Even if the local fans were clearly looking forward to seeing a Federer – Djokovic showdown, at the end of the day we will have the best possible final: Djokovic – Murray.
Nole is playing one of the best tennis of his career and Andy really stepped up against Federer to show that his US Open hangover might be finished and he is ready for more.
Murray – Federer 6-4 6-4
Bizarre match. It was very clear that Roger came to Shanghai not well prepared and definitely not trained enough. It seemed as he was there just do reach the important 300 weeks milestone.
The Swiss was uncharacteristically slow (super slow…any nagging injury?) and his serve was not up to his fame. Roger’s returns were quite below the par (a problem he has to correct if he wants to compete at top levels) to make it very difficult to break Murray. The Scott just needed to blast a strong serve on Federer’s backhand to get a cheap point.
The first set was about a horrible service game. After trading breaks in the opening games, Federer was serving on a 2-2 scoreline when he committed 3 straight double faults (!!!) to give away another service game. Something you don’t even see at a club level between intermediate players. That changed completely the game as Murray started to decisively step in at every second serve (with great great returns). To protect his second serve Federer had to considerably slow down his first serve… and Murray was really happy about that!
The second set was another disaster for the Swiss that was consistently struggling to defend his service games (he conceded 8 break points on 5 service games). He squandered a 40-0 lead in the 5th game when a fantastic Murray blasted an incredibly series of heroic returns to break again the Swiss. That was it! With Federer unable to return a ball it was a walk in the park for Andy to win the second set.
Ah.. yes… before the end of the match there was a little drama as the roof was closed (rain) just when Andy was about to serve for a place in the final. The match was suspended for 30 minutes. When the game resumed Federer netted 3 easy slice backhands on the net and Andy won the match.
From Andy
“He didn’t serve that well for him tonight, so I was able to be very aggressive on his second serve,” said Murray. “He maybe slowed down his first serve a little bit, so I was able to take a few more chances. Obviously that helped. I went for it, like I did the past few times I played against him, and it worked tonight. When you’re beating the best player of all time probably, it’s obviously going to be special.”
From Roger
“It was a bit up and down, too up and down for my taste,” said Federer. “To probably beat him tonight, I played okay at times, but overall Andy was just the better player and he deserved to win at the end really.
“It’s been an OK week overall. I played all right. I didn’t play great. But I did come here and reach the 300 weeks. I guess I have to be happy with that. I wish I could have played better tonight against Andy and pushed him further, even though it was somewhat close. I know as well that it could have gone the other way as well, it could have been even more one sided. I tried hard, and that’s all I could do tonight.”
Djokovic – Berdych 6-3 6-4
Nole = too much… once again! The world no.2 is just too good for everybody else at the moment. He is returning incredibly well, he is super solid and he has so much confidence. He is in that kind of zone when you know you are just superior and it is just a matter of time about winning this or that match. Even if the scoreline wasn’t an ugly one, Nole was super dominant to win 68 ponts vs 49.
From Nole
“Obviously it’s a big challenge when you play a Top 10 player,” said Djokovic. “Tomas is in great form the past couple of months. He’s always a difficult player to play against on any surface because he has a very powerful serve and great forehand. I played tactically right. I was putting a lot of returns into the court, putting a lot of pressure on his serve. On the other hand, I was serving well when I needed to.”
From Tomas
“He’s a great player,” said Berdych. “I think just the game that he plays; it’s not the one that suits my game that much. I like to play quite aggressive. But this doesn’t hurt him that much. So it’s much more difficult for me to play him. He’s the second player in the world, chasing for the first place. It’s really tough to find the way and have a positive record with him.”
The Final
Head to Head is 8-7 for Djokovic. Murray won the last 2 (the US Open final andthe semifinal at the Olympic Games.
From Nole
“I don’t like the word ‘revenge.’ I never like revenge,” said Djokovic. “I just play tennis and I try to win every match that I play. He’s a bit more aggressive. It’s obvious on the court. He goes more for his forehand, which wasn’t his strength in the past. Now this year he’s improved that stroke and he’s more confident on the court, has more self belief. He’s got the results. He won a Grand Slam.”
Our pick is Djokovic, but yesterday Murray was really impressive…
Looking forward for it!
