What an incredible comeback performance from the Great One today! To be honest I had my doubts for quite a bit of the match, but Roger proved that he is still a force to be reckoned with and that he will fight to the end. It seems like the whole match he was fighting from behind after going down early breaks with some unforced errors at inopportune times. But just when it seemed that he was down and out, he would come up with some brilliant play that only the maestro can produce and get himself right back in there. So in spite of getting himself into trouble time and time again, his belief and determination kept him in the match with a brilliant victory in the end.
Along with the beautiful play and eventual comeback, the part of the match I enjoyed the most and felt privileged to experience was commentary by former coach of Roger Federer, Paul Annacone. For those living in the U.S. who subscribe to Tennis Channel, this was truly a treat that can't be matched. To hear him give his evaluation of where Roger is at in his career, with definitely a lot left in him to give, his breakdown of particular shot choices during the match, recalling his year in 2012 with the Olympics, talking about Roger's character, and much more was incredibly enjoyable and I didn't have any thought of wanting to block negative evaluation of what the commentators were saying. Paul has much belief in what Roger is still able to accomplish and those doubting him should take a lesson from someone who knows him both as a player and as a person so well.
This match win meant a lot to Federer. He put his hand to his heart at the end showing how much he wanted another semifinal appearance in this very successful tournament in his career. Once more his consistency is proven, as he has now made the semifinal round in this very challenging event an incredible 11 out of 12 years. Who can argue with that amazing stat, played against the top 8 in the world? He will face a very tough opponent unfortunately in Nadal, who will have had an extra day of rest to even more help his cause. But Roger should have confidence knowing he has a very successful record against him on indoor courts. I know I will feel my share of nerves watching that one, but even if he loses Roger has shown his resilience the last few weeks of this season and that he is on the comeback trail. Watch out in 2014 for what he can still accomplish!
After all the crazy upsets the first week of Wimbledon, here we still end up with the predicted (by many) final, for the men anyway. The fans of Roger Federer still were adjusting to him not being at least in the quarterfinal, and couldn't help but wonder what the outcome would have been if he had been in the semi, but that's irrelevant at this point. The fact is that it is again Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray facing off on Sunday.
For those who didn't get a chance to watch the match between Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro you missed an epic! Everyone was wondering how Delpo would fare with his knee injury against the greatest mover in the game. How about if we just say "no issue." The level of tennis in this match was one rarely seen. The amount of power, the jaw dropping gets with awe inspiring returns, the sheer determination on both sides was no less than incredible. I kept thinking I had seen the best and then they would come up with something more. It was really a shame someone had to lose that one, as they both gave it their all and both deserved to win it. And I never realized Delpo could be so funny. From his instruction to the ball of how to go over the net after a barely missed shoelace volley, to jumping up on the edge of the player stands and giving a guy a high five, along with a few others really gave the crowd a new appreciation for the gentle giant, along with his amazing tennis. I would have loved to see him make it through to another final, but if nothing else this showed himself as well as the fans what he is capable of. Hopefully he will be able to put a run together again soon. It would be fun to see him with another grand slam trophy - well, as long as it's not Roger Federer he's beating, that is. :)
The second men's semifinal wasn't the same high level of tennis as the first one, but it still had its drama. For some reason I was expecting this to be a fairly easy win for Andy Murray. Jerzy Janowicz had other ideas, however. After splitting the first two sets I was pretty surprised when Andy gave up a break in the third, thinking once he had found his game he would cruise. But all of a sudden things turned around again. I think Janowicz's drop shots were starting to really irritate Murray, and when Jerzy acted rather unsportsman-like by hitting the net with his racquet after a missed shot, with boos from the crowd, I think it triggered something in Andy, causing an amazing round of aggressive play getting the break back and also another break, finally closing out the third set. There was no coming back after that, in spite of the delay for the roof to be closed (much to Andy's frustration) and he closed out a quick final set at 6-3 to seal the deal. I really don't know who is the favorite between Murray and Djokovic. Personally I would like to see Andy get his win at home after last year's heartbreak. As for the women, the first semifinal ended up being a blow out match for Bartoli to reach the final, followed by a see-saw match in the next one which Lisicki finally took. Either way we will have a first time grand slam champion. In spite of the fact that Marion Bartoli can about drive you crazy with her quirkiness on the court, when you actually listen to her in interviews she can be rather endearing. And of course who can't love Sabine Lisicki's contagious smile, plus the fact that one of the giant killers finally came good and actually followed up their big win. What a Cinderella story that would be for her to end up holding the trophy in the end. So even though Wimbledon was full of surprises and disappointments the first week, we still have ended up with some compelling tennis and some good stories. I am looking forward to a weekend with some very good matches that really could go either way. And even the men's doubles final has some excitement to see if the amazing Bryan Brothers can hold all four grand slam titles simultaneously. Should be an exciting next couple days.
