Shanghai SF previews and predictions: Federer vs. Del Potro, Nadal vs. Cilic

A pair of marquee semifinal matchups are on Saturday’s schedule at the Shanghai Masters. Roger Federer is going up against Juan Martin Del Potro, while Rafael Nadal is facing Marin Cilic. Del Potro, however, may be dealing with another wrist injury.

(16) Juan Martin Del Potro vs. (2) Roger Federer

Federer and Del Potro will be squaring off for the 23rd time in their careers and for the third time this season when they clash in the semifinals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Saturday. The head-to-head series stands at 16-6 in Federer’s favor, but Del Potro recently prevailed 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(8), 6-4 in the U.S. Open quarters. Federer had previously won three in a row at the Argentine’s expense, including via a 6-3, 6-4 decision at the Miami Open this spring.

Although the 36-year-old Swiss may not be in quite the same form that carried him to the Australian Open title and back-to-back trophies in Indian Wells and Miami, he is still flying high at No. 2 in the world and in distant contention for the year-end top ranking. Federer has advanced this week with straight-set defeats of Diego Schwartzman, Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Richard Gasquet. The script seems to be flipped from when these two competitors collided a couple of months ago in New York, where Federer was dealing with a back injury. Now it is Del Potro who is a question mark, as he suffered a fall against Viktor Troicki on Friday and may have re-injured his left wrist. The 16th seed could be running on fumes, anyway, because he required three tough sets to get past both Troicki and Alexander Zverev. All signs point to Federer avenging his U.S. Open loss to Del Potro.

Pick: Federer in 2

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(1) Rafael Nadal vs. (4) Marin Cilic

Are we in line for a Nadal vs. Federer showdown, after it was derailed by Del Potro at Flushing Meadows? It’s possible, but Nadal may have an especially tough one on his hands against Cilic. The fifth-ranked Croat, who will climb to a new career-high mark of No. 4 next week, is 39-16 this season with a runner-up performance at Wimbledon. He is 8-1 since the U.S. Open, highlighted by a semifinal showing last week in Tokyo preceding straight-set wins in Shanghai over Kyle Edmund, Steve Johnson, and Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Cilic is a mediocre 1-4 lifetime against Nadal heading into Saturday’s contest, but his lone victory came during the Asian swing (albeit way back in 2009, when he cruised 6-1, 6-3 in Beijing). Of course, this is not the same Nadal as the one who limped down the stretch of the 2009 campaign. The top-ranked Spaniard is 15-0 in his last 15 matches, a stretch that includes titles at the U.S. Open and in Beijing. Two quick outings against Jared Donaldson and Fabio Fognini were just what the doctor orderer earlier this week, but Nadal needed two hours and 32 minutes to scrape past Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3 on Friday. When playing well, as he is now, Cilic has the game that can trouble Nadal–serve huge and punish any short balls with flat groundstrokes. On a fast surface against an opponent who may be fatigued, the underdog may be able to execute that plan to perfection.

Pick: Cilic in 3

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193 Comments on Shanghai SF previews and predictions: Federer vs. Del Potro, Nadal vs. Cilic

  1. Last time Nadal and Cilic faced each other on a surface like this was in Acapulco – and Rafa destroyed him. Cilic is playing well, but not consistently. His US Open was piss poor.

      • Federer hadn’t played for seven months when he started the Australian Open this year. And we all know how that went. Despite not playing in a while, Cilic was one of the only prominent players in that bottom half of the US draw, so it was still a surprise to see him go out so early.

        And I don’t see how Cilic’s suddenly so impressive after one week of playing well. Nadal’s been playing well non stop for months now. Cilic may well beat Rafa, but it’ll be a big surprise nontheless.

  2. According to Tennis.com DelPo’s wrist was bruised (contused) but thankfully it’s not a serious injury. He’ll decide tomorrow whether to play the semi.

    • That’s good news for DelPo. If he re-tore, or whatever it was, his wrist again… That could have been the end of it for him. I guess I should probably change my prediction to Fed in 2 instead of 3, as it will take a monumental effort for DelPo to get a set off Fed if he’s injured. I wouldn’t be surprised if Fed got a walkover. That’s disappointing, as I was looking forward to another DelPo/Fed match.

  3. Got Nadal in 3 (like the over here) and Fed in 2 (if Delpo dares to show up and not retire!lol)

    Nadal may have taken 2 hours and 32 minutes to finish Dimitrov but it will not deter Nadal from winning tomorrow’s SF match against Cilic. Nadal will win tomorrow at any cost (may be an ugly win in 3 tight sets but he will surely win for reasons given below!) because:-

    1) Nadal is motivated to win this Tournament and others before 2017 ends and remain as the unbeaten Champion of BOTH CLAY & HARD surface and remain No.1 for 2017 and show that he is the REAL GOAT (along with Federer)!

    2) Nadal is pumped by the fact that if he wins tomorrow (and he will surely), he can play Federer in the Final and beat Fed (hopefully) and take revenge for the 2016 AO FINALE loss.

