Lum photoNovak sails into London with a head of steam.Djokovic Looks Like London Favorite After Gutsy
Title Win Over Monfils SUNDAY, NOV. 15 - If he can manage to recover in the next week, Serbia's Novak
Djokovic has to be called the favorite at the season-ending Nov. 22-29
ATP World Tour Finals in London.
In yet another outstanding performance by the 2008 Aussie Open champ, Djokovic
won his first Masters shield of the year by out-gutting, out-thinking and out-stroking
crowd favorite Gael Monfils 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (3) at Bercy on Sunday.
The more aggressive and competent Djokovic has had quite a last two weeks, besting
Roger Federer for the Basel title and then thrashing Rafael Nadal in the Paris
semis and facing down a raucous crowd against Monfils. While the young Frenchman
fought bravely, it was the Serbians’ ability to mix it up in the third
set tiebreaker that won him the match. Not only is hitting his forehand harder,
but he appears much more secure around the net now.
"It was incredibly tough," said Djokovic, who nailed 33 winners to
25 from Monfils and converted 20 of 29 net approaches. "Gael is very unpredictable.
He was hitting the ball well and he's got a strong serve. I had to [dig deep],
because in the last four finals that I've played this year in 1000 events I lost,
so it was kind of in my head. I was thinking about it, and it wasn't a pleasant
feeling, especially when I saw Gael getting into the rhythm more. Of course [the]
big support of the crowd gave him even more motivation and more energy towards
the end of the match. So I was kind of fighting him and fighting the big pressure
of the crowd. I was trying to hold all my nerves. At the end of the match, I
threw all my emotions out and was happy."
Monfils was playing his first Masters final and acquitted himself nicely, but
still needs to be a bit more creative and focused when the big points come. "I
managed to fight my way back into it and I nearly made it,"
he said. "It's a pity, really.”
The third ranked Djokovic will head to London with 7,910 points, well ahead of
Andy Murray, who has 6 830 and will likely have to win the title to regain the
No. 3 spot.
"I'm very happy that I managed to win a big tournament just two tournaments
before the end of the season," said Djokovic. "Now I'm coming with
a lot of confidence in London, and the only question is if I'm able to physically
rest and get energy for that event."
Djokovic Crushes Rafa, to Meet Monfils SATURDAY, NOV. 14 - It’s been a good
year and a half since Novak Djokovic looked like he could seriously
threaten for No.1, but after scalding Roger Federer for the Basel title
and then wasting Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-3 for a place in the Bercy Masters
final, the Serbian appears to be a primetime contender once again.
Although he’s had a mediocre year at the Slams, the 22-year-old advanced
to his fifth ATP final of the year with a 77-minute victory over Nadal. He leads
the tour for match wins in 2009, with a 75-18 and has a 4-5 record in title matches.
Some credit must go to his part-time coach Todd Martin, as Djokovic’s
level and confidence has really improved since they began working together in
the summer.
"There's not much to say about today's performance, except it was perfect," said
Djokovic, who nailed 31 winners. "[It was] exactly the way I wanted it.
I have done, tactically-wise, everything that I imagined to do and planned to
do before the match. I was very aggressive. I was hitting winners from all over
the court and really trying to keep that momentum going throughout the whole
match. I didn't give him many chances to come back into the match."
Djokovic will face French favortite Gael
Monfils, who took a delicious 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over Radek
Stepanek. Monfils could put a sizeable cherry on his year by winning
the title.
Djokovic is now 6-14 against Nadal, but doesn’t shy away from the
Spaniard on hardcourts. Nadal has not won a title since May at Rome and
is 945 points behind Roger Federer in the battle to be crowned year-end
No. 1, meaning that he’ll likely have to win London. "He played
very well," said Nadal. "He played unbelievable, in my opinion.
I didn't play bad. That's the truth. But with this level of Novak’s,
[it] is very difficult to play at this level, especially [on] this surface.”
Verdadco Qualifies for London as Tsonga,
Soderling Fall; Rafa v. Djokovic
FRIDAY, NOV. 13 - Fernando Verdasco couldn’t
have asked for two more competent players than Rafael Nadal and Novak
Djokovic to secure him the final spot in the ATP World Tour
Finals in London, Nov. 22-29.
On Friday at the Bercy Masters, Nadal played his most impressive match
of the fall in knocking out local and defending champ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
7-5, 7-5 by winning 12 out of the last 13 points of the second set.
