Federer Rebounds, Beats Down Davydenko; Roddick Rolls Gonzo at Tennis Masters Cup

These were obvious results. Federer would not be beaten by a vanishing Davydenko and if Gonzo could play like that a whole tournament, he would have been the world No 1. It is the consistency that makes someone federer or NAdal, not only the occasional wins. It is important to see if Nalby, Gonzo and Ferrer can carry their form to the nextseason ad keep it up for the whole year or at least half a year.

Let’s hope Ferrer is less tired and can beat Gasquet and let’s hope Rafa can beat Djoko and move to semis. then semis Roddick-Rafa and a Federer-Ferrer will be most interesting.

November 14th, 2007 at 10:24 am

zola, i agree in that i couldn’t see federer losing against davydenko insofar as davy has been struggling lately with elbow troubles, which would only weaken his not-so-fantastic serve. the roddick-gonza match was less predictable, imo, as gonza was so hot the other day against federer and roddick hasn’t played tons lately. but it sounds like gonza’s win wore him out.

i thought the semis were within each group, and then the finals the best from each. guess not. those scenarios you raise would be very interesting. roddick and rafa have not met a lot this year, nor have fed and ferrer, so it would mix things up nicely.

November 14th, 2007 at 11:09 am

What happens if Nadal and Gasquet both win? I guess it’ll come down to sets and games?

I don’t think Fed beating Andy on Friday is at all a given. Andy is relishing having the upper hand for once, and you know he doesn’t want to lose yet another match to Roger. Fed has to play more like he did against Gonzo and less like he did against Davy, despite the final outcome of those matches.

November 14th, 2007 at 11:48 am

Interesting though. Federer didn’t screw around in the second set and continued with his game plan. I wouldn’t mind Federer losing to Roddick all that much so long as Gonzalez also loses and Federer gets into the semis anyway. But what if Federer loses in straights and Gonzo loses in 3, then both will have a 1-2 record in matches and a 3-4 record in sets. And why is Davydenko already out? What if he beats Gonzo in straight sets and Federer loses in straight sets? Again Fed will be 3-4 and sets and so will Davydenko.

November 14th, 2007 at 2:44 pm

the rules can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/2hevyo

if two are tied the H2H counts
then percentage of sets won
then percentage of games won

November 14th, 2007 at 3:37 pm

Davydenko will be out because he will be 1-2 even if he wins his last match. Those who are 2-1 or 3-0 will be ahead of him.

November 14th, 2007 at 3:38 pm

cms said “What happens if Nadal and Gasquet both win? I guess it’ll come down to sets and games?”

Four possible outcomes:

Set percentage:

RG2,RN2: RG 71%, RN 63%
RG2,RN3: RG 71%, DF 57%
RG3,RN2: 3 way tie 63% each (game% decides*)
RG3,RN3: RG 63%, DF 63% (2 way tie)

*Game percentage so far:

DF 57%, RG 54%, RN 49%

November 14th, 2007 at 3:39 pm

oops , sorry for posting for the third time in a row!
, if Fed loses in straight sets, then Andy will be 3-0 ad will advance. If Andy beats Fed and Davydenko beats Gonzo, then the three of them will be 1-2. Then the set percentage and game percentage will count.

November 14th, 2007 at 3:41 pm

Roddick said: “I’m sure I’ll have about seven other guys cheering for me to do that (smiling).”

I know who 6 of them are, who’s the 7th?

November 14th, 2007 at 3:44 pm

Anyone who thinks Roddick has even a glimpse of a chance against Federer is hitting the crack pipe pretty hard.

If I’m wrong, I’ll humbly eat my words.

November 14th, 2007 at 4:52 pm

Good point John (1)! (Maybe he’s being self-referrential?)

November 14th, 2007 at 4:53 pm

His coach ?
That would make it right but i’m sure that he didn’t take him into account but screw up with the maths.

November 14th, 2007 at 4:55 pm

Surely, though, Andy’ll be cheering for himself… he, himself, is the seventh. Who needs six cheerers when you can have seven? Obviously it’s more than likely a misquote, but we can still make the math work, can’t we – why not? It’s less complicated than RR math!

(apologies for sounding like a Dr. Suess book.)