    3) Nadal being so close to the title here besides the attraction of a big paycheck (Nadal loves BIG MONEY! Ask him if you doubt it! That too after beating Federer. This money will then be all the more sweeter for Nadal!lol) and 1000 ATP points will not leave any stone unturned to win tomorrow in the SF against Cilic, an opponent he has beaten 4 times before!

    4) Nadal is used to playing long and tough matches in the QF and SF’s and still winning the finals (check his past accomplishments in this situation) as NADAL IS A BEAST of a man! Nadal has great strength and endurance unlike other players. He has a great team with him in Uncle Tony, Carlos Moya, his Physios and trainers who will provide proper rest, massage, exercise, Nutrition, Electrolytes etc. etc. to make Nadal battle ready for the SF (for a guaranteed win) and the Finals (Anything can happen here. Anyone can win. Will predict the Finale winner after Nadal’s SF win)!

    Nadal’s tiredness will disappear (with the help of his team) as Nadal will be looking at what is at stake for him with the win of the Title at Shanghai Rolex Masters 1000 ATP Tournament (as listed in points 1,2 and 3 above).

    Got Nadal in 3 and Fed in 2 (if Delpo dares to show up and not retire!lol)

    I won’t be surprised if Nadal beats Cilic in 2.But not betting on it! Just in 3 or the over!

    Remember how you wrongly predicted the Beijing Open Finals (given below):-

    “Sunday-10-08-17

    Beijing:
    Nadal over Kyrgios in 3”

    But Nadal squished Kyrgios like a bug! The same can happen tomorrow(but not predicting it).

    But just predicting a Nadal win in 3. It may be a dirty win (in 3 tight sets) but who cares! We just want a Nadal win (to setup a juicy Finale with Federer) tomorrow over Cilic (an opponent Nadal has beaten 4 times. Nadal has Cilic’s number!lol) and Nadal will deliver and make his RaFANS happy! I am also a FEDan! I am a fan of great talent and skill(be it Caroline Garcia or Wozniacki or Nadal or Federer)! Ricky are you not a RaFAN like us?

    Got Nadal in 3 (like the over here) and Fed in 2 (if Delpo dares to show up and not retire!lol)

    What you got RaFANS?

  4. Just out of curiosity- what was the story with the extremely one-sided Rafa/Cilic match in Acapulco? Was Rafa really good? Was Cilic really bad? Or a combo of each? Was Cilic coming back from injury? I’m just surprised by such a one-sided score line with Cilic…

    • You can’t forget how badly Cilic played in the beginning of the year. For the first three months, the highest ranked person he beat was Borna Coric, who was ranked 61 at the time and it also took three sets. He also lost to Jozef Kozvalik, Dustin Brown, and Taylor Fritz during the first three months. Cilic also had seven break points against Rafa, but couldn’t convert any of them.

    • Kevin, that’s not unusual. The only unusual one was Cilic beating Rafa 61 63 in Beijing in 2009, the first time they met. In 2009, Rafa had issues. The other 4 wins Rafa has so far against him were easy enough.

      2017 Acapulco SF Hard Rafael Nadal def Marin Cilic 6-1 6-2
      2015 Basel QF Hard Rafael Nadal def Marin Cilic 4-6 6-3 6-3
      2011 Rome Masters QF Clay Rafael Nadal def Marin Cilic 6-1 6-3
      2011 Australian Open R16 Hard Rafael Nadal def Marin Cilic 6-2 6-4 6-3
      2009 Beijing SF Hard Marin Cilic def Rafael Nadal 6-1 6-3

  5. Mostly Delpo will retire to be safe. Even if he shows up he will not be able to play backhands much and Roger for sure will target backhand and rightfully so. So fed will win no matter what. Between rafa and Cilic it is very hard to choose. Rafa is fatigued but may win in 3 close sets. if Roger/Rafa reach Final, well rested Roger in 2 + Rafa may have some mental block from his defeats to Roger earlier this year (I wish Rafa should win as it will be his first Shanghai title but can’t say 100% yes)

    • Actually, I don’t think Delpo is really injured but I don’t blame him for making sure because of the history of his wrist. More injury time out because of that might be his final hurrah.

  6. Why does everyone says Nadal is tired? He had a long break between the French and Wimbledon and then didn’t play much in the U.S swing. Won U.S and Beijing but only dropped a small amount of sets. He had a 3-4 day break in between Beijing and Shanghai!

  7. Even though he’s getting older, 31 is not that old, and Rafa has always been one of the fittest, well-conditioned players on the tour. Shit, he’s arguably one of the fittest athletes of all-time, imo. 31 is not 25. But it’s also not 35. From a visual standpoint, he looks to me to be in some of the best shape over ever seen him in. He looks like he is about 0.00001% body fat right now, with crazy muscle tone.

    • Rafa is not tired! I don’t know where people are getting this! Rafa is riding a winning streak right now. He is doing well in a time of year when he usually does not have much success!

      Rafa has not overplayed! How much easier could his first two matches have been? One three set match and people are freaking out!

      After Shanghai Rafa and his team can assess where he’s at. Rafa is competing well and playing outstanding tennis.

      Let’s just enjoy it!