Wow, what a match by Juan Martin Del Potro to give Novak Djokovic his first defeat of the year and make it to his first BNP Paribas Open final. He played some amazing tennis, coming back from 0-3 in the third set to win it 6-4. Though he had done so well to pull out the second set, when he was immediately broken in the third I thought the world #1 had it wrapped up. However, Delpo had other ideas and really began taking it to Novak with some awe inspiring shots. It reminded me of his form in 2009 when he beat the great Roger Federer in the U.S. Open after being down a set and a break.
Back in 2009 when he won the U.S. Open he had also taking out Nadal before beating Federer. Is he in good enough form now to take out Djokovic and Nadal back to back? He has played two long three set matches in the last two days, while Nadal had fairly easy two set victories in his quarter final and semi. Does JMDP have enough left in him to beat Rafa, who has quickly come back into his own pre-injury form? At this point I would predict Nadal will pull off his first hard court victory since 2010, but I also predicted Djokovic would easily win the third set, so you just never can tell.
I am looking forward to the women's final between Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova. Caroline fought back from a set and a break down against Angelique Kerber with some very strange strategy of moon balls, yet also really upping her winner total compared to what we have gotten used to. Against Maria Sharapova she better skip the moon balls and go for the winners if she wants a chance to once again lift the trophy at Indian Wells.
On another topic, I haven't done a blog post since Federer's uninspiring loss against Nadal in the quarter finals. It was quite discouraging to see him obviously struggling so much physically to not be able to even come close to playing his game. While it would have been easy for him to withdraw from this match, however, the always classy Federer knew what a great disappointment this would be for both the tournament and the fans after two ladies withdrawals in the same day and chose to put his own comfort aside to play, knowing he had little chance to win. I continue to be impressed by Roger over and over again and can see why he was voted the 2nd most respected person, surpassed only by Nelson Mandela. He now takes a 7 week break before he plays next in Madrid and hopefully he can get treatment for his back, a lot of rest, time with his beautiful family and then some good practice time to come back strong and ready to add some titles, which he so far hasn't been able to do in 2013. Even though he lost earlier than I had hoped in Indian Wells I treasure the memories of seeing him play live.
More pictures to come from my experience in Indian Wells next week.
I think all the top seeds were anxious to get off court quickly in their quarterfinal matches to be ready for what will, I'm sure, be much more challenging semis. The most games lost by any of them was 6. I wasn't able to watch much of Del Potro or Berdych, but Djokovic looked as impressive as he has all week. And Federer has significantly raised his game, looking the best he has since probably the Tomic match at the Australian Open. He was always firmly in control of the match; Davydenko simply had nothing to offer whatsoever with all that was being thrown at him. Roger's ball striking was superb and his movement around court very impressive. It would be hard to see anyone beating him in this form. The semis should be quite interesting between Del Potro-Djokovic and Berdych-Federer. Though I would expect a Federer-Djokovic final, nothing is sure with these top players. If they are all playing as well as they did in the quarters we could be set for some really great matches! If you haven't seen the CNN interview of Roger Federer talking about topics like his recent South Africa trip and his tennis goals it is definitely worth a watch!
And finally, If you don't have Twitter or don't follow little Michaela Bryan you have really missed out on "her" ingenious tweets that always cheer up my day. Along the same lines, USA Today has come up with a great "interview" of the little 1-year-old celeb. You will definitely be missing out on a good laugh if you don't take the time to read this one:
It was a busy tennis week this last week I realized as I was trying to find time to watch four different finals on Sunday. As I digested my disappointment that I wouldn't be watching Roger Federer in either the semifinal or final of Rotterdam I had to remind myself that I am a tennis fan, not just a Fedfan, and that I could still enjoy watching some good tennis even though I wasn't watching my favorite. So putting my disappointment aside I was able to appreciate the good matches that were still on the docket for the weekend.
In spite of this, though, I admit that none of the matches turned out the way I had hoped. Though I for the most part like Juan Martin Del Potro and would usually want him to win when he's not playing Roger, I couldn't help but feel the pain for Julien Benneteau for his previous losses in finals and really wanted to see him break through this time. Almost the whole match though it felt like he was just trying to keep up with the great play of Delpo and in the end there really was nothing he could do against someone playing this well. JMDP deserved this win, after a poor showing in last year's final, and poor Benneteau once again had to face another disappointment. Though not one of my favorites, and certainly a threat always now to Federer, I really hope he gets his breakthrough title at some point before he retires.
In the women's final, though I'm not always one to cheer for Serena, in this case after the emotion shown after regaining #1 I was really hoping she would be holding the trophy at the end to supplement her great accomplishment. She just didn't seem herself in this match, though, never seeming fully comfortable, and Victoria Azarenka wasn't about to be intimidated. I'm sure it felt so good to her to prove that she had been the valid #1 by beating her replacement. It will be interesting to see upcoming matches between the two.
I didn't see the full final between Nadal and Nalbandian, really only some of the second set, but my impression of what I saw was that Rafa still wasn't playing like his normal self, making quite a few errors, but when Nalbandian was in a great position with two breaks in the 2nd set he just folded and gave it away. I think it will be a test for Nadal in his next tournament where Ferrer will also be playing, so we'll see what his form is by the end of February for his next tournament. I'm sure he felt very happy to be holding another trophy, though, whether he played his best or not.
