Well Done Davydenko for winning World Tour Finals

Just like to say well done to Davy, he was the player of the tournament and deserved to win.


I was amazed at his consistency, particularly in the Federer match, he just kept going for shot after shot, I was thinking "he'll start missing those soon", but he didn't. All credit to him.

However, I also have to say, I think it's true that Federer is no longer the player he used to be. He shows glimpses of his genius, but all too often these days he looks flat. He looked flat in both the Wimbledon and US Open finals- it's a credit to his all-round credentials that these matches went to five sets. Then he plays a match like he did against Murray- in the 3rd set he looked awesome. In the match against Davy there was a moment when I thought he was going to turn the match around- remember the overhead smash he managed to hit a winner from? That was a piece of magic, but the old Federer would have finished the job.

I'm not saying he's washed up or anything, just that he's no longer the force he was (also losing the aura of invincibility). I suppose you can't stay at the top forever, but it's sad to witness this type of decline, I had to watch it happen to Stephen Hendry in the snooker, and it looks as though the same could happen here, with Del Potro, Djokovic, Murray et al taking the mantle. Time will tell.

Davydenko takes on Federer on the 1st semifinal of World Tour Finals

Sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko booked his place in the semi-finals of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the expense of defending champion Novak Djokovic Friday evening as he defeated Group B winner Robin Soderling 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3.

While Davydenko and Djokovic, who earlier beat Rafael Nadal, have both compiled 2-1 match records, Davydenko has the edge over the Serbian on sets won. Davydenko has a 5-3 win-loss record in sets, while Djokovic has won one set less with a 4-3 mark. Sweden’s Soderling tops the group with a 2-1 match record and a 5-2 mark in sets won and lost.

Davydenko will now take on Group A winner Roger Federer in the first semi-final, as he bids to reach the final for the second year in a row, while Soderling faces US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro on Saturday evening.

Davydenko is yet to beat 2009 ATP World Tour Champion Federer in 12 meetings with the Swiss, but believes he can overturn that tomorrow. “Each of the 12 times I played him I came in believing I could win,” said Davydenko. “It's not like I was coming into the match and already saying I'm losing.

“But I know Federer is older, I'm also older. Maybe I am starting to play better and Federer not so good. We'll see. I played great in all three matches [this week]. I would like to play the same way as I did today, and I hope I can run well tomorrow, fast, and not make any mistakes.”

Robin Soderling To Make Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Debut

Injured Roddick forced to withdraw from tournament

Big-hitting Swede Robin Soderling will make his debut at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals after an injured Andy Roddick announced his withdrawal Tuesday. Soderling, who this year became the first man to beat Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros, had been the first alternate for the world’s biggest indoor tennis tournament, which begins Sunday, 22 November, at The O2 in London.

With Soderling’s elevation, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga becomes the tournament’s first-alternate.

Soderling, who will be the first Swede to play at the season finale since Thomas Johansson in 2002, this year finished in Top 10 of the South African Airways ATP Rankings for first time, highlighted by reaching his first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros and capturing his first ATP World Tour title on clay, on home soil in Bastad. He won nine matches in his first 10 tournaments through mid-May but then turned things around by compiling a 35-9 match record over the remainder of the season, which included runs to the Roland Garros final, Wimbledon fourth round and the US Open quarter-finals (losing to Roger Federer each time).

Roger Federer has a tough draw in London Year end masters tour final

LONDON: Roger Federer will face US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Murray and Spain's Fernando Verdasco in the tougher of the two round
robin groups for the ATP World Tour Finals.

Group B in the end-of-season showpiece event features former wold number one Rafael Nadal, recent Paris Masters champion Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko and late-entrant Robin Soderling.

Soderling had failed to qualify for the eight-man event but was brought in following the withdrawal of Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick, who has not played since injuring his left knee in Shanghai last month.

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is now on standby in case of any other withdrawals.

The top two players in each of the round robin groups advance to the semi-finals of the tournament, which starts Sunday at London's O2 Arena. The final is on November 29.

Nadal Has Not Beaten a Top 10 player over 6 months

For over half a year! after Madrid 2009 Nadal hasnt beaten a Top 10 player.

I was surprised at the way he struggled yesterday and had Almagro had a bit more composure, he would also have lost comprehensively again. So I checked the stats and the last time Nadal won a top 10 player was against Djoko in Madrid (tough match that was too).

