Men’s Tennis Tour News
Men's Tennis Tour News
****** EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ******
* Djokovic edges Federer; still has chance for year-end #1 after Ferrer shocks Nadal
* London doubles Race finally over; Fyrstenberg/Matkowski qualify
****** TODAY’S MEN’S NEWS ******
Paris
Singles – Semifinal: (2) N Djokovic def. (5) R Federer 4-6 6-3 6-2
Roger Federer obviously started well. But a muffed volley cost him in the second set, and it seemed to be all downhill from there. This was, after all, his ninth match in two weeks. Maybe he ran out of gas. Let’s just hope it doesn’t cost him too severely in London.
It’s tough news for him in the rankings, though. He leaves here #7 in the Race, 175 points behind #6 Tomas Berdych and 1250 behind Juan Martin del Potro. His only chance to finish in the Top Five is to win London and have del Potro do very little. He no longer has any chance to finish #4 or higher. He could even end up at #9 (although a ranking below #8 is highly unlikely).
Novak Djokovic keeps alive his faint hopes of ending the year at #1, but he needs to have Rafael Nadal lose every remaining match this year….
Singles – Semifinal: (3) D Ferrer def. (1) R Nadal 6-3 7-5
David Ferrer was determined not to have yet another of his feeble matches against Rafael Nadal. He didn’t exactly dominate, but he wasn’t broken until he served for the match the first time — and, having been broken, at once broke back and served it out. Meaning that he is back in the final here, and will have another chance to break his losing streak in finals. Even if he doesn’t, he picks up enough points to retain the #3 ranking — and he has now assured that he will end the year ahead of Andy Murray in the rankings. Plus he is 750 points ahead of Juan Martin del Potro in the Race. He hasn’t clinched the year-end #3 spot, but his odds look pretty good.
Which is the same thing we could say about Rafael Nadal and #1. He will be #1 in the rankings going into London, but this means he hasn’t quite clinched the year-end top spot yet. If Novak Djokovic wins everything and Nadal wins nothing, then Djokovic could still earn the year-end top spot.
Doubles – Semifinal: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. (4) Dodig/Melo 6-4 7-5
Not much to say about this. We know the Bryans will be #1 at the end of the year, and by a very wide margin. But they presumably wouldn’t mind picking up another title.
Doubles – Semifinal: (2) Peya/Soares def. Mirnyi/Tecau 3-6 6-2 10-3
If anything tells you how the Bryans tower over doubles, the scheduling of this match should be it. This was the day’s first match, and the Bryans got the evening doubles match, even though the Bryans’ match was meaningless and this match would settle the doubles Race. The loss means that Mirnyi/Tecau won’t qualify; they are the #1 alternates, and the qualified teams are Bryan/Bryan, Peya/Soares, Dodig/Melo, Granollers/Lopez, Marrero/Verdasco, Qureshi/Rojer, Paes/Stepanek, and Fyrstenberg/Matkowski.
****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******
A Talk with Stanislas Wawrinka
A day after losing to Novak Djokovic in the Paris quarter-finals, Stanislas Wawrinka is on hand in London to answer press questions. The good news is, he’s qualified for the year-end championships for the first time in his eleven-year career. The bad news is that, while he watches, his name is drawn in the A group with Rafael Nadal. On the other hand, it’s hard to say if that’s worse than being drawn in the group with Djokovic, del Potro, and Federer.
Wawrinka himself admits that Nadal is very tough to play — “this year especially” — but grants himself a better chance given the fast indoor surface.
“Indoor changes it a little bit because he cannot use his topspin as much, especially on my backhand. The bounce is lower, and I think I can try to play a little more aggressive and put more pressure on him.” Even so, Nadal’s swinging lefty serve is not easy for Wawrinka to return. “But if there is one surface that I have maybe a little bit more chance, it’s indoors, for sure.”
Still, Wawrinka sounds excited. “The other players all say it’s the best atmosphere. Every match is sold out, and it’s a really different tournament. I’m excited to get out on court.”
