It's been an action packed couple of days at the Cincinnati Masters since I last wrote about the vent with rain delays failing to dampen the excitement that ensued late last night with some of the top players having to endure two matches in one night due to thunder storms and generally sketchy weather.
Also covered are Goffin's later match against Del Potro and Federer's epic Swiss showdown with Wawrinka where it took three sets for Federer to prevail against an impressive Wawrinka coming back from injury.
Match Analysis Contents:
(1) Goffin vs Anderson: Goffin brushes aside the South African
(2) Goffin vs Del Potro: David vs Goliath
(3) Kygrios vs Del Potro: Kyrgios His Own Worst Enemy
(4) Federer vs Wawrinka: Swiss Showdown: Federer's Great Escape
Goffin vs Anderson: Goffin brushes aside the South African
Goffin came through in straight sets against Anderson and was my most likely upset to take place. After I watched Goffin take out Stefanos Tsitsipas when I thought the opposite would happen, I was so impressed with his resilience to the point that he was my preferable pick of the two players to cause the upset. Both Kyrgios and Goffin were equal underdogs in their matches but I knew Kyrgios had the potential to implode and loose the match for himself against Del Potro which he subsequently did. Where as Goffin who was ice cold against Tsitsipas when saving three break points on serve at the end of the first set, went on to overcome Anderson with very little problem.
There is not just one key distinction between Goffin and Kyrgios, there are two. The mental one is the most obvious, what isn't so obvious to the un-discerning tennis fan is that Goffin has a far better return of serve than Kyrgios in terms of his shot choice, capability and mental discipline.
Goffin has super reflexes and will return big serves back at the servers feet allowing him to and get on the front foot quickly. When he is confident and really goes for his shots he's a real talent and joy to watch. Against Anderson he looked the part where as in many previous games this year.
Anderson struggled to deal with Goffin's pace and relentless returning but beyond those two aspects Goffin is also explosive with the way he hits the ball. He can counter punch better than both Murray and Djokoic because he hits the ball more flat and aggressively. The problem is he isn't as consistent at doing so as the two Grand Slam champions. Unfortunately for Andersen though he caught Goffin at the tournament.
Goffin vs Del Potro: David vs Goliath - Rings True Here
For those that don't know the story of David vs Goliath, it comes from the Bible's Old Testament Book of Samuel - Goliath is described as a tall Philistine warrior who was defeated by young David in single combat by using his brains rather than his brawn. You can pretty much draw comparisons with the old story where David Goffin is the small weaker opponent and Juan Martin Del Potro the Goliath strongman.
Goffin is a only 5ft 11inches (very small for a tennis player), he isn't a big server, instead he relies on his speed and nimbleness around court plus his shot intelligence. Del Potro is a giant in comparison - 6ft 6 inches tall he is known as 'The Tower' in tennis circles. He hits a huge flat forehand that has be known for taking out opponents such as Roger Federer in last years US open. Everyone who plays him tries to avoid hitting to his forehand side.
But after taking out Andersen the previous night, last night Goffin took out Del Potro too, again as the underdog. I had him down to win, he just looked too good against Anderson and where as the world number 3 Argentine giant is a more formidable advisory than Anderson I just suspected Goffin's return of serve game would be the pivotal difference between the two.
The match pretty much went down this way strategic route too. In the first set against Del Potro I felt Goffin looked the more threatening on return of serve than Del Potro. But even with his quick hands it wasn't until the tie break where he managed to snatch the first set from Del Potro through just one break point opportunity. It was pretty much that tight between them all the way through the first set. Goffin was mightily relieved to have won the first set having gone a mini break up twice only to concede each point immediately after to Del Potro with several unforced errors.
Further Resilience from the Composed Belgium in the Second...
In a nutshell Goffin went a break up, was then broken, saved a further six break points including three set points and came from three love down in the tie break to win the set. Talk about defiance in the face of adversity where Goffin again succeeded where Kygrios failed, remaining cool under pressure.
