Men’s Tennis Tour News Oct. 9

Written by: on 9th October 2013
Tennis Japan Open
Men's Tennis Tour News Oct. 9

epa03898724 Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina returns a shot against Milos Raonic of Canada during their final match at the Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo, Japan, 06 October 2013. Juan Martin Del Potro defeated Milos Raonic to win the tournament. EPA/KIYOSHI OTA  |

****** EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ******

 

* Murray won’t play year-end Championships

* Berdych, del Potro can feel secure about London — but win anyway

* Federer, Wawrinka, Tsonga win openers

* Isner effectively out of Race after loss to Berlocq

* Robredo forced to retire

* Djokovic gets hurt but wins; Nadal cruises on as top eight seeds all reach third round

 

****** TODAY’S MEN’S NEWS ******

 

Shanghai

 

Singles – Second Round: (1) N Djokovic def. M Granollers 6-2 6-0

Novak Djokovic needed to have treatment on his right foot in the second set of this, but it obviously didn’t bother him much! That’s good news for those who want a contest for the year-end #1; Djokovic is still far behind Rafael Nadal, but this keeps him alive. Had he lost, it would have been all but over.

Singles – Second Round: (2) R Nadal def. A Dolgopolov 6-3 6-2

Novak Djokovic may be winning, but he’s not gaining any ground on Rafael Nadal. Every point he earns takes Nadal closer to the year-end top spot.

Singles – Second Round: (3) D Ferrer def. L Rosol 6-3 6-4

Nice to see David Ferrer finally show some life after all his struggles earlier in the Asian season. He’s making a very strong push to end the year at #3 (a ranking he will take this week); he leaves Lukas Rosol around #43.

Singles – Second Round: (4) T Berdych def. F Lopez 7-6(7-5) 6-2

When Andy Murray withdrew from London (see below of the recent story in World News), it made Tomas Berdych’s spot at the year-end Championships an effective clinch. But he’s evidently not taking anything for granted. He leaves Feliciano Lopez no better than #30.

Singles – Second Round: (5) R Federer def. A Seppi 6-4 6-3

Roger Federer is struggling to make it to London, so this is a good first step. He’s still only #7 in the rankings, though. Andreas Seppi remains below the Top Twenty.

Singles – Second Round: (6) J del Potro def. P Kohlschreiber 3-6 6-3 7-6(7-4)

Juan Martin del Potro, like Berdych, is now in a solid position to make it to London — which may be good after this struggle. (He may not be feeling well — note that he withdrew from the doubles.) Philipp Kohlschreiber will be #24 or #25.

Singles – Second Round: (7) J Tsonga def. P Andujar 6-3 6-2

This is the first really solid win for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga since his injury, but he is still well off the pace in the Race.

Singles – Second Round: (8) S Wawrinka def. K Anderson 6-4 3-6 7-6(7-5)

This more-than-two-hour match was hardly what Stanislas Wawrinka needed as he tries to qualify for London, but at least he survives and remains #8 in safe points. Kevin Anderson, who seems to be in pretty good form in his comeback, will almost certainly stay #20.

Singles – Second Round: (10) M Raonic def. F Verdasco 7-6(7-1) 3-6 6-3

The problem with Milos Raonic’s run to put himself in London contention is that he’s played a huge number of matches; he has to be really tired. Maybe it’s showing. Still, he keeps himself alive, even though it took him two hours. So he still has a London chance. Fernando Verdasco will be just below the Top Thirty.

Singles – Second Round: (11) T Haas def. D Brands 6-4 6-4

Another example, perhaps, of how players from the same country often follow a pecking order…. Tommy Haas remains #12 in safe points, but he has almost no chance of going higher.

Singles – Second Round: (12) K Nishikori def. J Melzer 6-4 3-6 6-1

Kei Nishikori is starting to add points, but he needs at least one more win to start regaining all the ranking spots he lost last week at Tokyo.

Singles – Second Round: C Berlocq def. (14) J Isner 6-4 7-6(7-4)

This, for practical purposes, eliminated John Isner from the Race. Plus will lose at least one ranking spot. Carlos Berlocq is now just below the Top Forty.

Singles – Second Round: (15) N Almagro def. J Chardy 6-3 6-4

This clinches Nicolas Almagro’s return to the Top Fifteen — he will probably be #13.

