Notable Results, Miami Open

            The Miami tournament produced some notable results, as follows:

The women: Venus Williams, who will soon be 37 years old, made it all the way to the semis before losing to Johanna Konta, the ultimate winner.  Williams’ play has been amazing over the past several months.  She is hitting her forehand as well as ever before in her career.  Caroline Wozniaki reminded us all that she twice before was year-end number one in the world by taking out world number 3 Karolina Pliskova before losing the final to Konta.  Wozniaki has always been criticized for playing from too far behind the base line, but my own opinion is that her problem was more related to a predictable cross-court topspin forehand.  She is now hitting a flat, inside-out forehand more frequently, and is moving up the rankings as a result.

            Johanna Konta is a late bloomer who has finally reaped a major reward for her steadily improving aggressive game.  She powered through all of her opponents, defeating a game and resourceful Wozniaki in the final.  This result may augur big things for Konta, who plays within herself very well while at the same time not being reluctant to open her shoulders and really give the ball a ride.  She also has a pretty big serve.  I think she could win a major and I certainly think she could reach the top 5 in the rankings.  Let’s see what happens.

The men:  In what may be the most intensely competitive match of the year, Federer defeated Nick Kyrgios in the semis, in three tiebreak sets.  The entire stadium was pulling hard for Federer, and on two occasions a fan called Kyrgios shots out when they actually landed in the court.   A distraction of this kind is of course more likely to hurt Federer, who in fact did hesitate to hit one of the shots when he apparently thought the linesman, not a fan, had called the Kyrgios shot out.  Nonetheless, these fan outbursts made Kyrgios very upset, while Roger only issued one very small gesture of frustration.  Mohamed Lahyani, the chair umpire, was a bit generous to Kyrgios when he didn’t take away a point or perhaps even a game for Kyrgios’ multiple acts of misconduct that included audible obscenities, ball kicking and racquet smashing.   Notwithstanding these histrionics, Kyrgios played hard throughout and exhibited good concentration.  He lost a close one, but it was very close.  We’ll see if Kyrgios can maintain his improved concentration as the year progresses.  I don’t agree with two commentators’ assessment that Kyrgios will certainly become number one in the world some day.  Nick has the talent, but consistency and psychological stability both on and off the court are necessary prerequisites for that level of success.  Kyrgios has not exhibited these characteristics as yet.  It’s true that he might become number one, but it is by no means a certainty. 

            In the final Federer played Rafa Nadal, who had a very good tournament.  Nadal had not served this well since he won the US Open in 2013.  Nadal’s draw was a bit easier than Federer’s as well. 

            The strategy adopted by Nadal in this match was to serve more to the Federer forehand and to hit more balls to the forehand side in base line rallies.  This approach was based on Federer’s dominance at the Aussie Open and Indian Wells, where his backhand was just awesome.  The problem with playing to the Federer forehand is that once the surprise factor fades, one is faced with playing against one of the greatest strokes in the history of the game.  Nadal apparently forgot that he, and just about everyone else, have been playing to the Federer backhand in order to avoid the devastating forehand.

            The first set was very tight, with tennis played at a level that every fan dreams of.  Federer got a late break of serve and served the set out at 6-3.  Although the second set looked competitive on the score sheet (one break for Federer and a 6-4 victory), the set was actually dominated by Federer, who held serve fairly easily and who controlled most of the base line rallies.   So Federer continued his amazing play in 2017.  He has been by far the best player in the world this year.

            Federer’s plan for the clay court swing is to play the French Open only.  I, for one, wish he’d play at least one warmup tournament.  I believe that would be good for his game, and of course, I have selfish reasons as well for wanting to see him play.

And by the way:  We should all look forward to the next round of TV banter about who has the best backhand in the world.  I get the feeling that the next time around Fed’s shot will be higher on the list!!