If China is so “crazy for tennis” as one ESPN writer put it, how come there were so many empty seats at the Masters Cup matches, even the final? Fans are so crazy they forgot to go to the event?…

Spain was the slight favorite entering the encounter behind world No. 1 Rafael Nadal, but after Rafa pulled with a knee injury, the betting swung heavily toward the Argentine side. Spain’s David Ferrer has had a disastrous second half of the season and enters the tie with little confidence, while Feliciano “F-Lo” Lopez does not have a history as a big-match winner.

“Today I play an almost perfect match and it is very, very exciting,” Nadal said. “Today I played very well. I shocked myself with some of the winners I played, was near perfect tennis.” The U.S. had chances in the opening singles Friday when Sam Querrey led Nadal by a set and a break, and Roddick led David Ferrer two sets to one before falling in five.

“I aggravated it pretty bad at the Open and only made things worse,” said the left-handed Bob, who received a cortisone shot prior to the US Open. “I knew if I wanted a chance to play the rest of this year, I had to shut it down now. I can’t even hit any balls.”

HOW SOON WE FORGET: Max Eisenbud of IMG, Maria Sharapova’s manager: “The way women’s tennis is being played, if you’re not at least a six-footer and can’t hit hard and deep and never miss, you have no chance.” Uh, ever heard of Justine Henin? She was 5-foot-5 and was No. 1 by a mile before retiring earlier this year. Maybe Google her.