In a lot of ways, Roger Federer is very unlike the millions of us who have smartphones. The 38-year-old has won 102 tour-level titles and earned more $127 million in prize money.

In other ways, however, he is exactly like us: He, too, enjoys social media but seeks to limit his screen time, especially when he’s around loved ones.

That’s why Federer takes breaks from social media. For instance, from 5 July to 16 September – a 10-week stretch – he tweeted zero times.

“I took a nice break after Wimbledon, because I was spending a lot of time with the family,” Federer said. “I was just tired.”

From 24 September to 1 October, he also posted zero times, not even sharing goofy photos or retweeting witty comments from fans.

But the 28-time ATP Masters 1000 champion, upon hitting the road again, ramped up his tweeting and has continued this week at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where he will face Alexander Zverev on Friday for a place in the semi-finals.

“It’s the energy level and obviously being around my kids. [I] try to be good role model [by] not having my phone in my hand the whole time,” Federer said. “My kids are not here, so they don’t read the press, so they don’t know I’m on the phone. I have always enjoyed interacting through social media with the fans.”

Watch that video of me speaking ok maybe yelling to @AlexZverev before the super breaker ??
Let’s gooooo https://t.co/JsjqczSZNh

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 5, 2019

Federer has been doing plenty of that since 2 October, when he tweeted or retweeted posts 25 times. He’s retweeted photos of himself with fans, tried to pump up students before exams and applauded some of his colleagues, including Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, who on Wednesday clinched the year-end No. 1 ATP Doubles Team Ranking for the first time.

Congrats guys, amazing season so far and it’s not even over!!!? https://t.co/iyzE4xuIBV

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 9, 2019

“I always said, and I swore to myself, I will never start on social media if I have to post every day two times. That’s just not the idea for me. Even though people say that’s what you’ve got to do, but I don’t care what I have to do because I’m not on social media to make money or anything,” Federer said.

“I’m just there to have fun with the fans and it’s fun to interact. I have been doing it when I’m on the massage table or hanging out in the morning and not doing anything besides just having good conversations with my team.”

@rogerfederer 8 years between those pictures ? pic.twitter.com/Pb6yhQ1DDK

— Camelia (@itscameliaaa) October 5, 2019

His social media strategy, if you will, seems to have worked out OK. Federer (@rogerfederer) currently has 12.7 million followers on Twitter, four million more than Novak Djokovic (@djokernole) but three million fewer than Rafael Nadal (@rafaelnadal).

? https://t.co/3kYUDI86mV

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 9, 2019

Federer is pursuing his 29^th Masters 1000 title, which would draw him closer to his two long-time rivals on the all-time Masters 1000 titles leaderboard. But will Federer be tweeting as the season’s penultimate Masters 1000 event heads into the weekend?

“Now my parents are here, so probably that’s going to slow down just a little bit because I want to spend quality time with them,” Federer said. “So social media goes again probably on the side a little bit for the rest of the week.”

Do your homework, kids. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic showed how important that is in his third-round victory Thursday against John Isner at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

Isner reached the 1,000-ace mark for the sixth time in his career with his second ace of the match. But it was the number of aces top-seeded Djokovic allowed the American to blast by him that was the story of the match.

Djokovic matched Isner’s nine aces in his 7-5, 6-3 victory against the World No. 17 to reach the Shanghai quarter-finals.

“It’s always a big challenge returning the serve of Isner. He’s got one of the biggest serves of all-time. He’s one of the tallest guys ever to play tennis. Obviously with that height, [his] serve is a huge weapon and huge advantage,” Djokovic said. “I managed to read his serve and find a good position on the return [at the] end of the first set and also [at the] beginning of the second.”

Djokovic now leads Isner 10-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, and in seven of their 10 matches outside of Davis Cup, Isner has failed to strike at least 10 aces. The American has averaged more than 18 aces per match in his career.