      • You (foreignworker if outside USA!lol),Kevin, THj are all right about Nadal.

        Nadal and his team must be reading all the negative things people are saying about Nadal. That will infact fuel Rafa to be play more focused and win convincingly today if possible like in the past H2H’s.

        But we as RaFANS are just expecting a win in 3(2 also possible) sets.

        Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr….Ruff,Ruff,Ruff….Rafa be aggressive like a bulldog and maul the chilling Cilic and win!lol

        But be also focused, energized, confident and strong to be VICTORIOUS!

        You will hear the cheers and encouragement from every one of you RaFANS from all over the Galaxy. What? Maybe this globe, which will give you 1000x energy and make your enemies/doubters tired instead of you!Ha,ha,ha… You will then be the ‘He man of the Universe” to dominate all men (OK your opponents only!lol)!

        Vamos “Ruff and Tuf” Rafa

    • I love the comment at october 14, 2017 at 12:59 AM, a true, unbiased and fearless fan.

      Rafa’s 1st and 2nd match were less than 2 hours, F. Fognini( 1 hour, 4 minutes.), J. Donaldson( 55 minutes.) = 1 hour, 59 minutes the were less than 2 hours lol!

      Those who are making excuses 4 R. Nadal are afraid and are trying to play it safe, it won’t work on me.
      B4 this tournament started, i knew that if R. Federer wasn’t battling an injury he would win it, irrespective of who he faces or how many hours he spends on a match.

      R. Nadal is 31 yrs old, the total time he spent in his 3 matches in Shanghai is 4hrs 34 minutes.

      R. Federer is 36 yrs old, the total time spent in his 3 matches in Shanghai is 3hrs 56 minutes.

      Difference in time= 38 minutes.

      When R. Federer won miami( Masters) by beating R. Nadal in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, he played N. Kyrgios in the semifinal and he won that match in 3 sets, 3 tiebreaks, 7-6(9), 6(9)-7, 7-6(5)( 3 hours 15 minutes), his QF vs T. Berdych was also decided in 3 sets 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(6)( 1 hour 59 minutes), R. Federer spent a total of 5 hrs 14 minutes before he smoked Nadal in the finals.

      In miami, R. Nadal defeated F. Fognini in the SF 6-1, 7-5( 1 hour 31 minutes), in the QF he defeated J. Sock 6-2, 6-3( 1hr 25 minutes), Rafa spent a total of 2hrs 56 minutes in those 2 matches and lost to the best tennis player of the year in 2 easy sets.
      Difference in hours= 2 hours 18 minutes, that’s a lot, i can travel to Shanghai right now and be back and it won’t take 2hrs 18 minutes, just 2 hours, 17 minutes 59 seconds lol!

      Same thing happened to both players in Australian Open, lots of 5 sets and 4 sets, i don’t have the time to explain.

      Very soon R. Federer will take this baby home.

      #NOEXCUSES

      • What about Beijing? You forgot so quickly? YOU were the one who commented that they should have finish Beijing first before they start Shanghai, weren’t you? He didn’t even enjoy his win in Beijing as he has to be transported to Shanghai right after the trophy was handed to him.

        Rafa is playing back2back tournaments without at least a week break, so who is making excuses?

        • Don’t misunderstand, i don’t have time to respond to this, your comment doesn’t make sense in a way.

          If you carefully but everything together u will understand.

  8. Based on stats & history, this match points to R. Nadal winning in 2 sets or winning & under 22.5 games.

    Who knows what M. Cilic will do?
    I want R. Nadal in finals, i demand a Fedal.

    • Who knows what M. Cilic will do? What?

      Cilic will serve and volley. That is what beastly/giantly (like Isner, Querry etc.) men do! Infact, that is the only thing they do!Ha,ha,ha…

    • Well done Sara shah!
      Roger Federer will win Shanghai.

      The End.

      One more thing, this is the 1st time i am reading your comment, so what’s up?

  9. Rafa’s return positioning is much deeper in Shanghai this year as compared to the last time he played here in 2015. BUT, he is getting MUCH better depth on his returns this year.

    They showed two graphics to demonstrate this.

  10. ANother BP saved. 0/5 on BP’s already?

    Even though it has more been like Cilic playing well on BP’s, Rafa has not done a great job converting.

    This has perhaps been the only weak (relatively) area of his game last two weeks.

  11. Wow that was a poor second serve return on BP.

    So far, he has missed two second serve returns on BP. I guess he was trying to go for a bit more but misfired.

    Need to get better at converting.

  12. How many BPs must Rafa squander? Thirteen?

    I don’t understand why he’s wasting so many BPs when others didn’t even need so many BPs to break serve!

  13. Those BP chances missed, it may come back and bite Rafa! I’m not liking how passive Rafa is now, just running all over the place and hitting his shots right back at Cilic.

  14. Rafa is just allowing Cilic to gain confidence after saving all those BPs, and Cilic is moving up to the net so often now, forcing Rafa even further back; not looking good for Rafa.

