Today’s Men’s News (10/13)

Written by: Staff on 13th October 2012

Today's Men's News (10/13)

epa03422435 Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball to Juergen Melzer of Austria during their quarter final match at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, China, 05 October 2012. Djokovic won 6-1 and 6-2. EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG |

Shanghai

Singles – Semifinal: (3) A Murray def. (1) R Federer 6-4 6-4

That pretty well does it. Roger Federer can’t really hope to be the year-end #1. Not unless he wins everything and Novak Djokovic does nothing. True, Federer won everything last year, but even if he repeats, he needs help from Djokovic.

Andy Murray can’t rise above #3 this week, and he isn’t likely to rise above #3 in the rest of this year, but he’s making next year look a lot more interesting.

Singles – Semifinal: (2) N Djokovic def. (4) T Berdych 6-3 6-4

Not only does this take Novak Djokovic that much closer to the year-end #1, it also settles the #5 ranking. David Ferrer will keep it. Tomas Berdych will be #6. But Berdych now looks like an effective lock for London.

Doubles – Semifinal: (4) Paes/Stepanek def. Cilic/Melo 6-0 6-2

It looks like we’re going to be in for a fascinating final, because…

Doubles – Semifinal: (7) Bhupathi/Bopanna def. Fleming/Hutchins 6-7(4-7) 6-3 10-8 (Match TB)

We have Indians on all sides of the net. As well as hard feelings on all sides. And, of course, there is also the Race to think about. With this, we’re at a near-tie between Fyrstenberg/Matkowski, Qureshi/Rojer, and Bhupathi/Bopanna in the contest for #6-#8. Two of those three teams should qualify for London. Which two? It may not be settled until Paris.