Prior to that, Djokovic survived Soderling’s inside the baseline
blitz with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory. Combined with Fernando Gonzalez’s
retirement to Juan Martin Del Potro on Thursday night,
Verdasco now joins the eight-player field that includes Roger Federer,
Nadal, Djokovic, Andy Murray, del Potro, Andy Roddick and Nikolay Davydenko.
However, Roddick, who has been troubled by a knee injury and just began
light jogging a few days ago and can’t be considered definitive
for the competition, which means that Soderling, who is in ninth place
in the points race, and Tsonga, who finished 10th, still have a chance
to compete as they will head to London as alternates.
Nadal, who still has an outside chance of finishing the year as No.
1, broke the on-rushing Tsonga to win the match in a beautiful return
game. While Tsonga competed hard this year, he really didn’t
show much improvement overall.
"I played a lot better today," said Nadal, who struggled in his previous
two long matches. "I was really focused all the time and played well at
important moments. This is positive and gives me a lot of confidence." Nadal
will play a tired Djokovic in the semis. The Serbian took out Federer at Basel
last week.
Davydenko Qualifies for London With Verdasco
Loss; Murray Out WEDNESDAY, NOV. 12 - Swede Robin Soderling kept
alive his hopes of qualifying for the season-ending Masters in London
by taking out Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 3-6. 6-4 at Bercy, but the Russian
secured the seventh spot anyway as fellow contender Fernando Verdasco
went down 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Marin Cilic. Verdasco now
has to wait and see if he’ll qualify as Soderling, Fernando Gonzalez
and Jo Tsonga remain in contention.
Soderling will meet Novak Djokovic, who thrashed Arnaud Clement
6-2, 6-2. Defending champ Tsonga busted up Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-3 and needs to
win the tournament to make the season finale. "I'm not thinking about London,
I'm thinking about defending my title, or rather winning a new one,” he
said. Tsonga will meet either Rafael Nadal or Tommy Robredo.
Gael Monfils took a 6-4, 6-3 win over Julien Benneteau,
who was tired after stunning Roger Federer in the previous round.
Andy Murray also looked slow and went down 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Radek Stepanek.
Murray needed to go to a third Set tiebreak to beat James Blake late on Wednesday
night.
"Obviously, I was not at my best but I was not expecting to (be),"
Murray said. "It was four o'clock by the time I got to bed and that's
not the ideal preparation for a match. After a few days off I'll feel
good," he said. "I'm looking forward to London. I'll give it
my best shot."
Yanina Wickmayer said in a news conference that she
would appeal her doping suspension. "We are going to appeal this
ruling and do everything we can to get it overturned. I'm a fighter and
won't give up… Venus Williams, Joe Girardi, David
Levy and Joe Steranka will be honored at the March of Dimes Sports Luncheon
on December 2 at Waldorf NYC… Sam Querrey, Bob Kramer and
Henry Talbert will make special announcement at Trastevere Ristorante
in Hollywood on Nov. 17 regarding tennis participation numbers…Butch
Buchholz, the founder of Sony Ericsson Open/Miami,
will step down following 2010 event 'to pursue new entrepreneurial opportunities.”
Isn’t it time for Butch to enjoy his retirement?... I haven’t
been in the office, but hear that the 2010 inductions to the International
Tennis Hall of Fame are doubles standouts Gigi Fernandez and Natasha “The
Dancing girl” Zvereva (they should be thanking Hall of
Fame Committee member and Tennis Channel head writer Joel Drucker for
tooting their horn), Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge,
and Anders Jarryd as individual. The two pairings are
automatic in my book, but as much as I like Jarryd, that’s going
to be a tough go with two different major partners.
The USTA announced
that Atlanta’s Donald Young and SoCal's Alexa
Glatch are among the initial list of players invited to compete
at its Australian Open wild card playoffs held during the 2009 Infinite
Energy Atlanta Challenge at the Racquet Club of the South, a USTA Certified
Regional Training Center in Atlanta, December 4-7. Eight men and eight
women will compete in the wild card playoffs.
Five men have been offered a spot in the event: Ryan Harrison, Jesse
Levine, Wayne Odesnik, Rajeev Ram and Young . The six women invited to
compete are: Glatch, Madison Brengle, Christina McHale, Asia Muhammad,
Alison Riske and Coco Vandeweghe.
