Federer at his most masterful in Shanghai

With decisive straight-set victories over world #2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinal and the turbo-charged James Blake in the final at the Masters Cup year-end championships in Shanghai, China, Roger Federer erased any lingering doubts about his complete mastery of the game and the rest of the field.

After winning his group's round robin with three victories to no losses, Federer's decisive, though not easy, defeat of Nadal was as symbolic as it was real. With that win, Federer established that he would be able to take real satisfaction from his phenomenal year — which included retaining the number 1 ranking by a few thousand ATP points, 11 titles, three out of four slams, and more than $7 million in prize earnings — by finally exacting revenge on the man who had practically owned him everywhere but on the lawns of Wimbledon.

And so, going into the final against Blake, who had also knocked out Nadal in round-robin play and streaked past a dazed and confused David Nalbandian, last year's Master Cup titlist, Federer was brimming with confidence and personal pride. And boy did it show in his match with Blake, a dangerous competitor and shotmaker with some of the tour's best wheels to boot. Not content to let Blake dictate play with his huge, slashing forehand and hammer serve, Federer took it to his man with pre-emptive strikes and some awesome displays of athleticism. What worked for Blake against Nadal and Nalbandian, both of whom seek to find some rhythm in constructing points before delivering the juice, was completely nullified by Federer, who refused to let Blake take charge.

And if there were ever any doubts about Federer's backhand efficacy, which in this observer's mind has always been one of the game's most beautiful and lethal shots, he eradicated those doubts in the 15 minutes it took him to secure the first set from Blake at love. For someone who delights in the sheer aesthetic of tennis, I was most impressed by the long, fluid strokes and effortless movement Federer displayed, particularly on the backhand side, which conventional wisdom has said is his weaker side. Well, you can erase that thought now. Federer showed the world why so many of his opponents come away shaking their heads in wonderment, mumbling about his lack of weaknesses. He really has none, and in this match against Blake, he demonstrated why his backhand rates as one of the all-time greatest shots in the history of tennis.

Federer doesn't merely hit backhand winners, he carves out spaces in the air and on the court with them. On several occasions in his match with Blake, Federer was forced to take a backhand directly off the baseline on the half-volley, something we've seen Agassi often do on the forehand side, but which few tennis players can do with any consistency on the backhand wing. In true Federer style, he hit pure winners with two out of three of those half-volley backhands, impossibly flicking them down the line off of Blake's huge inside-out forehands, and taking a full topspin cut at another baseline-hugger to keep Blake from going on the offensive. With 17 backhand winners, more than off his forehand wing, Federer dispelled any notions that his backhand is vulnerable to attack, at least on any surface but crushed red brick.

A Federer backhand is a thing of beauty and variety. And when he cocks back his wrist and flings it across his body, it can prove quite nasty, too. He's as adept at slicing the ball as he is at driving it with topspin or flattening it out on his approach shots. Federer moves to the ball so quickly and in such perfect balance — hence the appearance of effortlessness; he sets up so early with a complete shoulder turn and full step across his body and toward his target, that it must seem to his opponent that any shot is likely to come from Federer's racquet at any given moment. This explains the deer-frozen-in-the-headlights look on Blake's face throughout the match, I suppose.

When historians look back one day at the career of Roger Federer, I suspect there will be those who focus on his shotmaking abilities, while others recall his graceful movement and tactical genius. I hope that some will recogninze, as I do, the artfulness and efficacy of his one-handed backhand, perhaps the greatest living example of the lethality and variability possible from one of the last of a dying breed of one-handers.

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