Dimitrov Wins Maiden Title in Stockholm

Well I'm back from my week long hiatus to update you on what has transpired the last week in the tennis world. The biggest news is that promising upcoming youngster Grigor Dimitrov won his first ATP title in Stockholm. There has always been a lot of hype surrounding him because he is no doubt a very talented player, and perhaps to some extent he has not quite delivered on that promise. I personally thought his relationship with Sharapova is not necessarily helping his tennis.

Especially since there is a rumor about Sharapova being pregnant currently running around. But surely him and Sharapova are not stupid enough to let that happen at this point. They both still have too much tennis ahead in their lives to have to deal with a kid right now, especially Dimitrov. I hope it's not true because I'd like to see Dimitrov fulfill his potential, whatever that is. But maybe I have been a bit too hard on Dimitrov as well. After today I have a lot more hope for his tennis.

I thought he would make a bigger breakthrough this year after some good results, but then he kind of disappointed me. His results at slams was mostly the thing that bothered me because his best result was a 3rd round at Roland Garros. But in beating world #3 Ferrer 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 today my hopes have been restored. I didn't think he could pull it off especially after losing the 1st set, but to his credit he proved me wrong.

It was an impressive fightback and I enjoyed this match. It was a good contrast of styles between a grinder and a gifted shot maker. Even after losing the 2nd set I thought Ferrer would still prevail, so I am very impressed and happy with this performance from Dimitrov. Getting that first title under the belt is always a big deal. Maybe Dimitrov is not progressing as fast as I had hoped for, but those are unnecessary expectations anyway.

Dimitrov has not progressed as fast as the hype made you believe he would, and maybe he also felt overwhelmed by all that hype. The important thing is that he is slowly but surely moving up. Sure he is 22 now and not like Federer who had already won 3 slams at that age, but who says he is the next Federer anyway? Again those are unnecessary expectations that was thrust upon him. As long as he gradually improves like he has been for the last few years I still think he can be very good.

Who knows exactly how good but from what I've seen I'd say he certainly has the potential to win multiple slams. As a Fedfan I find him great to watch and in a game that is dominated by base line grinders and serve bots, someone like Dimitrov is a breath of fresh air. Lets just hope Sharapova is not pregnant because that can really interfere with his progress. And there is still plenty of time. Players seem to peak later these days anyway.

As for the other two events Gasquet won Moscow as he should have, while Haas won his second title of the year in Vienna. Nice to see that all the tournament winners this week had one-handed backhands. Who said the one-hander was dead? Gasquet was expected to win Moscow and he needed to in order to keep his hopes alive in qualifying for London, but in the end he was lucky to win the title 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 against Kukushkin. He looked nervous from the start and dropped the 1st set.

In the 3rd set he was a break down at 3-4 before Kukushkin missed a sitter overhead to get broken back. Kukushkin dropped serve again serving to stay in the match, clearly choking at the thought of his first ATP title. So I thought Gaquet was lucky and really didn't do anything special to win the title. I also think if it is close between him and Tsonga or Federer in qualifying for London he will find a way to choke. Tsonga lost in the semis of Vienna though and had his knee strapped again.

So he may not even be healthy for London. Raonic lost in the quarters of Stockholm as well which didn't help his chances of qualifying, and has subsequently withdrawn from Basel. So it looks like a 4-man race for the last 3 spots in London now. Stan and Fed looks pretty good to qualify I think and they will of course be in action in Basel this week. So will Gasquet. You can view the Basel draw here. I think Fed and Stan will probably qualify for London while Tsonga or Gasquet will fill up the remaining spot.

But of course anything can still happen. The last event this week which was played in Vienna was won 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 by Haas against Haase in the final. I thought Haas was lucky to get by Rosol in the semis because Rosol looked like the better player the whole match, but then in the final tie break he went down 0-6, broke his racquet, and received a point penalty to get bageled in the breaker. Really strange that. But credit to Haas for winning despite not playing his best this week.

They all count and Haas now has more titles than Federer this year. Fed will hope to win his second title of the year in Basel this week after having won his home title 5 times already. He has also lost in the final there twice in the last 7 years. So it has been a successful hunting ground for him and as good a place as any to win another title in a year that he has struggled a lot. I wouldn't bet any money on it though. I think Federer will be happy if he can just get a couple of wins under his belt.

And if he can do that while Dimitrov does the same, we will have our first Dimitrov/Fed encounter. I can easily see either player lose before the quarters though, so don't hold your breath. It should be a very interesting event anyway and will tell us more about who will fill the final spots in London. Paris will ultimately decide that though. The other event this week which is also an ATP 500 is in Valencia where Ferrer will be top seed again.

There is more news like Nadal's withdrawal from Basel and him and Djokovic's battle for the year end #1, but this post as already gotten too long. I will try to keep you updated throughout the week and focus most of my attention on Basel. Take care.