Singles – Second Round: F Fognini def. (16) T Robredo 7-6(7-3) 2-1, retired (wrist)

Every time Tommy Robredo has to retire, we get worried. But this is not an upset; he came in at #19, and will probably stay there; Fabio Fognini arrived at #17, and so far, he’s still there, too.

Singles – Second Round: G Monfils def. V Pospisil 7-5 7-6(7-4)

This will take Gael Monfils to probably #35. Could he possibly earn an Australian Open seed? He’s obviously getting close.

Singles – Second Round: F Mayer def. B Paire 7-6(7-1) 7-5

Florian Mayer is now up to about #45. Benoit Paire is around #25.

Doubles – First Round: Andujar/Lopez def. Berlocq/Del Potro walkover (Del Potro – Fever)

This place was murder on the doubles field — notice that we ended up with two alternate teams in the draw (both of which lost), and here we had a walkover — evidently they were out of available teams!

Doubles – First Round: Huey/Inglot def. Mirnyi/Tecau 6-7(4-7) 7-6(7-2) 17-15

Last week, Mirnyi/Tecau were talking about still hoping to qualify for London. This pretty well takes care of that….

Doubles – First Round: Fyrstenberg/Matkowski def. (Alt) Begemann/Emmrich 6-3 7-6(8-6)

Doubles – First Round: J Murray/Peers def. (Alt) Rosol/Tomic 7-5 6-4

Doubles – First Round: Fognini/Seppi def. (WC) Gong/Li 6-3 0-6 10-4

Doubles – First Round: Fleming/Marray def. Gonzalez/Lipsky 3-6 7-5 10-7

Year-End Championships

 

It’s now official: Andy Murray will not be playing London. He has concluded that his back will not have recovered in time.

That’s good news for Tomas Berdych and Juan Martin del Potro, who can now be considered to have clinched. It’s also good news for Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka, and Richard Gasquet, the three leading contenders for the last two spots. There will now be three spots, so they might all qualify. Of course, they still have to worry about Milos Raonic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the other two serious contenders for London spots, whose chances have also been boosted. It’s sad for Murray, but for Race fans, things are getting much more interesting.

 

****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******

 

This Week’s Movers — Men

 

Each week, Daily Tennis will look at the biggest movers of the week, looking at how they did what they did.

Biggest Upward Mover — Most Places Moved (Top 100)

 

Leader: Guido Pella — Moved 99 places, from #116 to #99.

Pella won the Sao Paulo 4 Challenger.

Runner-Up: Michal Przysiezny — Moved 13 places, from #92 to #79

Przysiezny made the Tokyo second round as a Lucky Loser.

Biggest Percentage Mover — Cut Ranking By Highest Percent (Top 100)

 

Leader: Rafael Nadal — Moved 1 place, 50%, from #2 to #1

Nadal didn’t win Beijing, but he earned enough points to take the #1 ranking — very likely for the rest of the year.

Runner-Up: Juan Martin del Potro — Moved 2 places, 29%, from #7 to #5

Del Potro won Tokyo to all but assure his London spot.

Biggest Loser — Most Places Lost (Top 100)

 

Loser: Kenny de Schepper — Dropped 22 places, from #67 to #89

De Schepper lost some Challenger points.

Biggest Percentage Loser — Worst Percentage Increase in Ranking (Top 100)

 

Loser: Novak Djokovic, ranking increased 1 place, 100%, from #1 to #2.

Nadal’s gain is Djokovic’s loss.

Ranking Notes

 

We had one really big move this week, and then a major fade-off. Nadal and del Potro are the only players to rise as much as 20%. John Isner was third, rising 19% (to #13); no one else gained as much as 15%. We do note that Donald Young, who won his second straight Challenger, made an 18% improvement — but that still leaves him at #103.

On the down side, we had a lot of dramatic moves. Djokovic, down 100%. Last year’s Tokyo champion Kei Nishikori, down 38% (to #18). De Schepper, down 33%. Marcos Baghdatis, down 33% (to #65). Feliciano Lopez, down 25% (to #30). Florian Mayer, down 22% (to #50). Dmitry Tursunov, down 21% (to #40). And Tomas Berdych, down 20% (to #6).

Our Personal Picks for “Best Mover of the Week”

 

These are subjective picks!

Nadal. Reaching #1 is about as close as we can come to a guarantee for mover of the week….

