CAMELOT FANTASIES

Well, here we are Friday at the World Tour Finals, in the final rounds of the round robin part of the format. This will decide who goes through from Group A to the single elimination portion of the tournament.  Novak Djokovic is the big favorite against Tomas Berdych who said he would like to win 3 or 4 games. Stan Wawrinka is a lukewarm favorite against winless Marin Cilic.  I wonder if Feli Lopez will come in for Cilic as David Ferrer did for the winless Milos Raonic?  David didn't win against Kei, but he made perhaps the most interesting match of the tournament winning the first set and making it a 3 set match, though the last was a runaway, 6-1,  by the Japanese.

A Novak Djokovic win against Berdych will make him the year end #1, and he would face Kei Nishikori in the semis. Stan will try to cement his status as world #4 for the start of the season, and he would have to face undefeated Roger Federer in the semis.

---------

Maybe Mr. Andy Murray, OBE would have done better not to qualify after his brutal defeat at the hands of Roger Federer at O2 last night, but that's in hindsight.

Afterwards, Great Britain's Andy Murray said he has never experienced a defeat like his 6-0 6-1 hammering by Roger Federer at the ATP World Tour Finals. In less than 20 minutes he was down 5-0 and staring the end of his participation in the season ending finals in the face.

The 27 year old Murray was beaten in only 56 minutes by the 33 year old Swiss world number two, ending his season in rather ignominious fashion.

The Scot said: "It has not really happened to me before like that where winning games has been an issue.  "I've had tough losses and heavy defeats but nothing quite like that."

He added: "It's very frustrating, when I'm trying my best. I've never been in that position before in my whole career.

"Maybe I need to make some changes to my game, but that's the one good thing - I have time now to do that."

The defeat is the worst since he lost by the same scoreline to Novak Djokovic in Miami in 2007. "I was a bit injured then," said the Scot. "There was nothing wrong with me at all this evening."

As for Roger, maybe his coach Stefan Edberg, a six-time slam champion sums it up like this:
He said it was the best he had seen the Swiss play this year "by far".

"I don't think he can play much better to be honest - and I've seen a lot of tennis over the years," said Edberg.

"It's just one of those performances where everything goes your way, so it was enjoyable. He's in good form."

The worst that can be said about Federer's game last night was that he only put 38-39 % of his first serves in play, but then he won 100% of them.  Everything else was clicking, a strong second serve, and a full array of ground strokes, drop shots, volleys, and lobs that made Murray look like he was on a string and Federer the marionette master. 

Asked about his thoughts on giving Murray a double bagel when Murray served at 0-6, 0-5, Federer, who now leads Murray 12-11 in the H2H said, “At the end I was happy I didn’t win the second to last game...".. “Yeah, it’s uncomfortable. I don’t know. I don’t like it." 

For many Murray fans, it had to be a heart rending performance by their hero and very tough to swallow.   I think he needs to decide if he wants it badly enough. After winning Wimbledon in 2013, and having back surgery in the fall, one could understand a drop in his motivation.  I think the Lendl release happened because Lendl wanted Murray to work harder and go on to do more, while Murray didn't want to be pushed and just wanted someone to listen to his physical and emotional needs, and so Mauresmo was hired.  That strategy is plainly not going to work if he wants more and greater success in tennis. As he gets older, he'll need to work even harder to achieve that. So the question is does he want it badly enough, or is he satisfied with what he has done?  There is nothing wrong with achieving one's dream and enjoying it, instead of going back to the proverbial grindstone, so it's up to him.

---------

On a slow surface where it is difficult to find winners, it is difficult to come back once behind, which is why I think the scorelines have been so one-sided.  A player has to walk a fine line between control and aggression.  Passive play has been punished, as has risky play.  Purposeful point construction is key. Federer has succeeded at controlled aggression, much like Novak this week, but in a different way using his variety of skill shots, a solid defense, and solid second serve placement, whereas Novak has used a combination of his remarkable athleticism and steady strong ground strokes from just inside the baseline. 

I think the winner of this tournament will be the one who can walk that line of controlled aggression, not panic into riskier play, and make the fewest errors with excellent placement, but at the same time not be complacent and willing to step into the court and control it.  But first, the final round robins have to be played today, and the semifinals tomorrow. We will see what happens.

Respectfully,
masterclass