I agree with you Martin. Raonic has upped his game a lot, apparently largely by changing tactics. I like it! I saw Milos in person the 3 times he won at San Jose (nearby) but after getting excited about his potential, I was discouraged the last few years. He seemed stuck. Now, he looks great. Yeah, Djokovic is the favorite at this point in their careers/ at their ages. I console myself that they play great points. / jim

Martin, Yes, after Fed won in the Round Robin I felt let down by their final. But I don't agree that pro players don't change strategy. Fed and Djoker both change constantly. Fed's strategy in his Round Robin win was totally different than how he beat Djokovic in Cinci. Fed stayed back, and used the gritty court to kick his second serve up. Also, in the key first-set break, Fed suddenly changed from moving Djokovic all around and using lots of slice to hitting high, maybe 3,600 RPM forehands up the middle, which surprised Djokovic and led to the break opportunities. Then, in their final, 3 adaptations Djokovic made from his Round Robin loss to Fed was to be far less aggressive, changing from blasting hard at Fed to hitting 85% shots, hitting wide-short spin forehands to pull Fed off the court, and going for more kick on his second serve (copying what Fed did to him in the loss). Result: Fed was not able to attack. Easy for us to say he should attack, but he has to be able to. Thanks for feedback and comments. // jim

Chris, Good question. I'm a big fan of Grigor, but a frustrated one. I'd suggest the regression in his game comes from a combination of problems. First, Grigor hasn't been able to control his nerves. He gets extremely tense when he is about to close out sets, and often gives them away. I've watched this happen as he served for sets against Djokovic multiple times, only to tighten up and be unable to serve. In other cases lately, when Dimitrov gets to big points he way over hits. Second, it's typical for players with full court games to take longer to put all their options together. That was true for Fed, for example. But Grigor seems to be stuck. This relates to perhaps the biggest problem in his game, which (to this fan) is his shot selection. Grigor seems to get enamored of a given shot, then hit it in bad situations. One in particular, is his down-the-line backhand slice. I've watched him hit it against players such as Nishikori, who simply put the ball away to the open court. Perhaps, constantly changing coaches has hurt him in this regard. Dropping Magnus Norman's camp to move to Roger Rasheed, known principally for his physical training, seemed like a focus on the wrong issue. Finally, I'd say his regression this year comes in part from making some bad decisions. It was peculiar that Dimitrov decided to change rackets, which looks like he is copying Fed again. For Fed, it made sense. He was leaping from a 90 to a 97 to help on his serve. It took over a year for Fed to adjust to his new stick. Dimitrov's game was also set back as he adjusted to his new, open-string racket. But, why? More power? More spin? What Grigor needs is more consistency, and this was a step in the wrong direction. Combine all those and you get a talented player that lacks confidence, gets tentative and overhits at bad times. All that is solvable, but that's harder the longer he waits. One person's opinion. Thanks for asking. // jim

Thanks for the feedback, Martin. Agree on Djokovic benefitting from the unfortunate slowing down of pro tennis courts. Unfortunately, Fed's down-the-line back hand just wasn't there Sunday. Sigh.