Full Dimitrov/Ferrer match:

 

Dimitrov Interview: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/10/42/Stockholm-Final-Ferrer-Dimitrov.aspx#ooid=9yNG40Zzo9CDR1ZZTzbwvwNuehE6yUUg

Djokovic Denies Del Potro, Wins 2nd Shanghai Title

Well it's a shame Del Potro could not finally win a Masters Series title, but he came as close as he's ever been. Also congrats to Djokovic who won 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(3) and continues to impress post US Open with a second consecutive Shanghai title. It's ironic that Nadal dominated until he became #1 and then lost in consecutive tournaments for the first time this year. Djokovic on the other hand seems to have gotten motivation from being displaced at the top of the rankings.

Djokovic is 400 points behind Nadal which is not that much but of course Nadal has nothing to defend until after the Australian Open next year, while Djokovic can't gain any points in Melbourne. From then on Nadal will have loads of points to defend and probably it won't be too long before Djokovic passes him again. I don't see Nadal making an awful lot of points in the indoor season either. He has Basel, Paris, and London left.

The question is whether he will play both Basel and Paris. I don't think he wants to pull out of either, but playing three weeks in a row will be tough and he would want to give it his best shot in London for his first Masters Cup title. He will probably give it his all in Basel and lose around quarters in Paris. The surface there doesn't suit him and the last time he played there was in 2009. I'm not sure he can win any more titles this year.

He is not great indoors and in Basel the field is pretty strong. As far as London goes Murray is not playing and Federer may not even qualify. Even if he does qualify he is not the player he was in previous years. So there is an outside chance for Nadal but it's a long shot. He'd have to avoid Djokovic for one. Then there is Del Potro as well. In fact anyone can be a danger to Nadal indoors. As for the Australian Open next year that should reveal a lot.

But let me get back to today. I think Del Potro was still hung over from his match against Nadal and was a bit flat in the first set, while Djokovic came out in blistering form. Del Potro came alive in the 2nd set and broke Djokovic in his opening service game. He consolidated on serve and held on to his serve for the rest of the set to take it 6-3, even though he faced two break points at 4-2 and 15-40. On to the decider and it was a classic between these two heavy weights.

There were some tremendous rallies and I was reminded of their Wimbledon semi-final which was the best match I saw this year. Del Potro saved two set points at 4-5 and 15-40 and they headed into the breaker where Djokovic just edged it. As was the case at Wimbledon Djokovic just had the slightest of edges, while Del Potro was playing catch up from the start. Hardly anything to choose between the two though and it was a great final.

On a side note Djokovic was acting very weird today and looked very unstable on his feet. No idea what that was all about but it was funny as hell anyway. He has annoyed me a bit of late with his attitude but he remains a character, and the game at 0-1 in the 2nd set with Djokovic serving was pure entertainment. I posted it below so take a look. Just hilarious. Well this coming week is the 250 events in Moscow, Vienna, and Stockholm.

I made a mistake in my last post when I said Wawrinka is playing three more events. He withdrew from Moscow so that leaves only two events for him. That makes the race even more interesting and Gasquet, Raonic, and Tsonga all have chances to improve their probability of qualifying for London this coming week in Moscow, Stockholm, and Vienna respectively. I will try to follow the action and keep you updated. Exciting month of tennis ahead!

Highlights:

Del Potro Smashes Nadal for Place in Shanghai Final

Well I have missed some posts but I am back to update you on the semi-final action in Shanghai today, as well as a preview for the final between Djokovic and Del Potro. But first let me get back to a few of the most important results in the two days that I missed. Federer lost to Monfils in the 3rd round which hurt his chances to qualify for London. Luckily for him his friend Stan beat Raonic which means that Raonic doesn't get closer to Federer in the race, even though Stan is now 5 points ahead of Fed in the race.

Stan lost in the next round to Nadal so he didn't open up more space between him and Fed, and even though he took Nadal to 12-10 in the 1st set tie break, he was bread sticked in the next set which means he still hasn't won a set against Nadal in 10 meetings. Gasquet also lost in the 1st round which was more help to Federer in qualifying for London, and it doesn't look like Federer is going to play Vienna after there were rumors that he would.

I would have thought that it would be a good idea because it would certainly increase his chances of qualifying for London, which he himself admitted is extremely important to him. But who knows what is going on with Fed right now. His tennis as well as his decisions have been somewhat confusing of late. Monfils also lost 6-4 in the 3rd to Djokovic after beating Federer, and he once again showed what an underachiever he is. I mean it was a great tournament for him, but it reminded me of how much better he can be.

Anyway the same goes for all French players so it's not anything new. The last Frenchman who was left in the draw is Tsonga, who lost 6-2, 7-5 to Djokovic today. Djokovic has now not lost to a French player since 2010. Tsonga's run to the semi-finals puts him right back in touch with Stan, Fed, and Gasquet for the race to London. In fact he passes Gasquet and these four players are now all clumped very closely together in the race, with Raonic just a little further back.

Murray announced his withdrawal from London as well which leaves three places for London after Del Potro and Berdych. Anyone of Stan, Fed, Tsonga, Gasquet, and Raonic can still fill those places. It is going to be really close. Stan looks good for a place because he is in good form and has three events left. Fed and Tsonga are the only guys with two events left. Tsonga is in better form but he has Vienna and Paris left, while Fed has Basel and Paris left.

