While it may not have been the same sort of performance we looked Roger Federer deliver during his semi-final showdown against Novak Djokovic, the seventeen-time Grand Slam Champion was still more than good enough to get past Gilles Simon on Sunday afternoon and earn the first Shanghai Rolex Masters crown of his career.
After coming painstakingly close to dropping the opening set, Federer righted the ship in time to sneak out a tiebreaker over the talented Frenchman. In the end, it was straight sets victory, 7-6(6), 7-6(2), but the thirty-three year old was made to work in order to earn the 81st title of his illustrious career.
As good as he looked in dismissing Djokovic, the No. 3 seed came out the gate at the complete opposite end of the spectrum against Simon. After being broken in the first game of the match, Federer slowly started to find the range and promptly broke back at 4-5 with the set on his opponent’s racket and eventually used an absolutely gorgeous backhanded passing shot to take the tiebreaker 8-6 and take command of the match.
To his credit, Simon did not fold after allowing the first set to get away from him but he was unable to raise his level play during those handful of “important” points and it ultimately cost him the match. The twenty-nine year old had a real shot at claiming his first ever ATP Masters 1000 title but was ultimately unable to pounce when the opportunity presented itself and you rarely, if ever, get a second chance against the likes of Federer in a winner take all scenario.
The win marked the fourth time this year the Swiss Maestro has been able to raise the winner’s trophy over his head during the current ATP season and improved his record to 4-5 in his 2014 final appearances. After reaching the semi-finals and looking Rafa Nadal drop his opening round match, Federer had already clinched the No. 2 spot in the world rankings but his performance over the weekend certainly put an exclamation point on things.
While he may no longer be the player he once was and will probably fall just short of adding another Grand Slam title to his collection before he calls it career, Roger Federer is far from being done as one of the premier players in the game. The dedication and work he has put into making the necessary adjusts to his approach should be applauded.
Everyone should feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to look him do his thing for a little while longer. Bravo Roger, now let’s see if you can finish off this year in “grand” fashion and take home titles in both Paris and London…not to mention the Davis Cup in late November.