KEYWORDS: Movers Men Nadal

 

******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********

 

THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:

Shanghai (1000/Hard). Defending Champion: Novak Djokovic

NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:

Moscow (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Andreas Seppi

Stockholm (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Tomas Berdych

Vienna (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Juan Martin del Potro

 

******** STATS AND FACTS ********

 

RANKINGS

 

Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings

As of October 9, 2013

 

Rank &

Prior…Player………..Points

1..(1) Nadal………….11250

2..(2) Djokovic……….10210

3..(4) Ferrer………….6800

4..(3) Murray………….6295

5..(5) Del Potro……….5015

6..(6) Berdych…………4340

7..(7) Federer…………4245

8..(8) Wawrinka………..3150

9.(10) Gasquet…………3060

10..(9) Tsonga………….3025

11.(11) Raonic………….2860

12.(12) Haas……………2265

13.(16) Almagro…………2110

14.(13) Isner…………..2070

15.(14) Simon…………..2060

16.(15) Janowicz………..2060

17.(17) Fognini…………1965

18.(18) Nishikori……….1885

19.(19) Robredo…………1830

20.(20) Anderson………..1775

21.(21) Youzhny…………1735

22.(22) Seppi…………..1555

23.(25) Melzer………….1460

24.(23) Kohlschreiber……1445

25.(26) Paire…………..1380

26.(24) Tipsarevic………1355

27.(28) Gulbis………….1341

28.(27) Dimitrov………..1340

29.(29) Dodig…………..1300

30.(30) Lopez…………..1275

 

**DRAWS

 

Shanghai — Week of October 7

 

1 Djokovic…….(1)Djokovic

16 Robredo…….Fognini

9 Gasquet……..Monfils

5 Federer……..(5)Federer

 

3 Ferrer………(3)Ferrer

13 Simon………Mayer

12 Nishikori…..(12)Nishikori

7 Tsonga………(7)Tsonga

 

6 del Potro……(6)del Potro

11 Haas……….(11)Haas

15 Almagro…….(15)Almagro

4 Berdych……..(4)Berdych

 

8 Wawrinka…….(8)Wawrinka

10 Raonic……..(10)Raonic

14 Isner………Berlocq

2 Nadal……….(2)Nadal

 

STATUS OF SEEDS

1 Djokovic

2 Nadal

3 Ferrer

4 Berdych

5 Federer

6 del Potro

7 Tsonga

8 Wawrinka

9 Gasquet…….lost 1R (Pospisil)

10 Raonic

11 Haas

12 Nishikori

13 Simon……..lost 1R (Paire)

14 Isner……..lost 2R (Berlocq)

15 Almagro

16 Robredo……lost 2R (Fognini)

 

******** SCORES ********

 

WEDNESDAY

Shanghai

Singles – Second Round

(1) N Djokovic def. M Granollers 6-2 6-0

(2) R Nadal def. A Dolgopolov 6-3 6-2

(3) D Ferrer def. L Rosol 6-3 6-4

(4) T Berdych def. F Lopez 7-6(7-5) 6-2

(5) R Federer def. A Seppi 6-4 6-3

(6) J Del Potro def. P Kohlschreiber 3-6 6-3 7-6(7-4)

(7) J Tsonga def. P Andujar 6-3 6-2

(8) S Wawrinka def. K Anderson 6-4 3-6 7-6(7-5)

(10) M Raonic def. F Verdasco 7-6(7-1) 3-6 6-3

(11) T Haas def. D Brands 6-4 6-4

(12) K Nishikori def. J Melzer 6-4 3-6 6-1

C Berlocq def. (14) J Isner 6-4 7-6(7-4)

(15) N Almagro def. J Chardy 6-3 6-4

F Fognini def. (16) T Robredo 7-6(7-3) 2-1, retired (wrist)

G Monfils def. V Pospisil 7-5 7-6(7-4)

F Mayer def. B Paire 7-6(7-1) 7-5

Doubles – First Round

Andujar/Lopez def. Berlocq/Del Potro walkover (Del Potro – Fever)

Huey/Inglot def. Mirnyi/Tecau 6-7(4-7) 7-6(7-2) 17-15

Fyrstenberg/Matkowski def. (Alt) Begemann/Emmrich 6-3 7-6(8-6)

Murray/Peers def. (Alt) Rosol/Tomic 7-5 6-4

Fognini/Seppi def. (WC) Gong/Li 6-3 0-6 10-4

Fleming/Marray def. Gonzalez/Lipsky 3-6 7-5 10-7

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