We had a great day in Shanghai with 4 entertaining matches with an anticipated outcome: the big 3 (+1) reach the semis.
SEMIFINALS LINE UP
Federer – Murray —> H2H 8-9
Even if Murray leads Federer 9-8, he is the underdog in this semifinal for 2 reasons. First he is really struggling with his tennis as he appears mentally and physically tired (we had “Psyco-Murray back in the last match against Stepanek with some “self-beating” and lots of swearing). Second it seems that Roger found his best tennis in the quarters against Cilic to produce a very entertaining and effective tennis.
Djokovic – Berdych —> H2H 9-1
Djokovic is the hot favorite here. Nole has a very good record against Berdych and he is playing an incredible tennis. He is returning at his best (that means he is the best returner in the world at the moment) and he can now serve very well, very well. Tomas is also playing a good and solid tennis, but he has always those choking moments that could be devastating against a player as solid as Nole.
QUARTERFINALS
Federer – Cilic 6-3 6-4
The Maestro is back to top form to play a match that looked like a training session for him, an exibition for the fans and a nightmare for Cilic. Roger did whatever he wanted to do as he was in complete control of the match from the first point. The Swiss had only a couple of moments of loss of concentration to be broken back in the 3rd game of the 1st set (when he was 2-0 up) and in the 9th game of the second (when he was 5-3 up). But he was just too much (and Cilic not up to the task) to win the match in 81 minutes.
“I’m looking forward to the match,” said Federer. “It’s always great playing the best players. Those are the kind of matches you want to try to win because that can obviously then move the rankings by a little bit, even though it doesn’t matter so much if you stay within the Top 4. It’s going to be a tough match, good one. From my side, I haven’t decided yet how I’m going to play.”
Murray – Stepanek 4-6 6-2 6-3
Shaky stuff here for Andy back to “Psyco mode”. As per his own words (during his tantrum) , the Scott was “tired, sick and not playing a good tennis”. The world no.3 was swearing around like the “nice old days” triggering a series of apologies from the BBC commentators. The match was a sort of combination of factors with Stepanek playing a really good an entertaining tennis. Radek found himself 1 break up in the 3rd set, but then Murray’s quality made it possible for Andy to reach the semis.
“It was quite a scrappy first couple of sets, but obviously the second set I managed to get a break, got a bit of momentum,” said Murray . “I started going for my shots and dictated a majority of those at the end of the match. Obviously I needed to, because he was playing with a lot of variety, making it hard for me. I was a little bit tentative on some shots. I allowed him to come forward.”
Berdych – Tsonga 6-3 7-6(4)
Great match and a rock solid tennis from Tomas that defeated Tsonga in 94 minutes. As we know, the Frenchman is not an easy customer on very fast courts as his super explosive tennis makes it very hard to weather “Tsonga moments”. Berdych knew it and succeded to win the match mantaining a huge concentration level during both sets.
“I think it was really solid game and solid performance from beginning until the end,” said Berdych. “I think the biggest difference between me and Jo was I was able to take the small chances during the first and especially the second set. It was not many of them, but I was able to keep it and convert it on my side.”
Djokovic – Haas 6-3 6-3
Not much to say once again. Nole is definately the most solid player around at the moment. He is calm, full of confidence, his returns are as good as ever and his serve improved drammatically. This time the victim was Haas.
Nole won the first set comfortably. Then Haas “dared” to break the Serb in the beginning of the 2nd set to lead 2-0. Time for Nole to fight back and win also the second set 6-3.
“It’s always a big challenge when you’re playing a top 10 player, especially when somebody who is an established one,” said Djokovic. “Tomas has been winning against top players on different surfaces in the last couple of years, so he knows how to play on a big stage and he knows how to play in big moments. It’s going to be tough. But I’ve been playing well, too. So I’ll try to look for my chances tomorrow from the baseline and see how it goes.”