“Of course I do my homework and I talk with my coaches and understand what his pattern is, what his favourite angles or serves are, if there are some,” Djokovic said. “He can hit any serve at any angle with any pace and any rotation.”

That homework has paid off for Djokovic, who won 42 per cent of his first-serve return points against Isner in Shanghai. Isner won an average of 83 per cent of his first-serve points in his two victories before falling to Djokovic.

“I expected him to go more for the second serves, which was the case, but I didn’t expect him to not make a single double fault and really hit every second serve over 200. That was really impressive,” said Djokovic, who only won 27 per cent of his second-serve return points. “But still, I was very pleased with the way I returned. I returned a lot of balls back and just made him play.”

Djokovic has won seven consecutive matches to start the Asian Swing, including his 76th tour-level title at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships last week. The Serbian has not dropped a set in those triumphs. After retiring in the fourth round of the US Open due to a shoulder injury, Djokovic didn’t feel there was a glaring hole in his game he had to address.

“There are always some fundamental things to work on in the game that keep on repeating. It’s necessary to train in order to feel well, to feel confident, to feel that you’re striking the ball nicely,” Djokovic said. “The main priority was for me to be healthy and try to rehab, go through rehabilitation process of the shoulder in the best possible way, because I didn’t know whether I’m going to be able to play Asia or not. I’m just happy that my shoulder has been holding on and not causing me any pain.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas edged closer to becoming the sixth player to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals on Friday with a battling win at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

The sixth-seeded Greek booked his place in the quarter-finals by beating Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(5) in two hours and 13 minutes. It was their fourth FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting of the year.

Tsitsipas adds 90 points to his 2019 ATP Race To London tally (3,550) and will now challenge World No. 1 and four-time champion Novak Djokovic on Friday afternoon. Djokovic beat Tsitsipas in May in the Mutua Madrid Open final. But Tsitsipas won their lone hard-court meeting in Toronto in 2018.

Tsitsipas can book his place in London Friday one of two ways: If he beats Djokovic or if London rival Fabio Fognini loses his quarter-final against in-form Russian Daniil Medvedev, who is closing in on a sixth consecutive ATP final.

Hurkacz was unable to convert two set points at 5-4, with Tsitsipas serving at 15/40 and paid the price. However, Hurkacz took a 3-0 lead in the second set only to see Tsitsipas start strongly in the deciding set tie-break by winning four of the first five points.

Tsitsipas is now 44-21 on the season, which includes two ATP Tour titles at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille (d. Kukushkin) and at the Millennium Estoril Open (d. Cuevas).

Later in the day, fourth seed Dominic Thiem extended his winning streak to seven matches by overcoming Georgian No. 15 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 6-4 in 78 minutes for a quarter-final against Nitto ATP Finals contender Matteo Berrettini on Friday.

“Honestly, for me, it’s difficult to play against guys like him because I love to have the control over the game, love to be in offence myself. But against him, it’s almost impossible because he hits full power from the first shot on, serve or return,” Thiem said. “I had the feeling mostly in the match that I was in the defence. That’s not my strength, but I handled it well.”

Thiem recorded his 40th match win of the year (for the fourth straight season) against Basilashvili. Rafael Nadal, Djokovic, Roger Federer, Daniil Medvedev and Thiem have booked their places at the season-ending event, to be held at The O2 in London from 10-17 November. 

The Austrian secured the 15th trophy of his career on Sunday at the China Open in Beijing (d. Tsitsipas). He has also lifted silverware at the BNP Paribas Open (d. Federer), an ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (d. Medvedev) and the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel (d. Ramos-Vinolas).

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 2.15pm EDT Thursday to reflect a revised Nitto ATP Finals qualifying scenario for Tsitsipas (outlined in the fourth paragraph).

Roger Federer was pushed like few times before in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with David Goffin on Thursday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. But the outcome followed a familiar pattern.

