Shanghai Match Thread

by It Must Be Love Sat Oct 04, 2014 11:19 am

First topic message reminder :

Djokovic defending champion, and the race for WTF hots up !

by summerblues Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:14 am

Fed vs Nole, 8am Sat morning my time. Perfect. I was worried the match would be played maybe 3am and I would have to debate whether or not it was worth waking up for.

To keep at least somewhat realistic chance of ending the year at #1, Fed pretty much has to win.

Nole the favorite for me, but not impossible to see Fed somehow pulling through.

by **laverfan** Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:26 am

Catching up on watching Benneteau give up in the second set, and to have played the first half of the first set TB so well. What a shame.

Lopez played very well vs Youzhny. clap

IMO, he can beat Simon tomorrow.

by LuvSports! Sat Oct 11, 2014 10:10 am

6-2 first set simon.

by Born Slippy Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:04 am

Masterclass from Simon. Lopez did very well to hang on in the second set but Simon has been a class above. On that form, Simon has a shot in the final (particularly if its Fed).

by **laverfan** Sat Oct 11, 2014 12:02 pm

Lopez seemed to have run out of gas after all his exertions to have come this far. He was completely off today.

by summerblues Sat Oct 11, 2014 12:52 pm

Good luck, Roger.

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:10 pm

Come on Roger, give him a nappy lesson.

by Guest Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:22 pm

Best rivalry in tennis.

Highest quality matches.

This one looks tasty already.

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:35 pm

Fed breaks, 4:2 up.

by summerblues Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:43 pm

What a nice service game Smile

by Danny_1982 Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:47 pm

This is so clever from Federer. Not only is his ultra aggressive approach not allowing Novak to get any rhythm, but he's also diluting Novak's physical advantage. Even 3 sets of this wouldn't be too tiring on Roger's legs.

by summerblues Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:51 pm

Good 1st set Smile

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:55 pm

Break himmmmm

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:55 pm

Yes, Djoko broken again, 1:0 up Fed. Superplay.

by summerblues Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:56 pm

Lovely point to win the game.

by summerblues Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:57 pm

Now I am starting to get nervous.

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:59 pm

No need, 2:0 up, just keep the serve Fed.

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:01 pm

Choko melting...

by summerblues Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:04 pm

Four more holds, easier said than done. I expect Djoko to turn on the pressure over the next couple of return games.

by summerblues Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:06 pm

Easy enough this time.

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:14 pm

Good hold from Djoko.

3:2 up and to serve.

by summerblues Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:15 pm

Good game; Nole holds.

by summerblues Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:16 pm

Nole is clearly not ready to go; he could have folded in this game.

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:19 pm

Wake up Fed, you are so close, keep those aces going, Simon is done tomorrow.

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:24 pm

Break him nowww

by summerblues Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:26 pm

Nole scraping through his service games; and Fed generally looking better, but one break of serve can still change it all.

by It Must Be Love Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:34 pm

Fed playing well Smile

These days he plays well when I'm supporting him

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:35 pm

Go Fed goooo.

Some great net points from both.

Good hold from Fed now, 5:3.

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:35 pm

Come on, win the match on Djoko serveeee

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:38 pm

MP MP MP

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:42 pm

2 MPs saved by Djoko and holds serve.

Fed serve it out now.

by It Must Be Love Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:43 pm

Djokovic fans- what do you think about his body language ?

Without going into any GOAT debate, I would like to suggest maybe it's Federer's attitude even when he's not on his best day which makes him one of the GOATs; and Djokovic not.

by summerblues Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:44 pm

I just hope Fed will not end up ruing all those missed break points.

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:46 pm

Keep it up Feddddd

IMLove, everyone knows Djoko is a show off.

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:46 pm

MP and yessss Fed winssssss what a match point.

by summerblues Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:48 pm

Yessss!!!!

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:49 pm

Well done Fed, bit of a Look at my Lordship cardigan there.

