Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will headline Wednesday’s second-round action in Shanghai. They are set for respective openers against Alexandr Dolgopolov and Andreas Seppi. Hasan Murad previews the action.
Alexandr Dolgopolov vs. (2) Rafael Nadal
Nadal will be looking to extend his perfect 3-0 record over Dolgopolov when they square off in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Wednesday. Last week saw Nadal’s 26-match win streak on hard courts finally get snapped as Novak Djokovic handed the Spaniard a convincing straight-set loss. Aside from just a few blemishes, Nadal’s comeback season has been perfect. He currently holds a 65-4 record for the year, but there is little doubt that the remainder of 2013 will prove to be the most challenging for him.
Dolgopolov is renowned for his flamboyance and volatile style of play. He is a very talented shot-maker, but his high-risk game has tendencies to be suicidal. The 24-year old is trying to raise his game to the level that saw him reach a career-high ranking of No. 13 in the world. He was able to get two match wins under his belt last week in Tokyo, over Daniel Brands and Janko Tipsarevic, and he crushed Michael Russell 6-1, 6-3 in the Shanghai first round. His overall season has been far from impressive, though, with consistently poor performances on the big stages.
Nadal has more hard-court victories (26) in 2013 than Dolgopolov’s total for the entire season (23). Even though the Ukrainian has a dangerous game that gives little rhythm to opponents, he is very unlikely to match the brilliance of the world’s best player. Nadal will be determined to start well in Shanghai and all odds are heavily in his favor to do so.
Pick: Nadal in 2
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Andreas Seppi vs. (5) Roger Federer
Much of the tennis world erupted into a burst of excitement when Federer took the court on Monday to play a doubles match that marked his first appearance since the U.S. Open. The charismatic Swiss appeared reinvigorated and poised to take on the upcoming challenges (he teamed up with Zhang Ze to beat Kevin Anderson and Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 6-1).
To resume his 2013 singles campaign on Wednesday, he will face Seppi–against whom he holds a perfect 9-0 head-to-head record, which includes five matches on hard courts. After a shocking straight-set drubbing at the hands of Spain’s Tommy Robredo in the U.S. Open fourth round, Federer is aiming to rebound and bring some salvation to the most disappointing year of his career since 2003.
Seppi has had a decent season, highlighted by best-ever showing at a Grand slam (tied with Roland Garros 2012) by reaching the fourth rounds at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon. He is a solid counter-puncher but he has never shown the ferociousness or dexterity to overcome a challenge as mighty as Federer. The Italian can take some hope from their most recent hard-court encounter (last year in Doha), in which he finally won his first set against Federer in their eighth match. This, coupled with Federer’s recent vulnerability on the court, might give Seppi a sniff of hope to cause an upset win. The former world No. 1, though, will be in no mood to taste another bitter defeat.
Pick: Federer in 2
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holdserve I wrote a very long post for you but unfortunately it disappeared I dont know why
(rest of comment deleted; reason- personal insult)
i can probably find it
Hawkeye, yes if Nole wins Shanghai and Rafa loses early, Nole may take a WC to Basel or Valencia. But if Rafa makes it to the Shanghai final, then Nole may not consider it worthwhile to add a ATP 500. But though unlikely it is possible. Nole could be desperate to keep hopes alive till WTF..
or, not and.such as if Nole beat Rafa in the final thereby closing the gap another 400 pts then he’d seek a WC. We will see, no?
RT @TennisReporters: “Apparently Del Potro has a high fever, managed to d Kohlschreiber 76 in 3rd anyway, but then had to pull out of dubs with Berlocq”
Don’t know what his goals are for the rest of the season but I would pull out if I was him, he might do himself long term damage. Remember when Rafa went to AO carrying a fever and he ended up losing to Ferru with a torn thigh muscle.
Haas would have won anyway
https://mobile.twitter.com/RafaelNadalFC/status/387949881806970880/photo/1?screen_name=RafaelNadalFC
rafa watching fed match.. cute expression ^_^
Did anyone else catch Goodall’s post-match comment about Rafa’s routines when Rafa was donning his jacket and putting his racquets away? Goodall said, “He’s like an exceptionally high maintenance good looking woman, isn’t he?” Had to laugh at that one.
As for the match, Rafa served exceptionally well. The placement on his serves was incredible. He was also standing closer to the baseline and trying to play an aggressive game. He knows what he needs to do to win this tournament and he’s obviously implementing some of that strategy early. I’m glad he doesn’t have to face Isner next. Against Berlocq, he should be able to control more of the match and hone his “getting ready to meet Novak in the final” skills.
Jpacnw,
Thanks for observations about Rafa’s match. I am pleased to hear that Rafa served very well! Good news!
I am also happy that he won’t have to face Isner. His draw has opened up a little. I did see the Delpo/Kohls match. I thought that Delpo might lose because the commies said he had a fever. The trainer gave him some pills. They said it was either Tylenol or ibuprofen. Kohls took it to a third set tb, but Delpo pulled it out.
It sounds like Rafa has stepped up his game.
“The court is fast, faster than the previous years,” said Nadal. “I think I played a good match. To win against Dolgopolov the way I did is because I did a lot of things well. The serve worked great. Something that didn’t happen last week. That’s a very important thing.”
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/10/41/Shanghai-Wednesday-Nadal-Ferrer.aspx
#WhatFedWantsFedGets
#FasterCourts
Rumour has it that they also gave Fed his own personal remote control for the roof.
🙂
I didn’t get to see Rafa’s match, but checked online and the score indicates that he must have played well. I also saw the good news that Isner is out. I will wait for the replay of Rafa’s match a bit later on the tennis channel.
NNY7: Dolgopolov started the match in a form very reminiscent of Fognini last week in Beijing…high level, very fast, aggressive tennis. Then, like Fognini, he was not able to maintain it. Rafa was also matching the intensity and trying to mirror the aggression. Rafa’s 1st serve percentage for the match was an incredible 83 percent and he had 9 aces. If he continues to serve like he did today, it seems unlikely that he would not make it to the finals. I missed a few points here and there because I kept nodding off (I’d been up most of the night watching the various matches), but from midway in the 1st set to the end of the match, I managed to stay completely awake.
Jpacnw,
Thanks for that info. Since Rafa’s was the last match of the day, it’s going to be a bit longer before I get to see it. The tennis channel shows the matches live from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am my time. Then they replay the matches again during the day.
I would have expected Dolgo to start off that way. It’s really the only way you can have a chance against Rafa. I did go to the ATP website and check out the stats for the match. I was pleasantly surprised to see Rafa’s 1st serve percentage at 83%! That is wonderful! Nine aces! Brilliant!
I am very encouraged by these stats. I am not worried about Rafa getting through to the semis at this point. I don’t see either Wawa or Raonic taking him out. I am wondering if Delpo will be able to hang on, given that he is fighting a fever. I think it’s between Delpo and Berdy in that section of the draw.
Now I feel better about Rafa’s prospects for making it to the finals.
Again, I appreciate your thoughts about the match.