Total Domination

We've seen a lot of amazing things on Tour this tennis season -- some late bloomers finally breaking through, a couple long-standing champions show their human side, a one-time one hit wonder prove his worth and maybe a comeback or two. But when you get down to it, there's only one man on the ATP who's come through when it counts the most -- and this week he reminded us why.

That's not to say there weren't other story lines worth following in Shanghai this year -- defending champion Roger Federer was stunned in his first match since the U.S. Open final, losing to qualifier Albert Ramos in the opening round. And Rafael Nadal, fresh off a runner-up showing in Beijing, scored arguably his best two wins of the year, taking out Milos Raonic and Stan Wawrinka back-to-back on his way to the semis. And even Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made up for a largely quiet year, rebounding after losing a bagel set to take out Rafa and make his first Masters final of the year.

But in spite of the hugely talented field, it was Novak Djokovic who came out on top -- the two time champion here has been unquestionably the strongest force on Tour in 2015, winning three of the four Majors, four more Masters crowns, and reaching at least the final of all but one tournament he's played. This week in Shanghai he picked up right where he left off last week, tested only once when Bernard Tomic pushed him to a tiebreak in the first set. But he wasn't fazed at all, trouncing newly-minted world #2 Andy Murray in the semis and taking out Tsonga with little more effort in Sunday's championship.

Sunday's win earned Nole his ninth trophy of the year, and puts him just one shy of that breakthrough 2011 season that really put him on the map. He's also spitting distance from Nadal's record twenty-seven Masters titles, and the way he's been playing all year it doesn't seem like we'll have to wait much longer before he hits either goal.

And when he does, he might just set himself apart in an era dominated by some of the greatest athletes the sport has ever seen -- and notch himself a place in history in his own right.

Still Got Some Fight Left

It's been a long, tough year on the ATP Tour, with four different men claiming each of the season's Grand Slams and only two reaching more than one final. Momentum has shifted from one player to the next all year long, but even with the rise of a new crop of top-tier talent, the old stalwarts remain standing. And last week in Shanghai, one Master proved yet again that he's still a force to be reckoned with.

Roger Federer seemed to be staging a resurgence this year, taking titles in Dubai and Halle before grinding his way to his first Major final in two year, taking eventual champion Novak Djokovic to five sets before finally succumbing. He'd been overshadowed in recent months, though, losing quickly to Marin Cilic in New York, and has only played a couple Davis Cup matches since. In Shanghai, one of the few Masters events she's never won, he was only given a #3 seed, behind two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic and a still on-the-mend Rafael Nadal. He was challenged early, too, dropping the middle set to a barely-unranked Leonardo Mayer, a man who'd earned his first top-ten victory just a few months ago in Hamburg and held five match points for his second last week. And though Nadal fell early, now nursing appendicitis along with everything else, plenty other threats remained deep into the draws.

Roger ran into the biggest of those in the semis, meeting top-seeded Novak Djokovic for the first time since their Wimbledon clash in July. And this time the Swiss giant did get the better of his opponent -- he saved the only break chance against him and needed just over ninety minutes to secure the win. He actually struggled more in the final against a surprisingly unseeded Gilles Simon, playing in just his second Masters championship match -- Federer was broken early on Sunday, but eventually crawled back from a 3-5 deficit to take the set in a tiebreak. And despite being denied break points in the second, he closed out the match more decisively in this breaker, scoring an important win over a man who's given him a little trouble in the past.

Federer's win, his fourth title of the year, brings him back to #2 in the world, not far behind Djokovic, and at thirty-three years of age, that's no small feat. And it certainly serves notice to all the upstarts who're trying to nose their way into the sport's elite. He's still kicking strong and hard, and the way's he's playing this year, there seems to be no stopping him.

Reversal of Fortune

Things can get surprisingly interesting during the back quarter of the tennis season. Even with all the Majors in the books for the year, the sport's top stars still turn up the heat post-U.S. Open as they try to make up for what some might consider lackluster recent performances.

A couple years back Nikolay Davydenko came off an early, fourth-round loss in New York and put together a three-title streak, which included wins over Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer and the year-end championship. In 2011, Federer was unstoppable after squandering semifinal match points at the Open -- his 17-0 record buoyed him toward a sixth World Tour Final and served no small role in getting him back to the #1 ranking.

This time, it seems, it's Novak Djokovic's chance to turn his luck around. Not exactly having a bad season -- the leader in the race to London has four titles, including a Slam, already -- he has nevertheless ceded the spotlight a bit to the resurgent Roger and the groundbreaking Andy Murray. And with very few points to defend from this time last year -- he went trophy-less after his own win in New York -- he didn't have a lot to lose.

