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

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