November 14th, 2007 at 5:40 pm

I’d love to see Andy beat Roger, mostly because in the past, Andy has done everything he knows how to do and Roger just went into “fence” mode and wouldn’t let him in. I don’t think Andy will win this one either, but I’ll be number 8 and cheer for him! (smile). As for beating Davy, Roger rarely looses twice in a row, so it didn’t surprise me. Now as for the other bunch including Rafa and Joko, we’ll just have to see. Roger, Andy, Rafa and Joko are four of my “six” guys that I follow. When they play each other, it gets hard to decide who to route for.

November 14th, 2007 at 6:39 pm

jane said “It’s less complicated than RR math!”

Everything is less complicated than RR math.

November 14th, 2007 at 6:56 pm

Haha that’s pretty funny John (1). This is pretty confusing but Davydenko is 3-0 against Gonzalez and if Gonzalez plays like he did today against Roddick, Davydenko should win. Davydenko is strong and consistent on both sides and a Gonzalez missing every other shot shouldn’t stand a chance. Federer beating Roddick is still pretty likely but who knows at this point.

November 14th, 2007 at 7:32 pm

Round Robin rules:

From http://www.atptennis.com/en/players/ATP_Rulebook2007.pdf

D. Order of Play
Round Robin

1) The field shall be divided into two (2) groups of four (4) players each. The top-seeded
player shall be placed in Group “A” and the second-seeded player shall be placed in
Group “B”. Players seeded three and four, five and six, and seven and eight, shall then
be drawn in pairs with the first drawn placed into Group “A.”

2) Each player shall play every other player in his group to determine the top two (2)
players in each group.

3) The final standings of each group shall be determined by the first of the following
methods that apply:

a) Greatest number of wins;

b) Greatest number of matches played;

c) Head-to-head results if only two (2) players are tied, or if three (3) players are tied,
then:

I) If three (3) players each have one win, a player having played less than all three
(3) matches is automatically eliminated and the player advancing to the Single
Elimination competition is the winner of the match-up of the two (2) players tied
with 1-2 records; or

II) Highest percentage of sets won; or

III) Highest percentage of games won.

IV) If (I), (II) or (III) produce one superior player (first place), or one inferior player
(third place), and the two remaining players are tied, the tie between those two
players shall be broken by head-to-head record.

4) If ties still exist after the above procedures, the Steering Committee shall make the
final determination.

5) In applying the tie-breaking procedures, a conduct default or retirement shall count
as a straight-set win or loss. However, games won or lost in matches with the defaulting
or retiring player shall not be counted in the application of subsection 3.c.(III)
above. A player who retires during the Round Robin because of illness or injury may
continue in the competition if it is approved by the Tournament Doctor.

6) Any player who is defaulted pursuant to the ATP Code during the Round Robin competition
shall be defaulted from all other matches in the Championship and the ATP
default provisions shall apply, except for the following circumstances:

a) The loss of physical condition; or

b) Dress and Equipment.

7) Any player who withdraws from any Round Robin match after the first round shall not
be eligible for the Single Elimination competition.

E. Single Elimination Competition

1) The winner of each group shall be placed in separate semifinal brackets. The runnerup
of each group shall be placed in the semifinal bracket with the winner of the opposite
group.

2) The event shall be completed with a Single Elimination competition for the semifinals
and final.

3) There shall be no playoff for the third-and fourth-place positions.

November 14th, 2007 at 7:45 pm

So basically for Federer to advance to the semis he has to beat Roddick and needs to pray that Davydenko beats Gonzalez.

November 14th, 2007 at 8:34 pm

This link says what each player must do or what he needs the others to do in order to advance to the semis:

http://tennis.com/features/general/features.aspx?id=108082

But what I don’t understand is why would Federer advance if he wins and Gonzo wins, because that’s what it’s basically saying when it says Federer needs to win OR Gonzo needs to lose. Yeah Federer will be up in sets but according to the rules John (1) posted the first thing they look to break the tie is H2H which would put Gonzo in front of Federer, right?

November 14th, 2007 at 8:50 pm

well.. in case of a 3-way tie For ex.

Roddick (2-1) – Most sets won percentage
Fed (2-1) – Tied with Gonzo on sets and games win percentage
Gonzo (2-1) – same as above

In this case, Fed will be eliminated because of their H2H records..

