TENNIS NEWS FROM THE ATP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS SINGLES & DOUBLES ROUND ROBIN RESULTS

Written by: Staff on 13th November 2014

TENNIS NEWS FROM THE ATP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS SINGLES & DOUBLES ROUND ROBIN RESULTS

epa04488094 Spain's David Ferrer in action against Japan's Kei Nishikori during their Round Robin match for the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 13 November 2014. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

PRO TOUR NEWS

TIDBITS

* Raonic bails out of London; Ferrer takes his place but loses in three sets to Nishikori

* Federer clinches without striking a ball — but still hammers Murray

* Nestor/Zimonjic win last match together, but are eliminated; still clinch year-end #3 and #4; Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin, Dodig/Melo in semifinal

TODAY’S UPDATES

London

David Ferrer played London after all. Briefly.

As you may have read in World News, on Thursday morning, Milos Raonic pulled out of London with a quadriceps injury. Of course, the fact that he was 0-2 no doubt played a role as well! So Ferrer got his spot for his match against Kei Nishikori.

Singles – Round Robin – Group B: (4) K Nishikori def. (9) D Ferrer 4-6 6-4 6-1

David Ferrer had said he was tired, and this match looked like it. Obviously he started well, but the second set wasn’t so good, and in the third, he was broken twice in his first three service games. He had chances to get one break back in game six; he failed — and then suffered one more break, and it was over. Mercifully, perhaps. Ferrer was out almost as soon as he was in, with no points earned; he will end the year at #10. He must be sick of seeing Nishikori, who beat him at Paris and ended his hopes of qualifying for London directly.

Japan’s Kei Nishikori returns the ball to Spain’s David Ferrer during their round robin game at the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament in London, Britain, 13 November 2014. EPA/ANDY RAIN

Nishikori rose to 2-1, and picked up 200 more points — but that’s still not enough to take him past Stan Wawrinka.

More to the point (warning: nitpicky analysis ahead), Nishikori ends up 4-3 in sets, with Roger Federer at 4-0. Nishikori’s loss of the first set meant that Federer had clinched his semifinal spot. Nishikori was left watching the Federer/Murray match; if Murray won in straight sets, then Murray and Nishikori and Federer would all be 2-1 in matches, and Murray and Federer would be 4-2 in sets and Nishikori only 4-3. So Nishikori had to hope Federer could at least win a set, so everyone would be 2-1 in matches and 4-3 in sets and it would come down to the games tiebreak. But Nishikori, with only 51% of games won (33-31), was likely to be in trouble even if it came down to games (Federer went into the Murray match 25-12 in games, so he needed to win only one game to end up ahead of Nishikori, and Murray was 21-20, so if he won, he was just about sure to end up ahead of Nishikori too).

If that was making your head spin, it boils down to this: Nishikori’s only real hope was for Federer to beat Murray. In that case, Federer would be 3-0 and Nishikori, at 2-1, would be second in the group.

Singles – Round Robin – Group B: (2) R Federer def. (5) A Murray 6-0 6-1

Ouch. Roger Federer was already in the semifinal, but he didn’t show any mercy as a result. Andy Murray, on the other hand, not only needed to win to have a shot, he needed to win in straight sets. What he got was… this. He won only eight points in the first set. The second was better, but Federer still completely dominated. Murray’s streak of years ended in the Top Five is over; he will be no better than #6, and Tomas Berdych could pass him if he wins his last singles match.

Federer, with a 3-0 record, of course wins his group, with Nishikori #2. Federer still hasn’t gained significant ground on Novak Djokovic, but if they meet in the final — which is looking more and more likely — it looks as if it could be a great battle. And if Federer wins it, Djokovic’s #1 ranking could be in real danger early next year.

Doubles – Round Robin – Group B: (2) Nestor/Zimonjic def. (6) Granollers/Lopez 6-7(5-7) 6-3 11-9

Finally, a win for Nestor/Zimonic! It will be their last, though; they are still only 1-2, tied with Granollers/Lopez in matches, and in sets — but behind in games. And the only way the tiebreak would come into play anyway was if Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin lost to Dodig/Melo, putting Dodig/Melo at 3-0 and all the other teams in group B at 1-2.

At least the win (combined with the earlier loss by Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin) let Nenad Zimonjic clinch the year-end #3 spot and Daniel Nestor the #4.

