Rotterdam: a smaller tournament with larger implications

It’s not often that the 500 event in Rotterdam – an indoor hard court tournament – is the site of historic events.  But this year Roger Federer has taken a wild card there, and if he reaches the semifinals, he will regain the #1 ranking.  At age 36, this achievement will be unprecedented in the open era.

Federer destroyed the Belgian lefty qualifier Bemelmans in his first match, and a potential tough one with Wawrinka two rounds later was prevented by a Wawrinka loss.  Federer will have to beat Philip Kohlschreiber, currently ranked 36 in the world, and then either Robin Haase, ranked 42, or Tallon Griekspoor, ranked 259, to make it.  Federer has dominated Kohlschreiber in the past, but Philip is a sold pro who plays well in the European hard court tournaments.  Robin Haase is a big guy who hits pretty hard and who has played relatively well over the past several months.  He is also playing in his home country.

If Roger maintains the intensity he showed in his first match he should make it.  While Fed has clearly been the world’s best player over the past year, he doesn’t play frequently enough any more to amass large numbers of ranking points.  If he makes it to number one, we can all scratch our heads and wonder how anyone could be this good at tennis.

Another notable happening was Sasha Zverev’s loss to Andreas Seppi in his second match.  Seppi is a guy with no big weapons who encourages his opponents to beat themselves.  Zverev obliged him this time, as he careened emotionally between anger and dejection to lose.  If Sasha wants to reach number one some day he will have to steady his emotions.  He should take a lesson from Federer on that one.

A young player who looks better every day is Andrey Rublev.  His serve is improving, his power groundies are great, as is typical for a modern day player, and his tactical skills are also improving rapidly.  He really is a player to keep an eye on.