Djokovic Stops Gael Force for ATP Paris Masters Title; Tennis-X Notes

by Staff | November 15th, 2009, 10:29 pm
  • 31 Comments

In a battle between two players who have been questioned in the past for their “heart,” No. 3-seeded Novak Djokovic won an emotional 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(3) battle over No. 15 seed Gael “Force” Monfils for the Paris Masters title, the last regular-season tournament of the year before the year-end event featuring the Top 8 players in London.
ADHEREL
Djokovic was the player holding his nerve in the third-set tiebreak as opposed to the outwardly-chest-beating yet inwardly-trembling Monfils, who instead of putting away short balls would scamper forward, hit a slice and retreat, or bail out of points with awkward dropshots that let Djokovic take command.

Upon clinching match point, Djokovic let loose a series of screams and victorious shouts that continued after he shook Monfils’ hand and took his courtside seat awaiting the trophy presentation.

“I’m very happy that I managed to win a big tournament just two tournaments before the end of the season,” Djokovic said. “Now I’m coming with a lot of confidence in London [ATP year-end championship] and the only question is if I’m able to physically rest and get energy for that event.”


It was the first Masters 1000 trophy for Djokovic after previously going 0-4 in finals at the Sony Ericsson Open (l. to Andy Murray) in Miami, the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (l. to Rafael Nadal), the Internazional BNL d’Italia (l. to Nadal) in Rome and the Western and Southern Financial Group Masters (l. to Roger Federer) in Cincinnati.

Djokovic has captured titles at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships (d. Dave Ferrer), the Serbia Open 2009 (d. Luke Kubot), the China Open (d. Marin Cilic) in Beijing and at last week’s Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel (d. Federer).

“Winning back-to-back titles on this level is a huge achievement for me, and adding to that, beating No. 1, No. 2 of the world,” said Djokovic, who topped Nadal in the semifinals on Saturday.

“There’s nothing that I did wrong,” said Monfils, who has yet to see the film. “He played very well. He was hitting well and no mistakes. I needed to fight and stay in there. I started playing better in the third set. He broke me. I was able to find my energy to come back.”

In the doubles final the top-seeded team of Nestor/Zimonjic beat the Spaniards Granollers/Robredo 6-3, 6-4.

“We’ve had two great years together and I want to congratulate Daniel as he had never won this title before,” Zimonjic said.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS

U.S. FED CUP — WHERE IS THE AMERICAN PRIDE? — U.S. Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez on the 2009 Fed Cup champion Italian squad of Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone: “They have a lot of depth and are consistent, and guess what, they play every time. There’s so much pride.” — And the unsaid take-away, how come the top American players (see: Williams sisters) don’t show the same pride in playing for the U.S.?

Vera Zvonareva underwent minor arthroscopic surgery on her right ankle to remove scar tissue, and will be out 4-5 weeks.

Taylor Dent won the Knoxville Challenger, moving back into the Top 100.

Next year will be the last year of Pilot Pen sponsoring the ATP/WTA New Haven event, ending a 15-year title sponsor run.


You Might Like:
Previews: ATP Paris Masters Field Loaded, Djokovic Defends
Del Potro, Tsonga; Nishikori Defends at ATP Tokyo
Soderling, Rafter Win Titles; Tennis-X Notes
Federer v Nadal in Doha; Brisbane, Chennai, ATP Previews
Nadal, Federer Headline Year-end ATP Regular Season at Paris Masters

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31 Comments for Djokovic Stops Gael Force for ATP Paris Masters Title; Tennis-X Notes

jane Says:

Alright Djoko.

Other bad news; I don’t know how true this is, but I just read that Roddick is preparing to announce his pull-out from the WTF. Sad, but I hope he returns refreshed next year:

” Söderling can expect to pack his bags for London because Andy Roddick is preparing to announce today that he is unfit to play at the O2.”

source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article6918010.ece

i am it- just to say thanks for that link on the other thread; it was great to relive some of that in high quality.


