CAMELOT FANTASIES

Hello general Hercules, RF20Lennon, Mr. Tee, etc.

Roger Federer played his first match since the US Open, doubles with China's Ze Zhang as a wildcard team.  They easily beat Kevin Anderson and Dmitry Tursunov, 6-2, 6-1 in under 48 minutes.  Federer looked decent, especially on his serve, and I thought Zhang played very well.  They will play the 5th seeded team of Dodig/Melo next.  They are in the Bryans half of the draw, where they would meet in a semifinal if they both reach that far.

Here's the full match if anyone is interested:



I've advocated in the past that Roger should play more doubles when he gets a chance.   I think it sharpens his game.
He'll start his Shanghai singles run on Wednesday against Hewitt or Seppi.

It seems strange not to see Andy Murray in Shanghai.  He was champion 2 of the last 3 years and lost a tough final to Novak Djokovic last year.  Let's hope he recovers well from his surgery and makes it back by the Australian Open.  He may return as early as late November to play in the Barbados Dream Cup exhibition tournament, as a WTF appearance looks very unlikely.

Nadal is 2013 player of the year and comeback player of the year without having to do a darn thing more.  He needs to avoid  overplaying as he did in 2008 and arrive at the Australian Open rested and in good shape.  After Shanghai, I heard he is thinking of playing indoor hard courts of Basel, Paris, and the WTF to finish the season, and then going on an exhibition tour in late November in South America. He's also scheduled to play in late December in the Abu Dhabi Mubadala 3 day invitational, before heading to Australia.

Beijing should have been a bit of a confidence booster for Novak Djokovic.  Let's see if he can use that to his benefit the rest of the season and finish strong.  Juan Martin Del Potro is also looking in better shape heading into the home stretch. If he can avoid injury, he figures to do well.  Stan Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet have had pretty good years.  Let's see how much they have left.  Wawrinka's been nursing an upper thigh injury; hopefully it is better.

Respectfully,
masterclass