  15. Opened the 1st champagne bottle and drank in your name Rafa!

    Win the 2nd set and I will consume the 2nd champagne bottle, again in your name!lol

    Common Rafa get the 2nd set quickly and go home (hotel) and rest well to take on Federer tomorrow! May the best man win in the finals!

    Vamos Rafa.

    • Yeeeeeeeh Rafa wins in 2 and made all RaFANS proud!

      Did anyone bet on Cilic? Stand up and raise your hands right now!lol

      Opened the 2nd champagne bottle and drank in your name again Rafa! Hope you liked the taste? The taste of your victory is 10000x times more tastier than my Champagne!

      Blasted off some rockets also. Did you see them Rafa, RaFANS?lol

      Vamos Rafa

  16. I had to go and came back just in time to see Rafa break serve! What a DTL forehand passing shot and incredible depth on backhand counterpunching from so far back. Rafa’s CC backhand is as good as ever at the moment!

  17. Rafa is getting such good depth on his running CC forehand. That shot is usually under tremendous pressure on fast courts but he is managing it so well in this Asian swing.

    oops, BP Cilic!

  18. I don’t know what happened to Rafa, serve so poorly to let Cilic break his served twice in a set when he’s serving for the match. He’s throwing Cilic a lifeline, not good.

    As the match goes on longer, I’m afraid Rafa is looking more tired of the two. He’s running more than Cilic does, he’s at a disadvantage.

    Why can’t he serve better in his previous game and finished the job? Why make life difficult for himself and waste so much energy??

    • He will be tired for finals , but I doubt against Fed it will be such a physical match. Plus, when is the finals ? I think its going to be pretty late. With so much tennis that he has already played, I hope he skips Basel or Bercy, ideally both. He cant be no.2 at the end of the year, for sure.

    • Lol relax, he has done it. The TB was FLAWLESS!

      I do feel looking at Rafa’s face that he is a littleeee bit tired but he will have enough in the tank for tomorrow and put up a really good performance.

      If it’s Roger, the swiss will have to play at his absolute best tomorrow to beat this Rafa.

      I am so proud of Rafa! You write this man off and he comes back playing his best tennis on his worst surfaces!

      If he can bag this title, tomorrow, he will have an excellent change in the indoor events as well.

      He should SURELY skip Basel now.

    • luckystar, you know better than me that there were 2 players on the court who wanted to win the match; It’s not that simple to have it all your own way in a match like tennis with so may variables. Cilic played very well today. Pity he couldn’t bring that against Federer in the Wimbledon final.

      • Nad, the thing is, after serving poorly to lose serve when serving for the match, he served well in his next service game to reach 6-6! So, why couldn’t he concentrate and served better in the previous game to finish the job? It’s not like Cilic was hitting all that well in that previous game but poorly in Rafa’s next service game. It’s more of Rafa’s own fault than anything else.

          • Rafa played a lose first game to get broken first time. However, at 5-4 Cilic played really well to get the break. Rafa played 25 minutes extra uselessly but he should recover. He would be all raring to go in the finals. He has got enough points to concentrate only on WTF and win it. Let Fed do all the chasing .

        • Nerves, and also a slight dip in focus which might be a little tough for Rafa at this point after the season his had, and listen, Rafa is fit,yes, but he ain’t 19! I get angry with him when he drips his serves like that but surely, he is not doing it on purpose! And what’s great about Rafa, he forgets the folly and gets right back to work!! He is a special individual, for sure!!

  19. Finally, but I think Rafa will have a big problem in the final. He seems to lose concentration during his match and thus makes life difficult for himself. If he continues to slog like this, then he better skip one of Basel or Paris. He’s not going to last like this.

  20. Rafa is too defensive. I don’t know what’s up.
    He was playing so good in Beijing. Attacking tennis. Now all of a sudden he is back to all defense.

    Fed will gobble him up in the finals.

    • Nah, Rafa won’t let that happen! U will c!

      If there is one thing Rafa knows, is how NOT to play Federer!!

      I believe he’ll prevail, hut he might be a little listless!

      Good luck Rafa!

  21. One can’t really blame Rafa for losing his serve twice considering how agressive Cilic was in those games! Rafa played so well, he was able to counterattack some of the great ‘kissing the line’ shots from Marin! When I read some of the comments here I thought we were not watching the same match! This is semifinals, can’t expect Rafa to cruise over a guy playing on his favorite surface! Ricky and many here expected Rafa to lose today! I don’t predict Rafa’s matches, don’t want to jinx him, but I thought the only way Rafa to lose playing like this was if he was forced to make too many UEs! Cilic did attempt to make that happen but this Rafa is just too good!

    I am so proud of Rafa! He is brilliant! Beautiful to watch him play like this!

    Vamos Rafa!

    • The problem is, he’s having the upper hand many times but had his mental lapses and allowed Cilic back into the match! I mean he was serving so well all along but then when serving for the match, he didn’t serve well and Cilic took advantage.

      He can’t afford such lapses in the final, especially if it’s Fed in the final. Fed is so good in TBs that I don’t see Rafa winning TB sets against Fed.

