BOB AND MIKE BRYAN BREAK NEW RECORDS WEEKLY ! THE BRYAN BROTHERS ARE ONE WIN AWAY FROM ANOTHER TITLE. FEDERER WAS BETTERER.

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 11th October 2014

Roger Federer of Switzerland in action during his semi final match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the Shanghai Tennis Masters in Shanghai, China, 11 October 2014. EPA/DIEGO AZUBEL

epa04441689 Roger Federer of Switzerland in action during his semi final match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the Shanghai Tennis Masters in Shanghai, China, 11 October 2014. EPA/DIEGO AZUBEL |

THE BRYAN BROTHERS ARE ONE WIN AWAY FROM ANOTHER TITLE.

* Bryans one win away from another title ! They already clinched the world number one ranking again. They are great ambassadors for the sport. Their records will never be broken. Never. Impossible to beat 100 plus.

SHANGHAI UPDATE

FEDERER WAS BETTERER ! HE WAS AMAZEBALLS

Singles – Semifinal: (3) R Federer def. (1) N Djokovic 6-4 6-4
It was a good match on both sides of the net, but slightly better on Roger Federer’s. It is, it seems, possible to beat Novak Djokovic in China — once every 29 matches or so, and if you’re an all-time great. It doesn’t change things in the short term; Djokovic was sure to be #1 win or lose here, and Federer had already taken the #2 ranking and is most unlikely to relinquish it this year. But this means that Federer is actually gaining on Djokovic in the Race. Right now, the Top Three look like this:
1. Djokovic: 9010
2. Federer: 7620
3. Nadal: 6745

Roger Federer of Switzerland in action during his semi final match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the Shanghai Tennis Masters in Shanghai, China, 11 October 2014. EPA/DIEGO AZUBEL

Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action during his semi final match against Roger Federer of Switzerland at the Shanghai Tennis Masters in Shanghai, China, 11 October 2014. EPA/DIEGO AZUBEL

And if Federer wins the title — which he is obviously the favorite to do — he’ll cut the gap between him and Djokovic to less than 1000 points. Still a big gap, obviously, and Djokovic is still the strong favorite to be the year-end #1. In fact, Djokovic has now for practical purposes shaken off Nadal; Federer is the only player who can still take the #1 ranking this year. But the point is, if Federer wins here, he has a real chance to do it. Not a great chance. But a substantial chance. It will be a close enough contest that the year-end top spot is in Federer’s hands; he doesn’t have to just hope Djokovic loses.

Singles – Semifinal: G Simon def. F Lopez 6-2 7-6(7-1)
It’s almost an anticlimax to report on this after the preceding, but still, Gilles Simon, after a horrid year, is in his first required event final in more than half a decade. He’s climbing fast. #28 coming in, he’s up to #18 — and a title would take him to #14. Feliciano Lopez, by losing, loses his chance to clinch a career high; it will depend on the outcome of the final. If Simon beats Roger Federer, then Simon is #14 and Lopez #15, which would match but not exceed Lopez’s previous best. If Simon loses to Federer, then Lopez will reach a career high #14.

Doubles – Semifinal: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. Bopanna/Mergea 7-6(7-5) 6-4
The ATP has now made official what we’ve known for weeks, and what became mathematically certain when Nestor/Zimonjic lost: That the Bryans will be the year-end #1 team (for the tenth time). But they obviously aren’t resting on their laurels.

Doubles – Semifinal: (5) Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin def. (6) Granollers/M Lopez 3-6 6-4 10-7
This really should clinch Benneteau and Roger-Vasselin’s London spot. Granollers/Lopez look good, too, but they won’t clinch yet.

TIDBITS : LOOKING AHEAD @ MOSCOW ,STOCKHOLM , VIENNA.

It’s not just that it’s the week after a Masters. We’re entering a three-week sprint to qualify for London. The big deal in the Race, of course, is Paris. But there are also the 500 point events the week before. Those events will settle the Race, not this week’s 250 pointers. Why waste energy where it won’t do any good?

We would have told that to Milos Raonic had he asked, but he didn’t. So he has taken the top seed at Moscow. Also in the field is Marin Cilic, who doesn’t have to worry at all — not only is he ahead of Raonic in the Race, but he has the Grand Slam Wildcard as a fallback. No matter; he’s in the draw as the #2 seed. Ernests Gulbis, still alive in the Race but for practical purposes out of it, is #3 and in Raonic’s half; Fabio Fognini, who may not have turned into a pumpkin yet but who certainly seems to want to do so by Halloween, is #4 and in Cilic’s. Roberto Bautista Agut, who really should have been seeded ahead of Fognini on this surface, nonetheless got stuck at #5 and in Raonic’s quarter. Tommy Robredo is #6 and in Cilic’s. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia’s main hope although he will be very tired, is #7 and in Fognini’s quarter. And Andreas Seppi is #8 and in Gulbis’s. You get the feeling the players expect the court to play slow; note how many of the seeds prefer clay (Fognini, Bautista Agut, Robredo, Seppi…). There really aren’t any major unseeded threats.

Stockholm’s resident guys putting their energy into the wrong place are top seed Tomas Berdych, who currently is in line for a London spot, and #2 Grigor Dimitrov, who still has a chance but is far off the pace and already has three 250 point titles on his record. Admittedly one of them is the title here, which he is defending. Let’s hope he enjoys the scenery or something, because we assume he isn’t going to enjoy watching his race position stay stuck.

The #3 seed is Kevin Anderson, who is having a fine year but can’t really hope to qualify for London; he is our last Top Twenty player. Aleksandr Dolgopolov is seeded #4 and has the last bye. Leonardo Mayer is #5, Jeremy Chardy #6, and Fernando Verdasco, who missed Shanghai, is #7. Slumping Joao Sousa is #8. Unlike Moscow, this event has some unseeded players who might do some damage (although it also has three Swedish wildcards who are likely to be outright gifts to their opponents). Dolgopolov may well open against Marcos Baghdatis, who turned around a horrid year with sparkling play in Challengers and would surely like to show he can do it at the ATP level as well. Verdasco could play his second match against Jarkko Nieminen, who loves this place. Anderson may open against Bernard Tomic. And Chardy may well face Jack Sock in round two, who is in quite good form — although it’s a surprise to see him not hanging out with Vasek Pospisil as they try to clinch their London spots.

Vienna also managed to snag two London contenders — desperation apparently overwhelms reason when one is around #8 in the Race. There isn’t much question, either, that it got the cream of the crop. It has the highest-ranked player in action this week in David Ferrer, who took a wildcard to earn the #1 seed, and it has the Big Four-iest player in action; Andy Murray took a wildcard to earn the #2 seed. (A funny draw. Three wildcards: Ferrer, Murray — and Gerald Melzer. Talk about a drop-off….) Feliciano Lopez will be trying for another career high as the #3 seed. Philipp Kohlschreiber, who has been out for weeks, will finally return to action as the #4 seed, meaning of course that he also has the last bye. Lukas Rosol is #5; Ivo Karlovic #6 — with Lopez, Rosol, and Karlovic, this event certainly has firepower! Guillermo Garcia-Lopez is the #7 seed, and #8 Dominic Thiem gives a promising youngster to go with all those thirty-ish veterans.

And the event can even offer some pretty good unseeded players. Karlovic’s second round could be against Jurgen Melzer, if Melzer — who is in on a protected ranking — can somehow rediscover his game. Thiem has to open against Robin Haase, and then will face either Martin Klizan or Benjamin Becker, who probably deserve seeding more than some of the actual seeds. And Murray may well open against Vasek Pospisil, who has a better chance of qualifying for London (admittedly in doubles) than Murray himself.

The Rankings

It’s interesting to see how rankings can alter schedules. Last year, Richard Gasquet played and won Moscow; this year, with London out of the question, he isn’t in action. The Moscow finalist was Mikhail Kukushkin (who did well at Shanghai but isn’t coming back to Moscow and will probably end up below #90); the semifinalists were Ivo Karlovic and Andreas Seppi (whose Top Fifty ranking may be in danger). It’s interesting to note that David Ferrer last year played Stockholm, where he lost the final to Grigor Dimitrov; the semifinalists were Ernests Gulbis and Benoit Paire (not playing, so he too will be falling). Tommy Haas was the Vienna champion; he’ll be falling out of the Top Fifty — permanently, one suspects. He beat Robin Haase in the final; the semifinalists were Lukas Rosol and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (injured and probably out of the London hunt).

It’s interesting that we can have every player from #5 to #11 in action and no certainty of any changes at all in the Top Ten! Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, and Wawrinka will stay #1, #2, #3, and #4 even though none of them are playing. #5 Ferrer will lose some points, but with Kei Nishikori not playing, he will keep the #5 ranking. Tomas Berdych could pass Nishikori to earn the #6 ranking, but only with a title. Berdych cannot fall below #7. Below that, movement becomes more likely. Marin Cilic has only a slight lead on Milos Raonic, and it appears he can’t add any more 250 point events until he gets another 500 pointer, so Raonic could pass him with a final. And Grigor Dimitrov is actually slightly behind Andy Murray in safe points, so Murray could easily take Dimitrov’s #10 spot.

NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Moscow (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Richard Gasquet
Stockholm (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Grigor Dimitrov
Vienna (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Tommy Haas

Facts & STAts :

RANKINGS

Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of October 11, 2014

Rank & Prior...Player...........Points 1..(1) Djokovic..........11510 2..(3) Federer............8680 3..(2) Nadal..............8105 4..(4) Wawrinka...........5385 5..(5) Ferrer.............4585 6..(6) Nishikori..........4355 7..(7) Berdych............4325 8..(9) Cilic..............3945 9..(8) Raonic.............3885 10.(10) Dimitrov...........3745 11.(11) Murray.............3635 12.(12) Tsonga.............2705 13.(13) Gulbis.............2465 14.(21) Lopez..............2060 15.(14) Isner..............1970 16.(18) Bautista Agut......1935 17.(16) Anderson...........1875 18.(29) Simon..............1810 19.(17) Fognini............1790 20.(15) Monfils............1735 21.(20) Robredo............1715 22.(22) Gasquet............1690 23.(23) Kohlschreiber......1460 24.(24) Dolgopolov.........1455 25.(25) MayerL.............1384 26.(30) Benneteau..........1375 27.(35) Youzhny............1305 28.(27) Goffin.............1278 29.(19) Del Potro..........1265 29.(31) Karlovic...........1265

DRAWS

Shanghai — Week of October 5, 2014

..................3R..................QF............SF........F 1 Djokovic........(1)Djokovic.........Djokovic......Djokovic 16 Anderson.......Kukushkin 11 Murray.........(11)Murray 5 Ferrer..........(5)Ferrer...........Ferrer

3 Federer………(3)Federer….……Federer…….Federer…Federer
14 Bautista Agut..(14)Bautista Agut
10 Dimitrov…….Benneteau………..Benneteau
7 Nishikori…….Sock

6 Berdych………Berdych…….……Berdych
9 Cilic………..Karlovic
15 Fognini……..Jaziri(Q)
4 Wawrinka……..Simon……………Simon……..Simon…..Simon

8 Raonic……….Monaco
12 Gulbis………Youzhny……..…..Youzhny
13 Isner……….(13)Isner
2 Nadal………..Lopez……………Lopez……..Lopez

STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Djokovic……..lost SF (Federer)
2 Nadal………..lost 2R (Lopez)
3 Federer
4 Wawrinka……..lost 2R (Simon)
5 Ferrer……….lost QF (Djokovic)
6 Berdych………lost QF (Simon)
7 Nishikori…….lost 2R (Sock)
8 Raonic……….lost 2R (Monaco)
9 Cilic………..lost 1R (Karlovic)
10 Dimitrov…….lost 2R (Benneteau)
11 Murray………lost 3R (Ferrer)
12 Gulbis………lost 1R (Youzhny)
13 Isner……….lost 3R (Lopez)
14 Bautista Agut..lost 3R (Federer)
15 Fognini……..lost 1R (Wang)
16 Anderson…….lost 2R (Kukushkin)

Moscow — Week of October 12, 2014

1 Raonic --bye Qualifier Qualifier Groth Rublev (WC) And. Kuznetsov 5 Bautista Agut

3 Gulbis
–bye
Vesely
Gimeno-Traver
Dodig
Riba
Lajovic
8 Seppi

7 Youzhny
Qualifier
Lorenzi
Monaco
Kukushkin
Khachanov (WC)
–bye
4 Fognini

6 Robredo
Qualifier
Jaziri
Krajinovic
Sela
Donskoy (WC)
–bye
2 Cilic

Stockholm — Week of October 12, 2014

1 Berdych --bye Qualifier Lindell (WC) Carreno Busta Qualifier Qualifier 8 Sousa

4 Dolgopolov
–bye
Baghdatis
Mannarino
Sijsling
Qualifier
Young
5 L Mayer

7 Verdasco
Matosevic
Ramos-Vinolas
Nieminen
Rosenholm (WC)
Tomic
–bye
3 K Anderson

6 Chardy
Ymer (WC)
Sock
Golubev
Gabashvili
Falla
–bye
2 Dimitrov

Vienna — Week of October 12, 2014

1 Ferrer (WC) --bye Kamke Bolelli J Melzer (PR) Qualifier Delbonis 6 Karlovic

4 Kohlschreiber
–bye
G Melzer (WC)
Berlocq
Klizan
Becker
Haase
8 Thiem

5 Rosol
Lacko
Estrella Burgos
Qualifier
Mathieu
Bellucci
–bye
3 Lopez

7 Garcia-Lopez
Struff
Stakhovsky
Qualifier
Pospisil
Qualifier
–bye
2 Murray (WC)

* SCORES

SATURDAY

Shanghai Singles - Semifinal (3) R Federer def. (1) N Djokovic 6-4 6-4 G Simon def. F Lopez 6-2 7-6(7-1) Doubles - Semifinal (1) Bryan/Bryan def. Bopanna/Mergea 7-6(7-5) 6-4 (5) Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin def. (6) Granollers/Lopez 3-6 6-4 10-7

Content from Bob Larson Tennis

Topics: Amazeballs, American tennis news, Atp, Betterer, Bob Bryan, Chinese tennis news, Mike Bryan, Roger Federer, Shanghai Rolex Masters, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

October 11, 2014 at 9:47 pm

@Bryanbros AND @Bryanbrothers BREAK NEW RECORDS WEEKLY ! – http://t.co/9WfhuiJRxD @rogerfederer @ShanghaiTennis @ATPWorldTour #tennis

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