It wasn’t, he says, until mid-year that qualifying for this event began to be a goal for him. At the beginning of the year, which he started ranked #17, his goal was to win tournaments and make it back into the Top Ten. “It was too far to put the Masters as a goal but it came during the year when I started having great results.” Making the quarter-finals at the French Open in particular stood out as a moment when, “I was at the the level to stay and try to make it.”
What’s made his game come together for his best year so far was little things; working with coach Magnus Norman has enabled him to improve his forehand and serve .”a little bit” and play more aggressively — “but that comes from confidence.” Basically, he says, he’s become able to trust himself on-court during matches; he singled out his fourth round match against Djokovic at the Australian Open and his win over fourth-ranked David Ferrer at Oeiras as moments that helped him.
Still, he goes into this event knowing that he faces a tough road: his record so far against the topmost guys isn’t encouraging, right up to Friday’s loss.
“This is the way I deal with the press all year, especially last week in Paris because it’s really important to qualify. It’s amazing for me to be here, and I will try to enjoy it — but I will try to win as much as I can because I know if I am fit I can beat a few players.” An hour later, he’s down on the court practicing serve-and-volley moves. He’s up first on Monday, versus Berdych.
— Wendy M. Grossman
KEYWORDS: Interview Stanislas Wawrinka
Men’s Look Forward: London
For the locals, the big name is missing. Andy Murray won’t be in the Championships. And Jamie Murray fell just short in doubles.
But how can you complain about a field with Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro, David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, and Richard Gasquet?
Top seed Nadal probably likes the looks of his group. On paper, it’s the stronger group — Nadal, Ferrer, Berdych, and Wawrinka. That means that it has the stronger member of every pair in the draw — the #1, #3, #5, and #7 seeds. And yet, Nadal dominates his countryman Ferrer. (At least until Saturday.) Berdych seems to be having one of his off patches. And Wawrinka is the rookie, and historically he likes clay better than indoor surfaces anyway. Indeed, Group A seems to be the clay group — and that by itself should favor Nadal!
Group B consists of Djokovic, del Potro, Federer, and Gasquet. They’ve all been here before, although Gasquet’s experience is pretty limited. Most of these guys, of course, like faster surfaces. It seems like a winnable group for any of them, except maybe Gasquet. Federer can handle Gasquet, and just beat del Potro and scared Djokovic. Del Potro’s raw power could overwhelm any of the others. And Djokovic is Djokovic.
Also, del Potro may not be at his strongest, emotionally. He had a briefcase stolen on Saturday. It included his passport and some money, which slowed his arrival in London — and it also contained a prized rosary and other personal possessions. It sounds as if it is really bothering him. And it was a truly sad story — he turned around to give an autograph, and in the few seconds it took him to do that, it was gone.
The Rankings
Although this is the fifth-biggest event of the year, it is surprisingly unlikely to affect things. That’s because the points from last year are already off. So no one here can lose any points; they can only add. To be sure, every win here is worth 200 points or more, so that’s a lot of adding.
Which just might be enough to decide the #1 ranking. With Rafael Nadal out of Paris, Novak Djokovic has the slightest of chances to regain the #1 spot — if he wins Paris, and wins all five of his London matches, and if Nadal doesn’t win a match in London.
Not what you’d call great odds. But it could happen.
Nadal and Djokovic are sure to end the year #1 and #2. The #3 spot is in play. Andy Murray can’t get it; David Ferrer has seen to that. But Juan Martin del Potro could still catch Ferrer. He needs a final, though, and that’s if Ferrer doesn’t do much. Probably del Potro will need a title.
Murray and Ferrer are sure to be Top Five. Del Potro is a very good bet to be at least #5, but Berdych or Federer could still pass him, although it would surely take at least a title.
Federer and Berdych are close enough that Federer needs only one more win than Berdych to end up ahead. If they have the same number of wins, then Berdych is ahead. Odds are that they will be #6 and #7 in some order, since Federer has almost a 500 point lead on his countryman Stanislas Wawrinka and on Richard Gasquet. As between Wawrinka and Gasquet, they are effectively tied; the one who lasts longer is ranked higher, with ties to Wawrinka.