Basel has historically been one of Federer's better events and there are more points on offer than in Vienna. On the other hand Paris has been one of Tsonga's best events. Gasquet is playing Moscow this week where he is top seed and could win the title. Raonic is playing Stockholm which has a stronger field but he could win the title there as well. Probably in the end Raonic will miss out and any one of Federer, Tsonga, and Gasquet. But like I say it's going to be extremely close.

Well I spent all this time talking about the race and didn't talk about the title of my post yet. It's been a very good two weeks from Del Potro, which is good to see because consistency is something he struggles with. Last week he won Tokyo of course and today he blasted Nadal off the court 6-2, 6-4 with vicious serving and ground strokes. His first serve percentage was as high as it gets at 80% and he was absolutely drilling his ground strokes, especially that massive forehand.

And of course he has the balls to close it out against Nadal when the opportunity presents itself. It takes a special player and performance to beat Nadal like this, especially with the way he has been playing of late. It wasn't a bad performance from Nadal at all. He won 6/8 points at the net and made 70% 1st serves. He also served 5 double faults and hit 0 aces, but that is because Del Potro put a lot of pressure on him and he has such a long reach.

You only play as well as your opponent allows you to, and today Nadal was utterly outplayed by the better player. It is as simple as that. It has not been the greatest of ways for Nadal to return to #1, has it? He first got routined by Djokovic in the Beijing final and now by Del Potro in Shanghai. I guess he was never meant to be #1, not for extended periods of time anyway. He is not the dominant type because he is a defensive counter puncher who waits for the mistakes of his opponents.

Federer and Sampras were attacking #1's who took the initiative and players were not able to dominate them the way Del Potro dominated Nadal today. Of course it is not the first time it has happened either. Del Potro plays Djokovic in the final like I said and Djokovic holds a 9-3 advantage in the head-to-head. I won't be particularly surprised if Del Potro wins this however. It was an incredible performance against Nadal today and he may just be due for his first Masters Series title.

He certainly deserves it. He already deserved it in Indian Wells where he beat Murray and Djokovic and then just ran out of steam against Nadal in the final set. The guy is just to good not to have won a Masters Series title. I like Del Potro a lot and hope he can win more slams in the future as well. Anyway it looks like Nadal is fading towards the end of the year like I predicted and it will be interesting to see how he fares in the rest of the indoor season.

Ill be back after the final tomorrow!

Live race rankings: http://live-tennis.eu/race

Highlights: 

Top 8 Seeds All off to Winning Starts in Shanghai

Not every day you see all of the top 8 seeds progressing to the next round. There are usually at least one or two upsets. There were a couple of close calls though. Del Potro as well as Wawrinka won in 3rd set tie breaks. Del Potro after dropping the 1st set against Kohlschreiber and Stan after being down 5-2 in the final set breaker against Anderson. That was disappointing from Anderson losing the last 5 points of the match, especially being a player with a big serve.

Not that I'm surprised. Anderson has been known to do this kind of thing. Stan will be very grateful that Anderson handed him the match on a platter, because he badly needs the points to qualify for his first Masters Cup. Stan now plays Raonic who beat Verdasco 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-3. It looks like Verdasco played pretty well and it is another solid win for the Canadian. The Raonic/Stan match will be one of the highlights tomorrow. Another match which should be interesting is the Tsonga/Nishikori match.

Tsonga had an easy straight set win against Andujar and still has an outside chance of qualifying for London. It's too late for Nishikori to qualify who had a three set win over Melzer today. He is playing well though and no doubt has a chance against Tsonga. The quarter of the draw Tsonga and Nishikori is in is the weakest quarter in the draw with Ferrer and Mayer on the top side of it, and it is a good opportunity for either Tsonga or Nishikori to make a Masters semi.

Tsonga could especially use the points in his bid to qualify for the Masters Cup. Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer all had straight set wins today as well. Djokovic was very impressive again as he bageled Ganollers 6-2, 6-0. His form in Beijing and Shanghai so far reminds me of his 2011 form where he was handing out bakery products left and right. It looks like he is really on a mission after Nadal stole his thunder. It is good to see and good for tennis.

Nadal is not backing down though. Today he beat Dolgopolov 6-3, 6-2, and he will no doubt want to make history by winning a 6th Masters this year. I have a feeling Nadal's results will start to suffer towards the end of the year, but maybe this title is still within his grasp. He no doubt wants it bad for the history books and today he got some extra help from the draw when Berlocq upset Isner, but Djokovic is on a run of form and will be tough to stop.

The court surface could once again play a key role too. The bounce doesn't look as low as Beijing to me which counts in Nadal's favor should we have another Djokodal final. Still a long way to go though. In the top half Federer played his first match back since his straight set loss to Robredo at the US Open, and despite struggling in the 1st set he ended up beating Seppi 6-4, 6-3 in which was surely a confidence boosting win for him.