Mary Says:

Fernandez’s comments: How come such a large country has only two people to depend on to play Fed Cup? While players should represent went able, it should not rest on two players.
Also, get some bangs.


gordon Says:

Why the points for the Masters Cup 2008 are being already withdown? They shuld in worst case be taken when tournament for 2009 start and not a week ahaed? This way Djokovic did not make any move on rankings! He should have 9210 and take a second position from Nadal. Before the Masters Djokovic was 600 point behind Nadal. After he took the trophy he is 1295 points behind…


scineram Says:

So what?


Gordo Says:

Yes, the rankings sometimes get confusing with last year’s numbers always dropping off but that’s what happens with this system. Federer only won one match last year while Nadal didn’t play the event in Shanghai and back then it was a tragedy for both players, but this year it looks much better because they are the two who stand the most to gain.

Looking at the doubles for a change, it is interesting to see that what was happening in mens singles for 3 of the past 4 years is happening now in doubles, with 2 teams clearly the class of the field and the rest also-rans. It will be pretty great if the London final again determines the year-end number one, as the Shanghai tourney did last year when Nestor/Zimonjic beat the Bryans.

Speaking of – the Bryans are having difficulty with that Canadian/Serbian team – the last time they beat them was in the finals (of course) of Sydney back in January. Since then they have lost to the Nestor/Zimonjic duo at Monte Carlo, Rome, Wimbledon, Cincinnati and Basel.

London should be fun in both singles and doubles!


sar Says:

Gordo,
the Bryans are only 30 so they have lots of time to advance and beat all records. N&Z are hot right now but older. I am glad (old) Nestor got his last title. Everything from now on is gravy. I bet they play another year or two to help Z get a USO, FO and AO, if possible.


andrea Says:

that paris trophy looks like a pile of scrap rebar….you’d think the parisians would have come up with something a little more stylish.


i am it Says:

let me start with Djokovic’s chances of ousting Rafa from the No. 2 perch. i think the YEC will be the 3rd time (?) Djokovic is one tournament away from taking over the No. 2 spot. correct me if i am wrong:

Rafa—–9205
Dj——-7910

Difference: 1295

(1)
let’s ay Dj wins YEC by losing only 1 RR, and Rafa does not win any match, then:

Rafa—–9205 + 0 = 9205
Dj——-7910 + 1300 = 9210

(2)
let’s say Dj wins the YEC without losing any match, and Rafa wins only 1 match, then:

Rafa—–9205 + 200 = 9405
Dj——-7910 + 1500 = 9410.

Heck of a work to do in both cases.

(A)
let’s say Dj gains 400 points more than Rafa at the YEC,
Rafa—–9205 + 400 = 9605
Dj——-7910 + 800 = 8710

(B)
or, let’s say Dj gains 600 points more than Rafa at the YEC,
Rafa—–9205 + 200 = 9405
Dj——-7910 + 800 = 8710

(C)
or, let’s say Dj gains 800 points more than Rafa
Rafa——9205 + 200 = 9405
Dj——–7910 + 1000 = 8910

==============================================
Let’s fast-forward to Feb. 1, 2010, the drop date for Australian Open.

(W)
Rafa loses 45 (Doha) + 2000 (AO). granted Rafa wins only 1 RR at YEC (Refer to C above) and makes to the final at ’10 AO,

Rafa = 9405- 2045 + 1200 = 8,560

Dj loses 360 pts (AO). granted he gains 800 points from YEC, and reaches quarter at ’10 AO.

Dj = 8910 – 360 + 360 = 8,910

Dj ousts Rafa and takes the No. 2.

(X) Refer to (B) above.
(say Dj gains 600 points more than Rafa at the YEC):
Rafa—–9405
Dj——-8710

say both Rafa and Dj reach the semifinal at ’10 AO,

Rafa = 9405- 2045 + 720= 8,080
Dj = 8710 – 360 + 720 = 9,070

Dj takes the No. 2 by almost 1000 points.

