Tomorrow's matchup will feature Roger Federer vs. James Blake -- the “sexiest final” of the Masters Cup, if you take into consideration that both made People Magazine’s annual list of sexiest men alive. Federer was dead last in a long list of tennis players named in the ‘athlete’ category. The list itself is so extensive that it is rumored that even Nikolay Davydenko would make the cut if he were a U.S. Open champion (or even a finalist)!
While taste is a subjective matter, a final between Federer and Blake is a 'sexy' final in tennis terms, featuring two spectacular shotmakers who, through their respective games, can help educate and enhance the locals’ tennis tastes.
And, if respect is a highly-valued virtue in China, both Roger and James have shown immense regard towards each other in the past few days. Blake, during a press conference, graciously spoke of the eight Mandarins competing in Shanghai and praised Federer:
Federer, in turn, expressed his admiration towards Blake and expressed hope that he would play James on Sunday:
Well, it looks like Roger's wish came true!
At the beginning of the Masters Cup, there were eight players. Four of them were out after six days:
Andy Roddick – Andy seems to be on the right track in his quest, once again, to be a major contender in fast-court tournaments. In his Shanghai matches, he showed guts and the will to be better. However, despite these improvements, he should have beaten his nemesis, Roger Federer, in their matchup. After being handed a lesson by Nalbandian, he should be aware that his serve-and-volley tactics won’t pay off against great backhand returns of serve unless he keeps on improving. It’ll be interesting to see A-Rod at the Australian Open, come January.
Ivan Ljubicic – Ljuby recovered partially from his fall bout of exhaustion and provided a decent level of play, though it feels strange to see Nalbandian, the only player who Ivan beat, pass through to the semifinals from the group stage instead. Then again, Ljubicic was the sole Top-10 player Roddick managed to beat all year, so maybe he deserved to go home early after all..
Nikolay Davydenko – Nikolay will be marrying his longtime fiancée Irina next Saturday. He could have left Shanghai with a bigger check as a wedding present, if he hadn’t faltered physically when it came down to crunch time. Ultimately, Davydenko's lack of freshness reared its ugly head midway through each of his matches; mind, this was after he was seen playing with unbelievable depth, precision and intensity for a set and a half. Perhaps one day, Nikolay will see that the travel required and sheer number of tournaments he plays, throughout the year, end up costing him in the long run.
Tommy Robredo – No one ever gives Robredo the credit he deserves for his game. Coincidentally, he was named after The Who’s rock opera “Tommy”, which celebrates a blind kid who is a pinball wizard; if you ever watch Robredo, you'd notice that his play bears an uncanny resemblance to a pinball game. It lacked firepower here in Shanghai, though, hence the usual “tilt” against the best.
Two made it until the semifinals on Saturday:
David Nalbandian – David’s got game, however, bad decisions on crucial points kept costing him matches during the YEC and the extra 6 kilos he is carrying did not help. He showed in his previous match against Roddick that, when motivated (the tragic death of his godson made him want to win), he can still produce scintillating tennis. Unfortunately, in his semifinal against Blake, Nalbandian seemed to suffer from an emotional hangover; he lost the match 6-4, 6-1.
Rafael Nadal – Nadal's efforts to become a more aggressive player, through changing his serving technique and forehand grip, have yet to be proven successful; he lost in an early round to his nemesis, hard-hitting James Blake, and clearly benefitted from Davydenko’s lethargy in the deciding match of his group. In his semifinal against Federer, Nadal switched strategies and went back to the fundamentals that helped him forge a clear lead in their head-to-head – to no avail; Nadal is going home to Mallorca for the off-season, after a 6-4, 7-5 loss.
Which leaves us the final duo:
Roger Federer – The Raj started slow off the blocks in his match against Nalbandian and had more trouble than ever returning Andy Roddick’s serve. However, he did seem eager to start off his semifinal match on the right foot against Nadal, his biggest rival, and eventually booked a place into the final. Breaking records as he goes along, Federer is the first man to surpass the USD $7,000,000 earnings mark in one season -- and he could make it past 8.5 million.. if he wins the tournament.