He now plays Monfils for a place in the quarters against the winner of Djokovic and Fognini. I don't think there is much doubt that Djokovic will prevail there and it would be nice to see Federer getting through as well for his first meeting with Djokovic this year. Well I think that about covers it. Some good matches to look forward to tomorrow. The two I mentioned and the Del Potro/Haas match should be good, and it is always interesting to see what Nadal, Djokovic, and Federer is up to.

On a side note Murray has officially withdrawn from the Masters Cup as well which is probably the best thing for him. That means there are five spots left in London of which you would expect Berdych and Del Potro to come through. The remaining three spots will be contested between Federer, Wawrinka, Gasquet, Raonic, and Tsonga. Gasquet already lost this week which will hurt his chances, while the other four will do everything in their power to get ahead this week.

Fun times!

Dimitrov and Tomic Continues to Struggle in Shanghai

Shanghai is under way although none of the top 8 seeds have been in action yet. The highest seed who was in action today was Gasquet and he lost 6-3, 6-4 to rising Canadian star Vasek Pospisil. With Raonic doing as well as he is Canadian tennis certainly seems to be on the up and up. They could even be better than the USA currently, who has been abysmal of late. When the generation of Sampras, Agassi, Courier, Chang, Martin, and others departed it was up to Andy Roddick to fly the flag for the Americans.

And now that even he is gone there is hardly anyone left. There is Isner who is top 15 and then there is Querrey who is top 40, the only American players in the top 50. It really hasn't been the most successful of times for American tennis. Something similar could be said for young talent on the ATP Tour. While Raonic and Janowicz have been making their move, two very promising youngsters in Dimitrov and Tomic have been struggling to make their mark.

It looked at some point like both would make their move this year, but they have faded out towards the end. I myself thought Dimitrov would make his move this year after making the final in Brisbane and continuing to make headway as the year progressed, but he never quite broke through. Today he was routined 6-3, 6-4 by Nishikori who is at least another young top 20 player. I am a Fedfan myself and I was hoping once he retires Dimitrov can sort of fill his shoes in terms of playing high level, attractive tennis.

Tomic has a very different style to Dimitrov but I find his game interesting to watch as well, and I think he is another big talent. But both of them seem to have trouble with motivation. Tomic lost 7-5, 6-2 to Chardy again today which is another disappointing result. He started the year well in Australia with a title in Sydney, but for the rest of the year all he has to show is a 4th round at Wimbledon. Dimitrov was a bit more consistent and had that big win against Djokovic, and he played Nadal close on a couple of occasions too.

Both have showed great promise but they are not delivering on that promise. Tomic has issues with his dad while Dimitrov seems too concerned about his relationship with 'Sugerpova'. It is like they just can't get focused enough to have consistently good results and make a big breakthrough, because they undoubtedly have the talent. It just goes to show how tough it is out there and that it requires more than just talent. It also requires damn hard work and dedication.

As for other results 13th seeded Frenchman Simon also lost 6-4, 6-3 to his countryman Paire. Hewitt had another disappointing 6-4, 6-2 loss to Seppi, who will now play Federer. Raonic continued on the winning path with a straight set win and plays Verdasco next. Tomorrow the top 8 seeds are all in action and there will be some good matches. I won't single out any particular match but I can see quite a few that would make for good viewing. See you soon!

Nadal Loses a Match! Djokovic Spoils His No.1 Party

It's been a while since Nadal lost a match, hasn't it? He has lost only four matches this year, and two of them have been against Djokovic now. In beating Nadal 6-3, 6-4 today Djokovic spoiled Nadal's #1 party the day after he took over the top spot, and got an important win in the rivalry too. Just how important the win was we will find out in the future, because it is hard to draw a lot of conclusions from a surface which was low bouncing and thus didn't favor Nadal.

I thought the surface was pretty fast as well, but probably more important was that it was low bouncing. We have seen how Nadal has struggled in the past against Federer at the Masters Cup in London, even though the courts are not particularly fast. Nadal thrives when the ball bounces high because the unreal topspin he imparts on the ball causes it to kick high off the court. That play is particularly effective against the Federer single-handed backhand, but it makes it difficult for everyone.

Nadal looked very vulnerable today on this lower bouncing surface. It was really a routine win for Djokovic, who dropped only 6 points on his serve the entire match. It makes you wonder how much Nadal has benefited from the current era with slow, high bouncing surfaces. Only some of the indoor surfaces are still low bouncing, and Nadal has always struggled on them. He has for instance never won a Masters Cup, which is a flaw in his resume.

Nadal didn't choose which era he is playing in, but I think it has no doubt benefited him just like the 90's era benefited the attacking tennis of Sampras. I think that is something to take into account in a GOAT debate, because a GOAT should be able to dominate in any era. I think Sampras would not have done quite as well in the current era, while Nadal would not have done quite as well if he played in the 90's. I think Federer still has a better GOAT claim than these two because of this factor.

When Federer was in his prime the courts were not quite as slow yet as it is today. He beat Sampras on fast grass at Wimbledon 2001 for instance. Federer tends to be more of an attacking player and would no doubt benefit more from faster courts, but he is brilliant in defense as well. There is a reason he has won a French Open and made 4 more finals in Paris, losing to the best ever on clay in all those finals. Anyway I have gone off topic a bit.