Federer saved five set points in the opener and then rolled into his 87^th ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final 7-6(7), 6-4. The Swiss will meet the winner of German Alexander Zverev, who’s looking to bolster his Nitto ATP Finals hopes, or Russian Andrey Rublev in the last eight.

Federer fell to Rublev in August at the Western & Southern Open, another hard-court Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati, and Federer and Zverev last faced off in the semi-finals of the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals, which Zverev won en route to the biggest title of his career.

Goffin had the right plan against the 38-year-old Swiss, charging forward and playing aggressively. The Belgian had beaten Federer only once in their 10 meetings, at the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals. But after he erased a set point at 4-5 on his serve, Goffin broke Federer and had the set on his racquet, serving at 6-5.

Two missed forehands and a double fault, though, saw three set points come and go in the 12^th game. In the tie-break, Goffin had a set point as Federer served at 5/6, but the Swiss erased it with a laser inside-out forehand. Goffin saw another set point on his serve, at 7/6, but a backhand wide kept Federer in it, and the two-time Shanghai champion clinched his second set point.

Goffin rebounded in the second set, but Federer broke in the seventh game when Goffin netted a forehand approach. The Belgian was looking to add 90 points to his ATP Race To London tally by making the quarter-finals. The 2017 Nitto ATP Finals runner-up (l. to Dimitrov) is currently in ninth place in the Race (2,325 points), only 20 points behind Zverev (2,345), who holds the eighth and final qualification spot.

Andres Gimeno, who played much of his best tennis on the pro tour of the 1960s and captured the 1972 Roland Garros title, passed away aged 82 on Tuesday after a long illness.

“He was a gentleman on court and had an enormous talent,” said Manuel Santana, his long-time friend, to Agencia EFE. “He was a great friend and a champion in life. Andres, friend of his friends, you’ll be in my life until my last breath. Rest in peace.”

Amiable, polite and pleasant off the court, Gimeno is remembered as one of the nicest guys on tour. At 6’1”, he was lean, lithe and extremely consistent, particularly on his favoured clay courts. He possessed a good serve and a game centred on a powerful forehand, slice backhand, and a willingness to chip and charge to the net. Pancho Segura, one of the leading players of the 1940s and 1950s, helped Gimeno develop his net game and cross-court forehand volley.

Cliff Drysdale, the first president of the Association of Tennis Professionals when it was formed in September 1972, told ATPTour.com, “Andres was always looking for a reason to laugh. To enjoy. He lived on his own terms and you did not need to feed your friendship. It was what it was. After a break on tour, you just took up where you left off. He was easy-going and looking for the next fun thing to happen. I loved Andresito.

“On court, his anticipation was uncanny. He had a simple game plan: chip and charge. I used to goad him in to trying to hit a topspin backhand like Ken Rosewall, but it was impossible. I remember when we used to play golf, he said with a smile, “Irone Sinko Dreesdale idiota” (Five iron, you idiot!)”

Stan Smith, the 1971 US Open and 1972 Wimbledon champion, who is currently the President of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, told ATPTour.com, “He was a gentleman, liked by all and a really nice guy, who I played plenty of big matches against, including at 1972 Roland Garros. He was a strategic player, who sometimes suffered from nerves, but had a good serve and net play. I still smile at the day in Washington, D.C., when Andres was playing when Cliff Richey pulled up a line on the court and 30 nails came flying out. Andres had no idea what to do, let alone anyone else!”

Encouraged by his father, Esteban, who later became one of Spain’s first professional tennis trainers, as a youth Gimeno trained at the Real Club de Tennis Barcelona, venue of the ATP 500-level Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. By the age of 17, he won the 1954 national doubles championships with Juan Couder and soon the international amateur circuit beckoned.

Acaban de comunicarme la triste noticia del fallecimiento de #AndresGimeno. Sin duda uno de los pioneros del tenis en España y un gran deportista. Un sentido saludo a su familia. D.E.P.

— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) October 9, 2019

As a pioneer of Spanish tennis, which is today led by Rafael Nadal, Gimeno’s best year as an amateur came in 1960 when he clinched titles at Monte-Carlo (the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters), Barcelona and also at The Queen’s Club in London (at the Fever-Tree Championships), where he beat Ramesh Krishnan, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson. That year, he also partered Jose Luis Arilla to the Roland Garros doubles final (l. to Emerson/Fraser).

When a vote for Open Tennis failed by only five votes —134 of the 209 votes to reach the two-thirds majority (139) required for a major rule change — at the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) A.G.M. in the summer of 1960s, to “end the distinction between amateurs and professionals”, several of the leading amateur players were recruited to the pro tour. ATP founder Jack Kramer, who had turned pro himself in 1947 only to lead the tour by 1954, signed up 23-year-old Gimeno to a three-year contract — paying $16,000 per year, plus bonuses and travel expenses — in July 1960.

Gimeno won his first pro-tour match against Alex Olmedo in Deauville, northern France, in August 1960 and by the middle of the decade, the Spaniard was considered to be the third best pro after Laver and Rosewall. Strong off both sides, his forehand return was considered on a par with Laver, Segura and Earl Butch Buchholz in the pro game.

Gimeno played in the London Pro Championships (1927-1967) at Wembley on seven occasions, losing to Laver 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 in the September 1965 final. He was also runner-up in the French Pro Championships of 1962 (l. to Rosewall) and 1967 (l. to Laver) and at the 1967 US Pro Championships (l. to Laver). In August 1967, at the invitation of the All England Club, he was one of eight players that contested the three-day Wimbledon World Lawn Tennis Professional Championships on Centre Court. He lost 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-finals to Laver, but secured the doubles title with Richard Pancho Gonzales over Laver and Fred Stolle 6-4, 14-12.

Closing in on his 32nd birthday upon the advent of Open tennis in April 1968, Gimeno’s peak performance days were limited, but he managed to reached the 1968 US Open doubles final with Arthur Ashe, losing to Bob Lutz and Smith 11-9, 6-1, 7-5 and, four months later, he beat Ken Rosewall en route to the 1969 Australian Open final in Brisbane, where he lost to Laver 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. In 1970, the year he reached the Wimbledon semi-finals (l. to Newcombe), he joined the World Champions Tennis tour as a contract pro from the National Tennis League.

Aged 34 years and 10 months, sixth seed Gimeno became the oldest men’s singles champion at Roland Garros with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 victory over ninth-seeded Frenchman Patrick Proisy. Only Clark Graebner and Alex Metreveli took Gimeno to five sets during his historic run, which saw him follow in the footsteps of fellow Spaniard Manuel Santana, the 1961 and 1964 champion.

Twelve months later, Gimeno had retired from the sport due to a meniscus injury. He purchased 20,000 square metres of land in 1972, with the intention of forming the Andres Gimeno Tennis Club and by September 1974, Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spain’s then Minister of Culture and Sports (1973-77) and the future President of the International Olympic Committee (1980-2001), was on hand at the inauguration. Soon, the club had 17 clay courts, an outdoor pool and a 1,720 square metre clubhouse. By the end of the decade, there were 25 courts and 1,600 members.

In his playing retirement, Gimeno became a tennis coach, a television commentator, wrote columns for Marca, the Spanish daily sports newspaper, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009. By the late 2000s, at the height of the global economic crisis, Gimeno was forced to sell property. In 2011, Nadal, David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo, Marcel Granollers, Albert Montanes, Oscar Hernandez and former WTA World No. 1 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario took part in an exhibition at the Palau Blaugrana to raise funds.

Gimeno, who fought hard in his two-year battle with pancreatic cancer, is survived by his wife, Cristina, who he married in 1962. The couple had thee children, Alejo, Andres Jr. and Cristina.

Andres Gimeno Tolaguera, tennis player and commentator, born 3 August 1937; died 9 October 2019.