In the final match of the day I was really hoping to see Tommy Haas pull it off. I have liked Tommy for a long time, and I think it's a real inspiration to see him playing great tennis at the age of 34 after a long injury timeout. He really didn't even have a chance, however, with the way Milos Raonic was playing. I don't know what it is about the conditions in San Jose, but he wasn't giving an inch on his service games, and the return winners that he was hitting on Tommy's service games were incredible. I'm sure he wishes he could buy the tournament himself to keep it in San Jose where he has had so much success, winning it three times in a row. To be honest, though, what I was thinking at the end of the match was that I really hope he's not in Federer's draw for Indian Wells!
Well, needless to say a second loss in a row to Juan Martin Del Potro wasn't the result Roger Federer was hoping for in his last Round Robin match. Though it has to play tricks with your mind just a bit knowing you didn't "have to" win the match to move on, it was still obvious that Roger really wanted to end this portion of the tournament with another win to give him momentum heading into the semis. And I'm sure he really would have liked to get it done in 2 sets rather than 3, knowing he has the disadvantage of not getting a day to rest. However, failure to convert break points in the first set, as well as playing a terrible tiebreak didn't work in his favor, so instead he not only had to play three sets, but also got his first loss in the World Tour Finals since 2009. Hopefully, rather than giving him less confidence moving forward, it will instead motivate him out of his frustration in losing this match. He was definitely showing more emotion than normal, shouting out in frustration at some of his more annoying misses.
With Ferrer's win over Tipsarevic, that means that Federer will play Murray in the evening match (Djokovic vs. Del Potro in the afternoon). I really don' know how to predict the outcome of this match. On the one hand Roger could have a letdown after having just played three sets and being tired from a long season. On the other hand, he has lost to Murray the last two times they played, both at the Olympics and in Shanghai. He's certainly not going to want to end the season with two losses in a row to both him and Del Potro. I think both Federer and Murray are going to have a lot of determination in this match. Murray, of course, has the advantage of having a day of rest. Will this be enough to see him through? So our possibilities for the final are Djokovic-Federer, Djokovic-Murray, Del Potro-Federer or Del Potro-Murray. After some matches during the Round Robin stage that were certainly less than tantalizing tennis, the next two days should be a treat, no matter what the outcome. While I certainly would love to see my guy Roger prevail once again, even if he loses in the semis he has had an amazing season and accomplished so much, so I will try to take that attitude into the semis showdown.
For Federer fans it wasn't the result we were hoping for. After losing the first set, Roger Federer rallied and took the second set in a tiebreak. Though he had his chances at a break in the third, he wasn't able to capitalize and it went to another tiebreak. Roger played some loose points and really lost it in a couple unforced errors. However, Juan Martin Del Potro was really very impressive today. There were multiple points where it seemed like Roger had him, but he managed to stay in the point with some great defense and ultimately win the point. He was also really using his power in his serves and his ground strokes, and even had some impressive net play. As to Fed's play, I was concerned earlier in the week because it just seemed he couldn't find his form. And while he still made some errors today at inopportune times, he also had some of the Fed magic going and overall I thought he played pretty well.
To Delpo's credit, in spite of losing the second set he didn't let his level drop as has sometimes happened in his losses to Roger. I'm sure after losing some very disappointing matches to him this year, he just wasn't willing to let it go this time, definitely putting in the extra effort to get to balls he maybe normally wouldn't have tried so hard for. So even though I would have loved to see Roger come through with another win in his special hometown tournament, at the same time I am happy that JMDP was able to play well and really start looking like he could be the player he was in 2009 again. There was a very tricky point that could have ended up with Roger on the ground, almost getting hit in a very tender spot. Thankfully I think it just missed and hit him in the leg instead and he was saved that embarrassment in front of his hometown fans! Roger announced after his match that he will not be playing Paris next week. I was kind of figuring that was coming after a difficult three-setter. He said it is just too much for him. Sounds like he needs to deal with some niggling injuries and just be rested and prepared for the World Tour Finals in London the following week. Unfortunately by doing this he will be handing Novak Djokovic the #1 ranking back again, but this was expected anyway. He will for sure reach 302 weeks at #1, which is just beyond impressive!
In other news, Serena continued to impress today with a 6-4 6-3 win over Maria Sharapova in the final of the WTA Championships. What a last few months Serena has had, winning Wimbledon, Olympic gold in singles and doubles, the U.S. Open and now this. I have been so amazed by what Roger Federer has been able to do at 31 years old, but Serena has had even more incredible results than he has (which is difficult for me to say, as a hard core Fed fan!). Though not always a huge Serena fan, you can't argue with what she has been able to accomplish.
Another 30-something who has had great results this year is David Ferrer, who just won a 6th title for the year.
I'm not looking forward to Paris so much now that Roger won't be playing, but I am very much looking forward to the World Tour Finals, beginning in just a little over a week!