Lets get back to today's tennis. After all the Nadal dominance of late I found today's result refreshing. I respect what Nadal has been able to do but it gets boring after a while. Today's result blew new life into the Djokodal rivalry and tennis. Nadal dominated the year and deserves the #1 ranking, but he was trounced today. He tried to rally in the 2nd set and break back but he never even saw a break point. It reminded me of that match where Federer defeated him 6-3, 6-0 at the Masters Cup.

He really seems impotent on the lower bouncing surfaces. As for whether Djokovic changed anything in his game plan from their last three meetings the answer is no. He didn't need to because he was able to blast winners and finish the point from the base line on this surface. That is why I don't read too much into this result in terms of the future of the rivalry. I'm not sure how high the ball bounces in Shanghai but I can see Djokovic beating him Paris or London again.

But then it's the Australian Open again where the ball bounces high, and even though it's Djokovic's best slam he may run into trouble against Nadal again if he doesn't work on his net game. A couple of wins now against Nadal won't matter much if he loses to him in Melbourne. So hopefully Djokovic realizes all of this and plans on improving his net game. It was nice to see Djokovic outplaying Nadal the way he did the day after he took the #1 ranking from him though.

He made a statement that he was not gonna just stand by while Nadal occupies the #1 spot. He wants it back. In Tokyo today Del Potro beat Raonic 7-6(5), 7-5. I guess Raonic will still have to wait a while before he wins anything bigger than an ATP 250 event. For Del Potro it was his 16th career title and yet he still hasn't won a Masters Series event. Raonic is now in touching distance with Federer, Stan, and Gasquet for the race to London with three events left to play, while you would think Del Potro is safe now.

Tomorrow the Masters Series event in Shanghai starts of course and you can view the draw here. Djokovic, Ferrer, Federer, Gasquet, and Tsonga are in the top half, while Nadal, Berdych, Del Potro, Wawrinka, and Raonic are all in the bottom half. The bottom half looks like the tougher half to be in and the potential 3rd round matches between Federer vs Gasquet and Wawrinka vs Raonic will be important for the race and should be interesting to watch.

Nadal Reclaims No.1 Ranking, to Face Djokovic in Beijing Final

Congrats to Nadal for reclaiming the #1 ranking today, all be it due to the withdrawal of Berdych at 4-2 in the 1st set. It has certainly been an extraordinary comeback from him after a 7 month hiatus from the sport. I don't think his most optimistic fan believed he would come back to dominate the tour in the way he did. You always know Nadal is gonna be a threat on clay, but I don't think anyone expected him to dominate hard courts which has historically been his worst surface.

At least part of it is due to the fact that he has become more aggressive and takes the ball earlier, and that in turn has to do with his rivalry with Djokovic. In an attempt to solve the Djokovic puzzle Nadal stepped into the court and became a more attacking player, which translated to better hard court results in general. I never even thought it possible for Nadal to take the ball as early as he has been, and apparently I have been underestimating the amount of talent he possesses.

So all credit to him for adjusting once more and finding the solution. It is now up to Djokovic to find a solution himself if he wants to beat Nadal again. But before I get to that I just want to say a word or two about all these doping rumors surrounding Nadal of late. Yes it does look suspicious that he has been able to come back in the way he has after a 7 month break, but those rumors must not blind us to some of the qualities that Nadal possess.

I for one never believed Nadal would get as far as he has, doping or not. I always thought Federer was a better player, but Nadal is getting up there in the GOAT debate. The one thing that sets him apart from Federer is his mental fortitude, which is something that can't be overlooked. I am a big Federer fan myself but I have gained respect for Nadal because he has succeeded greatly in an aspect of the game which is not Federer's strength.

Of course Federer is anything but mentally weak, but Nadal is on another level in that department. He also has the ability to adapt and figure opponents out, which is another area in which Federer has come up short in the past. Nadal has perpetually surprised me, yet I kept underestimating him. But with him winning the US Open I have learned my lesson. I am giving him the respect he deserves and I wouldn't be surprised if he surpasses Federer in slam count.

But paradoxically him winning the US Open may just be the one thing that motivates Federer to win another slam. More about that later though. For now I want to get back to Beijing. I watched Djokovic against Gasquet and the outcome was predictable. Gasquet started out basically in the zone and broke Djokovic to take a 3-1 lead. Then the key game of the match followed. It was a long game with several deuces but eventually Gasquet could not consolidate.

Djokovic held serve and broke Gasquet in the next game. The rest was history, with Djokovic prevailing 6-4, 6-2. For all his immense potential Gasquet have never gotten it together in the mental department. Had he consolidated at 3-1 and taken a 4-1 lead it was match on, but as expected he failed. Because of this mental flaw Gasquet will never be a slam contender or a top 5 player. It is a shame because he certainly has the raw talent for it.

