Tennis Acumen

Brilliant Davydenko Wins Shanghai amid 9 Retirements from the Field

PETE ZIEBRON

 

Nikolay Davydenko dazzled tennis fans everywhere, thrashing Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s Final 7-6(3), 6-3 to win the inaugural Shanghai Masters 1000.  Davydenko blasted 35 winners compared to only 9 from Nadal.  This aggressive style of play from Davydenko offered tennis enthusiasts a refreshing, contrasting style of play as it forced Nadal into a defensive posture, pinning him well behind the baseline for the majority of the match.

 

Davydenko came into the Final full of confidence and parlayed his successful brand of tennis from Saturday’s semifinal victory over #2 seed Novak Djokovic, where he won 11 of the final 12 points of the match, dropping only one point in the third set tiebreaker.  With the win in Shanghai, Davydenko improved to 18-5 lifetime in Finals, including a perfect 3-0 in Masters 1000 Finals.

 

However, Davydenko’s spectacular shot making display, which most likely secured him a berth in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London in November, was not the only story from the Shanghai Masters 1000.  Unfortunately, nine players retired from their matches, including:

 

• Jose Acasuso, 1^st round
• Mischa Zverev 1^st round
• Andy Roddick, 2^nd round
• Tommy Haas, 2^nd round
• Juan Martin del Potro, 2^nd round
• Gael Monfils, 3^rd round
• Stanislaus Wawrinka, 3^rd round
• Ivan Ljubicic, Quarterfinals
• Feliciano Lopez, Semifinals

 

Meanwhile, Asian tennis fans were concurrently disappointed since Roger Federer and Andy Murray were unable to compete in Shanghai due to fatigue and injury respectively. 

 

Hopefully for tennis aficionados worldwide, the field will be able to regain their health in time for the final Masters 1000 event beginning November 8 at Paris Bercy.  Fan favorite Marat Safin will play his last professional tournament in Bercy.

 

Shanghai Masters 1000 Preview

PETE ZIEBRON 

Following his Masters 1000 win in Montreal in August, #2 Andy Murray had his sights on finishing 2009 as the #1 player in the world.  Murray now stands at #4 and inactive for the Shanghai Masters 1000 due to a wrist injury.

 

Meanwhile, world #1 Roger Federer has also opted out of the Shanghai Masters, citing fatigue following a laborious summer where he won Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Cincinnati Masters while concurrently becoming a father for the first time.

 

The majority of the other top players are stumbling into Shanghai:  #2 Rafael Nadal won only 4 games in the Tokyo semifinals last week against Marin Cilic.  US Open Champion Juan Martin del Potro lost in the first round in Tokyo to French qualifier, Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Andy Roddick also lost to a qualifier in Beijing, Polish upstart Lukasz Kubot.  Both Roger-Vasselin and Kubot are ranked outside of the top 100.

 

However, despite the absence of Murray and Federer and the poor showings from the majority of the rest of the top players last week in Asia, Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga arrive in Shanghai celebrating wins in Beijing and Tokyo respectively and will seek to continue their winning ways.  Djokovic, the new #3 player in the world has already appeared in 4 Masters 1000 Finals in 2009, losing each time. 

 

The fact that Federer and Murray are not appearing in Shanghai and other notables struggled in match play last week certainly provides excellent opportunities for the remainder of the field to earn valuable tour points in this Masters 1000 tournament, which concludes the ATP tour’s three week schedule in Asia.