London in 10 days time will certainly give us a better idea to where he stands amongst the top 8

Soderling keeps hopes alive to qualify for ATP World Tour finals

Ninth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling won a tense do-or-die third-round clash against sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko, a fellow Barclays ATP World Tour Finals contender, at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris on Thursday to keep alive a five-way battle for the last two singles berths at the prestigious season climax.

Soderling avenged last month’s Proton Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2009 semi-final defeat against Davydenko with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win in the pair’s fourth meeting this year. Despite hitting 11 aces and saving eight of 10 break points, Davydenko must now wait on other players results at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament if he is to qualify for the elite eight-man event at The O2 in London.

Soderling will next challenge either French wild card Arnaud Clement or ATP World Tour 2009 match-wins leader Novak Djokovic, the No. 3 seed from Serbia, in the quarter-finals.

The 25-year-old Soderling, who finished runner-up to Roger Federer at Roland Garros in June, improved to a 47-18 match record on the season. He added 90 South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings points for 3,010 points overall and remains 290 points behind No. 8-ranked Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. Davydenko, a winner of four ATP World Tour titles this year, is currently No. 7 in the year-to-date rankings with 3,630 points.

Cuevas-Granollers Edge London Finals Contenders For Moscow Title

Third seed Pablo Cuevas and Marcel Granollers won their first ATP World Tour team title at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow on Sunday.

Cuevas and Granollers converted one of eight break point opportunities, but held their nerve in the Match tie-break to defeat top seeds Frantisek Cermak of the Czech Republic and Slovak Michal Mertinak 4-6, 7-5, 10-8 in 85 minutes.

“I am very happy, this is a great tournament and it’s nice to end on such a good note,” said Cuevas, who was appearing in his fourth doubles final (3-1) and his first on a hard-court. “Marcel and I have played together only a few times and we’ve always done well, but this is our first title together. We had a great time this week.”

It is Cuevas and Granollers’ fourth ATP World Tour tournament as a team (11-3 match record overall). They made a successful debut at in April 2008, by reaching the US Men's Clay Court Championship final in Houston.

Granollers improved to 3-1 in doubles finals and he was contesting his first non-clay-court final. This year, he won titles at the Brasil Open in Costa do Sauipe (w/Robredo) and the Copa Telmex in Buenos Aires (w/A. Martin).

Cermak and Mertinak, who won 70 per cent of service points and hit four aces, dropped to 4-2 in ATP World Tour doubles finals this year.

They captured clay-court titles at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, the MercedesCup in Stuttgart, the ATP Studena Croatia Open in Umag and the BCR Open Romania in Bucharest. The duo also reached the Movistar Open in Vina del Mar.

Cermak was attempting to earn his 21st career ATP World Tour title (20-14 overall) and Mertinak his 11th ATP World Tour title (10-3).

The duo is No. 9 in the ATP Doubles Team Ranking and they are trying to earn a spot in the year-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London next month.

ATP World Tour Finals 2009 - Countdown

The newly named ATP World Tour Finals concluding the men's main tennis season circuit is looming, and after some successful years in Shanghai, the elite event now finds its new home in London.

Qualification to be in the top 8 ranked players in the world by season end is reaching a climax with only 2 places remaining, of which the 7th place is very nearly sealed.

Ranking and Qualification as on Sat 24th Oct 2009:
1.Roger Federer - Qualified
2.Rafael Nadal - Qualified
3.Novak Djokovic - Qualified (Defending Masters Cup Champ)
4.Andy Murray - Qualified
5.Juan Martin Del Potro - Qualified
6.Andy Roddick - Qualified
7.Nikolay Davydenko - Provisional
8.Fernando Verdasco - Provisional

With injuries, fatigue and patriotic commitments to the Davis Cup following the event, the best in the world are plagued and pressured to perform at the very highest level after the gruelling season they have been awarded a place by - and now suffer from as a result.

So for those going, or simply any fan waiting to watch, here begins a month of anticipation and excitement as we witness the final push before the greatest glatiators of Men's Tennis enter the ring of the O2 Arena.

Why do I write this now? Well I got the first half of my tickets this morning, and have been waiting for this all year since I booked my seats - so I'm terribly excited!

Do share though - are you going? Have you got your tickets yet? Which days are you planning to go? Who is the player you are most looking foward to seeing in the event, whether you are going or not? And who do you think deserves to qualify for the final two places by their performance in 2009?