Where as the first set for Goffin was fairly rudimentary on serve the second felt quite the opposite. Having broken Del Potro in the third game, he then had to save three break points on his on serve which he did with great composure, he looked calm under pressure. But then in the eight game the Belgium dropped serve and then had to save three set points as Del Potro threatened to take the match to a final third set.
Dicing with Danger
Goffin kept trying to pull Del Potro wide on his forehand side, each time he did this he was met with a missile forehand winner down the line from the Tower. It seemed Goffin refused to learn his lesson as this happened three times in one game and during a key serve game he desperately needed to hold. Again though even with his poor shot selection at times he kept composed under pressure and managed to stave off a rampant Del Potro assault to square the second set 5-5. Subsequent service games were held by both meaning another tie break was needed.
Goffin couldn't have started the tie break any worse, he went 0-3 down and the way he was tightening up on his ground strokes made it look like Del Potro would take the set. But remarkably Goffin then went and won the next five points in the row to make it 5-3. This lead to him sealing the set and the match on a serve.
Watch: David vs Goliath: Goffins Final Decisive Points vs Del Potro in the 3rd
Goffin now faces Federer tonight, a task way bigger than beating Del Potro.
Earlier...Kyrgios vs Del Potro: Kyrgios Is His Own Worst Enemy
Before Del Potro was taken out by Goffin in his previous match he faced off against the seemingly unstoppable Aussie Nick Kyrgios. This match was going to be won or lost on Kyrgios's racket and he lost this one himself when it looked like he had the forward momentum. This is not taking anything away from the World Number 3 who has proven far more successful throughout his career so far. But Kyrgios has a lot of talent, more than Del Potro, it's his achilles heel, his mentality that has hampered his success thus far.
Kyrgios who was the underdog going into this match and with both knees strapped for additional support was the better player in the first set. He looked the more likely to break on return of serve. But as it happened neither player could overturn each others service game and so there was nothing much to see in this first set apart from the odd intriguing exchange at the net and Kyrgios performing two tweeners in a scrappy point.
Kyrgios Takes on the Umpire & Line Judge...
It seems Kyrgios can't help but pick a fight with a judge or two during a match. In fact in his previous two matches he has also been arguing with the judges. It wasn't long into the first set before he did just that again. On a point where Del Potro hit a backhand onto the line where Kyrgios was stood, the line judge stuttered and made a somewhat weak shout that it was out realising he had made an error. This happened just before Kyrgios hit the ball and it indeed put him off the shot.
However the umpire gave Del Potro the point which lead to a big arguement between Kyrgios and him. The umpire argued that this did not put him off the shot in his opinion - a totally wrong call for the umpire to make. He should have replayed the point but judges are humans and humans make mistakes. Instead of Kyrgios getting on with play he persisted in arguing with the umpire during the game and during the rest period. Luckily Kyrgios was able to recompose himself and hold his next service game but not without glancing over at the line judge and making further snide remarks.
The first set tie break was very tight between the two and thejust one slip up from Kyrgios that allowed Del Potro to take the set. Kyrgios didn't look too annoyed at loosing the first set so I actually thought he might be having one of his more emotionally stable days even with his arguement with the line judge.
Set 2 - Nothing to See Here But Another Tie Break
Set 2 was a carbon copy of set one, both players were strong on serve with only one break point opportunity each. This lead to a second set tie break where this time it was Kyrgios he took the opportunity to snatch the set at the third attempt of asking.
With Kyrgios managing to take the second set he looked upbeat and buoyed going into the third.
9 Minutes Toilet Break Too Much for Kyrgios to Handle
Kyrgios sat waiting and you could see him beginning to boil over. It's not a coincidence that toilet breaks seem to be taken by the player who looses the set, this is always the case when a player goes to the toilet, it's been used by Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray at Wimbledon and the US Open to help them win matches. But neither of them took 9 minutes!