Nole might not have faced a seeded player until the semis in Shanghai, but that didn't mean he was without challenges. He opened against rising star Grigor Dimitrov, squared off against a tough Feliciano Lopez in the third round and finally ended the streak of comeback story Tommy Haas in the quarters. He might have had trouble against Tomas Berdych -- the tall Czech stunned the then-#3 on his way to the 2010 Wimbledon final and has put up some big fights in the past -- but Djokovic kept his cool and walked away with the win in just under ninety minutes.

Meanwhile, the Serb's recent nemesis Andy Murray was working his way through his own half of the draw. He'd actually had a bit of a struggle in his quarterfinal, going down a set to Radek Stepanek before pulling through, but against Roger Federer in the semis, he raised his game. He won over eighty percent of his first serves, capitalized on a handful of double faults and broke the world #1 three times during the match. In a routine two-setter, Murray notched his second win in a row over, making his way to the seventh final of his year, and his third
straight in Shanghai.

It was the first time Djokovic and Murray had met since that devastating final in New York, actually just a month ago. With that win capping the Scot's already-successful year and giving him three wins to the Serb's two this year, momentum seemed to be on his side. And he rode that wave through at least a set and a half of Sunday's final. After losing his first service game, Murray won three in a row himself. The pair traded an inordinate number of breaks during the first set, but kept their level high, with the #3 seed finally getting the early lead after more than an hour of play.

He got a break in the second, too, and earned a chance to serve out the match at 5-4, but a glorious between-the-legs shot got Nole on the board in the tenth game. Murray failed to convert any of five championship points in that game and the ensuing twenty-four point tiebreak, and eventually was forced to a decider. With the tide turning now towards Nole, it was only a matter of time before he closed things out. He took advantage of some weak legs from his opponent and mediocre serving to break Murray twice in the decider. And in three hours, twenty-one minutes -- the longest non-Major final of the year -- Djokovic had claimed his first Shanghai Masters crown and, maybe more importantly, stop the sting of that last big loss.

The win gives Djokovic a 10-0 record since the U.S. Open and marks his seventieth win of the year. It's certainly a better showing than he put up at this time in 2011 when, after a record-breaking kick-off he seemed to suffer a bit from exhaustion. But now that he's figured out how to control his success -- and his schedule -- it looks like he's poised to end this season the way he started the last one.

And if he keeps it up, it looks like there will be a whole new set of headlines in the coming months.

The Right Way to Finish

Most of the headlines of 2011 have understandably focused on the impressive streak which began Novak Djokovic's year. His 64-3 record, ten titles and three Major trophies is one of the best runs in tennis history. And with the year-end #1 ranking all tied up now, he's broken ground few have ever tread before. But as the Serb takes a couple weeks off to recover from what's been a very intense schedule, it seems it's time for someone else to take over.

Andy Murray came to Shanghai as the defending champion and fresh off titles in Bangkok and Tokyo. Since mid-August, he'd put together twenty-one wins and just a single loss -- to Rafael Nadal at the U.S. Open, certainly nothing to be embarrassed by. As the second seed this week, he was one of the few favorites to survive the early rounds -- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Mardy Fish and even Nadal all suffered early losses, allowing tricky players like Feliciano Lopez and Kei Nishikori into the semis. And though Murray had the benefit of a first round bye and a second round walkover, he took out his next three opponents in fairly short order, dropping just three games in less than an hour of play with Nishikori to make his sixth final of the year.

The only other seed to make it to the final four was David Ferrer, himself a two-time titleist this year and a runner-up in Monte Carlo, among others. The world #5 had a slightly more difficult path, though, toughing out a win over promising youngster Milos Raonic, rebounding from a set down against former #1 Juan Carlos Ferrero and fighting off a stubborn Andy Roddick in the quarters. He even needed more than two hours to dismiss his countryman Lopez, who'd already taken care of Janko Tipsarevic, Tomas Berdych and Rafa's vanquisher Florian Mayer.

After such a week, it shouldn't be too shocking that Murray had the upper hand in the final. Though Ferrer had won a respectable three of their seven previous matches, each victory came on clay and he had only taken one set off the Scot on any other surface. Murray kicked off the match by breaking the Spaniard's serve, and though the score was immediately evened up he did manage to get the lead back. The second set played out in similar fashion, and when all was said and done, Murray was able to secure the win, his fifth of 2011 and his eighth Masters crown.



The win does more than add to Murray's trophy chest. As of Monday's rankings, he'll be back in the top three for the first time since March of last year and, maybe more interestingly, ahead of Roger Federer, who'll be at his lowest position in over eight years. There are still a few weeks of play left in the season, though, and this is certainly not the time for Murray to start coasting.

If he's able to keep up his momentum and end the year like Djokovic started it, he might finally be able to make that breakthrough everyone's been waiting for.

