Federer wins in Shanghai

With an awesome display of racquet control and accurate serving, Roger Federer dominated Rafa Nadal to win the title in Shanghai.   As noted before in this blog, Federer occasionally produces tennis that simply goes beyond great play into a realm that most players don’t even think about entering, thereby to produce matches for the ages.  Such was the case in this match, where Nadal, who has been virtually unbeatable since Cincinnati in the middle of the summer, was totally outplayed (to get a feel for the level of Roger’s hand-eye skills, take a look at the backhand he hit to break Nadal in the first game of the match).  Federer’s new racquet has led to a better second serve and a backhand that anyone, even Stan Wawrinka, would envy.   The racquet has allowed Federer’s mind boggling talents to manifest themselves more consistently, and as a result, even Nadal, himself an other-worldly player, cannot cope with them. 

Perhaps lost in this amazing final was the overall high level of play in this tournament.   Commentators often note that at this time of year players can be tired and prone to playing less than their best tennis.  That was not the case here, where Nadal, Federer, Dimitrov, del Potro and Cilic all played marvelous tennis.  Matches to look back at include the Dimitrov encounter with Nadal (one of the year’s best), del Potro’s matches with Sasha Zverev and Federer, and Cilic’ straight set loss to Nadal.  In my opinion the play overall in this tournament was the best of all the Masters 1000 events this year.

Another take home message was, once again, the weather conditions.  Early in the week the weather was dangerously hot and humid.   Please, ATP, add a weather break after the second set for the men, as is done for the women when the weather is this brutal!