Mal Taam/MALTphotoWe
will miss the talented and nutty Marat.Del Potro Retires Safin
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 11 - Former No. 1 Marat Safin’s career
came to a close at the Bercy Masters in a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 defeat to US Open champ
Juan Martin del Porto. “I've lived my life the way I wanted to, whether
scaling the mountains, partying long into the night or having fun playing soccer," said
two-time Slam champ Safin.
“As for my tennis career, I probably could have won a few more
(titles) but if it was up to me, I wouldn't change a thing."
Rafael Nadal saved five match points before tripping
up Nicolas Almagro 3-6, 7-6, 7-5, Nadal will face Tommy Robredo,
who took down Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4. Novak Djokovic moved past Juan
Monaco 6-3, 7-5 and will play Arnaud Clement.
Robin Soderling kept alive his hopes of making the ATP
World Tour Finals in London by beating Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 7-6 to set up
a third-round match against Nikolay Davydenko, who is also looking to
qualify. Another London hopeful, Fernando Gonzalez put
down John Isner 7-5, 7-6(3) and will confront Del Potro.
Pining in Paris for Last 2 London Spots
TUESDAY, NOV. 10 - The final two spots at
the World Tour Finals in London are Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando
Verdasco’s to lose. Both moved closer to qualifying
with second-round wins at the Paris Masters on Tuesday.
Davydenko, who will automatically qualify with a semifinal appearance
in Paris, crushed Benjamin Becker 6-2, 6-1, while Verdasco, who might
need to go deeper in the tournament, needed over two hours to fend off
Andreas Seppi 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.
The Spaniard's win meant that Radek Stepanek and Marin Cilic cannot qualify,
leaving five total players with a shot, including Robin Soderling,
Fernando Gonzalez and defending Paris champ Jo-Wilfried
Tsonga, who shook off his wrist injury and bested Albert Montanes
6-1, 7-5 Tsonga will face Gilles Simon or Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic. He
may have to go through Rafael Nadal in the quarters,
who will go up against Nicolas Almagro.
Verdasco will play Cilic or Lukasz Kubot, while Davydenko will meet Soderling
or Ivo Karlovic. Soderling has to reach at least the semis to qualify
and might have to beat Basel champ Novak Djokovic to do so. "Every
year it's the same, whether I'm in (the World Tour Finals) or not depends
on how I play in Paris, and I'm always in," Davydenko said.
Verdasco would eliminate Gonzalez and Tsonga by reaching the final, but
it will be a very tough road, as Roger Federer looms
in the quarters. The No. 1 will play Julien Benneteau on Wednesday.
Gonzalez has to face the towering John Isner, who bested Alejandro Falla
in three sets. Should he get past there, he’ll face the winner
of the match between Juan martin Del Potro and Marat Safin,
who is playing his last event before retiring.
On Tuesday, Safin had this to say about Andre Agassi’s admission
that he lied about using crystal meth. "He feels guilty? So let
him just give back his titles, money, his Grand Slams!" Safin told
L'Equipe. "If he is so fair play, he should go all the way. You
know, ATP have a bank account, he can refund if he wants to. “I
won't write my [auto] biography. I do not need any money. The question
is: why did he do it?" "What's done is done. He hopes to sell
more books. But he is completely stupid!" I do not defend the ATP
but what he said put them in a bad position. ATP allowed him to win a
lot of tournaments, to make a lot of money. They kept his secret so why
be so cruel with them? There are times you need to be able to shut up."
Does that mean that Safin will be winning to give back all the guarantees
for the matches he tanked over the years?
Vera Zvonareva will be undergoing minor arthroscopic
surgery on her right ankle to remove scar tissueon Wednesday in Rotterdam
with Dr. Niek van Dijk. She will remain in Holland for two weeks for
extensive rehab and should be cleared to return to the court in 4 -
5 weeks...The USTA announced a new Player Development Training Center-East
at the USTA Billie Jean King NTC in Flushing, NY. Tim Mayotte will
be the head coach… Teenager Yuki Bhambri is one of the winners
at the prestigious Sahara Indian Sports Awards. Lots of top Indian
athletes have won, but Sania Mirza apparently hasn’t. What?...The
now retired Ally Baker is suing Adidas over foot trouble,
but apparently with little success….The New Haven tournament,
played the week before the US Open, is looking for a new title sponsor…Yanina
Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse will appeal
their one-year suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Wickmayer
will hold press conference on Wednesday in Belgium…Nadal says
that the whereabouts rule is too stringent. On Twitter, Anne
Keothavong replied:
“The rules are harsh but an hour a day is a small price to pay
as a top athlete.”