Here We Go Again

Some tennis stars have a way of coming through just when you've started to forget about them. Andy Murray, I begrudgingly admit, might be one of those players.

You might remember how he seemingly came out of nowhere to take the title in Toronto back in August. He'd done the same thing two years ago in Cincinnati, rebounding from a mediocre spring and early summer, to beat Novak Djokovic to capture his first Masters title.

These days, the world #4, just a stone's throw away from the top spot earlier this year, has been a little spotty. He entered the Australian and U.S. Opens as one of the favorites but failed to deliver on both counts, crashing out of the Melbourne finals without winning a set and dropping in the third round in New York thanks to a glorious performance by Stanislas Wawrinka. In recent weeks he's come dangerously close to ceding his position to Robin Soderling, a man who's arguably put up a better fight in his two Major finals, and a light post-Open schedule, highlighted only by an early loss in Beijing, had pushed him out of the headlines.

Then he came to Shanghai.

Another top-flight tournament which attracted all sixteen of the top men's players, the draw put Murray in the same half of the bracket as the newest Grand Slam winner, Rafael Nadal. But with the Beijing champ eliminated early, the Scot only faced one seed in his opening matches and was able to advance easily to the finals.

There he met Roger Federer who was going after his record-tying eighteenth Masters title. But though the former #1 had won the pair's first three championship match meetings, Murray had reversed that momentum in Canada, and kept the flow on his side today. Helped by his opponent's thirty unforced errors, Andy survived some sloppy serving on his side of the net and was able to break serve four times to capture the trophy, his second of the year and at the expense of King Fed.

Not a bad streak to have in your book.



With the win, Andy Murray claimed his sixth Masters trophy, quite a ways behind some of the current greats, but certainly enough to remind us all that he's a force to be reckoned with. And in a year where he's been so unpredictable, there's no better statement to make.

Where'd They Go?

It's that time of year again, when the world's top players are vying for the last few spots at the year-end championships being contested in London at the end of next month. But with just a few events left in 2010, a couple players who started the year with such gusto may have chosen a bad time to fall off the radar.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were the first to make the cut, and Novak Djokovic's run in Beijing last week helped him to the third spot. Andy Murray, who won his third round match against Jeremy Chardy in Shanghai on Wednesday, followed up as number four. If the remaining qualifiers were decided by today's rankings, we'd see a veteran, a resurgent and a newbie fill out the mix -- but things are far from certain.

Fernando Verdasco had a dismal debut in London in 2009 -- he lost all three of his round robin matches -- but thanks to a title in San Jose and a finals appearance in Monte Carlo, he's a stone's throw from qualifying for a second straight year. Unfortunately a winless run in Asia has knocked him back a few spots, and I wouldn't be surprised if he accepted a few wildcard entries just to boost his point total.

In slightly better shape, but still at risk, is American #1 Andy Roddick. He began the year with a 9-0 record, taking the trophy in Brisbane before falling in the quarters in Australia. But he rebounded nicely to make the championship match in three of his next four tournaments, ultimately winning in Miami. These days things are a little more shaky for Roddick -- a second round loss in New York and an injury-caused retirement in Shanghai puts the rest of the year in question. He still plans on returning in Basel next month, but the lack of action could be worrisome for some die-hard fans.

Having just as hard a time of things recently is Tomas Berdych, also at a career high ranking a few spots below Robin. After his breakthrough in Miami and a magnificent run to the finals at the All England Club -- during which he beat both Djokovic and Federer -- the Czech star hasn't put together back-to-back wins since Toronto. He exited the U.S. Open in a straight-set, first-round loss and dropped both his Davis Cup semifinal matches. A good run in Shanghai could have sealed the deal for him, but the seventh seed fell earlier today in straight sets to red-hot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, a titlist a few weeks back in Bangkok. He'll need to manage the rest of the season well to keep his spot intact.

Two-time French Open runner-up Robin Soderling is probably most assured of making the Tour finals for the second time in his career. The world #5 has been staunchly at his best-ever ranking throughout the summer, helped by quarterfinal runs at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. He's fallen early in a couple recent tournaments, but after exacting revenge for his Beijing loss to David Ferrer in Shanghai, he looks to be reminding us all of his strength. I doubt he'll lose his ticket to London at this rate, but he might want to put together a few more wins -- just to be safe.

But for all these guys it's important not to disappear into the night -- after all there are plenty of others in the wings ready to take their place.

The Breakthrough

I think it's safe to say that, before today, Australia's Sam Stosur was the best WTA player without a singles title to her name.

