ROGER FEDERER RETURNS TO ACTION IN SHANGHAI, DJOKOVIC, RAFA, ANDY MURRAY, THE WHOLE GANG’S HERE, BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 11th October 2015

ROGER FEDERER RETURNS TO ACTION IN SHANGHAI, DJOKOVIC, RAFA, ANDY MURRAY, THE WHOLE GANG'S HERE, BY RICKY DIMON

epa04940114 Britain's Andy Murray in action against Australia's Bernard Tomic during the Davis Cup semi final tie between Britain and Australia at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Britain, 20 September 2015. EPA/ROBERT PERRY |

Roger Federer appears to have a favorable draw on his hands as he returns to tournament action for the first time since losing the U.S. Open final to Novak Djokovic. Federer, who has played only two Davis Cup matches since wrapping up shop in New York, is back on the scene this week for the Shanghai Rolex Masters.

The 34-year-old Swiss awaits either Sam Querrey or Albert Ramos-Vinolas and his nearest seed is a weary-looking Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Potential quarterfinal opponents for Federer are Kei Nishikori, Kevin Anderson, and Nick Kyrgios.

Djokovic will surge into the second to last Masters 1000 event of the season just like he does pretty much every year—fresh off a title in Beijing. Djokovic cruised past Rafael Nadal in the 500-point final on Sunday for his sixth Beijing triumph in as many tries.

“This positive week definitely encourages me and gives me a lot of confidence for Shanghai,” the world No. 1 said after trouncing Nadal 6-2, 6-2.

Rafael Nadal of Spain returns to Fabio Fognini of Italy during the semi-final match in the China Open tennis tournament at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China, 10 October 2015. EPA/WU HONG

Nadal is on a collision course with Federer in the bottom half of the bracket. Getting that far would be an impressive result, though, as the eighth-ranked Spaniard is coming off a long week in Beijing and dealt with an apparent right-foot problem against Djokovic. Nadal may be up against dangerous big hitters early and often this week. He will kick off his campaign against the Jeremy Chardy vs. Ivo Karlovic winner. Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic, and Marin Cilic also find themselves in this section.

At the moment it seems like no one other than Federer or maybe Wawrinka can even remotely trouble Djokovic, so the top-seeded Serb should coast through a quarter that is also home to David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez, and Richard Gasquet. Ferrer has a tough draw on his hands with Bernard Tomic right off the bat likely followed by Richard Gasquet or Vasek Pospisil. Djokovic will be untested until at least the last eight unless Dominic Thiem catches fire in round three.

Gasquet is opening against Gilles Muller. The two veterans most recently faced each other this summer in Washington, D.C., where Gasquet survived 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to take a 3-2 lead in the head-to-head series.

The weakest portion of the draw is undoubtedly the one occupied by seeds Tomas Berdych and Gilles Simon. Berdych captured a recent 250-point title in Shenzhen but has otherwise slumped of late, while Simon got handled in routine fashion by Gilles Muller in the Tokyo quarterfinals. Jack Sock may be able to take advantage and potentially face Murray in the last eight. Murray will run into danger in the third round in the form of either John Isner or David Goffin.

Quarterfinal predictions: Novak Djokovic over David Ferrer, Andy Murray over Jack Sock, Marin Cilic over Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer over Kei Nishikori

Semifinals: Djokovic over Murray and Federer over Cilic

Final: Djokovic over Federer

Men’s singles: click here

Men’s doubles: click here

Order of play: click here

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

Topics: 10sballs.com, Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Sam Querrey, Shanghai Rolex Masters, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych

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10sBalls_com says:

October 11, 2015 at 2:01 pm

-@rogerfederer RETURNS TO ACTION IN #Shanghai, @DjokerNole, RAFA, ANDY MURRAY, THE WHOLE GANG’S HERE, BY @Dimonator- http://t.co/7AYaInGbdo
Dimonator says:

October 11, 2015 at 2:54 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: -@rogerfederer RETURNS TO ACTION IN #Shanghai, @DjokerNole, RAFA, ANDY MURRAY, THE WHOLE GANG’S HERE, BY @Dimonator- http…
AmyFun28 says:

October 11, 2015 at 2:57 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: -@rogerfederer RETURNS TO ACTION IN #Shanghai, @DjokerNole, RAFA, ANDY MURRAY, THE WHOLE GANG’S HERE, BY @Dimonator- http…
10sBalls_com says:

October 12, 2015 at 7:32 am

RT @EB_AT: All the top players are in action in #Shanghai, who are you tipping for a win? http://t.co/9ErPGkoflN
ElenaFoundation says:

October 13, 2015 at 6:50 am

All the top players are in action in #Shanghai, who are you tipping for a win? http://t.co/NKJQdzLGiG
maye4life says:

October 13, 2015 at 6:52 am

RT @ElenaFoundation: All the top players are in action in #Shanghai, who are you tipping for a win? http://t.co/NKJQdzLGiG