MEN’S TENNIS RESULTS FROM BEIJING , TOKYO , & LOOK FORWARD TO SHANGHAI , FEDERER , RAFA , NOVAK ALL HEADING TO LONDON

Written by: Staff on 4th October 2014

MEN'S TENNIS RESULTS FROM BEIJING , TOKYO , & LOOK FORWARD TO SHANGHAI , FEDERER , RAFA , NOVAK ALL HEADING TO LONDON

epa04430191 Rafael Nadal of Spain serves the ball during his men's singles quarterfinal match against Martin Klizan of Slovakia in the China Open tennis tournament at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China, 03 October 2014. EPA/ROLEX DELA PENA |

NEWS From The ATP Men’s Tennis Tour. The Asian Swing Continues

Tidbits :

* Djokovic still undefeated in Beijing

* Will face Berdych

* #6 ranking still unsettled as Nishikori wins again in Tokyo; will face Raonic

NEWS :

Beijing

Singles – Semifinal: (1) N Djokovic def. (6) (WC) A Murray 6-3 6-4

23-0. Five finals. Four titles and counting. That’s Novak Djokovic’s record in Beijing. He said after this match that it was a lot of work to win most of the points, but still, he won them. He’ll be going for his fifth title here on Sunday. And he’s improving his chances for the year-end #1, although that isn’t sure yet. He ends Andy Murray’s winning streak with Murray still stuck at #11 in the rankings. Murray is a little higher in the Race, but he needs more than this if he is to qualify for London. Indeed, he’ll need more even to clinch his spot as an alternate..

Andy Murray of Great Britain in action during his men’s singles semi-final match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the China Open tennis tournament at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China, 04 October 2014. EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG

Novak Djokovic of Serbia serves the ball during his men’s singles semi-final match against Andy Murray of Great Britain in the China Open tennis tournament at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China, 04 October 2014. EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG

Singles – Semifinal: (3) T Berdych def. (Q) M Klizan 6-4 6-1

And Murray, as it turns out, is chasing a moving target. Tomas Berdych came here #8 in the Race, and he’s gaining ground faster than Murray. Ironically, even though he has added points from last year, he is still in danger of losing the #6 ranking spot. At least he will not fall below #7.

Doubles – Semifinal: (4) Benneteau/Pospisil def. (Q) Brunstrom/Monroe 6-7(5-7) 6-2 10-5

Doubles – Semifinal: Rojer/Tecau def. Fognini/Mayer 6-4 6-4

We keep telling you that Rojer/Tecau keep moving a little closer to London, which is probably pretty boring. But perhaps it’s worth noting that, on this particular day, they were the only team to move closer to London.

Tokyo

Singles – Semifinal: (3) M Raonic def. G Simon 6-1 6-4

Could this be the year that Milos Raonic, after umtpy-ump finals, at last wins the Japan Open? Given the next result, it seems likely. But it won’t help him; he will be #8 win or lose. He leaves Gilles Simon at #28.

Singles – Semifinal: (4) K Nishikori def. B Becker 4-6 6-0 7-6(7-2)

Eight straight wins for Kei Nishikori — it makes you wonder what he’ll have left for the final. Especially since he needed treatment for his hip again. Still, he’s done well enough that he has clinched a career high; he’ll be at least #7. If he wins the final and Tomas Berdych loses in Beijing, he’s #6. And, no matter what happens, he’s a little closer to qualifying for London.

Doubles – Semifinal: (LL) Herbert/Przysiezny def. (4) Butorac/Klaasen 4-6 7-6(7-2) 10-7

We have the feeling we’ll be seeing more of Herbert/Przysiezny after this… it makes you wonder where they have been hiding. This is a pretty depressing blow to Butorac/Klaasen’s London hopes.

SHANGHAI PREVIEW

THIS EVENT & THE PARIS INDOORS WILL DETERMINE WHO MAKES IT TO THE BARCLAYS YEAR END CHAMPIONSHIPS IN LONDON.

You may recall that we told you in an earlier feature that there are only thirteen serious candidates for the ATP Championships in London, and only eleven of them are strong candidates. That was, and still is, true — especially since all four of this week’s finalists are among the eleven. But there are a lot of lower-ranked players with theoretical chances. Indeed, just about everyone in the Shanghai draw is still theoretically alive. After this week, it’s going to be over for most of them.

At least, if they bow out, they’ll bow out in mighty company. Everyone is here. Every Top Ten player, including Roger Federer. In fact, every possible seed except the injured Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin del Potro, and Gael Monfils. It almost seems redundant to list the seeds. Maybe we’ll list them based on which seeds they face along the way.

