****** EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ******
* Ferrer ends up 0-3 after close loss to Wawrinka
* Nadal overcomes temporary collapse to top Berdych; he, Wawrinka make semifinal
* Peya/Soares, Marrero/Verdasco make doubles semifinals
****** TODAY’S MEN’S NEWS ******
London
Singles – Round Robin: (7) S Wawrinka def. (3) D Ferrer 6-7(3-7) 6-4 6-1
Stanislas Wawrinka admitted after the match that he’d been nervous. It certainly
showed in the first set and beginning of the second. “I had to fight to keep the ball in,” he said of his many mistakes. But keep it in he did, and David Ferrer, who both agreed was tired after seven tournaments in seven weeks, couldn’t keep up with the pace. That left Wawrinka waiting on Rafael Nadal’s match with Tomas Berdych to know whether he would make the semifinal. Wawrinka himself declined to look ahead. “Right now, I want to enjoy a little bit my match, my week already.”
A good attitude for him, but what an awful year-end for David Ferrer! A failure to defend at Valencia, a failure to defend at Paris, and an 0-3 record here. Last year’s best indoor player turned into this year’s patsy… and still hasn’t clinched the year-end #3; he’s still waiting to see how Juan Martin del Potro performs. Wawrinka is still at #8 in safe points, but this left him at 2-1, meaning he would make the semifinal unless Tomas Berdych beat Rafael Nadal….
Singles – Round Robin: (1) R Nadal def. (5) T Berdych 6-4 1-6 6-3
This was one of those matches that strategists hate, because Rafael Nadal had no real reason to care about (he was already in the semifinal), whereas Tomas Berdych had lots of reason to care (he had to win to make the semifinal). And Nadal had an injured hand. In the second set, it looked like that was going to be decisive. But it was Nadal’s hand against Berdych’s head…. The break in the third came in a game in which Berdych double-faulted twice. Berdych ends up at 1-2, so Stanislas Wawrinka is in the semifinal and Berdych will end the year no better than #6. Roger Federer can overtake Berdych if he can beat Juan Martin del Potro in his remaining Round Robin match. And wouldn’t the Swiss be amazed to see two of their players in the semifinal….
Doubles – Round Robin: (4) Granollers/Lopez def. (7) Paes/Stepanek 4-6 7-6(7-5) 10-8
At last, some life for Granollers/Lopez. Unfortunately, that still leaves them only 1-2 — the same score as Paes/Stepanek. Which meant that everything came down to the group’s final match, between Peya/Soares (1-1) and Marrero/Verdasco (2-0). Marrero/Verdasco, after this result, clinched the semifinal, although not their group standing. If Peya/Soares won, then of course they and Marrero/Verdasco would make the semifinal, with Peya/Soares first in the group. If Marrero/Verdasco won, they would be 3-0, first in the group — and the other three teams would be 1-2 and it would come down to the sets tiebreak. In which Granollers/Lopez and Paes/Stepanek both finished 3-5. Peya/Soares came in 3-3 in sets, so they needed only to win a set to clinch the semifinal. Lose both sets and it would come down to the games tiebreak — and we won’t go into detail on that….
Doubles – Round Robin: (2) Peya/Soares def. (6) Marrero/Verdasco 6-3 7-5
Peya/Soares, as we saw above, qualified for the semifinal when they won the first set of this. But they just kept on pushing. They can’t rise above #3/#4 any time soon, but they have a lot more room to add points in the first part of next year than do the Bryans….
****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******
KEYWORDS: No Feature Today
******** 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 8, 2013
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Nadal………….12480
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………..3640
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….NADAL….NADAL….3/0……6/1
7 Wawrinka…NADAL….WAWRI….WAWRI….*****….2/1……4/4
5 Berdych….NADAL….BERDY….*****….WAWRI….1/2……4/4
3 Ferrer…..NADAL….*****….BERDY….WAWRI….0/3……1/6
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
SEMIFINAL
1 Nadal
[TBD]
Wawrinka
2 Djokovic
******** SCORES ********
FRIDAY
London
Singles – Round Robin
(1) R Nadal def. (5) T Berdych 6-4 1-6 6-3
(7) S Wawrinka def. (3) D Ferrer 6-7(3-7) 6-4 6-1
Doubles – Round Robin
(2) Peya/Soares def. (6) Marrero/Verdasco 6-3 7-5
(4) Granollers/Lopez def. (7) Paes/Stepanek 4-6 7-6(7-5) 10-8
Topics: 10sballs, Andy Murray, Atp, David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco, Juan Martin Del Potro, Leander Paes, London, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Sports, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych