Gasquet Eliminates Djokovic from Tennis Masters Cup; Ferrer Beats Nadal

by Staff | November 13th, 2007, 10:20 am
  • 16 Comments

Frenchman Richard Gasquet earned his first career win over Novak Djokovic with a rousing 6-4, 6-2, win over the Serb in Shanghai Tuesday evening. Also winning Tuesday, in a battle of Spaniards David Ferrer remained perfect in his group following a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Rafael Nadal. ADHEREL

With boths players making their Masters Cup debuts, Gasquet overwhelmed the World No. 3, breaking Djokovic’s finals three service games to close out the match.

“Today I had nothing to lose against Novak because he’s No. 3 in the world,” said Gasquet, who fell to Rafael Nadal on Sunday in three sets. “I just had to enjoy the moment to play in the Masters Cup and just to play my game. I did a perfect match. I played a lot of amazing shots with my backhand.”


Djokovic, who was the first to arrive in Shanghai, was eliminated from the semifinals with the loss and has yet to win a set in the tournament.

“I didn’t find any solutions,” he said. “He was playing well, he was very patient.”

The 20-year-old Serb is looking ahead to next year, when he says he’ll prepare better for the event.

“So hopefully I’m going to prepare better and sit down with everybody and try to see what is best for my fitness and for my mental strength to do well next year,” Djokovic said.

Gasquet was the last player to qualify for the Masters event.

Nadal, meanwhile, suffered his second straight defeat to Ferrer, who beat Rafa in the US Open. Nadal still leads the head-to-head 4-3, and now will hope his countryman defeats Gasquet in his next match to ensure a semifinal qualification.

Ferrer is playing in his first year-end championships, Nadal his third.

In the Gold Group standings, Ferrer is 2-0, Nadal 1-1, Gasquet 1-1 and Djokovic 0-2. On Thursday, Ferrer will play Gasquet, Djokovic will face Nadal.

On Wednesday, Roger Federer returns against Nikolay Davydenko, while Andy Roddick meets Fernando Gonzalez.


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16 Comments for Gasquet Eliminates Djokovic from Tennis Masters Cup; Ferrer Beats Nadal

jane Says:

Wow – upsets galore. Maybe Djok didn’t throw the match against Santoro after all; maybe he really is burnt? (Though I haven’t seen his loss today nor did I see the Paris match).

On the other hand, Gasquet is a great player when he’s on; perhaps more surprising to me is Ferrer, but he’s certainly showing he deserves to be there.

What happens if Gasquet beats Ferrer and Nadal beats Djokovic on Thursday, to make them all 2-1? I’m not really sure how RR works as I see it so rarely.

November 13th, 2007 at 10:37 am


LordMacGregor Says:

It will be the two with the best percentage of winning set, if it doesn’t help it will be the two with the best percentage of winnig game.

About Ferrer, it isn’t a complete surprise. Ferrer plays very well and he knows how to use his opponent even Nadal. We also have to take into account that Nadal has never been excellent indoor player, except maybe Madrid 2005.

November 13th, 2007 at 1:14 pm


rafafan Says:

for rafa to qualify he needs either to lose in 3 sets and for gasquet to go down straight, to beat djoko straight and for gasquet to either lose or win in 3.

November 13th, 2007 at 2:44 pm


jane Says:

Thanks for the clarification LordMacGregor.

I agree with you that Ferrer isn’t a “complete” surprise (he’s there after all), but defeating no. 2 and no. 3 in a row, at the MC, is certainly something.

Perhaps the question to ponder now is whether he can beat no. 1?

November 13th, 2007 at 3:28 pm


Giner Says:

Looks like Abe or Sean will have to revise his forecast now. Djokovic to finish first in yellow group? LOL. He’s going to be last. There’s very little chance of him qualifying now. If Ferrer and Gasquet can beat Djoko, I think Nadal will also.

November 13th, 2007 at 3:37 pm


Giner Says:

“What happens if Gasquet beats Ferrer and Nadal beats Djokovic on Thursday, to make them all 2-1? I’m not really sure how RR works as I see it so rarely.”

If it ends up as:

Ferrer: 3-0
Djokovic: 1-2
Nadal: 1-2
Gasquet: 1-2

Then Ferrer will be the first finisher, and the second will be decided by sets won. Nadal and Gasquet both won a set in their losses, while Djokovic did not win a set from either of his losses, so he cannot qualify. Even if he beats Nadal in straight sets, and Ferrer beats Gasquet in straights, Djokovic will have only won 2 sets, while Gasquet and Nadal have won 3.

It will be between Nadal and Gasquet, if the situation is as above, and if the number of sets won is tied, then it will be decided on games won.

Suppose it ends up as:

Ferrer: 2-1
Gasquet: 2-1
Nadal: 1-2
Djokovic: 1-2

Then obviously Ferrer and Gasquet will qualify.

In other words, Djokovic has no chance now. And even if one of the semifinalists gets injured, it will be the substitute that takes their place.

November 13th, 2007 at 3:45 pm


jane Says:

Thanks Giner – this is the clearest explanation yet.

Sounds like Djok’s blown it and has some thinking and/or work to do over the break; he’ll have a lot of points to defend next year, and yet there are a number of players on the upswing. 2008 should be an interesting one.

