of the Roger Federer and Borna Coric match, Borna took his time to come to the ceremonial coin toss but once he go to the toss he was as hyper as a spring Texas pony. He was twirling his racquet like a banshee and he was skipping and hopping up and down…but guess what? It was all a show to impress the old man who was calmly poised almost motionless on the other side of the net. Just watching his opponent as an old and wise cat might watch some stupid mouse who thinks that he is so quick and smart that he might be able to elude the inevitable.

As it turned out Borna won the coin toss and elected to receive further demonstrating to the old man just how cocky he was. You see…he had beaten Nadal in a previous and now he had taken out another twenty five percent of "The Big Four". He was either so full of himself or drunk from his win over "Hapless" that he forgot to show a little respect. He paid the price and Federer gave him the old fashioned spanking that the upstart so richly deserved. He deserved it for being borderline disrespectful…and for being young and impetuous. Bully for Roger…he's Australian at heart. At least he used to be coached by Tony Roche back when it mattered most.

Roger gave me the impression that he was lethargic. He fooled me…as he fooled the Croatian upstart. Sometimes Roger doesn't look as if he has it all at his command at given times but he can summon the dragon. Yesterday in his first service game he looked to be just a tad vulnerable and with Borna looking so "invincible" it was a little nervous beginning as "The Man" faced a couple of break points before nailing down his first service game. A bit of a nervous start.

But Federer was anything but lethargic after that. He was deliberate or more accurately you might say that he measured every little tiny step and bit of his vast reservoir of talent and experience to concentrate on putting on a laser like dissection of the frenzied teenager. Roger was in a word…methodical. Unbelievably methodical. He was clinically methodical and it completely unnerved and unraveled the impetuous teenager…reducing him to Teenage Wasteland.

Baba O'Riley (Teenage Wasteland)…The Who 1971*

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH60OQN8Lzc).

It was a clinic just as klacr says…he summoned the old skills (read fundamentals) that he was brought up on. His serve and volley and his slice backhand and his relentless serving. The fundamentals are inevitable and you cannot escape their essence when you see or witness Federer when he is streaming seamlessly. Beyond the one careless service game in the first set he was immaculate. It was a meaningless match in some respects…afterall how much could it possibly mean to a person who has won 17 Grand Slam finals and countless other matches…he has over 1,000 now. But it certainly had his autograph on it…Roger Federer.

After the match he went to the net just as relaxed and composed as he was for the coin toss and shook the young upstarts hand and patted him on the shoulder. He may has said something to the effect, "Nice match kid…yawn. Your day is coming…maybe. You have a long ways to go…with any luck. But you will never…I repeat, never ever be the likes of this old war horse. Thanks for the match. You played very nice. See you around."

I wonder too about the courts. They seem to be just a bit quicker and this gives us a glimpse into the future. The sport of tennis has always been subject to swings in styles of play. In the first fifty or seventy years of the sport it had mostly to do with the evolution of the game. Players were always discovering new "wrinkles" in the game and exploited them. Nowadays it is no longer evolution so much as it is engineering. Tinkering with the elements.

*This is a shining example how "Rock" used to roll. Rock has gone the way of modern tennis (except for Roger of course)…impossibly lame and rubber stamped. The Who…lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon.

[don_budge]

Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic….

I'm betting on Roger Federer…but I always bet with my heart. Which often makes me a loser. Oh well…such is fate.

But how can you bet against Novak Djokovic at this point in his career. His advantage over Federer maybe be in that he is a couple of years younger. The bigger racquet may bridge this gap a bit.

Is the court playing just a tad quicker…advantage to Federer if this is the case. But only a tad. Two great players…albeit at different stages of their careers.

[don_budge]

Court speed...

I'm going to go out on a limb here. I think that the court is playing just a bit quicker. It's just a feeling that I have watching Djokovic reacting to Federer's serve and judging from the height of the ball bounce. Interesting.