Flying Away

Kei Nishikori and Tomas Berdych are out of the ATP's World Tour Finals, and their 2015 seasons are over. On Thursday in London, Nishikori was eliminated by Roger Federer in three sets, while Berdych’s semifinal chances were extinguished when he lost the first set to Novak Djokovic.

None of this is a surprise; Djokovic and Federer, Nos. 1 and 3 in the world, were heavily favored to reach the semis. Nishikori had come to London after withdrawing the previous week with a back injury in Paris, while the 30-year-old Berdych’s best results this season seemed to be well behind him. They combined for one win this week, and it came at the other’s expense: Nishikori beat Berdych in three sets on Tuesday.

Yet as they went down to defeat, Nishikori and Berdych each showed signs of being able to do more. Once they were on the brink of elimination, both men were freed up to play the kind of tennis that they often don’t play when there’s something on the line, and both had success doing it. Were these signs of hope for 2016 and beyond, or just glimpses of a better world that will never come for either man? That may depend on which of them we’re talking about.

Nishikori began this week with a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Djokovic; afterward, Kei admitted to feeling ashamed of his performance. He made up for it, effort-wise, with his win over Berdych, and his close loss to Federer. In the latter match, Nishikori fought back from 1-4 down in each of the last two sets. He won the first, but couldn’t pull of a Houdini act a second time.

We know about Nishikori’s ball-striking ability, and it was on full display again. This was the match of the week so far, filled with scrambling side to side points, and it was often Nishikori, not Federer, who often had the final, brilliant answer.

“It’s amazing what Kei’s able to produce on the court,” said Federer, who has always touted Nishikori’s talent. “Today was another showcase of that, how he’s able to return second serves, staying on top of the baseline, drilling forehands and backhands up the line. It was impressive.”

Nishikori was equally impressive for much of 2015. He won three titles, finished 54-15, and reached a career-high No. 4 in March. He’ll turn 26 in December; these days, that means he may just be entering his prime now. Nishikori has built a solid foundation for the future.

What he didn’t do this season was rise off of that foundation. After reaching the U.S. Open final in 2014, he failed to make it back to a Slam semi, or a Masters final, in 2015. It was also unclear how bothered he was by that fact. This week there was no mistaking his annoyance at the way he competed against Djokovic, or his desire not to repeat it. What we’ll remember most from his WTF performance was his stubborn fight against Federer.

Nishikori is famous for winning a lot of deciding sets, but he didn’t do it often against highly ranked opponents this season. Is he clutch, or does he just lose concentration in the middle of matches against inferior players? Does he still harbor doubts that he belong with the big boys?

I thought Jim Courier, commentating for the Tennis Channel on Thursday, put it well: He said that the easygoing Nishikori needs to avoid playing “introverted” tennis at the most important moments. Today, when he fell behind against Federer, Kei became proactive and aggressive: He played extroverted tennis. Hopefully he’ll remember how it feels when he gets back on a court in 2016.

What should Berdych remember from London? He went 0-3, so there isn't too much to take away. His once-promising season, which began with a new coach and a rare win over Rafael Nadal in Australia in January, came to a more-typical conclusion. But just when things were looking entirely predictable—Djokovic broke him in his opening service game—the Berd suddenly decided to take flight.

Berdych got a mid-court forehand and pounded it crosscourt; but instead of waiting for the next ball at the baseline, as he always does, he flew toward the net. It was a strange and unnatural sight, to say the least, to see the big man get low for a volley, but it worked out perfectly. A stunned Djokovic hit the ball right back at him, and Berdych, showing solid volley technique, punched it away for a winner. Later in the set, Berdych again pounded another ground stroke, ghosted in behind it, and deftly cupped under the ball for a drop volley winner. Djokovic looked across the net as if he wanted to ask, “Who are you?”

Berdych continued his free-flying ways by slicing a backhand down the line that completely flummoxed Djokovic and drew an error. Yet despite the strong, smart, varied play, Berdych still couldn’t grab a lead. Serving at 3-4, he hit a forehand close to the line that was mistakenly called wide, but he failed to challenge it and was broken after drilling a swing volley into the net. Berdych could have hit a normal volley instead, but I guess he didn’t trust his newfangled, old-school self enough to try it.

Can you teach a 30-something tennis player new tricks? Federer has upped his net attack in recent years, and re-upped his ranking in the process. Still, Berdych seems unlikely to follow in Federer's (nimbler) footsteps. Tomas the Flying Net Man was probably just a vision of what might have been. But it was the best he looked all year.