After Dance-off, Federer Ready For Business In Shanghai

Roger Federer returns to the ATP World Tour this week at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. But before play gets underway in the ATP Masters 1000 event, he entertained fans in a more light-hearted way on Saturday.

Federer got into a dance-off with none other than Mickey Mouse himself on centre court at QiZhong Stadium, showing that he can do more dancing than simply running around a backhand to hit a forehand.

The Swiss will resume his pursuit of a record-tying sixth year-end Emirates ATP Rankings No. 1 spot when he plays the winner of Rakuten Japan Open semi-finalist Diego Schwartzman and a qualifier in the second round. 

A big week in Shanghai will go a long way for the Swiss. But Federer faces a tough path in his quest to track down Rafael Nadal in the Emirates ATP Race To London, currently trailing by 2,160 points entering Sunday. Critical points are up for grabs at the penultimate ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event of the year.

The second seed finds himself in the same half of the draw as Alexander Zverev, who became the third player to punch his ticket to the Nitto ATP Finals with a quarter-final run at the China Open. Should they meet in the Shanghai semis, it would be a rematch of the Coupe Rogers final in Montreal, where Zverev clinched his second Masters 1000 crown of the season.

A potential quarter-final clash against 2016 Shanghai runner-up Roberto Bautista Agut looms, while David Goffin, who carries an eight-match win streak into Sunday’s Tokyo final, is also in Federer’s quarter of the draw.

Zverev, meanwhile, will potentially need to fight past 2013 finalist Juan Martin del Potro and fifth seed Dominic Thiem to set a meeting with Federer in the last four. Thiem is fourth in the Emirates ATP Race To London, with 3,715 points.

In the other half of the draw, top seed Rafael Nadal leads the pack. His best result in Shanghai was a runner-up finish to Nikolay Davydenko in 2009. Pablo Cuevas or #NextGenATP Jared Donaldson awaits the Spaniard in his opener, with a potential rematch against sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the cards in the quarter-finals. Nadal defeated Dimitrov in Saturday’s Beijing semis.

Nadal owns a record-tying 30 titles (w/Djokovic) at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level and will look to add to victories in Monte-Carlo and Madrid this year. His last hard-court Masters 1000 triumph came in Cincinnati in 2013.

If he is to add another title to his list of accolades, Nadal will have to get through a difficult half of the draw, with the second quarter full of players attempting to strengthen their bids in the Emirates ATP Race To London.

Marin Cilic is the highest seed in the section at No. 4, but seventh-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta, US Open finalist Kevin Anderson and Nick Kyrgios, who is playing Nadal in Sunday’s Beijing final, are all lurking.

Carreno Busta, who is currently eighth in the Race, Anderson (No.12) and Kyrgios (No. 15) are all seeking their first London berths.

Perhaps the most intriguing match of the opening round pits Anderson against Adrian Mannarino, who defeated Cilic Saturday to advance to the Tokyo final. Other matches to keep an eye on are Kyrgios against American Steve Johnson and  Fabio Fognino against Fernando Verdasco.