Djoko held good, he is a wall when clicking, just Fed too agressive today.

Simon will be sliced like a french stale baguette tomorrow in 1 hour.

by summerblues Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:51 pm

Fantastic. This was so satisfying to watch for a Fed fan. Fed looked much the better player throughout; the score really could have easily been much more one-sided.

This match reminded me how much I miss all-court tennis. I would love if tennis could move in this direction - not decided by servefasts, but neither stuck with endless rallies.

by It Must Be Love Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:53 pm

Jahu wrote:Keep it up Feddddd

IMLove, everyone knows Djoko is a show off.

But he wasn't acting like a show-off, he kept screaming at his box and looking angry.
It was a Murray pre-2012 display.

by Guest Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:53 pm

Awesome from Federer.

The first time in about two years that the Federer forehand was well... The Federer Forehand.

by It Must Be Love Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:54 pm

summerblues wrote:Fantastic. This was so satisfying to watch for a Fed fan. Fed looked much the better player throughout; the score really could have easily been much more one-sided.

This match reminded me how much I miss all-court tennis. I would love if tennis could move in this direction - not decided by servefasts, but neither stuck with endless rallies.

I'm happy that Federer won, but I did not particularly like the gameplay compared to previous Federer vs Djokovic matches; I like more high paced long rallies.

by summerblues Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:00 pm

emancipator wrote:Awesome from Federer.

The first time in about two years that the Federer forehand was well... The Federer Forehand.

Yes, in the old days you knew going FH-vs-FH vs Fed was suicidal. The last couple of years there have been more and more matches where in such exchanges Fed's FH was second best, but not today.

Fed was also moving very well; few and far between were the points where he was caught lounging for his FH for having been a step too slow.

On Nole's side, I was surprised in the first set how often he seemed to have hard time with Fed's sliced balls. Nole used to be bad at handling slices in the old days, but he has generally improved over the years, but today he was iffy. Nole can play better than he played today, but still, it was a very well played match by Rog.

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:00 pm

He cant rally with Djoko or Nadal or anyone, he is OLD and he must keep point short.

Price to pay to stay in matches, so however long Feds decides to play, it will be short points as possible.

by Henman Bill Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:02 pm

Enjoyable match, Federer's tactic of coming to the net so often just about worked, while he was able to cut out the errors and Djokovic seemed to make more errors for no reason. Djokovic at his best when on the brink of losing as often the case. Fed keeps the race for year end no 1 alive.

by Henman Bill Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:03 pm

Sometimes Becker's body language suggests to way that his relationship with Djokovic is about 2 big defeats away from failing. I don't see he is really helping Djokovic in any way. I suppose with a Wimbledon crown and no 1 in the world you can't really argue though.

by Henman Bill Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:05 pm

Don't forget everyone, Federer has struggled with Simon.

Initially went 0-2 down and while 4-2 up now two of those were close 5 setters in slams and one was a retirment.

by Guest Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:13 pm

summerblues wrote:Fantastic. This was so satisfying to watch for a Fed fan. Fed looked much the better player throughout; the score really could have easily been much more one-sided.

This match reminded me how much I miss all-court tennis. I would love if tennis could move in this direction - not decided by servefasts, but neither stuck with endless rallies.

Totally agree.

But not only does Federer play the all court game but he plays it the best.

None of the other top guys come close to matching his variety.

There was a rally in this match of about 12 shots - every shot Federer played differently. And he does all this with such effortless ease.

Anyone who plays tennis at a reasonable standard will know how difficult it is to transition smoothly between different shots requiring different grips and positioning. Federer is just so natural at it.

by Jahu Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:15 pm

Simon will be scared from Fed fans tomorrow.

Also Rolex might have a few expensive words with him, before the match Wink

by summerblues Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:28 pm

Final is played 4:30am my time. I think that is too early; cannot see myself getting up for that.

by TRuffin Sat Oct 11, 2014 4:10 pm

Federer!!!!!!

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