Nalbandian stuns Federer in China

Yesterday was the final match of the Tennis Masters Cup, played in Shanghai. In a huge upset, David Nalbandian rallied from two sets down to defeat world number one Roger Federer. My TiVo was scheduled to record the match, but, of course, the time slot was only two and a half hours. So over half the match got cut off. Federer took the first two sets, but it was not easy. Both ended in tiebreaks, with the second set going 13-11. Nalbandian then won the next two sets, and the decisive fifth one went to another tiebreaker. This time Nalbandian was victorious, and the upset was complete.

Winning this event is a huge accomplishment for Nalbandian, but I think it's a shame that most of the world's best players were conspicuously absent. No Nadal, Roddick, Hewitt, Safin, or Agassi. It's a good thing Federer was able to play. Despite his loss in the final, it's been a dominating year for him. He's lost only four matches the entire year. I expect him to be back in full force at the Australian Open in January. It will be fun to watch.