But if Fed has a better percentage than either Gonzo or Roddick in their 3-way tie, then Fed will be in semis.

November 14th, 2007 at 9:04 pm

Then how come TENNIS.com didn’t say that? The only way that would happen though is if Roddick manages to beat Federer in straight sets. Even if Roddick beats Federe I can’t see it happening in straight sets. And idk what to say about the Gonzo-Davydenko match. It seems like Gonzo spent a year’s worth of energy (considering he didn’t use that much over the year) to beat Federer. I expect their match to be complete crap no matter what the result. I could be wrong but that’s what I think.

November 14th, 2007 at 9:57 pm

In sets:
Federer is 3-2
Gonzo is 2-3
Roddick is 4-1
Davy is 1-4
If Federer wins without losing a set, he will be number one in his group (5-2) and Roddick will be (4-3) despite of Gonzo winning. If Federer loses one set he will be 5-3 and Roddick 5-3, Federer lead his group.
If Gonzo wins without losing a set he will tie with Roddick (4-3), but he looses the place in the semis because of the HxH. That’s why Roddick already is in the semis.
If Federer loses without winning a set he will be 3-4. If Gonzo loses, he will be 2-5, Federer second in the semis.
So the odds are in Federer’s favor!

November 14th, 2007 at 11:08 pm

sensationalsafin

in case of a two-way tie, the H2H will decide. That link from tennis.com does not consider H2H and is not right. Even now they have put Gasquet above Rafa, which is incorrect, because Rafa has the win.

November 15th, 2007 at 2:27 am

I’m really hoping that the No. 1 player in the world will soon be anyone other than R. F. He is a bad example for everyone, especially young people. Can’t you see a young boy thinking, “My hero lives with a girl, it must not be wrong.” It’s a disgrace.

November 15th, 2007 at 7:09 am

Ellen,

Gee, I guess all of his works of charity and the money he give to all those folks in need doesn’t count because he’s living in sin. Your comment was so off-topic.

November 15th, 2007 at 9:16 am

nadal beat djoko in straight sets 6-4 6-4. and ferrer dominated gasquet sratigh out 6-1 6-1

November 15th, 2007 at 10:13 am

Really, Ellen. Federer is hardly disgraceful for simply not having a legal document, because, after all, that’s what marriage is; besides he and Mirka are engaged.

And anyhow, I doubt many young boys watching Roger are thinking about his marital status; they’re likely in awe of something else the Swiss does rather well.

November 15th, 2007 at 10:23 am

It’s a strange world indeed when we have to count sets and games to guess whether Roger might advance. Such nitty-gritty stuff used to belong to a whole other world than the stratasphere Roger inhabited.

November 15th, 2007 at 12:01 pm

张奔斗 Said: “It’s a strange world indeed when we have to count sets and games to guess whether Roger might advance.”

The WTA Championships switched from “top 16” to round robin in 2003. Does anyone know when round robin was introduced in the ATP Championships?

Also, my calculations say that Roger and Andy will be in the semis except for one case. That is if Andy beats Roger and Gonzo beats Davydenko. If this happens, Andy and Gonzo are in and Roger is out.

This means that Roger is in the semis, if Davydenko beats Gonzo. Will Davydenko choke?

November 15th, 2007 at 4:38 pm

Sorry to be off topic, and noone else need read this, but Ellen Mooring: just out of interest, do you believe that those who do not subscribe to the Christian set of doctrines are wicked, inherently sinful and so on? Because if you don’t, then in my view your position is unsustainable. If, on the other hand, you do, your position is a possible one (though a minority one I would guess amongst most Christians) and is mirrored by people who hold very similar beliefs in Islam for instance. These are tough people, you know. They are full of conviction.

Meanwhile, it appears your main grouse with Federer is that he shares the bed of one woman without having signed a piece of paper. Now you must surely be aware, Ellen Mooring, that the tennis players on the tour are vigorous young men and women with powerful appetites for the most part and it is reasonable to assume that they will share their bodies with whom they may, sometimes regardless of gender, and furthermore will change their bedfellows with some regularity. They will, on the whole, dispense with documentation.

What do you think about that? Do you really mean anyone other than Roger Federer? Be careful what you wish for, Ellen Mooring…..

November 15th, 2007 at 6:27 pm