Novak Djokovic, the defending champion, is of course #1. He naturally would face #2 seed Rafael Nadal in the final. Nadal’s semifinal opponent would be #4 seed Stan Wawrinka, who has been struggling; Djokovic is drawn to face #3 Roger Federer, who hasn’t played since the Swiss made the Davis Cup final. Federer is supposed to face #7 Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinal — although at this point it seems likely that Nishikori will have succumbed to his hip problem by then. Djokovic’s quarterfinal is supposed to be against #5 David Ferrer, who decided to play after all but who doesn’t seem very inspired right now. Wawrinka’s quarterfinal is against Beijing finalist and #6 seed Tomas Berdych; Nadal would face #8 seed and Tokyo finalist Milos Raonic. In the Round of Sixteen, Djokovic would take on #16 Kevin Anderson. Ferrer has drawn #11 Andy Murray — which, these days, looks like an upset waiting to happen, and one that could lead to the second Murray/Djokovic meeting in two weeks. Federer’s first seeded opponent would be #14 Roberto Bautista Agut, who seems to have cooled off a bit after his hot summer. Nishikori has drawn #10 Grigor Dimitrov, trying hard to qualify for his first London championships. Berdych would be up against #9 Marin Cilic, who didn’t quite look like a U. S. Open winner against Andy Murray last week. Wawrinka would take on #15 Fabio Fognini, who has been struggling at least as much as Wawrinka himself — as Davis Cup showed. Raonic has drawn #12 Ernests Gulbis, who was hurting last week. And Nadal is supposed to face #13 John Isner, which doesn’t sound like the best news given the way Nadal seemed to tire out last week.

As usual at a required event, most of the seeds can expect to be pushed. Djokovic will open against either Lukas Rosol or Dominic Thiem. Anderson’s second round may well be against Tommy Robredo. Murray was relatively lucky, but could well face Jerzy Janowicz in round two. Ferrer will likely have to open against Martin Klizan, who just beat Rafael Nadal and is in on a special exemption. Federer will probably open against Leonardo Mayer. Bautista Agut’s opener is against Alexandr Dolgopolov. Dimitrov and Nishikori have relatively easy draws, but Julien Benneteau is in there. Berdych will face either Jeremy Chardy or Richard Gasquet in his opener. Cilic starts against Ivo Karlovic — talk about a big-serving match! Fognini has a soft draw, but Wawrinka may start against Gilles Simon, who is finally showing signs of life. Raonic was another lucky one, but Gulbis opens against Mikhail Youzhny. #1 American Isner could face #2 American Steve Johnson in round two. And Nadal will probably face fellow Spanish lefty Feliciano Lopez.

The Rankings

We may well see the rankings and Race start to look a lot alike after this week. What we can say confidently is that Novak Djokovic will stay #1 in both even though he is defending Shanghai champion. He beat the absent Juan Martin del Potro in the final. The semifinalists were Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (not back) and Rafael Nadal. Quarterfinalists were Gael Monfils (not back), Florian Mayer (not back either), Nicolas Almagro (ditto), and Stan Wawrinka. That’s a lot of Top Ten players with not much to defend, you’ll note: Roger Federer, David Ferrer, Kei Nishikori, Tomas Berdych, and Milos Raonic all lost in the third round; Grigor Dimitrov lost his opener; Marin Cilic of course did not play.

Mayer, already out of the Top Hundred, looks as if he’ll end up below #150. Almagro will fall below #35 — probably well below. Monfils may well lose his Top Twenty spot. Tsonga, surprisingly, is still #12 in safe points, and a fairly strong #12, so he might keep that spot. But del Potro can expect to fall out of the Top 25; there is a chance he’ll end up below #30. Also, Tommy Haas, who is defending third round points, will probably fall below #45.

As we said, Djokovic is safe at #1. But Rafael Nadal is by no means safe at #2. He has only a 15 point lead on Roger Federer, meaning that whichever one lasts longer will be #2, with ties to Nadal. It’s theoretically possible that Wawrinka could lose his #4 spot to Ferrer, but only if he loses his opener and Ferrer wins Shanghai. In other words, Wawrinka isn’t going to lose his #4 spot. It’s much more likely that the ATP will officially qualify him for London.

Ferrer is in much greater danger of losing his #5 spot, although we won’t know how much danger until after the Beijing and Tokyo finals, since those events will determine the size of his lead over his nearest competitors. What seems certain is that the players from #5 to #10 will include Ferrer, Kei Nishikori, and Tomas Berdych. That leaves three spots, currently held by Marin Cilic (almost safe in the Top Ten), Milos Raonic, and Grigor Dimitrov. Amazingly, there is only one player who can possibly displace them in the Top Ten: Andy Murray. And even he needs a quarterfinal to do it, and that’s if Dimitrov loses early. While Murray has a good shot at the quarterfinal, he would face Djokovic there, so chances frankly are good that we will have no new names in the Top Ten.