So it comes down to the Djokodal final in Beijing which we expected from the start. With Murray injured no one is currently close to these two. As I said at the beginning of the event, I think it's important for Djokovic to win or else the rivalry will become too one-sided again. But at the same time I find myself wondering whether winning would give him a false sense of security. I feel like Nadal has figured him out and is in his head right now.

He has to make an adjustment just like Nadal made an adjustment when Djokovic was owning him. And that adjustment is of course his ability to finish the point at the net. He should have realized that he needs to make an adjustment already, but my fear is if he beats Nadal in Beijing where he has never lost before it may cause him to believe that he is back in the rivalry and that he doesn't need to change anything. Then when they meet again in a really important match Nadal could make him pay again.

The Djokodal rivalry has been one of the great ones and I don't want it to become one sided again. The head-to-head currently stands at 22-15 in Nadal's favor and he has won the last 3 matches, including the two very important meetings at Roland Garros and the US Open this year. It's hard to say which effect the result tomorrow will have on the rivalry, or whether it will have any effect at all. But it should be a good one and I intend to enjoy it.

I never got to Tokyo. The final will be contested between Del Potro and Raonic after they had straight set wins over Alamgro and Dodig respectively. Raonic thus passes Tsonga in the race and if he wins tomorrow he will be breathing hard down the necks of Federer, Stan, and Gasquet. I am a Delpo fan but I kind of want Raonic to win just to make the race even more interesting. Whatever the case may be, we have two more great matches to watch tomorrow!

Djokovic Back to Best in Shanghai, Nadal Makes Another Great Escape

Djokovic carried on where he left off in the first round against Rosol today. He was in the zone all match and gave Querrey no chance, winning 6-1, 6-2. I watched this match and the Djoker's returning was just on fire. Querrey has a big serve but Djokovic swatted it for winners like it was nothing. Djokovic should have broken at 3-1 in the 2nd set as well, but failed to challenge the ball after hitting a forehand winner that clipped the line when he was 30-15 up.

It didn't matter much though, because Djokovic broke at 4-2 and closed the match out with an ace at 5-2. It was another breathtaking performance, one which makes me believe he can actually beat Nadal if they meet in the final. Nadal would still be the slight favorite for me though, just because he has beaten Djokovic the last three times now and seems to be in his head somewhat. Nadal is just unplayable right now, and even when he is playing another opponent who was in the zone he finds a way to win.

I couldn't watch his match against Fognini and just caught some highlights. From what I hear Fognini had 2 break points to go up 4-0 in the 2nd set, and 1 break point to go up 5-1. Then at *4-2 and 30-0 he went for a ridiculous drop shot from a winning position which barely hit the net, in true Fog style. Nadal reeled off 11 out of 12 games from 1-4 in the 2nd set to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, in true Nadal style. So both Fognini's recklessness and Nadal's die hard attitude contributed to the result of this match.

If you watched this match and saw Nadal broke back at 4-2, you must have known this match was over. We have seen this scenario play out too many times not to. Nadal had worked his way back into a match he had no right of winning while Fognini blew another great opportunity. It is just the nature of the two men. It seems Djokovic and Nadal's form in Beijing is alternating, because after the Kohlschreiber match where I thought Nadal was unplayable he seemed vulnerable against Fognini again.

If the pattern continues Nadal will be on fire again tomorrow against Berdych and Djokovic may put in another average performance by his high standards. Don't be fooled by appearances though. Nadal is the favorite for this title as far as I'm concerned. But by a very small margin. Djokovic is playing some amazing tennis too. I just think if he is to beat Nadal again he needs to have a better transition and net game. But who knows. He seems to play really well in Beijing and a win here over Nadal would make the rivalry interesting again.

But we are not in the final yet. Nadal plays Berdych who he was beaten the last 14 times for a 15-3 head-to-head. Djokovic plays Gasquet who he leads 8-1 in the head-to-head. So you would expect both players to win given current form and the head-to-head records. If anything I can see Djokovic go to three sets with Gasquet. Gasqet scored another excellent 6-4, 6-3 win over Ferrer today which helps his chances in the race to London. Together with Wawrinka he is now right on the heels of Federer.

In Tokyo Del Potro defeated Dolgopolov after dropping the first set, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. He plays Almagro now who beat local favorite Nishikori 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-3. I just caught the last game of that match and Nishikori was clearly injured which was a shame to see. In the bottom half Raonic continued his impressive form of late with a routine 6-3, 6-3 win over Lacko. He now plays Dodig and has a great chance to make the final here at least, in which case he would pass Tsonga in the race to London.

So things are heating up nicely in the race. Today I learned that there is still a chance Murray could play in London, which makes things even more interesting. Federer, Wawrinka, Gasquet, Raonic, and Tsonga are all now in a battle for the final spots and I also found out today that Federer may add Vienna to his schedule, depending on how he performs in Shanghai. So clearly he is very intent on qualifying. But Wawrinka, Gasquet, and Raonic are all in with very good shouts as well.