(Y) Refer to (A) above (let’s say Dj gains 400 points more than Rafa at the YEC),
Rafa—–9605
Dj——-8710

Dj beats Rafa in the Semi at ’10 AO but loses in the final,
Rafa = 9605 – 2045 + 720 = 8280
Dj = 8710 – 360 + 1200 = 9550

Dj ousts Rafa by 1270 points.

(Z) this one i have not considered above, but might happen. let’s say Dj wins only 1 match more than Rafa at YEC and gains 200 points more, and Rafa beats Dj at ’10 AO in the semi but loses in the final,
Rafa—–9205 + 200 (YEC)- 2040 + 1200 = 8560
Dj——-7910 + 400 (YEC)- 360 + 720 = 8670.

I’d like to see scenario (Y) happening. It would look nicer if you gain the spot by beating the incumbent. and note this in scenario (Y), Dj. can rise to No. 2 without even gaining any point from the YEC.

==============================================
now to Fed- Rafa, one more time. ATP has posted Rafa’s chances and un-chances, which includes how he and Fed have performed at YEC in the past:

1. If Nadal is an undefeated champion at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (winning all 3 RR matches, semi-final and final) he will earn the maximum 1,500 points. To finish as 2009 ATP World Tour Champion, Fed would need to either win all 3 RR matches OR reach the final.

2. If Nadal goes 2-1 in round-robin play and wins the title, he will earn 1,300 points. To remain the year-end No. 1, Fed would need to either win 2 RR matches OR win 1 RR match and (assuming he advanced past the round-robin stage) win his semi-final match to reach the final.

3. If Nadal goes 3-0 in round-robin play, wins his semi-final but loses the final he will earn 1,000 points. To finish year-end No. 1, Fed would need to win just 1 RR match.

Working against Nadal’s chances are the respective YEC records of both players. Fed boasts one of the greatest records at the YEC with a 27-5 match record, including 4 titles from 5 straight finals between 2003-07.

In two appearances in 2006-07 Nadal went 2-1 in round-robin play but fell in the semi-finals, to Fed, on both occasions.

To see the full 7 scenarios, see my post:
http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2009-11-14/2650.php#comment-107640


i am it Says:

in simplest language, without eye-pricking numbers,
if Rafa and Dj earn the same point at the ’09 YEC and ’10 AO (say both reach Semifinal at ’10 AO),
Dj takes over the No. 2.


i am it Says:

in simplest language, without numbers, if Rafa and Dj earn the same point at the ‘09 YEC and ‘10 AO (say both reach Semifinal at ‘10 AO),
Dj takes over the No. 2.


i am it Says:

guys, i am gonna call timeout for a while. i will pop up occasionally to say hello or to congratulate landmark achievements like Fed’s retaining year-end No. 1, Dj breaking into the No. 2, or DelPo winning more than 2 matches at the YEC, etc.

will feel good if you remember me if any of those numbers turns out to be true:-)

much appreciated sharing enthusiasms, cheers, interactions with you guys, especially Sweet j., Sar, Duro, margot, Kimmi, SS/ DD, been there, madmax, contador, Voicemail1, MMT, Sean, Dan, and all others i don’t instantly recall.

Goodbye !


madmax Says:

I am it! Please can I ask you how long it took you to work all of the above out? You are an icon on this forum! and I mean it! You beat any of the tennis journos out there who cannot even begin to reach your dizzy heights! I am spinning after reading all this info! WOW!


madmax Says:

I AM IT! COME BACK THIS VERY MINUTE! We only have 6 days to go! I am off to London Sunday to watch the openers – for anyone who wants to know the draw, it takes place on Wednesday at the London Eye, draws to be made by Jacquie Baltrao, the sports journo who works for UK SKY Sports.

Cheers everyone.


madmax Says:

Hamburg – Roger Federer remains top of a virtually unchanged men’s tennis rankings issued on Monday by the ATP.

Federer on 10,150 points continues to hold a comfortable lead over second-placed Rafael Nadal, who has 9,205. Paris Masters winner Novak Djokovic remains in third on 7,910 points.

