ATP PARIS INDOORS / HERE’S A LOOK @ THE POSSIBILITIES & DRAWS

Written by: Staff on 25th October 2014

ATP PARIS INDOORS / HERE'S A LOOK @ THE POSSIBILITIES & DRAWS

epa04463263 Andy Murray of Britain returns to Spanish David Ferrer during their Valencia Open 500 semi final match played at the Agora tennis court in Valencia, Spain, 25 October 2014. EPA/KAI FOERSTERLING |

Men’s Look Forward: Paris

Last call. That’s the usual description of Paris: The last chance to earn points before the Race is closed. And, for all but the Top Eight, the last chance to settle their year-end rankings.

The effects of that are curious. Some years, when the Race is tight, Paris is extraordinarily strong. Other years, it ends up extremely weak.

This year is in between. We had three significant pullouts on Friday — and all of them, interestingly, involve players whose fate is largely set. Rafael Nadal, as mentioned above, is out. So is U. S. Open champion Marin Cilic; secure in the knowledge that he will get into London on the Grand Slam wildcard, he pulled out citing fatigue. And Ernests Gulbis, who had already been eliminated from the Race, gave up due to his bad shoulder. In one sense, that means that only three of the Top Twenty are missing from Paris. But those three include two of this year’s our Slam winners!

Switzerland’s Roger Federer reacts during his round of sixteen match against Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin at the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, 23 October 2014. EPA/GEORGIOS KEFALAS

Novak Djokovic is of course the #1 seed, and this is his chance to pretty well put away the year-end #1. Roger Federer is #2, and this is his chance to prevent that. Stan Wawrinka is #3, but he has been having a lousy fall; it may be to Federer’s advantage that they are in the same half. David Ferrer, seeded #4 but much lower in the Race, is in Djokovic’s half. Tomas Berdych is #5 and in Wawrinka’s quarter — and this is his favorite surface and the site of one of his biggest triumphs; he is surely a danger to both Wawrinka and Federer. Kei Nishikori hasn’t been seen much lately, but he is #6 and in Ferrer’s quarter. Milos Raonic is #7 and in Federer’s quarter; Andy Murray is #8 and in Djokovic’s. Our last London contender, Grigor Dimitrov, is #9 and in Murray’s part of the draw, so odds are that one or the other of them will be eliminated in the Round of Sixteen.

The French will be happy to see the return of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, always a threat here; he is #10 and in Nishikori’s part of the draw. Roberto Bautista Agut, who got hurt last week, will nonetheless try to play as the #11 seed; he is in Raonic’s section. Feliciano Lopez is #12 and drawn to face Berdych. Djokovic’s third round opponent would be #13 John Isner; Wawrinka drew #14 Kevin Anderson; Ferrer got stuck with #15 Gilles Simon, who is playing very well; and Federer had the good fortune to draw #16 Fabio Fognini, who hasn’t done anything since the clay season.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action during a quarterfinal match against David Ferrer of Spain at the Shanghai Tennis Masters in Shanghai, China, 10 October 2014. EPA/DIEGO AZUBEL

Of course, quite a few of them could be tested early. Djokovic will likely open against Philipp Kohlschreiber. Gael Monfils, who feared he would be out for the season, will try to come back against Joao Sousa, with the winner facing Isner. Dimitrov may open against Leonardo Mayer, one of this year’s biggest surprises. Ferrer will open against red-hot David Goffin or against Lukas Rosol. Simon will likely start against Fernando Verdasco. Nishikori will probably begin against Tommy Robredo, who just missed seeding. Anderson might start against Mikhail Youzhny, although Youzhny’s ranking is in the tank. Wawrinka will have to face either Dominic Thiem or Alexandr Dolgopolov. Bautista Agut is likely to face Richard Gasquet, another player who just missed seeding. Fognini is likely to open against Ivo Karlovic. And Federer has to be prepared for a meeting with Jeremy Chardy, who is in very good form just now and who is French.

Printable Draws for the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, France

Men’s Singles – click here

Men’s Doubles – click here

Singles Qualifying – click here

Order of Play – click here

Topics: Andy Murray, Atp, David Ferrer, Ernests Gulbis, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic, milos raonic, Novak Djokovic, Paris, Rafa, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych

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October 25, 2014 at 9:38 am

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