Top alternate Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is more than 200 points behind Gasquet, so the only way he can rise above #10 is if he gets in early enough to play and win at least two matches.
KEYWORDS: Preview London
******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********
THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Paris (1000/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: David Ferrer
NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
London (Championships/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Novak Djokovic
******** STATS AND FACTS ********
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour RACE
As of November 2, 2013
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Nadal………….12030
2..(2) Djokovic……….10210
3..(4) Ferrer………….5800
4..(3) Murray………….5790
5..(5) Del Potro……….5055
6..(6) Berdych…………3980
7..(7) Federer…………3805
8..(8) Wawrinka………..3330
9..(9) Gasquet…………3300
10.(10) Tsonga………….3065
11.(11) Raonic………….2860
12.(12) Haas……………2435
13.(13) Almagro…………2290
14.(15) Isner…………..2150
15.(14) Youzhny…………2145
16.(16) Fognini…………1930
17.(17) Nishikori……….1915
18.(18) Robredo…………1810
19.(19) Simon…………..1790
20.(20) Anderson………..1650
21.(21) Janowicz………..1615
22.(22) Kohlschreiber……1525
23.(23) Dimitrov………..1520
24.(24) Gulbis………….1393
25.(25) Seppi…………..1360
26.(26) Paire…………..1345
27.(27) Melzer………….1315
28.(28) Lopez…………..1310
29.(29) Tursunov………..1244
30.(32) Verdasco………..1235
**DRAWS
Paris — Week of October 29
……………3R…………..QF……….SF……..F
1 Nadal……..(1)Nadal……..Nadal…….Nadal
14 Janowicz….(14)Janowicz
9 Gasquet……(9)Gasquet……Gasquet
8 Tsonga…….Nishikori
3 Ferrer…….(3)Ferrer…….Ferrer……Ferrer….Ferrer
15 Simon…….(15)Simon
10 Raonic……(10)Raonic
6 Berdych……(6)Berdych……Berdych
5 Federer……(5)Federer……Federer…..Federer
11 Haas……..Kohlschreiber
16 Fognini…..Dimitrov
4 del Potro….(4)del Potro….del Potro
7 Wawrinka…..(7)Wawrinka…..Wawrinka
12 Almagro…..(12)Almagro
13 Isner…….(13)Isner
2 Djokovic…..(2)Djokovic…..Djokovic….Djokovic..Djokovic
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Nadal……..lost SF (Ferrer)
2 Djokovic
3 Ferrer
4 del Potro….lost QF (Federer)
5 Federer……lost SF (Djokovic)
6 Berdych……lost QF (Ferrer)
7 Wawrinka…..lost QF (Djokovic)
8 Tsonga…….lost 2R (Nishikori)
9 Gasquet……lost QF (Nadal)
10 Raonic……lost 3R (Berdych)
11 Haas……..lost 2R (Kohlschreiber)
12 Almagro…..lost 3R (Wawrinka)
13 Isner…….lost 3R (Djokovic)
14 Janowicz….lost 3R (Nadal)
15 Simon…….lost 3R (Ferrer)
16 Fognini…..lost 2R (Dimitrov)
London — Week of NOvember 4
GROUP A
1 Nadal
3 Ferrer
5 Berdych
7 Wawrinka
GROUP B
2 Djokovic
4 del Potro
6 Federer
8 Gasquet
******** SCORES ********
SATURDAY
Paris
Singles – Semifinal
(3) D Ferrer def. (1) R Nadal 6-3 7-5
(2) N Djokovic def. (5) R Federer 4-6 6-3 6-2
Doubles – Semifinal
(1) Bryan/Bryan def. (4) Dodig/Melo 6-4 7-5
(2) Peya/Soares def. Mirnyi/Tecau 3-6 6-2 10-3
Topics: 10sballs, Andy Murray, Atp, Bob Bryan, David Ferrer, Ivan Dodig, Juan Martin Del Potro, Max Mirnyi, Mike Bryan, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Richard Gasquet, Roger Federer, Sports, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych
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