ATP top 10 as of November 16 (previous ranking in parenthesis): ‘#’ 1. (1) Roger Federer, Switzerland, 10,150 points 2. (2) Rafael Nadal, Spain, 9,205 3. (3) Novak Djokovic, Serbia, 7,910 4. (4) Andy Murray, Britain, 6,630 5. (5) Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina, 5,985 6. (6) Andy Roddick, United States, 4,410 7. (7) Nikolay Davydenko, Russia, 3,630 8. (8) Fernando Verdasco, Spain, 3,300 9. (10) Robin Soderling, Sweden, 3,010 10. (9) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France, 2,875 ‘#’


i am it Says:

i am back to add one quick last point, and i am out of here for a while.

thanks for your love, madmax and all others, but i have a few deadlines to meet and i behind in my work. i need 100% focus.

to answer your question, MM, it took me over an hour to do that math.

Appendix to my 1:39 post (http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2009-11-15/2657.php#comment-108105)

Rafa will be able to avoid Scenarios (A) and (B) as he will add 40 pts. from DC Final, meaning it is unlikely that Dj will surpass Rafa at the YEC, but not impossible (i.e. Dj will have to win the YEC without losing a match, and Rafa fails to win a single match).

Bye guys, love you all !


sar Says:

Have a good time whatever you do.


Kimmi Says:

Hope to hear from you soon i am it. Please pop up during London YEC, the fed needs your support :)


jane Says:

i am it – i will miss you, but I totally understand as I am snowed under with work at the moment too. I hope I can sneak a peek at some of the YEC matches, if there is coverage on TV. Thanks as usual on the stats and good luck focusing and catching up. Cheers! :-)

Mary, Mary – or should I say squirrel crusher? LOL! I can’t believe you did that, and nor have I ever had the thrill of seeing a squirrel glare – no such drama around here.


margot Says:

i am it: have really enjoyed your posts. Catch up with all that work and come back seriously for A.O. Do you hear? Promise?
jane, kimmi: Andy has groin injury! Bummer. He says it’s “minor.” Hope so.


tennis pro Says:

I agree with Gordon, those points should not have been removed before the end of London tournament.


Voicemale1 Says:

i am it: many thanks. And happy trails, wherever they’re taking you.


madmax Says:

I am it! You are very special! I am off to London on Sunday, when I get back, I will post especially for you – anything of interest – and will try and get any tennis player autographs – if i can!

Take care,

Max


devastatingdjokovic Says:

First, can someone explain what these numbers mean? I don’t get how betting odds work:

“Roger Federer, who has taken the season-ending finals four times, is the 5-2 favourite to win. The defending champion Novak Djokovic is at 100-30 with Murray third favourite at 7-2. The US Open winner, Juan Martín Del Potro, is rated at 6-1, with Rafael Nadal at 13-2.”

And on a negative note, Roddick withdraws from WTF and is being replaced with Soderling. I’m glad to see Soderling in but it’s too bad for Roddick. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/nov/16/andy-murray-o2-atp-world-finals

