©Enrique Fernandez for Global Village Tennis News
Roger Federer chauffeurs himself, Mardy Fish showers on rain delays, and Marcos Baghdatis takes loses pretty hard—those are among the insights we learned Saturday at the Western & Southern Financial Series Masters in Cincinnati. (Add them to this assertion by several experienced members of the media: David Ferrer smokes two packs a day!)
Federer and Fish advanced to the final, and both have been there before (Federer won in 2005, 2007, and 2009, and Fish lost to Andy Roddick in 2003). But this time, it was as if they were playing different tournaments.
Fish, a wild card entry, barely survived this long. (Federer was barely tested.) Fish started his tournament on Monday, playing his first-round doubles match. (Federer started Wednesday.) He played 18 sets of tennis between the singles and doubles draws before Sunday, including roller-coaster three-set wins in the quarters and semis. (Federer completed only four business-as-usual sets en route to the championship match, thanks to one opponent’s retirement and another’s walkover.) The American was on the brink of defeat Saturday against Andy Roddick, trailing 4-6, 2-5 when rain caused a second stop in the match. Afterward, he won 11 of the next 13 games to complete a stunning comeback and win 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-1. (Federer has yet to drop serve or play a tiebreak this week.)
©Enrique Fernandez for Global Village Tennis News
Baghdatis, a nervous 4-6, 4-6 loser to an impeccable Federer today, uncharacteristically hurried past fans without signing autographs as he left the grounds.
Fresh Federer versus a fighting Fish isn’t the final that anyone had penciled in, but it’s far from disappointing, especially given their history. Though Federer leads the head-to-head 5-1, Fish won their last meeting—on hard court in a Masters even, no less (Indian Wells 2009). They even came to their press conferences looking like the same man, both dressed in an orange shirt and black hat.
More player wisdom from Saturday:
©Enrique Fernandez for Global Village Tennis News
Federer on losses: You analyze those matches much more than I would analyze this Baghdatis match. This one is here today, gone tomorrow. Sometimes also you can walk away from a loss thinking it wasn’t all that bad. It’s [worse] what people write than what it was. Then you get sometimes brainwashed by it.
Federer on Mason: I like to get away from it all. That’s why I like to return to Switzerland, I like to return to tournaments like here, or other tournaments between huge events. It’s less stressful; I drive my own car here, go to coffee shops, go hang out, read some books, spend time with friends, go to the movies.
Fish on grooming: The beard? It’s not much of a beard, is it? It’s just kind of scruff. I don’t save much.
©Enrique Fernandez for Global Village Tennis News
Roddick on the US Open field: You’re gonna have the normal cast of characters as the favorites, and then that next kind of tier of four or five guys—Mardy has played himself into that discussion, and I think with this week I’ve put myself back in that discussion. You’ve got to favor the guys that have been there and done it before. A Slam is a different animal. Del Potro pulling out, I don’t think that has much emphasis. It would have been a pretty tall ask for him to come back and his first tournament be a major player.