Thoughts from Shanghai

Safin and the handshaking
When you see Marat Safin walking with the shadows of his past glory beside him and with the end of his career approaching, playing against Mr Unstability Thomas Berdych you could expect everything but a straight match. The encounter filled up with the expectations. In the first set Safin dominated the match with 6 aces while Berdych was out-played and seemingly close to retirement. After that the Czech received treatment and finished to win the match. Safin refused to shake his adversary's hand. Later, in the press room, he confirmed once again his genuinity and spontaneity of tongue and mind, specular to his not-mediate, not-reflected tennis. ““Don't pretend that you are injured and then you start running around and start to hit winners and then all of a sudden you pull the hands up in the air after winning the match?...So then of course the guy will say 'No, I've been injured but then I felt a little bit better'.”
"Of course he will find 10,000 excuses. Still, it's not enough. You're playing or you're not playing”.

The mind goes to the frozen handshaking between Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe at the end of 1988 Us Open semifinal: certainly the two were never mistaken as British gentlemen. But they showed glimpses of genuine personality, also if, as Martin Amis once wrote, “personality” in tennis is too often synonymous with a “seven-letter epithet that begins with a and ends with e”.

The real question, now, is that: this simple act, sign of camaraderie, meant to testify the fair play, is become the showing, the parody of the fair play, of that really genuine spirit characterizing the “third time” in rugby. What should have been a feeling became a theatrical play. On the one side, you could see the mocking-bird of an exaggerated correctness, the ostentation of a sacrifice, the relinquishment of the natural, inner competitive instincts. An the vassal style handshakes too many times devoted to Roger Federer are there to demonstrate it. On the other, a frigid routine, a mechanical act that lost everything authentical. In an era of appearance and ephemeral celebrity, Marat Safin remains as an appreciable exception.

James Blake mistery
Entertaining and losing. James Blake's match against Rafa Nadal in Shanghai was similar to many other of his encounters when he surrendered to big stars. When he plays against Federer or the Mallorcan, he shows all his hybrid nature, of a 30-years-old promising youngster who doesn't want to be considered a savvy veteran. But he's deep, intelligent on and off court, the nearest to a philosopher you could meet in a tennis center. Yet, he hasn't hit his peak, in tennis and life. He could become an informed citizen, with an active role in the society, and a great player, even nowadays. Despite the Boris Becker theorem (you measure a tennis player's life in dog years) Blake is younger than his DoB. He changed his long-time coach and friend hoping to win his first Masters 1000 or reach a Grand Slam final. After his entertaining defeat against the Mallorcan champion, however, we can learn a lesson. He has an inner smile difficultly compatible with world-class tennis. His injuries, the death of his father made him a better and strongest man. His foundation for the research against cancer improved his altruistic spirit. He seems, in other words, too good-natured for harsh tennis matches. For him tennis is an important, but not dominant part of his identity; and sometimes it seems he tries not to hurt too much players considering success in sport as their principal reason of life.

Hard night’s day for Mr.Ace

Lleyton Hewitt reduced John “Mr.Ace” Isner to a Volandri whatsoever in the first Shanghai Masters 1000 big match: Rusty won 6-2 6-4.



Long John had immediately the epiphany of his fate when Hewitt grabbed an early break to 2-1 with a perfect backhand lob (yes, you’ve read well) surprising the 6’9” giant fighting with the range of his groundstrokes. A second break and an easy hold gave Rusty the first set. Things seemed easier and easier for the Australian, while Isner’s serve improved for three service game before failing again; three break points in the same game were too much for the American who saved two but surrendered to the inside-out forehand from Hewitt who wasted two match points on Isner’s serve at 5-3 but closing easily in the next game.

While Davydenko defeated Kunytsin (in the less intriguing match of the day, the one I could never watch, despite the great respect due to a champion like Davydenko) securing a third round clash against Mano de Pedra Gonzalez and Tommy Haas overpowered Benjamin Becker, the lights of the stage were devoted to “Psycho”, a tennis drama in two distinct acts. In the first Marin Cilic decided to completely waste the few hopes to be in the eight elected for the World Tour Finals and gave space to Mr Instability, Thomas Berdych, as I resumed in the previous post. Not satisfied, the Czech now awaits for the wild-card Marat Safin. Would bookmakers accepts bets on the total amount of broken racquets in the match?

“French gift” could be the title of the second act of the drama. Principal characters Gael Monfils and PHM, alias Paul Henry Mathieu. The 23-years-old confirmed once more that without injuries he could firmly stand in the top-10. But he has three zero in his ranking points (he withdrew from Wimbledon and the Masters 1000 in Rome and Madrid) and has to be pleased with his berth fourteenth best player in the world. Today Mathieu, in the “2002 Davis Cup final” version tried, and succedeed in making everything elementary for La Monf, who broke twice and clinched the first set with a comfortable 6-2 after an unreturnable serve. Same scheme in the second. Tame double fault by PHM to hand Monfils the break to 2-1. Mathieu is returned the player uncapable to beat even the center keeper’s son and surrendered 6-2 6-2 when Monfils displayed a decent sliced backhand drop shot over the net: Mathieu could have done something more anyway.

Stanislas "the Manislas" Wawrinka needed three hours and ten minutes to subdue Lukas Kubot, but seven games sufficed him to go though to the third round. Andy Roddick was forced to retire when he was leading 4-3. The Swiss started masking his tiredness with fierce groundstrokes targeting the American backhand. Andy served well, wasted two breakpoints in the seventh game, but pulled up after the forehand winner from the Swiss. He asked for the injury time, but even after the treatment he limped badly and shaked hands with Wawrinka, who now will face Radek Stepanek (75 64 to Andreas Beck)

Trading places

Waiting for the big star entrance in the Shanghai Masters 1000, let’s take a look to the Race standing, essential to determine the eight eligible to play the first ATP World Tour Finals hosted in the prestigious O2 Arena in London.

With the result updated to today, not considering the first five place, because Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and Del Potro, are all qualified, the ranking is:

6 Roddick 4410 (2190 Grand Slams – 1090 Master Series – 1130 Others)
7 Verdasco 3080 (1140 GS – 820 MS – 820 others)
8 Gonzalez 2690 (1350 GS – 595 MS – 745 others)

9 Soderling 2650 (1785 – 165 – 700)
10 Tsonga 2640 (810 -650 – 1180)
11 Davydenko 2360 (630 – 370 – 1360)
12 Cilic 2025 (810 – 280 – 935)

Cilic was defeated by Thomas Berdych in Shanghai, in a schizophrenic and psychotic match: the Czech squandered three set point in a thrilling first set tiebreaker won by Berdych 10-8. Then Cilic is perfect in the next set, breaking to 4-2 thanks to a whipping forehand winner across court and sealing the second 6-3. In the third Cilic broke twice in a row to 2-1 and 3-2 but went out of mind losing the last four games in a row. So he erased almost definitely all his chances to leave to London. Roddick, despite his astonishing defeat against Kubot in Beijing, is in pole position while Verdasco has lost a great chance losing in the Kuala Lumpir Masters 500 to Davydenko, who defeated Kunytsin in Shanghai. With two Masters 1000 and two Masters 500, played in the same week, Basel and Valencia and four Masters 250, it will be important to see how theese second tier events could determine the “list of the eight”. The players could insert four Masters 500 and two Masters 250 in the best other countable results. So Verdasco has to win a Masters 500 to gain 100 points, while Soderling and Gonzalez can improve their points reaching a final. A semi would be enough for Davydenko, having great chances, given his last form, to be in England.

My pick: Roddick, Tsonga and Davydenko.