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Federer and Nadal Make Strong Debuts In London
15 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
Former #1s Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal escaped tricky opening matches at the London Masters Final by surviving Tsonga and Fish, respectively in three sets. Nadal was down a break in the third set but rallied as he has countless times before. Fish, probably the most unlikely surprise Masters Top 8 finalist in the last decade, looked healthy and his movement not hampered by the injury that forced him to retire in Bercy.
Federer avenged the man who knocked him out of Wimbledon this summer, from two sets down. Federer didn’t play at quite the high level he showed in Bercy but he got the job done.
The Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, Fed final four that we are all hoping for is looking good at the moment…
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Andrew Miller · November 21, 2011 at 3:37 am
All players played some top notch tennis. Federer sealed the victory – in the close matches that’s what he has to do. He doesn’t have the right stuff all the time these days, but if he can have it when he needs it, it’s usually enough to get the job done against anyone not named Djokovic or Nadal.
Fish looked sharp in the highlights. He must feel bummed.
Scoop Malinowski · November 21, 2011 at 4:03 am
Andrew I agree, Federer’s consistency is remarkable, he rarely suffers a terrible loss, he hasn’t had one since the thrashing he got from Nadal in Miami. He really bounced back well from that loss and has had a pretty solid season. Aside from Nadal and Djokovic he has a handle on everyone else, but Murray may be about to change that pattern.
Dan Markowitz · November 21, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Fed hasn’t had a bad loss since Nadal in Miami? What about Jurgen Melzer in Monte Carlo and Gasquet in Rome? Those were good losses?
What is it with Fish. Even after losing all that weight he doesn’t look particularly fit. I’ve never seen a top-flite player look as if he doesn’t have a single muscle in his body. Can Fish say Gil Reyes?
Scoop Malinowski · November 21, 2011 at 2:08 pm
Stand corrected. Forgot about those Dan, but Melzer was top 10 back then and Gasquet has stunned Federer before. It’s not like Fed lost to a guy like Hanescu or Granollers or Chela.
Dan Markowitz · November 21, 2011 at 4:17 pm
Fed never loses to guys like that and with the exception of Murray this spring and Nadal with Dodig in Canada, very rarely do the Top 4 lose to those kind of guys, although Granollers looks like he’s making a mid-career rise.
Steve · November 21, 2011 at 6:36 pm
Fed is in the zone right now. I’m guessing this is a fast indoor surface? If so it won’t do the counter punchers any favors.
Steve · November 21, 2011 at 10:45 pm
Liking Ferrer’s tactics against Murray. Waiting for his chance to come to net.
Scoop Malinowski · November 21, 2011 at 11:25 pm
This is a rough loss for Murray, he had Ferrer’s number and this was a match he was expected to win. Just as you think Murray’s about to break through, he comes up with a dud. Perhaps the PED “Magic potion” accusations made by Yannick Noah against the Spanish players fired up Ferrer.
Dan Markowitz · November 22, 2011 at 1:20 am
Those were some pretty incendiary comments made by Yannick. Nadal was really upset. Amazing Murray lost to Ferrer. He usually creams the frisky Spaniard.
How about Berdych? He had a match point against Djoko tonight and hit a sitter forehand about five feet wide. And then in the breaker, he had a forehand right on top of the net, with Djokovic off the court conceding the point, that he bricked about six feet long.
Berdych, talent-wise, is as good as anyone, but he completely freezes up in big moments. Djoko is not looking like the same player. I don’t think his game is particularly suited for indoor play.
Steve · November 22, 2011 at 3:18 am
Ferrer or his coach may have watched the way Berdych beat Murray recently and applied the same strategy. And it was also nice to see Fish come to net often against Nadal –it was working well. I hope this net thing is the new trend.
Dan Markowitz · November 22, 2011 at 6:27 am
Geez, the little I saw of the Berdy-Djoko match, neither one was coming up to net much. I know it’s a gamble against Djoko to approach the net, but Berdy had some wonderful opportunities late, and declined entry.
It’s Fish’s game to come up. He knows he has to against Nadal, and probably everyone else in field.
Tom Michael · November 22, 2011 at 12:05 pm
It is indoor tennis. Players should play the net if they have the shots to get them there. Berdych’s shots really penetrate the court, and he is totally clueless that he is in a winning position to close the point with at least the unconventional swing volley. Novak admiringly hung in there, believed in the win, and won.
Scoop Malinowski · November 22, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Djokovic showed some of his unbeatable qualities at the end of the Berd match, he subliminally strangled Berd with those qualities, or has others will say, Berd just choked. But Djokovic caused that choke. Nice win for Djokovic, good to see he’s here for a rumble.
Scoop Malinowski · November 22, 2011 at 12:57 pm
Berd played some nice points and finished at the net to take the lead in the 6-5 game. But once he got the lead he stayed back and was hoping for the error from Djokovic who turned himself into Mr Unbeatable and locked himself in to the “I can’t miss-zone.’ Very disheartening loss for Bert who had victory in his jaws.
Steve · November 22, 2011 at 4:37 pm
You kinda have to throw “should” out the window when Nadal & Lopez win doubles tournaments by staying back most of the time. Nowadays it depends more on who you play rather than the surface as to when coming to net seems like a good idea.