Men’s Tennis Tour Results / London

Written by: on 7th November 2013
ATP World Tour Finals in London
Men's Tennis Tour Results / London

epa03939981 Roger Federer from Switzerland serves against Richard Gasquet from France during their group B singles match in the round robin stage on the fourth day at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 07 November 2013. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA  |

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

 

* Federer drops Gasquet to 0-2

* Djokovic made to work by del Potro, but wins to clinch semifinal spot

* Dodig/Melo clinch for semifinal; Bryans struggle but are still alive

****** TODAY’S MEN’S NEWS ******

 

London

 

Singles – Round Robin: (6) R Federer def. (8) R Gasquet 6-4 6-3

This was the day’s first singles match, and it wasn’t as routine as the score — both players seemed nervous (both had more errors than winners), and it took Roger Federer half a dozen match points to finish. The result was to drop Richard Gasquet to 0-2. Since it was only the third match in the group, it didn’t formally eliminate him; that came later. Certainly it settled things in practical terms — especially since the Frenchman’s remaining match is against Novak Djokovic. It also pretty well settled that Federer would not fall below #7 this year, since he now has a 550 point lead on #8 Stanislas Wawrinka. Gasquet looks like he will end the year at #9.

See our Feature for some of Federer’s comments on this match.

Singles – Round Robin: (2) N Djokovic def. (4) J del Potro 6-3 3-6 6-3

For a while things were looking really interesting in Group B, with the possibility that Juan Martin del Potro might find himself at 2-0 and leading the group. But Novak Djokovic doesn’t lose easily, and although he needed two hours on the court, he survived to achieve a record of 2-0. And he faces Richard Gasquet next. Given Gasquet’s performance so far, it really looks as if Djokovic will end up 3-0 and leading the group. And even if he loses, he will make the semifinal, because the other remaining Group B match will be Federer versus del Potro. Since both of those two are 1-1, the winner of their contest ill be 2-1 and our other semifinalist. And Djokovic, since he beat both Federer and Del Potro, will lead the group.

Doubles – Round Robin: (3) Dodig/Melo def. (8) Fyrstenberg/Matkowski 6-3 3-6 10-2

Hardly a surprise after Dodig/Melo beat the Bryans in their first match. But it raises Dodig/Melo to 2-0; this left them in good shape for the semifinal, and it got better:

Doubles – Round Robin: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. (5) Qureshi/Rojer 7-6(7-3) 1-6 14-12

Several of us found ourselves wondering: Are the Bryans getting tired? Their first half of the year was extraordinary; their second half has been… good but not spectacular. As witness the fact that they lost their first round robin match. Still, they won this one, so they are now at 1-1. That keeps them alive in the group. Qureshi/Rojer are 0-2, Dodig/Melo 2-0, and Bryan/Bryan and Fyrstenberg/Matkowski 1-1. The Bryans face Fyrstenberg/Matkowski, so this let Dodig/Melo clinch for the semifinal (indeed, they’ve clinched first place in the group even if they lose their remaining round robin match); the winner of the Bryan/Fyrstenberg/Matkowski semifinal will earn the other semifinal spot.

****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******

 

Roger Federer: 2013

At the outset of this event, Novak Djokovic rendered the opinion that the reason Roger Federer hasn’t been winning as many matches this year as usual is that he’s gotten a bit slow. Djokovic didn’t say it in the dismissive tones of Martina Hingis breaking up her doubles partnership with Jana Novotna back in about 1997 (“She’s too old and slow”); it was merely an observation and an attempt at explanation.

Nonetheless, Federer, by all accounts, was a bit annoyed. And he has a point: it’s only 14 months since he won Wimbledon and was the number one player in the world. How much slower could he have gotten in that short a time?

But his unsatisfactory 2013 aside, his fans are getting used to seeing him struggle to close out matches. Thursday, he won 6-4 6-3 against Richard Gasquet .but in both sets he was a break up and lost it, and it took six match points before he hit the final shot.

Afterwards, he admitted that his movement and coordination aren’t exactly how he wants them to be. Asked if tough wins were more valuable now than during the five years he was at the top, he said, “It’s totally different.” Back then, he needed the hard-fought wins in order to go on and win the tournament. Now, he needs them to get back to the highly competitive level he needs to reach. He cites, for example, his recent win against del Potro in Paris as a match he needed to regain his confidence.

“I think that win for me in Paris psychologically was very important,” he said. “I could beat top-ten guys. I beat Richard. I beat Juan Martin last week. I truly believe my confidence is higher, and that’s what I need to beat the best, and Juan Martin is part of that group.”

— Wendy M. Grossman

KEYWORDS: Roger Federer 2013

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

 

THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:

London (Championships/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Novak Djokovic

NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:

Davis Cup Final

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

 

RANKINGS

 

Estimated ATP World Tour RACE

As of November 7, 2013

 

Rank &

Prior…Player………..Points

1..(1) Nadal………….12280

2..(2) Djokovic……….11010

3..(3) Ferrer………….5800

4..(4) Murray………….5790

5..(5) Del Potro……….5075

6..(6) Berdych…………4090

7..(7) Federer…………4005

8..(8) Wawrinka………..3440

9..(9) Gasquet…………3300

10.(10) Tsonga………….3065

11.(11) Raonic………….2860

12.(12) Haas……………2435

13.(13) Almagro…………2290

14.(14) Isner…………..2150

15.(15) Youzhny…………2145

16.(16) Fognini…………1930

17.(17) Nishikori……….1915

18.(18) Robredo…………1810

19.(19) Simon…………..1790

20.(20) Anderson………..1685

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.(30) Verdasco………..1235

**DRAWS

 

London — Week of November 4

 

GROUP A……NADAL….FERRE….BERDY….WAWRI….W/L……Sets

1 Nadal……*****….NADAL….XXXXX….NADAL….2/0……4/0

5 Berdych….XXXXX….BERDY….*****….WAWRI….1/1……3/2

7 Wawrinka…NADAL….XXXXX….WAWRI….*****….1/1……2/3

3 Ferrer…..NADAL….*****….BERDY….XXXXX….0/2……0/4

 

GROUP B……DJOKO….DEL P….FEDER….GASQU….W/L……Sets

2 Djokovic…*****….XXXXX….DJOKO….XXXXX….2/0……4/2

6 Federer….DJOKO….XXXXX….*****….FEDER….1/1……3/2

4 del Potro..DJOKO….*****….XXXXX….DEL P….1/1……3/3

8 Gasquet….XXXXX….del P….FEDER….*****….0/2……1/4

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

 

THURSDAY

London

Singles – Round Robin

(2) N Djokovic def. (4) J del Potro 6-3 3-6 6-3

(6) R Federer def. (8) R Gasquet 6-4 6-3

Doubles – Round Robin

(1) Bryan/Bryan def. (5) Qureshi/Rojer 7-6(7-3) 1-6 14-12

(3) Dodig/Melo def. (8) Fyrstenberg/Matkowski 6-3 3-6 10-2

Topics: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,








10sBalls Top Stories

In Case You Missed It

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA thumbnail

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE

Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife thumbnail

Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife

Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos
ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS thumbnail

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.