Men Tennis Update – Valencia and Basel

Written by: Staff on 28th October 2012

Men Tennis Update - Valencia and Basel

epa03450561 Award ceremony with Switzerland's Roger Federer (L) and the winner Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro (C) after the final match at the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament in Basel, Switzerland, 28 October 2012. EPA/GEORGIOS KEFALAS |

Valencia

Singles – Final: (1) D Ferrer def. A Dolgopolov 6-1 3-6 6-4

David Ferrer had a pretty complete meltdown at the start of the second set, and it almost proved costly. But he picks up his sixth title of the year. What’s more, he earns the distinction of a surface sweep. His titles by surface:

Clay — Buenos Aires, Acapulco, Bastad

Grass — ‘s-Hertogenbosch

Outdoor Hard: Auckland

Indoor Hard: Valencia

That’s a feat three of the top four haven’t managed this year — Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal won no grass titles, and Andy Murray didn’t win on clay. Only Roger Federer can match it (clay title at Madrid; grass title at Wimbledon; outdoor hard titles at Dubai, Indian Wells, Cincinnati; indoor title at Rotterdam)

In terms of rankings, it probably won’t matter. Ferrer remains #5, and he’s 1800 points behind #4 Nadal. It’s theoretically possible that he could end the year at #4, but unlikely in practice. Still, he is making a strong case for his second straight year-end Top Five ranking.

He used his speech after the win for a nice gesture: “I want to dedicate the victory to Juan Carlos Ferrero on his farewell. He has given me the opportunity to grow as a person and as a player.”

Doubles – Final: (2) Peya/Soares def. Marrero/Verdasco 6-3 6-2

Now this is a team that should have hooked up earlier! Peya/Soares have three titles in the last five weeks: Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, and now this. And two of those titles are at 500 point events, which makes it much more significant. It’s obviously too late for them to do much more this year, but if they can play like this next year, they will be obvious candidates for London — and possible candidates for the Top Ten.

Basel

Singles – Final: (2) J del Potro def. (1) R Federer 6-4 6-7(5-7) 7-6(7-3)

It could hardly have been worse for Roger Federer. An opponent he had beaten six times this year, but mostly by the narrowest of margins. That after a long week, with two more long weeks ahead. And the match was two and three-quarter hours, and Federer served second in the final set, so he was always playing catchup. Finally, he failed, and Juan Martin del Potro had his second title in as many weeks.

At first glance, it might not seem to matter; Federer will remain #1 next week. But then — everything comes off. In the Race, he is almost 2000 points behind Novak Djokovic, with only 2500 points yet to be awarded. Federer, if he were to end the year at #1, had to hope Djokovic would almost nothing, and had to win all those points — and that in the space of two weeks after this exhausting result. It was mathematically possible. It probably wasn’t humanly possible.

Indeed, Federer effectively conceded that after this match, pulling out of Paris to rest for London. That means that Djokovic has clinched the year-end top spot. Federer will be #2.

Juan Martin del Potro is still at #8 in the rankings. But he is #7 in the Race, and with this, he is a very strong #7, more than 650 points ahead of #8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He is within 300 points of #6. Unless Tsonga can win one of the two big remaining titles, del Potro will almost certainly end the year at #7, and it might well be #6. Particularly given his strong form right now. We currently show the Race as follows:

1..Djokovic….11410…CLINCHED YE #1

2..Federer……9465…CLINCHED

3..Murray…….7510…CLINCHED

4..Nadal……..6795…WILL NOT PLAY

5..Ferrer…….5030…CLINCHED

6..Berdych……4225…CLINCHED

7..Del Potro….3990…CLINCHED

8..Tsonga…….3310…

9..Tipsarevic…2810…

10..Gasquet……2505…

11..Almagro……2425…

12..Monaco…….2340…

13..Raonic…….2290…

14..Isner……..2205…

15..Cilic……..2200…

16..Dogopolov….1845…

17..Wawrinka…..1810…OUT

16..Simon……..1805…OUT

Doubles – Final: (1) Nestor/Zimonjic def. Huey/Inglot 7-5 6-7(4-7) 10-5 (Match TB)

This perhaps should give Daniel Nestor something to think about. Maybe his problems with his partners aren’t the partners — be it Mark Knowles or Nenad Zimonjic or Max Mirnyi. Maybe it’s just that his partnerships get stale. He picks up his first title since Queen’s — and his first with Zimonjic since the 2010 London Championships. As a side effect, Nestor breaks his tie with Mirnyi in the rankings; Nestor will now be sole #3, with Mirnyi #4.

It is career title #80 for Nestor. He was diplomatic about the win: “Playing with Nenad is always fun, we’ve had a lot of success together. He is one of the best on tour. It is always nice being on the same side as him. He played great, hitting a lot of big serves when we needed them. We both played well when we need to. It was a very close match and it was the difference of one or two points.”

Topics: Basel Open, Dolgopolov, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Juan Martin Del Potro, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis News, valencia open 500

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