One of tennis’s top rivalries took another turn Tuesday in London’s ATP World Tour Finals as world #4 Roger Federer took just an hour to cream his great rival, world #2 Rafael Nadal.
With the win, Federer moves on to the tournament semifinals. And despite his loss, Nadal has a chance to stay in the tournament with a win Thursday.
Both are big faves here at Best Player, and prior to this season’s amazing run from new world #1 Novak Djokovic, both vied for many years for the coveted spot at the top of the men’s game. Federer may not be the best in the world at the moment, but his demolition of Rafa shows he’s still got plenty in him…and at just 30, he may even have a chance to reclaim his #1 ranking next year.
Roger: anything for the win
Rumours from Nadal’s camp have it that Rafa was deeply disturbed by seeing his long-time adversary sporting such a gruesome moustache. “That thing on his face was so hideous I couldn’t concentrate on my returns,” sources claim to have heard him mutter.
This is one of the most talked-about shots in tennis – Novak Djokovic’s stunning forehand return of a 108-mph Roger Federer serve. Djoko hit this one facing double-match point against Federer. Instead of playing it safe, slicing a defensive shot over the net, he crunches a winner that Roger doesn’t even bother waving his racket at. Then Djokovic, maybe acknowledging the ballsiness of his shot, waves his arms at the crowd…likely the turning point in a match Federer was on course to win at that point. Later, Djoko said that at that point, he figured since he was going to lose, he “might as well go down swinging.” Swing he did.
Watch his face, though, in the video, just before Roger serves. You can see that insouciance, the devil-may-care confidence of a guy riding an incredible 63-2 winning season. A little shake of the head, a little inward smile – and then that crushing forehand.
It took 5 grueling sets, the first and the last going long. But eventually, the world’s #1 player, Novak Djokovic, held on to beat world #3 Roger Federer. It was a match for the ages, with Federer particularly silencing all critics who’d been hinting that at 30 he was heading for a seat in the commentator’s booth before too long.
Roger celebrates...a bit too early
Djokovic? He just doesn’t have any critics these days.
Here’s the last bit of commentary from BBC: Long from Federer. Net from Djokovic. 15-15. Who blinks first? Roger slices a simple backhand service return into the net. Dreadful miss. Crosscourt forehand from Djokovic… winner! Feds so slow to that. Fist-pumps from the world number one. Two match points… serve to the backhand again…. return sails… LONG! That’s it. Djokovic wins. WHAT. A. MATCH.
Djoko will play the winner of Nadal-Murray in Monday’s final.
U.S. Open action really heats up today & onward with a good number of top seeds through into the quarter-finals.
Rafael Nadal should kick the surprising Andy Roddick’s butt all over the court…if for no other reason than Roddick took a grueling 37 games to get past Rafa’s Spanish buddy David Ferrer, whereas Rafa himself didn’t need nearly as long to dispatch Gilles Muller from Luxembourg.
Roger Federer eliminated the pesky Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to earn himself a date with Novak Djokovic on Saturday. Roger’s going to be a sentimental favourite, but Djoko, at 64-2 this year, will prevail, we think.
In the women’s draw, the semis are set with Caroline Wozniacki v Serena Williams playing the winner of Sam Stosur v Angelique Kerber. Stosur’s looking great this week after finishing off world #2 Vera Zvonareva in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
Best Player predicts this:
a Nadal-Djokovic final with Djoko taking it in 4 sets
Stosur v Serena final – Stosur in a 3rd-set tiebreak
Andy Roddick (below) and the rest of the big boys are through round 1 of the U.S. Open. So far, the tournament is unfolding as we might expect, with top seeds (Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Murray, Fish, Ferrer, Tsonga, Monfils, Berdych, et al) winning their first matches.
Things haven’t gone as predictably in the women’s draw. Top seeds Venus Williams, Li Na, and Marion Bartoli are all now packing picnic baskets and sunblock to watch the rest of the tourney. Well, Williams may not be courtside – apparently she’s suffering from an illness that forced her to withdraw from the competition.
Watch this space for more on this week’s exploits of the world’s best tennis players.
Roger Federer has defeated Canadian Vasek Pospisil in straight sets in the men’s draw of the Rogers Cup.
The 21-year-old Prospisil of Vernon, B.C. was up against a player he had idolized since he was a kid. Pospisil played Federer close in the first set but ended up losing 7-5, 6-3.
The No. 3-ranked Federer won the Rogers Cup in 2004 and 2006 and was the runner-up in 2007 and 2010.