November 13th, 2007 at 4:05 pm


John (1) Says:

Giner said: “And even if one of the semifinalists gets injured, it will be the substitute that takes their place.”

When Bartoli replaced Serena, I thought she would assume Serena’s loss, and maybe she did, but the web site kept her (i.e. Bartoli’s) stats separate.

Here’s the link:

http://www.sonyericsson-championships.com/1/en/results/

November 13th, 2007 at 4:34 pm


linus Says:

Currently it is…
Nadal – 1-1 sets 3-3 50% (masters website wrong)
Gasquet – 1-1 sets 3-2 60%
Ferrer – 2-0 sets 4-1 80%

If it ends up… (Nadal and Gasquet both win in 2)
Nadal 2-1 sets 5-3 62.5%
Gasquet 2-1 sets 5-2 71%
Ferrer – 2-1 sets 4-3 57%
Nadal and Gasquet are in semis. Ferrer is out.

If it ends up… Nadal W in 2, Gasquet W in 3
Nadal 2-1 sets 5-3 62.5%
Gasquet 2-1 sets 5-3 62.5%
Ferrer 2-1 sets 5-3 62.5%
This situation goes to games won percentage!

If it ends up… Nadal W in 3, Gasquet wins in 3
Nadal 2-1 sets 5-4 55.5%
Gasquet 2-1 sets 5-3 62.5%
Ferrer 2-1 sets 5-3 62.5%
Ferrer and Gasquet in semis in this outcome.

If it ends up… Nadal L in 3, Gasquet L in 2
Nadal 1-2 sets 4-5 44.4%
Gasquet 1-2 sets 3-4 42.8%
Nadal and Ferrer in Semis in this outcome.Barely!

If it ends up… Nadal L in 3, Gasquet L in 3
Nadal 1-2 sets 4-5 44.4%
Gasquet 1-2 sets 4-4 50%
Gasquet and Ferrer in semis.

Hope you enjoy that! People!
Im not doing red group.

November 13th, 2007 at 4:53 pm


linus Says:

Yes, i do well in vegas.

November 13th, 2007 at 4:57 pm


Giner Says:

It’s quite a confusing situation with round robin play, but thanks for the number crunching linus. This is probably why round robin has failed to make it into the regular tour (the experiment with it failed miserably, and I doubt it will ever happen).

I forgot that scenario actually..

If it ends up as:

Ferrer: 2-1
Nadal: 2-1
Gasquet: 2-1
Djokovic: 0-3

Then the top 2 to make it through will be decided on sets won, followed by games won, if there’s a tie. The masters website says that Djokovic’s second loss has “almost certainly ended” his semifinals bid. They are wrong about that. He has *definately* ended any chance of getting through. Nadal and Djokovic have already won 3 sets (Ferrer has won 4). The most sets Djokovic can win is 2, since he only has one match left.

I’m not sure what happens if there’s a tie on both sets won and games won. Let’s suppose Ferrer is through, and Nadal and Gasquet are tied, do they look at who won the match between Nadal and Gasquet (Nadal won) and reward that player, or do they make them play off again?

Either way, this is going to get interesting. So much rides on BOTH of the matches to be played in this group. Nadal needs Ferrer to beat Gasquet in straights to make it through.

November 13th, 2007 at 6:19 pm


John (1) Says:

Giner said: “This is probably why round robin has failed to make it into the regular tour (the experiment with it failed miserably, and I doubt it will ever happen).”

If my memory is correct, it failed on the regular tour because a player retiring caused James Blake to lose. Maybe this could also happen in the YEC as well. Anyone want to tackle those possibilities? Let’s say Djokovic retires early against Nadal. This would change Nadal’s set percentage. And then …

November 13th, 2007 at 7:41 pm


Giner Says:

That would not have been the only reason. It still would have been scrapped anyway, because fans found it difficult to follow. Personally, I thought there was potential. By still being able to advance if you lose a match, it ensures that you were no fluke to win the tournament. If someone beat the #1 player, and then lost to somebody crap, then you got lucky — you don’t need to face the #1. Not so in round robin. He’s not eliminated after one loss.

But as we’ve seen so far, it creates a lot of uncertainty and requires a lot of mathematics to figure out who is likely to advance, and the fans won’t be savvy enough.

November 13th, 2007 at 9:58 pm


Tejuz Says:

Well.. If 2 guys are tied at the end of round robin, then the player who won their head-2-head will directly qualify and it wont even go down to sets or games won. Sets won % and games won % will only come into picture when there is a 3-way tie, which is the only likely scenario in this group.

November 14th, 2007 at 2:04 am


John (1) Says:

Tejuz said: “Well.. If 2 guys are tied at the end of round robin, then the player who won their head-2-head will directly qualify and it wont even go down to sets or games won.”

The only possibilities:

3-0,2-1,1-2,0-3 DF,RN
3-0,1-2,1-2,1-2 DF,tie (sets%, games%)
2-1,2-1,2-1,0-3 tie (sets%, games%)
2-1,2-1,1-2,1-2 DF,RG or RG,DF (head to head)

In other words the only 2-way tie is to determine who plays who in the SF. Not who qualifies for the semis.

November 14th, 2007 at 11:29 am


Tejuz Says:

yes .. thats right.. so probabaly its not always decided till the last match is played.

November 14th, 2007 at 8:54 pm

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