      • I’m not too sure it’s mental lapses. There is a player at the other end of the court who is playing AGAINST Rafa, doing all HE can to win points against him. Whilst Rafa’s fans want him to just steamroll the other guy in straight sets, the other guy is also trying to steamroll Rafa. They both want to win.

    • Well said @Nats! On this surface, most pundits would be correct to have Cilic as the favourite. So, bravo to Rafa for gutting out a win. He is in the finals, racking up those important ranking points towards YE#1.

      Vamos Rafa!

      • Nah, Rafa is playing well on this surface this season, I won’t even call Cilic a fave against Rafa, because as we can see, Cilic is not great in returning of serves whilst Rafa is very good in his ROS. And, Rafa is serving well the whole tournament, so he’s having an edge over Cilic in his serving plus returning of serves.

        Notice the points won by both, Rafa won more (much more) shorter points than Cilic, but Cilic won a few more of the longer rallies.

        Rafa was the better player in this match, but had his mental lapses and thus was pushed hard by Cilic.

        • Well @lucky, I actually thought Rafa is playing well this part of the year compared to other seasons but reading some of the comments on here you wouldn’t know! Unlike Ricky, I had Rafa beating Cilic and he did beat him so………….

          Having said that, I would not have been surprised at all if Cilic had won because this surface suits him best and Rafa has gone deep in the last couple of tournaments whereas Cilic has not.

          But hey, I am happy Rafa is in the finals, let’s see what happens tomorrow!

    • Nice post, Natashao! Lol re jinxing Rafa. Like we can. But I feel the same way. However I have started predicting Rafa’s matches. Well, sort of. I figured if I always pick him to win, that can’t be a jinx!!

      I see that DelPotro is going to play the semi final so good luck to the big guy!

  22. Oh come on. Rafa didn’t play aggressive enough, let’s not be delusional. He played amazing attacking tennis against Kryois in the Beijing finals. Took away all his powers.
    Today all defense, waiting for Cilic errors.
    You have to keep attacking players off balance. Today he was simply contend on putting the ball back in play, at least in the 2nd set. That’s not going to be enough against Fed. He has to step it up.

    • Atul, this was not as attacking as the Beijing final but was NOT defensive tennis at all, my friend 🙂 He was hitting with good penetration and had he been waiting for Cilic errors on such a fast court, he would been sent packing in two sets .

    • @Atul1985, plain to see you were not impressed with Rafa’s play today. That’s fine. All the more impressive then that he won despite playing badly, no?

      As for how he will fare against Fed in the final, why not wait until actually plays the Final before concluding on how he will play? Fair?

  23. I watched only 2 matches recently…the Beijing finals and then the 2nd set today. Rafa’s level was noticeably lower today. Plus, the mental lapses worry me too. He has to beat Fed

    • Atul, the Beijing final was surely better but no reason he can’t bring out his best in the final here as well tomorrow !

      He is serving and returning so well, CC backhadn is still on fire but I think he needs to move up the court more on his forehand side and go the net a tad more.He is playing well enough to beat anyone including the mighty Fed, in my opinion.

      • Yes agreed, VR. He’s not moving up to the net often today whilst Cilic was there more often and won 12 or 14 points out of 19 there. Rafa only being to the net 5 times though he won almost all of them.

        Rafa was hitting his FHCC too often that his opponents now expected that from him, and Dimi attack him by going DTL so often that caught Rafa by surprise.

        I think Dimi played Rafa tougher than Cilic did; Cilic was saved by his big serve but made many UEs (40). Rafa played better, more attacking tennis vs Dimi, though he’s still playing well in this match but as usual had his mental lapses.

    • Rafa does not have to do anything! I would be happy of he wins tomorrow but Rafa has already done WAY WAY more than expected, so let’s not get too greedy now!

      If he wins here he will be expected to win WTF which is his goal! And that’s the tourney I would much rather him win instead of this one, so regardless of the result tomorrow, undoubtedly, Rafa has had a stellar year!!

      Federer has not looked too great in this tournament but since its hard court I guess I’ll call it 50/50. Hope its a great match!!

  24. I’m so confused reading the comments as to how he played. Its very mixed almost like a film review is :-).

    The only consistent feeling is he played not as good as Beijing . That’s okay. We got to understand rafa knows cilic won’t implode like nick and rafa can’t bank on that. Rafa has to play mix of attack and defense to either go for the kill or have nick make the errors. The only thing that worries me is he losing serve serving both sets and that too with his now much better serve and this is not a final where you do get title nerves and tighten up.

  25. The positive thing is Rafa even if he loses tomorrow will be 2000 points plus in lead over fed and Fed will have to mandatorily win both Basel and Paris to have a chance.

    2000 right lucky in race ahead even if he loses to fed tomorrow and Fed wins the title ?

  26. Credit has to be given to Cilic. After struggling through his first two service games and it looked like Rafa had the upper hand, Cilic still fought hard to make it close and Rafa only edged him in two tight sets.

    This was one of the best matches I saw Cilic played, he might have won this match if his opponent wasn’t Rafa.

  27. Delpo serving from a tree. He’s serving so well right now, I hope he gives Fed a good fight. At last he holds serve a bit easier in his first two service games than Cilic!