RANKINGS

Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings

As of October 4, 2014

Rank &

Prior…Player………..Points

1..(1) Djokovic……….11950

2..(2) Nadal…………..8455

3..(3) Federer…………8170

4..(4) Wawrinka………..5555

5..(5) Ferrer………….4495

6..(7) Nishikori……….4235

6..(6) Berdych…………4235

8..(8) Raonic………….3965

9..(9) Cilic…………..3935

10.(10) Dimitrov………..3710

11.(11) Murray………….3545

12.(12) Tsonga………….3065

13.(13) Gulbis………….2455

14.(15) Isner…………..1925

15.(16) Monfils…………1915

16.(18) Fognini…………1870

17.(14) Del Potro……….1865

17.(17) Bautista Agut……1865

17.(19) Anderson………..1865

20.(21) Robredo…………1750

21.(20) Lopez…………..1745

22.(22) Gasquet…………1655

23.(24) Kohlschreiber……1505

24.(23) Dolgopolov………1490

25.(25) Mayer…………..1339

26.(26) Rosol…………..1290

27.(28) Giraldo…………1225

28.(37) Simon…………..1220

29.(29) Benneteau……….1205

30.(30) Karlovic………..1195

DRAWS

Beijing — Week of September 29, 2014

…………….QF………….SF……..F

1 Djokovic……(1)Djokovic….Djokovic..Djokovic

5 Dimitrov……(5)Dimitrov

4 Cilic………(4)Cilic

6 Murray (WC)…(6)Murray(WC)..Murray

8 Isner………(8)Isner

3 Berdych…….(3)Berdych…..Berdych…Berdych

7 Gulbis……..Klizan(Q)……Klizan

2 Nadal………(2)Nadal

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Djokovic

2 Nadal………..lost QF (Klizan)

3 Berdych

4 Cilic………..lost QF (Murray)

5 Dimitrov……..lost QF (Dimitrov)

6 Murray (WC)…..lost SF (Djokovic)

7 Gulbis……….lost 2R (Klizan)

8 Isner………..lost QF (Berdych)

Tokyo — Week of September 29, 2014

……………….QF………….SF……….F

1 Wawrinka………Becker………Becker

8 Dolgopolov…….Sock

4 Nishikori……..(4)Nishikori…Nishikori..Nishikori

7 Anderson………Chardy

5 Tsonga………..Istomin

3 Raonic………..(3)Raonic……Raonic…..Raonic

6 Bautista Agut….Simon……….Simon

2 Ferrer………..Johnson

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Wawrinka……..lost 1R (Ito)

2 Ferrer……….lost 1R (Granollers)

3 Raonic

4 Nishikori

5 Tsonga……….lost 1R (Przysiezny)

6 Bautista Agut…lost 1R (Simon)

7 Anderson……..lost 2R (Chardy)

8 Dolgopolov……lost 1R (Sock)

Shanghai — Week of October 5, 2014

1 Djokovic

–bye

Rosol

Thiem

Robredo

Kukushkin

Qualifier

16 Anderson

11 Murray

Qualifier

Roger-Vasselin

Janowicz

Qualifier

Klizan (SE)

–bye

5 Ferrer

3 Federer

–bye

L Mayer

Wu (WC)

Pospisil

Giraldo

Dolgopolov

14 Bautista Agut

10 Dimitrov

Istomin

Benneteau

Zhang (WC)

Sock

Qualifier

–bye

7 Nishikori

6 Berdych

–bye

Chardy

Gasquet

Granollers

Karlovic

9 Cilic

15 Fognini

Wang (WC)

Young

Qualifier

Simon

Garcia-Lopez

–bye

4 Wawrinka

8 Raonic

–bye

Sousa

Monaco (WC)

Cuevas

Dodig

Youzhny

12 Gulbis

13 Isner

Andujar

Johnson

Qualifier

Lopez

–bye

2 Nadal

Attached below are the draws and schedule for the ATP tournament in Shanghai, China.

Singles – click here

Doubles – click here

Qualifying singles – click here

Order of play – click here

SCORES

SATURDAY

Beijing

Singles – Semifinal

(1) N Djokovic def. (6) (WC) A Murray 6-3 6-4

(3) T Berdych def. (Q) M Klizan 6-4 6-1

Doubles – Semifinal

(4) Benneteau/Pospisil def. (Q) Brunstrom/Monroe 6-7(5-7) 6-2 10-5

Rojer/Tecau def. Fognini/Mayer 6-4 6-4

Tokyo

Singles – Semifinal

(3) M Raonic def. G Simon 6-1 6-4

(4) K Nishikori def. B Becker 4-6 6-0 7-6(7-2)

Doubles – Semifinal

(LL) Herbert/Przysiezny def. (4) Butorac/Klaasen 4-6 7-6(7-2) 10-7

***

Content via Bob LARSON

Topics: Andy Murray, Atp, Beijing, China Open, Federer, Japan Open, Kei Nishikori, milos raonic, Novak Djokovic, Rafa, Rafael Nadal, Shanghai, Tennis Results, Tokyo

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October 4, 2014 at 1:24 pm

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October 4, 2014 at 1:46 pm

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