Ricky Dimon – Andy Murray, Ferrer in action as 250-point week brings major London implications

Written by: Staff on 13th October 2014

Ricky Dimon - Andy Murray, Ferrer in action as 250-point week brings major London implications |

By Ricky Dimon

Each of the three ATP tournaments this week is worth only 250 points, but the race for the remaining World Tour Final spots is so close that every points counts. And with strong fields on hand for all three events, a lot more than just titles will be at stake in Vienna, Moscow, and Stockholm. Eyes will undoubtedly be on London over the course of the next seven days.

Andy Murray will have no walk in the park in the Vienna, at least if the draw has anything to do with it. The second-seeded Scot’s opener will likely come against Vasek Pospisil, who barely missed out on a seed. Murray is in the same half as Feliciano Lopez, a recent semifinalist in Shanghai and always a threat on indoor hard courts.

The bracket sets up nicely for Austria’s own Dominic Thiem, the No. 8 seed whose only previous ATP final also came in his home nation (Kitzbuhel this summer). Thiem’s nearest seed is Philipp Kohlschreiber, who has played only three matches since the U.S. Open and has been dealing with physical problems. In the top quarter, meanwhile, David Ferrer is on a collision course for the last eight with Ivo Karlovic.

Ferrer and Murray stand in ninth and 10th in the race, respectively. Either one, though, could climb as high as seventh with a title this week.

This year’s Moscow field has to be one of the tournament’s best ever. Richard Gasquet was the only World Tour Finals contender in the 2013 installment, but this time around both Milos Raonic and Marin Cilic are on board. So, too, are top 15 player Ernests Gulbis and top 20 entrant Fabio Fognini. Raonic’s path, beginning with one of two qualifiers, is especially favorable. Potential quarterfinal opponent Roberto Bautista Agut is in fine form but would be hard-pressed to take down the big-serving Canadian on an indoor hard court. Gulbis has been hampered by a shoulder issue, so Raonic could run into either Andreas Seppi or Ivan Dodig in the semis.

Raonic is eighth in the race, two spots behind Cilic. The U.S. Open champion is in great shape to qualify, either as a top-eight player or with an automatic Grand Slam winner spot. The latter would be the case if Cilic falls out of the top eight but Stan Wawrinka–the Australian Open champ–finishes better than eighth. Wawrinka is currently fourth and has already clinched a London spot along with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal.

Tomas Berdych, the top seed in Stockholm, has had quite an eventful post-U.S. Open swing. He got blown out by Gasquet in the Davis Cup semis, almost got double-bageled by Djokovic in the Beijing final, then reached the Shanghai quarters before getting bageled by Gilles Simon in their third set. The Czech could not have asked for a better draw in Stockholm, where his campaign will begin with either a wild card or qualifier. Berdych’s nearest seed is Joao Sousa and the other top-four seed in his half is back-from-injury Alexandr Dolgopolov, who has not won a match since Hamburg in mid-July.

Berdych is currently seventh in the race, a mere 45 points behind Cilic. Grigor Dimitrov, in 11th place, needs to make a real charge starting this week in Stockholm if he wants to qualify for the first time.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Andy Murray, Atp, British tennis news, Davis Ferrer, Ricky Dimon, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Vasek Pospisil

Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:

Facebook:

Twitter:

10sBalls_com says:

October 13, 2014 at 9:15 am

@RD_Tennistalk – @andy_murray ,@DavidFerrer87 in action as 250-point week brings major London implications – http://t.co/FMw9D8KFKZ #tennis
RD_Tennistalk says:

October 13, 2014 at 9:18 am

RT @10sBalls_com: @RD_Tennistalk – @andy_murray ,@DavidFerrer87 in action as 250-point week brings major London implications – http://t.co/…