Djokovic Fails to Impress Against Verdasco but Reaches Quarter Finals in Beijing

I joined this one in the 1st set just after Verdasco had broken back after trailing 2-4. At 5-6 and serving to stay in the set Verdasco made all his good work undone again by first completely missing an overhead, and then serving a double fault on set point. This is not surprising at all from Verdasco. Talent wise he is in the top 5 in the world but mental fortitude wise he is probably not even in the top 1000. When I watch a match of his I am just waiting for the next blunder.

He simply can't keep it together mentally. In the 2nd set he fought back well though. He broke a pretty average Djokovic twice to win it 6-2. Verdasco served 6 double faults in this match and it is something that plagued him throughout his career. At 0-1 in the 3rd set he once again opened the game with a double fault, and he ended up dropping serve to 30. One double fault may not seem like a big deal but serving one on the opening point against a returner like Djokovic is gonna cost ya.

Again Verdasco just lacks that mental fortitude, and at 5-2 he got broken for a second time to lose 5-7, 6-2, 2-6. In the end it was a good performance from Djokovic but nothing special. Definitely he looked much more menacing in his first match. This just further confirms to me that Nadal is the favorite for this title. Djokovic will not play Stan next, but Querrey instead who upset Stan 6-3, 7-6(2). Looks to me like Stan is tired after his brilliant US Open run because I saw him tweet that he is tired after after the US Open as well.

He didn't play much in the run up to the US Open though, so maybe there are some question marks over his mental and physical fitness. He has now had two disappointing losses in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing and would want to improve towards the end of the year. He would want to make his first Masters Cup and his place is not quite safe yet. The top 4 have already qualified for London but of course Murray is out until year end, which means there are still five spots up for grabs.

Of those five I think Berdych and Del Potro should make it, which leaves three more spots. Those three will most likely come from Federer, Wawrinka, Gasquet, Tsonga, and Raonic. Federer has historically done well indoors so you can probably add him to Berdych and Del Potro. The rest are pretty uncertain. As for the rest of the action in Beijing today Gasquet best Tomic 7-6(2), 6-4, who continues to disappoint after showing much promise not unlike Dimitrov.

Finally Ferrer beat Matosevic after coming from a set down, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2. In Tokyo Raonic maintained his good from of late with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Chardy, while Nishikori bageled Lopez 7-6(4), 6-0. Tomorrow is quarter final day in Beijing and I expect Nadal and Djokovic to both win in straights against Fognini and Querrey respectively. Berdych vs Isner could be closer and the same goes for the US Open rematch between Gasquet and Ferrer.

In Tokyo we will find out if Dodig can keep up his winning ways against Nieminen after upsetting Tsonga, while Del Potro has a chance to pass Federer in the rankings again if he beats Dolgopolov. Finally Raonic will take on Lacko and 4th seed Nishikori will face 6th seed Almgaro. No shortage of good tennis action tomorrow then. Enjoy!

Nadal Wins 25th Straight Hard Court Match in Beijing

The Nadal train is relentlessly steaming ahead, smashing through all boundaries. This must be one of the most unbelievable comeback stories in the history of sport. Historically hard court has been Nadal's worst surface, but this year he has been unbeatable on hard court and won three Masters Series events and one slam. Today he had shaken off the rust from his first match against Giraldo and he is back to his unplayable best, defeating Kohlschreiber 6-4, 7-6(3).

Kohlschreiber played extremely well like he did at the US Open against Nadal, but there was no way through The Great Wall of China that is Nadal. Nadal is not just a defensive wall these days though. Since his comeback he has taken his offensive game to a new level which explains the 25-match unbeatable run on hard courts. Love him or hate him, you gotta give the guy credit for the way he keeps evolving and improving.

I thought his prime was in 2008 or 2010, but he may currently be playing better than ever. Certainly on hard court. I have always thought Federer's prime level was the highest level ever reached in the sport, but Nadal may currently be matching that level. In his prime Federer was unplayable and hardly ever lost a match. That is the case with Nadal now. What made Federer so special though was for how long he maintained that level. He dominated the tennis world from 2004-2007 unlike anyone had done before.

He won three slams in three different years. We will see for how long Nadal can keep this level up. Something tells me it won't be for as long as Federer did. Nadal's whole career has followed an up and down pattern, which meant he never dominated the sport for an extended period of time. So you would expect him to hit a low again in the not too distant future. But for now he is still relentlessly steaming ahead, taking no prisoners.

Today against Kohli his level was just scary again. In the first set at 4-4 Kohlschreiber produced a break point after some magnificent play. What happens? Nadal paints the line with a forehand down the line winner after a good return from Kohli. He goes on to hold serve and then breaks Kohlschreiber in the next game. In the 2nd set at 1-2 15-30 he gets a second time warning from the umpire which means he forfeits his 1st serve. Kohli crushes the 2nd serve for a return winner.

Two break points. Nadal then misses his 1st serve. Big chance for Kohli, but Nadal serves a 2nd serve ace. And his serve is not even known as a strength. It was like he got mad at the time warning and served a 2nd serve ace to show the umpire. At 30-40 he plays another unbelievable point and goes on to hold serve. I mean it's like he can do what he wants, which is the feeling you got with Federer when he was in his prime. Just untouchable.