Doubles – Round Robin – Group B: (4) Benneteau/Roger-Vaselin def. (7) Dodig/Melo 4-6 6-2 10-8

This was one of those matches where one side had a lot more on the line than the other. Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo had clinched their semifinal spot when Nestor/Zimonjic won; Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin weren’t sure. Now they are. They even win their group; Dodig/Melo had a better record in sets, but since both teams are 2-1, the tiebreak is head-to-head.

Benneteau no longer has the chance to end the year at #4 — he lost that when Nestor/Zimonjic won. But his grip on the #5 spot is getting stronger. Marcelo Melo is looking likely to rise to #8. We currently show the Top Ten as follows

USA double partners Bob (L) and Mike Bryan receive the ATP trophy for the best doubles team of 2014 at the ATP World Tour Finals mens tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 13 November 2014 . EPA/ANDY RAIN

1..(1) Bryan………….11700 1..(1) Bryan………….11700

3..(3) Zimonjic………..6520

4..(4) Nestor………….6360

5..(5) Benneteau……….5440

6..(6) Roger-Vaselin……5140

7..(7) Granollers………4920

8.(10) Melo……………4880

9..(8) Peya……………4720

9..(8) Soares………….4720

RANKINGS

Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings

As of November 13, 2014

Rank &

Prior…Player………..Points

1..(1) Djokovic……….10410

2..(2) Federer…………9300

3..(3) Nadal…………..6835

4..(4) Wawrinka………..5095

5..(5) Nishikori……….5025

6..(6) Murray………….4675

7..(7) Berdych…………4665

8..(8) Raonic………….4440

9..(9) Cilic…………..4150

10.(10) Ferrer………….4045

11.(11) Dimitrov………..3645

12.(12) Tsonga………….2740

13.(13) Gulbis………….2455

14.(14) Lopez…………..2130

15.(15) Bautista Agut……2110

16.(16) Anderson………..2080

17.(17) Robredo…………2015

18.(18) Isner…………..1890

19.(19) Monfils…………1825

20.(20) Fognini…………1790

21.(21) Simon…………..1730

22.(22) Goffin………….1599

23.(23) Dolgopolov………1455

24.(24) Kohlschreiber……1415

25.(26) Benneteau……….1365

26.(27) Gasquet…………1350

27.(28) Karlovic………..1320

28.(25) Mayer…………..1299

29.(29) Chardy………….1240

30.(30) Rosol…………..1210

DRAWS

London Championships — Week of November 9

GROUP A

……………DJOKO…WAWRI…BERDY…CILIC…W/L…Sets

(1)Djokovic….XXXXX…DJOKO…=====…DJOKO…2/0….4/0

(3)Wawrinka….DJOKO…XXXXX…WAWRI…=====…1/1….2/2

(6)Berdych…..=====…WAWRI…XXXXX…BERDY…1/1….2/2

(8)Cilic…….DJOKO…=====…BERDY…XXXXX…0/2….0/4

GROUP B

……………FEDER…NISHI…MURRA…RAONI…W/L…Sets

(2)Federer…..XXXXX…FEDER…FEDER…FEDER…3/0….6/0

(4)Nishikori…NISHI…XXXXX…NISHI..(NISHI)..2/1….4/3

(5)Murray……FEDER…NISHI…XXXXX…MURRA…1/2….2/4

(7)Raonic……FEDER…=====…MURRA…XXXXX…0/2….0/4

(9)Ferrer……XXXXX…GGGGG…XXXXX…XXXXX…0/1….1/2

SCORES

THURSDAY

London

Singles – Round Robin – Group B

(2) R Federer def. (5) A Murray 6-0 6-1

(4) K Nishikori def. (9) D Ferrer 4-6 6-4 6-1

Doubles – Round Robin – Group B

(2) Nestor/Zimonjic def. (6) Granollers/Lopez 6-7(5-7) 6-3 11-9

(4) Benneteau/Roger-Vaselin def. (7) Dodig/Melo 4-6 6-2 10-8

Content Via Bob LARSON tennis news service.

Topics: Atp World Tour, mens tennis news, tennis doubles, Tennis Results

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10sBalls_com says:

November 13, 2014 at 6:28 pm

#TENNIS NEWS FROM THE #ATP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS SINGLES & DOUBLES ROUND ROBIN RESULTS- http://t.co/kFjKAQIqzF #ATPWorldTourFinals #London
markalannixon says:

November 13, 2014 at 9:30 pm

Tennis news from the ATP world championships singles & doubles round robin results | 10sBalls | http://t.co/eovg5CoxtT