  28. Like Monalisa I am not overwhelmed by Fed’s level right now. He’s winning plenty of free points with good serving and can dig himself out of trouble with clutch play when needed: but he’s also making a lot more UEs and isunderstandably slower around the court.

    Although Delpo is bravely taking to the court it is doubtful he will be in a fit state to stop the eagerly anticipated
    Fedal final.

  29. Yeah, I also think that Fed isn’t playing all that well tbh. His opponents (except Delpo) are relatively easier opponents than Rafa’s.

    It’s really tough playing against big serving giants on this surface esp when they’re also big match players – slam winners – and playing close to their best level. Fedal really have their work cut out in these SFs.

    Fed in trouble here in the first set. Rafa survived the first set SP and then won the set. Let’s see whether Fed can do the same.

  30. I think Fed just doesn’t have it like he did in the first part of the season. He should not be struggling against post-surgery Del Po like he has been lately. He will never have a chance at AO if he keeps playing these late season tournies. Not sure what he’s thinking at this point… Maybe he’s in denial about his age and condition?

  31. Federer is doing everything here to avoid Rafa, lol!!

    Can u believe it?! Is delpo becoming Fed’s rival once more?!

    If Fed is to win here, it’s has to be in 3, Rafa is licking His chops!!

  32. I hope Rafa is watching this match. Delpo looks scarily good even though Fed isn’t playing all that well. Rafa has to be ready for Delpo’s big serve if it’s him in the final.

  33. Personally, I think Rafa is post-surgery DelPo’s kryptonite… I think Rafa’s old “break down the other player’s weaker backhand with his CC forehand” method works magic against post-surgery DelPo. It didn’t used to work that well when DelPo had a great two-handed backhand. Now Rafa can just play DelPo like he used to play Fed- pound away at the weak backhand and be aggressive in the returns. I don’t see any player without a backhand being able to beat Rafa right now.

  34. Wow. Fed just cannot convert. If DelPo ends up holding here like I suspect he will, he is winning this match in straight sets…

  35. Now they have asked the crowd to keep quiet in Chinese. And the commentary saying it’s Delpo’s fault. Intolerable commies.

    • The crowd knew exactly what del potro was complaining about but they so want Roger to win they don’t care. Meanwhile, delpotro has allowed that to disrupt his game, so silly of him!!

    • Nadline

      Is there any way we could ask for the commies to be trained to say Argentinians? To a man they persist on calling them Argentines. Or am I being a grumpy old foggy?

      • Send them a tweet. @markpetchey; @marcus_buckland. I sent Peter Fleming one the other day about the hyperbole over Kyrgios and he replied.

  36. I think cheering your fav. Player is fine, but whistling between first and second serves of the opponent is not good. Didn’t see Argentians do that. They would cheer Delpo but not try to disrupt opponents serve.

  37. The use of slice backhand was so good from Fed in these last few games!

    So, there we go: FEDAL final!

    4th one of the season and this one is perhaps on the fastest court on the ATP tour. Roger’s finally found his rhythm and he ended this match on a very high note. Rafa’s on a 16-match winning streak and is playing arguably his best tennis ever on these fast courts.

    I really hope Rafa can do it here. It will be a huge win for him given how people have always dimissed his chances in this part of the season.

    If this were the USO final, I would picked Rafa without a doubt but this one is tricky.

    • 1. Roger’s first serve and his inside-out forehand have always scared me in the past on these fasts surfaces. He will have those going for him tomorrow but Rafa is returning really well and getting great length on his running forehand CC. This will be interesting to watch.

      2. The biggest problem against Roger for Rafa in the earlier part of the season was the swiss player’s RETURN OF SERVE. To me this was a bigger problem than his backhand. Rafa is serving better now and Roger won’t be able to pounce on the Rafa second serve like he did in Indian Wells but he will surely go for that play.

      3. Rafa should be the more confident player going into this match but Roger’s victories over Rafa this year will help him have enough confidence. He will freely play his game and think that the conditions will suit his brand of tennis more.

      4. Rafa MUST convert BP’s better and be more focused. Fed is a different beast on quick hard courts. I remember 2013 Cincinnati when Roger was not playing too well but he still put up a great show in the match against Rafa and it was a tough 3-set contest. I do think Rafa’s playing better now but his intensity and focus has to be like the Beijing final.

      • Fed would try to replicate his IW performance. He will try to his as many bakchnd drive/topspin returns as he can and take time away from Rafa so unlcess Rafa gets sharp angles on his slider serves, he will be under pressure from Roger.

        I think Rafa had better patterns of play in Miami but his execution was poor. He has the confidence to make it better this time. His CC backhand is ON FIRE but he has to be careful because this year, I’ve seen Roger go for hid DTL forehand more and Rafa found it difficult to defend against that shot. Roger’s backhand is obviouslya bigger problem now so Rafa must avoid hitting run-around forehands that don’t have much on them and simply open the court for Fed’s CC backhand which is now a more powerful shot.