But this has been her comeback year, and one of hard-fought re-establishment as part of tennis's elite. Once ranked at the top of the doubles circuit, she missed most of 2007 and a chunk of last year with a viral illness, dropping well into the triple-digits before getting back on course. When 2009 began, she was the best player in her country -- even ranked higher than former #1 Lleyton Hewitt -- and took no time in fighting her way back.

In March Stosur made the quarterfinals in Miami, beating top seed Dinara Safina on the way. But her biggest success came a few months in Paris where she made the semis, her best ever Grand Slam showing. Over the summer she defeated French Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova in Toronto, Serena Williams in Stanford, and made the finals in Los Angeles. As a result Sam had earned her highest career ranking, breaking into the top twenty for the first time.

Still the ultimate goal of a singles trophy continued to elude her -- at least until today.

As the third seed this week in Osaka, Sam had a relatively easy time in her early rounds. She didn't drop a set in her first three rounds, and was steadfast in the semis against U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki, a woman who'd beaten her 6-1 in their last two third sets.

In the championship match today, Stosur faced a feisty Francesca Schiavone. The Italian has had her own struggles this year, beginning 2009 with a handful of early-round losses but also out-lasting her seeding in Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. She played one less match in Japan, thanks to a third-round walkover, but earned her second final of the year with a decisive win over Sania Mirza.

But Sam was just too much to handle today. After a tight first set, Stosur rolled over Francesca in the second, 6-1, to claim her first career title -- and if she stays healthy and as strong as she's been all year, it looks like this is just the well-deserved first of many after a very long wait!



Incidentally after a week rife with retirements in Shanghai, Rafael Nadal finally made his way to that championship match to face Nikolay Davydenko. And after a tough two hours in China it was the Russian who walked away with the trophy -- his fourth of the year. While it might have been disappointing for Rafa, who benefitted from two consecutive opponents withdrawing from their matches, making the finals of a Masters event has to give him some confidence going into the last leg of the year. Here's hoping next time he can convert!

It Takes a Toll

Earlier this week Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick both criticized the professional tennis season for being too long and greuling. Players have little time to recover after an intense schedule stretching almost eleven months, and top players have it even worse -- with just a few weeks off in December before heading Down Under the next January.

"It’s ridiculous to think that you have a professional sport that doesn’t have a legitimate off-season to rest, get healthy, and then train," Roddick told the AP. “I just feel sooner or later that common sense has to prevail."

It's true -- there are less than two months between the Paris Masters in November this year and next January's Medibank Open. And the top players have it even worse! The Davis Cup finals are held the first week in December, just thirty days before the Doha invitationals. By comparison the baseball season, which will end in a few weeks after the World Series champ is crowned, doesn't even begin spring training until March. And football players get the entire spring and most of summer off before hitting the gridiron again in August.

Though, as a fan, I'm happy to see tennis action nearly year-round, the athletes, of course, could use a bigger break. Seven of the top ten players have played more than twenty tournaments in the past year -- even Nadal, after accounting for his injury-addled absense after the French Open, has played eighteen and a handful of guys in the top hundred have entered more than thirty. Sure that's the kind of dedication that racks up ranking points, but that kind of strenuous activity is bound to eventually take its toll on the body.

And the Shanghai Masters tournament taking place this week seems to be showcasing just how rough that toll can be. As if to prove his point the day after he made his statement, Roddick retired from his second round match with a knee injury. U.S. Open champ Juan Martin Del Potro, who had an extremely taxing summer hard court season, retired the following day, and Stanislas Wawrinka, who had benefitted from Andy's knee problems on Tuesday, subsequently dropped out of his next match against Radek Stepanek on Thursday. In all seven singles matches in China this week were not played to completion. And that's after both Roger Federer and Andy Murray avoided the tournament altogether due to exhaustion and a wrist injury, respectively.



I wondered briefly if the players were trying to make some sort of statement this week, banding together in a kind of protest. Maybe, but of course I can't know whether this is true.

It certainly does beg the same questions I had been asking when the new ATP rules were introduced this year. Shanghai is one of the eight Masters 1000 events players are required to play. When counting the mandatory Grand Slams, four ATP 500 tournaments and two other events, that means men have to enter eight more events during a year than the ten the WTA requires. And that creates a lot more opportunities for injuries, exhaustion, and ultimate burnout before the age of thirty.

And as a fan I certainly don't want to see my favorite players retire, not just from individual matches, but from the entire circuit before their time. It's no fun to look for a new favorite every couple of years. And besides, one of the biggest draws of tennis is that it's a life-long love -- I see more than a few seventy and eighty year olds on my local courts every weekend. So why should the pros be pushed out so early? Maybe Andy and Rafa are right to call for a change to the rules -- one that allows players a proper off-season to rest, recoup and ready to bring it even harder the next year.

I'll miss watching them for a few months at a time, but it'd be worth the sacrifice.