A Could-Be Classic Turns Into a Real Dud

Written by: Staff on 22nd November 2011

A Could-Be Classic Turns Into a Real Dud

Spectators wave flags reads on 'If Tennis Is A Religion Then Roger Federer is God'; 'God Made Roger Federer' during ATP World Tour tennis finals group match Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer held in O2 Arena in London, Britain on 22 November 2011. Federer defeated Nadal 2-0. EPA/KERIM OKTEN |

Wow, now that was quick.

Roger Federer simply blew past Rafael Nadal, who recorded just nine points in the second set in a 6-3, 6-0 shellacking in a second round-robin match Tuesday at the ATP World Tour Finals.

It was simply a masterful performance by the virtuoso. Never before has so little been on the line in a Feder-Nadal match because of the round-robin format. But the win does wonders for Federer’s confidence now.

Now, R-Fed can eat as much turkey as he wants Thursday before his meaningless meeting with American Mardy Fish as his two victories automatically put him into the semifinals. Meanwhile, Nadal will have to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for the right to advance from Group B.

Nadal was gracious in defeat saying, “When he plays like this, he’s better than me.”

And this: “I accept normally the losses, it’s not the first time I lose a match like this, and it won’t be the last.”

The press on hand appreciated the honesty and the comments from Nadal.

Neil Harman of the London Times tweeted: “Rafa is not wrong when he says only The Fed can play like this. He accepts loss with usual humility. What else could he do?”

Esteemed tennis writer Tom Perrotta tweeted @TomPerrotta: “There is no better loser in tennis than Rafael Nadal. Among the best losers in history–takes his lumps, says good job, that’s all.”

Even some players weighed in on Federer’s awesome display of dominance. WTA player and No. 5-ranked American Irina Falconi posted this on Facebook: “To all my tennis friends—- when in doubt or things arent quite right, just remind yourself to play like Federer. Period.”

It was Federer’s first win over Nadal since last year’s final at the year-end championship. He hit 28 winners to four in a 62-minute win. Nadal leads 17-9 in their series.

Before he watched the Nadal dismantling, Fish was asked how he would approach his match against the Grand Slam king. Earlier in the day, Fish fell to Jo-Willy Tsonga.

“I feel like I can win,” Fish said. “I felt like I could win both the matches I already played, and I didn’t. But, I mean, you’re going to have to pry me off the court to not be able to compete in an event like this. I worked very hard this past year, these past two years [and] made a lot of sacrifices. These are the rewards, playing in an event like this. That’s why I say, it’s very disappointing, to not be able to play at the level that I would like to play at.”

Keeping the U.S. Streak Alive: Fish’s inclusion at the finals marks the 25th consecutive season (since 1987) that an American has competed at the year-end championship.

Doubles Update: French Open champions and third seeded Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor qualified for the semifinals by beating Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, 6-4, 6-3, in 75 minutes on Tuesday.

Mirnyi and Nestor, improved to a 44-19 match record after hitting five aces and converting three of 10 break points against the ‘Polish Power’, who are 1-1 in round-robin play this week.

“We started well, the only thing I missed was my serve,” said Fyrstenberg. “They came back and build up their confidence, so it was really tough to come back and play well again.”

Matkowski said, “We need to serve a little bit better, today our first serve percentage wasn’t that good. Obviously, that knocked us back a little bit as every second serve they were putting pressure on us and returning really well. We have one win under our belt and hopefully we’ll get another on Thursday, but we’ll have to be better on serve.”
Meanwhile, second seeds Nenad Zimonjic and Michael Llodra won a dramatic Group B match against fifth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 7-6(6), 6-3.

Llodra and Zimonjic, who lost their first match to Fyrstenberg and Matkowski on Sunday, improved to a 46-15 match record on the season. They have a 4-4 record in ATP World Tour finals this year.

How the Format Works: For the uninitiated, here is how the round-robin format works.

All players play three round-robin matches against rivals in their group to determine a winner and runner-up from each group, who advance to the knockout stage of the tournament. In the semifinals the winner of Group A plays the runner-up of Group B and the winner of Group B plays the runner-up of Group A. Semifinal winners advance to the final.

Murray Forced to Pull Out: It was with regret that Andy Murray decided not to continue in the tournament because of a groin injury. He will be replaced in Group A by No. 9 and first alternate Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, who will make his debut at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Wednesday afternoon when he faces Czech Tomas Berdych.

“There was no real positive sort of coming out and playing because yesterday I was really unhappy on the court,” said Murray. “I wasn’t enjoying it at all. This is one of the best tournaments in the year, one that I think me and all of the players look forward to playing. I couldn’t give anywhere near my best, so that’s what was disappointing. It would probably do myself more damage by playing than not.”

Boris Becker on Murray and Grand Slams: Boris Becker told the BBC that what he likes about Murray is he doesn’t complain about playing in one of the greatest eras of tennis. Or use it as an excuse on why he has yet to win a Grand Slam.

“I very much disagree with those who say that,” said Becker, of being at a disadvantage by playing in the greatest era in the history of the sport. “You can’t say one era was better than another. I played with Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg. If you are good enough, you are going to win.

“I like the attitude that Andy considers playing against Federer and Nadal as a challenge, not an obstacle.”

Call Him Impressed: From Kevin Mitchell, a columnist at The Guardian, on David Ferrer:

“Ferrer is the Joe Frazier of tennis, favoured by fans of tenacity rather than those thunderstruck by glamour. Although he is ranked fifth in the world on merit, he suffers like the late Smokin’ Joe from the perception of his strengths: a refusal to contemplate lost causes and an uncluttered, muscular game that can unsettle more flamboyant opponents on his better days.

“Monday was one of those days.”

Topics: ATP World Tour Finals, Federer, nadal