        I think the momentum Rafa’s carrying might just enable him to get this win in 3 sets. If the Rafa of Beijing final shows up, I will be extremely confident that might be expecting too much given the recent lapses in focus he has had in his last two matches.

  38. Fed won. Stanley Got his Wish – Fedal Final. Wish rafa can win his First Master during this part of the year but fed too good on fast& hard courts. Hope rafa does not have mental blocks.Like them both

    • Rafa won the Madrid masters in 2005, which was played during this exact time of year. So it would be his second Masters title post-US Open.

  39. I think Rafa’s level has dropped alittle bit , he is now playing for 2 weeks so he is less gassed and had 2 tough matches ….. I am with Rafa but I think Roger will win this 🙁

  40. watched highlights of Rafa-Cilic. I thought Marin played a great match! he has hitting both his forehand and the backhand quite strongly and his serve was pretty effective. Rafa, while not at the level he on in Beijing final, played a great match to win this in 2 sets. He should have won 6-4 but it is okay. Just got to be a tad more focused tomorrow!

    Now, is rafa a bit tired? I think there will be plenty of adrenaline tomorrow and Rafa’s momentum should give him enough energy to fight this one out. Fed won’t keep it very physical anyway so Rafa should be fine I guess. It is also good that he finished his match earlier.

  41. I think Cilic played better than Delpo in their respective SFs. Cilic was not only serving well but also hitting well and moving to the net to win points there successfully. Delpo served well but he tend to overhit his FH (and his FH was very scary!).

    Anyway, I think Rafa can deal with Fed tomorrow, he’s striking the ball very well, not missing much, he’ll force errors out of Fed.

    • He’s returning really well and that gives me more hope. The improved second serve will also hold up better against Fed’s onslaught.

      I said after Miami that Rafa might suffer one or two more losses but will tweak his game soon to hand out defeats to Fed. They couldn’t face each other for so long and I think Rafa’s improved some areas of his game enough as compared to the AO Rafa so handle Fed. How this match up will play out on this fast court, let’s see tomorrow!

    • LOL you say Del Po wasn’t overhitting meanwhile Cilic hits 40 unforced errors. Plus Del Po played great in that first set and was hitting well with success too. 😅🤦‍♂️

  42. There are 3 intangibles here that will make a big difference

    Rafa is going for his first Shanghai title and that will bring in the nerves.

    This court is feds most favorite and is playing very fast.

    Rafa is on a 3 match losing streak against Roger.

    I hope Rafa wins but my head says Roger.

  43. As I’ve said before, normally Fed has the advantage over Rafa in these conditions, but not this time. I think that 36 is just too told to maintain a high level through a whole season, even when he skipped a bunch of tournaments. In the first half of the season, he was so fresh and was able to go all out on the attack while still being able to move well. He very clearly just doesn’t have that spring in his step like he did in the first half. And to beat Rafa when he’s playing this well, on any surface, you need a serious spring in your step! Sure, he could manage to play some really great attacking tennis and win the title. I just don’t see it happening. I will say Rafa in 3. Basically, I believe that the match is more on Rafa’s racquet than Fed’s this time, which is very rare in a court like this. I know I could be wrong, but I just feel like 36 year-old guys struggle to stay fresh, and you MUST be fresh against Rafa playing like this. History would point to Fed to win this match, while recent form points to Rafa. In this case, recent form trumps history. So yeah, Rafa for his maiden title in Shanghai, in 3.

  44. If Rafa wins this it will be huge and will take his confidence skyhigh as he will reverse his losing streak against Federer and that too on a court suiting Roger totally. But I also feel Roger will be pumped to show who is the boss on this court. I still remember in 2015 which was novels splendid year how fed took him apart in the semi.

    • No, that’s 2014 when Djoko just got married. You seem to have the years mixed up! The court is/was fast, or not, Fed lost to ARV in his first match at Shanghai in 2015!!

      Fed isn’t/wasn’t playing well now, I would even say that had it be Cilic that Fed was facing instead of Delpo, Fed might even lose the match. It takes Rafa’s good returns to help him barely edged out Cilic in straight sets (thank goodness it didn’t go the distance).

      Delpo got frustrated with the crowd and let that affected him, losing his serve in set two. Cilic remained calm when his service games were under attack time and again by Rafa; I’m quite impressed with Cilic’s determination to fight on despite Rafa’s great defense. Perhaps Delpo got frustrated as the match dragged on, when his left wrist was still not 100% after the fall yesterday.

      It’s good that even without Djoko, Murray and Stan, there’re Cilic and Delpo to provide the stern tests and competition to Fedal, making the matches more competitive and tense. Both giants are worthy opponents, when they could bring their best to trouble Fedal.

  45. I saw the highlights of rafa cilic too. Rafa played well but he was going too much cc and not pulling the trigger to go dtl on forehand sooner. He was dragging points longer by doing this.

  46. Rafa certainly playing better tennis than in both AO and IW! He is so confident out there, his Fhs work well and all he needs to do is execute his usual game plan against Fed: force him into long rallies and attack his backhand. This Rafa’s ROS could not even be compared to the Rafa of AO 2017: it’s so much more effective causing big damage to his opponents! And this story of Rafa being tired makes little sense: a 36 year old just played a three setter, so where exactly is his advantage physically wise?