When Del Potro returned you could see Kyrgios was not a happy camper. Lone behold Kygrios was the first to serve and he dropped his serve with two double faults! Later in a since deleted tweet Kygrios wrote:
“Two point penalties. Horrendous umpiring. Crazy toilet break"
After dropping his service game the whole set was a farce for both players, tennis and the crowd. Kyrgios completely tanked loosing the set 6-2. It was clear to see after that service drop Kyrgios was not up for playing anymore tennis. He felt aggrieved at Del Potro's tactics of a long toilet break. To be fair, regardless of how poorly Kyrgios handled himself, I think 9 minutes for a toilet break should simply not be allowed. I think for every minute over three that a player spends in the toilet they should be docked a point in the next game.
If you believe in Karma (which I don't but many do) then it was probably right that Del Potro got hauled in his tracks to Goffin the next match.
Federer vs Wawrinka: Swiss Showdown: Federer's Great Escape
The culminating match that followed all the other drama was a rather fitting Swiss Showdown between Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka.
For an entire two sets in Cincinnati last night Federer fans held their breath as the Swiss superstar looked susceptible to an early Masters exit at the hands of his fellow countryman Stan Wawrinka. Wawrinka a three time Grand Slam champion and currently ranked at a ridiculous 150 in the world is coming back to form after being sidelined with a knee operation and had put together a string of impressive victories before meeting Federer last night in Cincinnati.
In a first set where Federer had four break point opportunities and looked the only one to take the set, he failed to break Wawrinka's serve. Concurrently Wawrinka had no break opportunities against the Federer's serve. But in an opening set where Federer was uncharacteristically spurning forehand chances left right and centre a tie break ensued which is always more pot luck than a conventional game in tennis.
Federer Shocks Crowd with Shaky Service in Tie Brea
In a tie break where many would have scoffed at the possibility of Wawrinka winning, Federer's forehand shakiness during the regular games spilled over into his service game. He dropped three service points to gift Wawrinka the tie break 7-2 and first set. The crowd fell ominously quiet and people again realised Roger Federer is a mere mortal!
With the first set going Wawrinka's way what seemed like a likely victory for Federer was now more like a 50/50 possibility. Wawrinka came into the second set serving with a aura of confidence and clarity whilst hitting some big time winners off both his back and forehands where as Federer was still missing some regular forehands and producing unforced errors during rallies and from returns of serve.
Fed Fact: Federer has only been beaten by Wawrinka three times compared to twenty victories against his younger countryman.
Given Federer's record against Wawrinka including winning the past four encounters, and...that Federer has not dropped a service game in this tournament so far, it was at the very least likely to go to a tie break. So there was no need for Fed fans to panic just yet.
In the second set Federer only had one break opportunity on the Wawrinka serve late in and he couldn't have had a better opportunity. After a lengthy rally Federer pinned Wawrinka deep behind the baseline giving Federer the opportunity to finish in the fore court. But much to the shock of the crowd Federer spurned the chance with the ball firing high off the frame of his racket.
Federer went on to serve out his final service game to force a second tie break.
Late in the tie break Federer earned himself two set points but could not convert which lead to a nervy 6-6 in points with the tie break evenly poised it could have gone either way. But Federer claimed one more mini break before Wawrinka gifting him the set by trying to drive his famous single handed back hand down the line for a winner, it came up short much to the delight of the Cincinnati fans who were clearly routing for a Federer win.
Federer Breaks Free of the Wawrinka Shackles in the Final Set
For the first half of the final set it looked like it was going to be deja vu once again as both Swiss Grand Slam champions were holding serve comfortably. But then in the sixth game Federer finally broke free of Wawrinka's shackles as he easily broke his service game before then breaking a second time to claim victory with a final set score of 6-2. It was almost like Wawrinka was spent and he had nothing more to give in the match.
Wawrinka's had his chance to win this match in the second set tie break and he couldn't muster enough consistency in his baseline game to fire home a few extra winners. The longer the match went on the more it began to favour Federer.
Still Federer had not dropped a set this tournament until he met Wawrinka and no one had taken him to two breaks. So for a Wawrinka coming back from injury this was a big plus for him going forward into the hard court season where he has been given a Wild Card in the US Open. He will be a real danger man to many opponents.
Watch: Highlights of the Epic Encounter Between the Swiss Pair in Cincinatti
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