Today’s Men’s News (10/14) – Shanghai

Written by: Staff on 14th October 2012

Today's Men's News (10/14) - Shanghai

epa03423016 Andy Murray of Britain returns the ball to Milos Raonic of Canada during their semi final match in the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships tournament in Tokyo, Japan, 06 October 2012. Raonic later won the match and advanced to then final. EPA/TOMOYUKI KAYA |

Shanghai

Singles – Final: (2) N Djokovic def. (3) A Murray 5-7 7-6(13-11) 6-3

These are the matches Andy Murray must win if he is to move above #3. Murray served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, and had a match point, and blew it. He lost four more match points in the tiebreak. And then he was broken twice in the final set. After winning three Asian titles last year, he won none this year.

In the short term, it makes no difference; he was going to be #3 win or lose. But his chances of ending the year at #2, already poor, take another blow. The best he can seriously hope for is to be a strong #3.

The best Novak Djokovic can hope for is, of course, #1. Indeed, with this title, it’s almost certain. Djokovic has a big lead in the Race, and is now only about 200 points behind Roger Federer in the rankings — and Federer has Basel, Paris, and London to defend. It will take a miracle for Federer to end the year on top. He has to defend everything and hope that Djokovic — who now has five titles this year — does nothing.

Doubles – Final: (4) Paes/Stepanek def. (7) Bhupathi/Bopanna 6-6(7-9) 6-3 10-5 (Match TB)

Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek don’t win a lot, but when they do, they win big. They have three titles this year — Australian Open, Miami, and now Shanghai. Of course, Paes had extra motivation in this match — he not only got to strike out at Mahesh Bhupathi but also at the Indian sports authority, whose only purpose seems to be to antagonize its players.

Still, it must be good to finally win another title. And, as a side effect, it leaves us with a really interesting situation in the Race. As we pointed out yesterday, this gives us three teams very close together in the Race — Qureshi/Rojer, Fyrstenberg/Matkowski, and Bhupathi/Bopanna. And there are only three weeks left to qualify for London. And only two of the teams can make it. Watch for fireworks in that contest — even if Bhupathi and Paes never face each other again.