Batman Wins, Robin Falls

As a Federfan, I could not have asked for a better start to the World Tour Finals for my guy. He was pretty much awesome today. It wasn't quite Ultimate God Tennis, but it was... about Batman level. Sure, he was only playing Ferrer - 'only' Ferrer, like any guy at the WTF can be 'only' - but he didn't give into his tendency to let his bunnies get away with a win and he put the hammer down where it was necessary. Nice one.

Ferrer did not play so well. I guess he'll just have to be happy to be nominated.

So, as a Federfan, I am happy with the Roger side of things. However, I really, really had my money on Soderling to take down Murray, and I was sorely disappointed. Not only was it a loss, but it was a pretty easy loss too. Murray had a gameplan which he executed beautifully. Soderling never once looked like he had an answer.

This win will give Murray a confidence boost that I don't think any of the other guys will be too keen on him having. To beat Soderling, who has so recently passed him in the rankings, has to be pretty sweet for him. He'll feel like he's asserted his authority and staked his claim to that #4 spot (remember when Murray was #2? that was weird) and it could give him a loooooot of confidence going forward.

You pretty much have to see Murray going forward out of this group now, unless Soderling pulls two absolute blinders out of his hat and beats both Ferrer (quite likely) and Federer (maybe not quite so likely). That makes me a bit sad, because I really wanted the Roger/Robin duo to go forward. But then this isn't about me... much as I might like to think it is!

Oh, and the calendar has been shortened for 2012. Sort of. That will give me a little something to talk about in the off-season coming up...