So the race for number 1 does get a little more interesting this way. Federer owns both Roddick and Soderling but should Nadal would potentially have more trouble with Soderling. Roddick should be able to beat Nadal but he hasn’t in a while. Soderling should be pretty confident playing Rafa but I’m sure Nadal is going to want revenge, big time. Assuming Del Potro is healthy, Nadal could very well go 0-3. The only player Nadal should feel good against is Verdasco. Everyone else is more than capable of beating Nadal. As for Federer, Soderling could actually score his first win over the Swiss (kinda like Gonzo did back in 07 although I hate Gonzo) but Fed still boasts a perfect record. Federer owns Davydenko and I can’t see the iron man winning that match up. Verdasco, well, I can’t see him beating Federer either. Again, assuming Del Potro is healthy, he knows he can beat Federer but I think Federer is gonna want some revenge, too. So that leaves Murray and Djokovic. Federer beat Murray last time they played so this one’s a real toss up. I wanna go with Murray just because he owns Federer. As for Djokovic, the only player I can see beating Djokovic is Murray. Djokovic barely lost to a Davydenko who magically caught fire, but I don’t see Davydenko being quit so lucky this time. Del Potro, even healthy, is not playing well and has never beaten Djokovic (not that he won’t in the future, but I don’t see this as being the time). Nadal is still trying to sort things out and I think Djokovic is finally getting comfortable to crushing Nadal on hard courts. Both Verdasco and Soderling have pushed Djokovic hard in recent matches but lost despite playing better for a lot of the time. Djokovic has too much confidence and he’s just playing great tennis in general right now. The only question is Murray. I’m not even thinking about their h2h, and there’s not much to say about form either. Djokovic is clearly in form but Murray most likely tanked his match against Stepanek. They play so similarly that I just don’t know. I’d love to see a Murray-Djokovic final with Djokovic winning it all. 2 reasons why I really hope Djokovic beats Murray at some point in the tournament: 1) It’ll be some sort of record where the top 4 players beat each other at least once in one year and 2) I want Djokovic to crush Murray so that the media understands that Murray has yet to achieve the heights of Novak Djokovic.


madmax Says:

DD,

evening dude. Yes. I liked reading your post, it was very thorough and I completely understand what you are saying about the murray hype. Only this morning, put on TV sky sports, and would you believe it – a whole line up of the ATP players at YEC, the news caster said…FIRST PICTURE OF…wait for it…in the line up, in this order. No. 1 ‘Andy Murray, PLUS ALL THE OTHER TOP 7 PLAYERS’. I kid you not DD. I choked on my cornflakes – though I should not be surprised by this pathetic stance when it comes to Murray. I just wish the media would stop it. I really do.

I know there are a lot of murray fans out there across the pond, but really people. When you hear this day in, day out, you want to throw yourself off a bridge.

You know. We talk about respect a lot of the time, lets have a bit of respect for 1) Federer, who when all is said and done, has had a great year in terms of slams, and masters, plus beating all time record, 2) Novak who is a slam holder, and is arguably the player to beat at the YEC, with back to back titles and 3) Rafa for putting up a great fight after coming back from injury. Give the guys some bloody credit.

Okay,

for you diehard feddy fans out there – here is the first page of an article read about 10 minutes ago – it’s 6 pages long and it is ACE. So, if you want to glow all over after reading some fab, fab, fab, stuff about federer – click onto the link and read away. It’s brilliant, with explanations about rafa/AO, wife/kids motivation, etc. I loved it. Now, I can relax, knowing that the fed is ready to win! Go fed go!!!!

The Sunday Times November 15, 2009

Roger Federer: confessions of a tennis dad
First he wins it all; now he’s embraced fatherhood. In a rare and revealing interview, the Swiss explains himself

How did Roger Federer become the greatest? He was not born in Sweden (Bjorn Borg). He was not shaped by a dominant parent (Ivan Lendl). He is not fuelled by rage (Jimmy Connors) or tortured by demons (John McEnroe). He has never had sex in Nobu (Boris Becker), smoked crystal meth (Andre Agassi) or been afflicted with odd sleeping habits (Pete Sampras). He is as affable as Tim Henman.

Somebody will have to explain him.

We meet in Basel, the city of his birth. He is looking fit and relaxed after a lengthy break from the most remarkable season of his life. It began in tears at the Australian Open in February, when, six months after losing the greatest final ever seen at Wimbledon, he lost again to Rafael Nadal.

It was his fifth successive defeat to Nadal in a final, and it raised an interesting question: how could he be deemed the best of all time when he might not be the best of his own era? But the obituaries were premature.

Related Links
Federer loses hometown tournament to Djokovic
Federer shapes up for the challenges ahead
Multimedia
Watch Federer’s greatest ever shot
In April, he married his long-time girlfriend, Mirka Vavrinec, and a month later beat Nadal to win his first tournament of the year at Madrid. In June, he won his first French Open and equalled Sampras’s record of 14 Grand Slam titles. In July, he beat Andy Roddick in an epic final at Wimbledon to surpass the record, and became a father two weeks later when Mirka gave birth to twins. In September, he lost the US Open to Juan Martin Del Potro — his sixth consecutive appearance in the final.

