The Shanghai Masters: A re-match between Rafa and Federer
This year, at the 2010 US Open tournament, Novak Djokovic managed to take the tennis world by surprise when he defeated world number 3 Roger Federer in the semi-finals match. This feat enabled Djoko to proceed to the finals against eventual champion Rafael “Rafa” Nadal. However, it wasn’t just the fans supporting Federer who were disappointed. The Nadal camp was equally let down, since spectators and critics across the globe had their fingers crossed of another legendary Rafa vs. The Maestro final.
For every fan expecting the match of the yar, there is good news before the end of this year. Nadal and Federer may meet each other on a tennis court on as many as three times at the ATP events held in Shanghai, Paris and London. The earlier chance to watch such a match would be this week at the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters. If the two players meet, this would be their 22nd match. If these two pros play up to their current form, it would reinforce the growing estimation of fall tournaments. Until recently, these events were seen as little more than opportunities to win cash and add matches to one’s resume.
Since his loss at the US Open, Federer seems to be on a figurative fast where tennis is concerned. The Maestro has not played a single tournament as yet, although he admitted a few days ago that he has been training for a sprint that has kept his schedule filled with matches till the Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals to be held in London in mid-November. Nadal, meanwhile, has practiced a different approach. Nadal seems to be playing every tournament he can, reaching the semi-finals of the 2010 PTT Thailand Open and bagging the Japan Open Cup at Tokyo.
Both players are determined and in form which is why they could easily play the match of the year. However, Federer has some advantages over Nadal. For one, hard courts are his home ground, the place where he thrives best. In addition to this, the Maestro has decimated Rafa in their last two Shanghai Masters 1000 encounters. In the 2006 Shanghai semi-finals, Federer ousted Rafa in two sets, 6-4 and 7-5. In 2007, Nadal was defeated with an even greater margin by the Maestro, 6-4, 6-1. In the last three years, Rafael Nadal has grown and matured as a player and his position as the world number 1 is testimony to this claim. He is no longer the same player who was beaten so soundly by Federer 3 years ago.
However, despite his successes this year, Rafa tends to carry about his game with quiet humility, merely following through on his agenda to do the best he can while eliminating all competition. Despite this foreboding prospect, Federer does not seem to be too concerned; maybe because he feels he has lost enough this year (Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows all slipped away from him). Whatever the case may be, these Masters events promise to be entertaining, intense and packed with suspense regardless of the outcome.
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