Cincinnati Kids

“It’s a bit crazy, to be honest.”

This is how Roger Federer described his latest tactical innovation, which he debuted this year in Cincinnati. And it does look a little crazy at first glance: As his opponent is in the process of hitting his second serve, Federer charges forward, short-hops the ball as it crosses the service line, and keeps charging until he’s virtually draped over the net. Federer said the idea began as a “joke” in practice, but it was no laughing matter for the man he beat in the Cincy final on Sunday, Novak Djokovic. Up 3-1 in the first-set tiebreaker, Federer launched himself forward as Djokovic served, won the point to take a commanding double mini-break lead, and never looked back in earning his 21st win over the world No. 1.

“It’s fun for me,” Federer told ESPN after his 7-6 (1), 6-3 victory. "Playing full-out offense is fun.”

Maybe it’s the roller-coasters across the highway, but fun has always been the operative word for Federer in Cincy, where he has now won a record seven titles. Its hard courts and Penn balls are fast, which he likes; the warm air does good things to his kick serves; and he looks at ease and in command on center stage in the evenings there. Federer’s first Western & Southern Open title came 10 years ago, with a win over Andy Roddick, and he’s won all seven finals he’s played at the event. Who knew a man from Switzerland could become an honorary Ohioan?

This was Federer’s most impressive championship run of them all. He didn’t lose his serve, he didn’t drop a set, and he beat the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the world, Djokovic and Andy Murray, on back-to-back days. Federer never faced a break point against Djokovic, the world’s best returner.

“I think I moved well,” Federer said after earning his 87th ATP title and 24th Masters win. “I was explosive moving forward. Volleys were good. I think from the baseline I was hitting my forehand very well.”

That forehand was certainly one of the keys. As ESPN commentator Darren Cahill pointed out, Djokovic normally likes to use his crosscourt forehand to stretch Federer wide to his forehand side, but this time Federer was hitting that shot well and using it to gain an early upper hand in rallies. Djokovic had to content himself with trying to pound Federer’s backhand, which didn’t have the same effect.

“I think he’s more aggressive here than in any other tournament because the surface and conditions allow him to play very fast,” Djokovic said. “He generally copes well with the fast balls, the fast game.”

“You always adapt to the surface,” Federer said. “[When we played] at Indian Wells, there were many more rallies, more angles. Here you can kind of shoot through the opponent.”

“I really tried to mix it up on his second serve.”

While it was Federer’s hard-charging return that had people talking, it was his variety of returns that helped him most in the final. He chipped and charged, he snuck in while Djokovic was in mid-swing, and he went after his crosscourt forehand. Djokovic never found a groove and never pinned Federer down at the baseline.

“I made some double-faults,” Djokovic said, “I dropped my [first] service game [in the second set]. The way I played this week, it’s great I managed to reach the finals.”

Djokovic has had his ups and downs in Montreal and Cincy this month, and the world No. 1 will head to the U.S. Open carrying two finalist’s, rather than champion’s, trophies. Yet he’ll still be the favorite in  New York.

With this win, Federer clinched the No. 2 seeding at the Open, and he’ll certainly arrive there with confidence. He said that, after skipping Montreal, he feels fresher than he did when he won in Cincy last year. But Federer also noted that he hasn’t reached an Open final since 2009. At Flushing Meadows, the balls will be slower, the court will be grittier, and the matches will be three-of-five. In 2010, 2012, and 2014, Federer won the title in Cincy, but lost before the final in the season’s last Slam.

Yet he, and we, aren’t in New York just yet. Whatever happens there, Federer’s week in Cincinnati is worth remembering for that sense of fun he talked about, and which he brought to the courts there again. Like the amusement park across the highway, Federer at 34 is still finding new shots to try, and new ways to keep himself, and the rest of us, entertained.

A few minutes after Federer and Djokovic made their exits, Serena Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, sat down in the front row to watch her warm up for her final against Simona Halep. He told ESPN’s Brad Gilbert that he thought things would be OK today.

On the one hand, that shouldn't be a surprise: Serena entered the match having won her last 14 finals; her last loss in a title match had come to Victoria Azarenka on this court two years ago.

On the other hand, things haven’t always been OK of late for Serena. As we’ve learned this year, the only thing you can be sure of when she plays is that, while she may take a circuitous path to get there, she’ll find a way to win the last point. In Cincy, she escaped a first-set loss to Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals, and she temporarily misplaced her service motion against Elina Svitolina in the semis. It looked like more trouble might be in store in the final. Serena, hesitating on her forehand, lost the first two games to Halep and threatened to lose the third.

But Mouratoglou must know his player by now, because Serena was mostly OK after that. The turnaround began, as it so often does, with a scream. This time it came at 1-3, when she smacked a backhand down-the-line winner to reach 0-30. Serena won the next five games for the set.

The scores were closer, and the level of play was higher, in the second set. With Serena serving at 5-6, Halep even came within two points of winning it. On cue, Serena brought out the big gun when she needed it, firing a service winner and an ace to hold.

This is how Serena wins, right? She overpowers her opponents and serves them off the court. And she did her share of that against Halep, finishing with 15 aces and coming up with a particularly brilliant and audacious second-serve winner in the tiebreaker. What was interesting to me, though, was that in the end Serena didn’t win that tiebreaker, or close out the match, with an awesome display of power. She won her final three points by being steadier and grittier than Halep. It was Halep who, unable to get the ball past Serena or draw an error from her, went for risky, point-ending shots and missed. The last, on match point, was a drop shot that ended up in the net.

This isn’t the first time that, when the chips are down, Serena has won with consistency rather than crushing power. She did the same thing in the third sets of her U.S. Open final wins over Victoria Azarenka in 2012 and 2013. Serena doesn’t get credited with Federer-like variety or creativity often, but you don’t win 21 majors without being versatile and strategically savvy. On Sunday Serena beat Halep with her own game, and then at her own game.

“I don’t care if I win, lose, or break even,” Serena said after her 6-4, 7-6 (5) win, when she was asked about the U.S. Open. “I’m ready to start, get it over with, be done, and go on to the next event.”

I’d say beating the world No. 2 in Cincy, after suffering a rare loss in Toronto, will help her do much more than break even in New York. As she showed again on Sunday, when the chips are down, Serena finds a way to take them all.