    Rafa playing this well with high confidence is hard to beat!

    Vamos Rafa!

    • I’ve just watched Rafa vs Roger – IW 2017. That Rafa would not have won Beijing let alone the USO. This Rafa is on another level now so Fed shouldn’t feel too cosy about their meeting tomorrow.

      • And it’s the opposite for Fed- current Fed may not have won IW and Miami… Rafa is playing better now, and Fed is playing worse. All reasons to support my pick of Rafa in 3.

  47. I did not see Rafa’s match. I didn’t record it. I woke up to see Fed playing Delpo. At that point Delpo had won the first set and Fed seemed to be in trouble.

    The tennis channel is replaying the matches again. Now they are showing the doubles. Then it will be Rafa. I want to see it for myself because some of the comments seem to indicate that Rafa was not entirely focused at times. I am just happy to see Rafa in another final! These are excellent back-to-back results.

    I also saw that Fed managed to come back and win. I get that these courts should favor Fed. But I expect Rafa to come out determined in the final. I hope he saves his best for that match.

    Rafa may be showing some signs of mental fatigue. But I still think he is going to do what he has to in order to get this win. That would be quite the feather in his cap.

    I will have my thoughts after I see the match.

  48. Tomorrow Rafa should beat Fed under the roof. Rafa will be tired but adernaline should carry him thru and he should be ready. If he wins , he is sure to be year end number 1. So, lots of incentives for him.

    I dont think fatigue plays such a big part . These two are the best tennis players of all time. They know how to pull in last one big effort to get thru. Both have done it many times in their career.

    Not expecting a very high voltage drama tomorrow, but it should be a high quality encounter.

    • Rafa is already sure to be YE #1. If this were pre-2013, I would say that Fed would have a shot still, but not a 36 year old man. He would have to win Shanghai, Basel, Paris, and WTF to have a chance at it, and that ain’t happening. Assuming Fed also makes the final in Basel, I’m quite sure he will pull out of Paris. His back would just about break in half at WTF if he tried to play Shanghai, Basel, and Paris leading up to it…

      • You’re most probably right. As a Fed fan I am not concerned right now about him being YE#1. I would be happy for him if he takes Shanghai and WTF; and later having good rest and preparation for AO18.

          • Honestly, Benny and Eugene, what do you guys think about the idea of Fed calling it a season after tomorrow, no mater what the outcome is? I just feel like if Fed really does want to keep the majors a priority, he would give himself his best shot at a successful title defense at AO 2018 if he went into it having had another long lay-off. It obviously wouldn’t be 6 months like last year, but it would be a solid 3 1/2 months of rest. I highly doubt he would do it, as he has a big obligation to Basel and I’m sure he would love to try to win another WTF. But I wouldn’t knock him at all if he did pull the plug on 2017 tomorrow. What you think?

  49. In his post-semi interview Rafa mentioned the fast, low-bouncing court. (Also the roof was closed today – I don’t know if that makes a difference to him in Shanghai). But he seemed quite pleased with his level of play and with the match.

    • Congrats to R. Nadal & R. Federer, their SF matches were tough but they came through.

      I would say may the best player win but some of U might misunderstand, so to be specific i know R. Federer will win cos he is the best tennis player this year and one of THE BEST.

      Federer will smoke Rafa tomorrow & it won’t be pretty, i know that defeating a good player is hard but to do it 3 times in year( those wins were less than 3 months ouch!) is Amazing & extremely difficult.

      I expect Roger to take home this baby and make it 4-0 in a year double ouch! Ouch! Lol!

      To be honest even if R. Federer loses( it won’t happen) 2morrow it won’t change a thing 3-1 or 4-0 won’t change the fact that Roger Federer has been ROGERLICIOUS.

      #4-0
      #bringhomethisbaby
      #Ouch

      • Having just watched the first set of Rafa’s match, my impression is that Rafa stole that set right out from under Cilic.

        Cilic had Rafa down 15-40 at 5-4. He had set points. Rafa even DF’d to give him another set point. But Rafa fought and held his serve in that game. Then he came back and broke Cilic with some stellar shot making. That set him up to serve it out. So I thought the first set was tightly contested with Rafa staying mentally tough in fighting off set points and then capitalizing by breaking Cilic and serving it out to take the first set.

        I admit that I was worried about this match. I thought it would go three sets. I also didn’t realize until today that Ricky picked Cilic to win this match.

        Now Rafa is up a break early in the second set 3-1.

  50. The only think I am worried about is both Fed and Rafa pushing each other and in fact playing a bit too much. Murray won everything last year. And where is he this year ?

    I hope whatever the outcome tomorrow, Rafa should skip both Basel and Paris both. Basel is only 1 week away, I am sure he will pull out of that one.

  51. I just hope he beats Fed tomorrow. 4-0 would be embarrassing. If he beats Fed, then he will have massive confidence going into the WTF.
    No way he is playing Basel. I can bet my house on that:)

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