Paris Masters: Impressive Federer & Djokovic set for first clash of the year

The last regular ATP tournament of the year, the BNP Paribas Masters, has many unique qualities.

The only indoor 1000 event in the calendar may take place in beautiful Paris but its home in Bercy, in an unlovely bunker of a structure, has the look of power station married to ziggurat.

Inside too, there is little to charm. Uniquely among the year’s tournaments, curtains of netting hang between court and the paying public—apparently to protect but muting the view. As for the second court, suffice to say that this sunken, echoing chamber is due to close after the 2013 event for refurbishment.

But the Paris Masters has had to fight through trials and tribulations not of its own making. Because it comes at the very end of the gruelling tennis year, and is squeezed between two 500 tournaments and the prestigious tour finale of the World Tour Masters, top players have sometimes fallen by the wayside even before the draw is made.

These disadvantages have also, on occasion, worked in Paris’s favour: The big points on offer for those competing for the last few places among London’s eight ensure drama at every turn.

Over the years, then, Paris has enjoyed see-sawing fortunes. In 2010, the then No4 seed Robin Soderling reached, and won, his only Masters final.

Roger Federer, never a winner in Paris, was beaten in the semis that year by the flamboyant home star, Gael Monfils, but in 2011, the same court became the venue not just for Federer’s first Paris title but part of a stunning run that began the week before with the Basel title and ended the week after with the WTF trophy.

Following this same sublime-to-the-ridiculous pattern, last year saw Rafael Nadal absent for the third consecutive year, Federer withdraw the day before the tournament, Novak Djokovic lose in his first match and Andy Murray in his second. But it ended with another first-time Masters champion in David Ferrer.

And so to this year: a swing back to the sublime in one of the best Paris Masters in living memory.

It has had drama: endless permutations as eight men hoped to qualify for one of the last three places in London.

It has had quality: Nadal, competing for the first time since 2009, notched up 70 match-wins in the second round as he pursues a first Paris title and record sixth Masters for the year.

It has had chasing: Nadal aims to fend off the Djokovic claim on the year-end No1, and meanwhile Djokovic arrived with back-to-back victories in Beijing and Shanghai, two Davis Cup wins, and a 14-match-win streak.

Last but not least, the tournament produced a hugely significant quarter-final line-up, arguably the best at any tournament this year: All eight of the London qualifiers filled the line-up, each with a hope of the Paris trophy but each also vying to assert their form over their London rivals.

And those rivalries had great import. Wawrinka may have carried a 13-2 disadvantage into this match against Djokovic, but he had pushed the Serb to five sets in their two Grand Slam matches this year—this first of them a 12-10 final set in Australia.

Next on court was another great rivalry, Federer against Juan Martin del Potro, the man who beat him to the US Open title in 2009. By last summer, the Argentine was back from wrist surgery to challenge Federer again, a five-setter at Roland Garros followed by a 19-17 final set at the Olympics—both wins going to Federer. Then in Basel, Del Potro edged the title in a final set tie-break and beat Federer in three sets at the ATP World Tour Finals. Almost a year later Del Potro won their next encounter, again in three sets, again in Basel.

The first of these matches was, in the event, less close than their previous two. Wawrinka played some fine attacking tennis, but Djokovic was in truly remarkable form, and having staved off two break points in the third game, raced to a 6-1 first set that took the breath away.

The second set took longer, and again Wawrinka made some scorching winners off his glorious backhand, and again had a break chance in the second game, but could not capitalize. Until 3-3, this began to replicate the tennis of their US Open match, but a time violation for Djokovic seemed to prick him to even better tennis, and he took 12 of the next 14 points to break, and served out the match 6-4. If ever a gauntlet was thrown down, this was it: a statement of intent that Djokovic intended to defend his London title.

So to Federer, and with just one win over a top-10 player—Jo-Wilfried Tsonga—and one win over a fellow London contender—Wawrinka—this year, the pressure was on the Swiss to take a big scalp. And there had been signs that his fitness and confidence were on the turn during Basel but even more so in his wins over men ranked 21 and 22 in the first rounds of Paris.

Certainly his opening set against Del Potro showed every element of the Federer class: just two points dropped on serve, 17 winners to four errors, and six-out-of-six at the net. He missed a break point chance in the second 6-minute game but did not make the same mistake in the fourth. Two drop-shot winners took him to 4-1 and half an hour completed the set, 6-3.

However, it would not be a Federer-Del Potro match without going the distance. The rather lethargic del Potro, courtesy no doubt of two titles and a final during October, cranked up the effort and energy in the second set, again fended off break points on his opening serve and kept up the pressure through to 5-4. And that pressure told on the Federer first serve, del Potro attacked his second serve, and broke to seal the set, 6-4.

That also gave the Argentine the advantage of serving first in the third set and he continued to stay near-impregnable on both wings, waiting for the chance to pound in a forehand missile or draw an error from Federer.

By 1-1, he had earned 14 out of the last 19 points, but suddenly it was the Swiss who opened up the court with angle, pace and forays to the net to catch his opponent off guard. Federer broke to love, only to see the forehand of the match, hit at over 100mph cross-court, begin a del Potro assault on his next service game and, sure enough, the Argentine broke back.

But there was another twist: Federer broke again and consolidated with a love hold. This time it was the Swiss with 15 from the last 20 points, and for good measure, he broke again to take set and match, 6-3.

The most pleasing part of Federer’s win—other than its timeliness just a week after losing to del Potro in Basel and just days ahead of London—was the quality of his tennis: 70 per cent of first serves finding their mark, 17 points from the 20 played at the net, and four of his six break points converted.

Not since losing in last year’s final in London has Federer played Djokovic, and it will take another step up in level from the Swiss to live with the Serb’s form, especially in this impressive post-US Open phase. But if Federer’s level continues to rise, it could be a cracker-jack match.