Federer Wins in Basel and Early Rounds at BNP Paribas Open

Written by: Staff on 7th November 2011

Swiss Indoors tennis tournament at the St. Jakobshalle

Federer Wins in Basel and Early Rounds at BNP Paribas Open

Switzerland's Roger Federer returns a ball to Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka during their semifinal match at the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, Saturday, November 5, 2011. EPA/GEORGIOS KEFALAS |

Roger seemed to altered something on his serve motion, the backswing looked a little different to me, but he won so quickly I didn’t get to see enough of it! Did any of you notice this? You sometimes forget how quick Fed has to be in order to consistently win at the highest level. I noticed something really small in his match with Nishikori which I’m sure plays out in he rest of his matches with truly bigger ball strikers. When Rog hits over his backhand during a match, he’s not blasting it, it’s just a rally ball. It was exposed a little as Nishikori was able to take advantage of it and position Rog into the bhand corner and pin him there. When that happens to me or I see it happening to Rog, it feels as if all the talent and ferocity of our games becomes muted and caged. Thus, Rog has to be hyper-quick after rolling his bhand because other players are really stepping up and punishing it these days. Anyway, just another small thing I noticed when the camera came down from the skybox and was around shoulder level.

It’s been funny watching BNP Paribas this morning, I’m watching the match through chicken wire fencing and there’s heavy dance music blaring in the background where Bellucci and Bogomolov jr are playing! It also looks like the venue is a converted warehouse. It’s very evident that a few players are simply throwing in the towel late in the year, limping to the finish line. The year is so long that early rounds in a Masters 1000 event are being tanked. I think Roanic had a bad loss today too, I’d imagine with his serve and attacking style he’d breeze on the indoor courts. Where in the world is Rafa Nadal?

Shubert