He did not marry a supermodel (Roddick). He does not make fun of his rivals (Novak Djokovic) or pick continually at the crack in his backside (Nadal). He has worse fashion sense than Andy Murray.

How does he explain it?

He begins with a story about a script he received for a commercial for Nike with Tiger Woods in 2007. “We had these different lines,” he explains,” and I was reading through it and said I’d like to take the text where it says, ‘I love winning’. And they said, ‘Well, that works perfectly because Tiger says he hates losing’. So that’s a part of it, I suppose. I feel I’m the ‘love winning’ rather than the ‘hate losing’ type.”

“That’s interesting,” I observe, “because it would be easy to consider them to be the same thing.”

“No, I see it in two different ways, but both work.”

“McEnroe said this about you: ‘One of the important things [Federer] has over everyone, and he has it more than any other player I’ve seen since Connors, is his love for the sport. Real love. He loves to be out there, to be around tennis, everything about it . . . There is none of the angst that I had, no demons playing with him’. Can you explain that love?”

“Well, I’m a positive person, a very positive thinker,” he replies. “That’s why I like the more positive approach of ‘I love winning’, because to hate losing, to me, is a bit negative. I guess my love for the sport started as a little boy watching Becker and Edberg facing off in the Wimbledon final. I dreamed about it but I never thought it would happen to me. It’s so difficult to keep winning and to keep your love for the game because of all the travelling and the sacrifices, but I just said, ‘I’m not going to let that happen to me. I’m going to take a positive approach that travelling is great and that I’m going to see different cultures and places I would never see if I wasn’t a tennis player’. My wife loves it. I love it, so ‘let’s have a good time because it’s not going to last until I am 70’. And so far that approach has worked for me.”

Page 1 of 6
Next Page


madmax Says:

Andy Murray isn’t a worry for Roger Federer:

World No 1 dismisses Scot’s threat ahead of Barclays ATP Tour World Finals By Mike Dickson
Tennis Correspondent

At 2 o’clock this morning, hours after comedian Michael McIntyre had wrapped up last night’s gig at the O2 Arena, the riggers were due to move in and start work immediately on building a mini-Wimbledon by the Thames.

By Sunday all should be ready for the Barclays ATP Tour World Finals, the biggest tennis event staged in this country outside SW19 and by most measures the largest indoor tournament the sport has seen.

Flying in tomorrow to start his preparations is the star of the show, Roger Federer,
heading a stellar cast of the season’s eight top performers and doubles teams, giving a warm memory of summer now that the nights have closed in.

Sandwiched between shows by McIntyre and Eddie Izzard, they will perform from Sunday to Sunday.
Big box office: Murray
When tickets went on sale earlier this year there was a sharp intake of breath, some officials anxious about how sales would go for a new event to the capital, in the middle of the credit crunch, at a non-traditional tennis time of year at an untested venue.

Instead, nearly 260,000 have been shifted in advance and even the graveyard midweek afternoon sessions have proved popular.

The chance to see British No 1 Andy Murray tackle the world’s best is undoubtedly one factor, while this is a belated opportunity this year for British crowds to watch Rafael Nadal, who was absent with his knee problems over the summer.

The other players are US Open champion Juan Martin Del Porto, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco. Andy Roddick, struggling with a knee injury, is expected to be replaced by Robin Soderling.

But it is still Federer who can claim to be the biggest draw. The Swiss remains the ultimate poetry-in-motion player and comes to Britain after six extraordinary months that saw him win the French Open and Wimbledon, break Pete Sampras’s Grand Slam record by winning his 15th title and become the father of twins.