I thought Djokovic would be very hard to beat after his first round match, but having watched Nadal today I once again believe he is the favorite. It would sure be another interesting final if they were to meet, but I still think Nadal has the edge. Elsewhere Hewitt got trounced 6-0, 6-2 by Fognini, and apparently Hewitt had a dismal day at the office. The Fog now plays Nadal and has about a 0,01% chance of winning. In Tokyo Del Potro thumped Berlocq 6-2, 6-2 which was nice to see for me as a fan.

Tsonga was upset 6-4, 7-6(5) by Dodig which improves Federer's chances to make the Masters Cup, although he was probably gonna make it anyway after the withdrawal of Murray. This is the first year since 2002 that Federer's spot at the Masters Cup was in any doubt at all, but even after the dismal year he had by his own high standards he will surely make it now. Tomorrow Djokovic is back in action against Verdasco. The kind of match we will see all depends on which Verdasco shows up.

Potentially he could trouble Djokovic but you'd expect Djokovic to win. Hopefully Verdasco can bring his best level and we will see a competitive match. Stan plays Querrey as well so lets see if we will have a Djoko/Stan quarter which would no doubt be good stuff. In Tokyo I don't see anything particularly interesting for tomorrow so I will keep focusing my viewing on Beijing. Until tomorrow then.


On a side note David Nalbandian announced his retirement today which is sad to see. One of the most talented players I ever saw and a character too. I will miss those days when his vast talent was on full display. Probably his finest hour was when he defeated Federer in the 2005 Masters Cup final in that 5 set epic.

Djokovic off to Blistering Start in Beijing

Djokovic was playing his first competitive match today after his disappointment in the US Open final and he certainly didn't look like he had a hangover from that loss. I just caught a bit of the action in the first set before I had to head out and he was playing some unbelievable tennis, bageling Rosol in the 1st set. Djokovic have won three Beijing titles from three starts, so he clearly loves this event and plays well here. I think there is a pretty good chance he makes it 4/4.

He said he will keep fighting for the #1 spot as long as there is a chance he can end the year in the top spot, but he must know it is all but a done deal that Nadal will end the year ranked #1. After Djokovic owned Nadal for a stretch Nadal has come back after his 7 month breaks and turned it around against Djokovic, starting with that pivotal French Open match. The US Open final must have really hurt Djokovic as well so it's nice to see him looking so good in his first match back.

He must know he will lose the #1 ranking and probably doesn't feel that much pressure to win Beijing.
He can just go out there and play his best at one of his favorite events, because Nadal has already overshadowed him this year. But if him and Nadal face off in the final and he wins it will still be an important moral victory. He's gotta try and stay in touch with Nadal despite the tough losses to him recently, and there isn't a better place than Beijing for him to do so.

Nadal played today as well and won 6-2, 6-4 against Giraldo. If anyone looked like they had a hangover it was Nadal, because he dropped serve when serving for the match. So judging from today's action Djokovic definitely looks like a better bet for the title between the two. Of course Nadal only has to make the final to overtake Djokovic in the rankings, but like I said it would still be an important moral victory for Djokvic if he could win the event by beating Nadal in the final.

It does look like Nadal currently has the measure of Djokovic, but Djokovic has to find a way to beat Nadal again. Djokovic will want to get his slam count up high as well, but Nadal will stand in his way if he doesn't find a solution. He should know by now that he underestimated Nadal's ability to find a solution against him and he must now do the same to Nadal. He is clearly talented enough to beat Nadal and win many more slams, but he needs to work on his ability to finish points.

To be more specific he needs to work on his net game. His overheads are a joke for a player of his caliber and he must work on his transition game as well. He is giving Nadal too many chances to stay in the point when he should have been at the net finishing the point. So I think that is definitely something he can work at. I hope he is up for it because I enjoy this rivalry and I don't want it to become one-sided. It also keeps tennis interesting if the rivalry stays competitive.

Yesterday there was an interesting match between Haas and Hewitt in Beijing which Hewitt won 7-6(6), 6-3, after Haas was up 6-3 in the first set breaker. It is very surprising that this was the first meeting between the two in 9 years and Haas has a history of letting Hewitt off the hook in their matches, so I guess they just started where they left off 9 years ago. Hewitt keeps his good form from the US Open going with this win and now faces Fognini which will be interesting as well.

Kohlschreiber scraped through in a 3rd set breaker against Montanes and now faces Nadal. Kohlschreiber was the only player other than Djokovic who took a set off Nadal in New York and could test Nadal here. Another good one to look forward to. Other than that Stan lost the first set against Seppi and came back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Good fightback and will face Querrey for a place in the quarters. In Tokyo #1 seed Del Potro started slowly but prevailed 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 against Baggy.

The 7th seed Anderson was upset 6-4, 7-6(2) by Lacko while 2nd seed Tsonga was back with a 6-3, 7-6(8) win over his countryman and friend Monfils. My picks for the best matches of tomorrow then is Hewitt vs Fognini and Nadal vs Kohlschreiber. Talk to you guys later.