Federer is so talented and so pleasant that the odd deficiency does stand out. His remarkable fighting spirit, sometimes overlooked, means that he can be an ungracious loser, for instance, as Murray has sometimes found out when beating him in six of their nine career meetings.
The man they want to see: Federer
Federer concedes Murray can cause him problems with his relentless counter-punching. The world No 1 said: ‘Murray can still do that to some degree, but when I play too good or too offensive I can take it away from him now. And I’m too physical, whereas in the beginning I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t get around backhands and stuff. Now I can mix up my game too well for him to get under my skin.

‘When we both play well it’s a close match, but I always feel it’s the attacker who holds the key to success, so it’s up to me whether I win or lose, not up to him. That’s why I don’t mind the match-up, to be honest.

‘It’s like when Sampras and Agassi played. Sampras holds the keys because he was serving, he was pushing the limits, he was taking the risks. Which Murray doesn’t do so much, though that doesn’t take anything away from Murray. That’s just his game style.’

In this morning’s draw, taking place in a pod of the London Eye, they will discover whether it is a case of if or when they meet next week.


Kimmi Says:

margot: re murray injury. I really hope as you say it is minor. What a bad luck for him, he has been looking forward to play well here..at home infront of british fans. He probably has been practicing very hard, which he needs too. His play in Valencia and Paria was not up to par I thought.

Fingers and Toes crossed this injury will be only history come monday.


Kimmi Says:

s/b come sunday


devastatingdjokovic Says:

I don’t agree with Federer’s analogy. Agassi wasn’t a counter puncher, the guy was extremely aggressive off the baseline. Hell, Federer is merely plays an evolved form of aggressive baseline tennis that really started to take off thanks to Agassi (especially the 92 Wimbledon win).

Anyways, Federer can still be bothered by Murray, but like I said, 50/50. Considering Nadal and Federer are in a race for number 1, my previous post was kind of “what’s the worse that can happen to either of them” kind of thing. Federer’s still got a number of wins over everyone in the top 10, and so does Nadal, so either one could potentially go on to win the whole thing.

Madmax, I was reading that interview today and it was just awesome. I’m not even gonna dive into the specifics, it was just a fantastic read.


Kimmi Says:

What we have not seen for a while is Murray/Djoko. me too would like to see these two play again. Murray winning the last 3 times they play, maybe Djokovic was a little tentantive during those times. I think Murray game is tricky, you either hate playing him or love it. i think nadal has a good match_up with murray…Murray does not hit the ball hard enough to cause Nadal problems. People that give nadal problems are the hard hitting aggressive players. I also think the likes of Djokovic and federer does not enjoy playing murray that much, as we have seen from their recent matches.

I hope we see Djokovic / Murray in london.


FedRafaFan Says:

devastatingdjokovic says
First, can someone explain what these numbers mean? I don’t get how betting odds work:

“Roger Federer, who has taken the season-ending finals four times, is the 5-2 favourite to win. The defending champion Novak Djokovic is at 100-30 with Murray third favourite at 7-2. The US Open winner, Juan Martín Del Potro, is rated at 6-1, with Rafael Nadal at 13-2.”

These numbers are betting odds. The first number is the profit and the second number is the amount you have to risk to get that profit, so for example:
Federer 5-2: bet 2 to win 5 (or 20 to win 50, 200 to win 500, etc.)
Djokovic 100-30: bet 30 to win 100
Murray 7-2: bet 2 to win 7
Del Potro 6-1: bet 1 to win 6
Nadal 13-2: bet 2 to win 13

Note that “to win” equals profit, so let’s say you put 2 on Federer and he wins, you’d get your original 2 back plus 5. The 5 is your profit from the 2 investment.

My opinion is Djokovic’s odds to win are pretty good considering his top form at the moment. Granted he has never defended a title in his career but there’s a first time for everything! $150 to win $500 sounds like a good bet for him. You can put it on several players and still make a profit if any of your selected players wins, but obviously you can’t bet on them all.


madmax Says:

DD,

Yes. It was an awesome interview, I agree. There is so much out there now after this drought of not hearing about fed prior to basel (a little bit about his win on davis cup, but very little after that) – so to read all of the interviews out there is like finding my oasis.

DD,

will you be going to London?

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