Masters 1000: Shanghai

Race for numer one heats up.
From memory, Murray gave Nole a tough final last year...for one set.


Draw:

http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2016/5014/mds.pdf

Order of Play:

http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2016/5014/op.pdf

Saw a bit of Delpo-Goffin, nice match, Goffin gutsier when it mattered, 7:5 in the 3rd.

At the same time sad for Delpo.

Terrible draw for both. 

Schedule of play looks fantastic, so many good matches. Hope to catch Nole-Fabio.

Whatever was eating Nole out...it's gone!

Looking and playing very relaxed...nice to see him in this mode at last!

Some spectacular shots from Fognini.

Watching Nadal _troicki. Troicki apologised 4 times for a net cord which wasn't even a drop dead ball and Nadal reached it and made it too. See 4 times, how much respect he has for Nadal.

Yes...looks like they almost fear him....though the scores would prove me wrong.

And Troicki also gets his first win on Nadal.

the more i watch nadal these days the more im convinced that this is the kind of player he would have been 4-5 years ago without the drugs
pouille vs murray should be really interesting

Without the drug Nadal would not have been a top 50 players. It is as simple as that. He relies too much on fitness and nowadays that fitness is not even good enough.

I read how Nadal may finish the season after Shanghai...to work on the FH, talk with his Tio Toni...

Even Troicki seems to have worked that formerly formidable spin out today...

Anyway...I also read how Kyrgios had another embarrasing episode vs Zverev Sr who thrashed him in two sets.
Good!

So the egomaniac couldn't handle losing to a nobody and started tanking...

And finally Match of the of day for tomorrow

Pouille- Murray!

Fantastic win for Tsonga.
From 1:4 down in the third set to 7:5.

He taught Zverev a lesson in REAL tennis.

noleisthebest wrote:Fantastic win for Tsonga.
From 1:4 down in the third set to 7:5.

He taught Zverev a lesson in REAL tennis.

Still good run for Zverev. Its a learning experience, He won't let this 4-1 advantage slip so easily next time.

For tsonag, good win. But I doubt he will do better in next round.

Don't know what happened in the first set (6:1), started watching in the second at 2:0 Murray, but Pouille starting to play well now, 4:3 , nreak down.
First serve not going in, though.

ALLEZ LUCAAAAAAAA!!!

Murray's muscles are beginning to olay dividends now in his serving.
Though, we'lll see ho many 1st ones he'll get in when he is under pressure.

Despite the score, Lucas didn't do badly the 7 games I saw.
I suppose this will be a learning experience for him, the first match against Murray, who clearly took him very seriously today.

The young lion fought till the end.

saw the highlights and press conference of nick kygrios 
used to like how out spoken he was but now im starting to think that he just really has a serious attitude problem
regardless he gets fined for "lack of best effort" fined for unsportsman like behavior and fined for verbal abuse
wouldnt it be nice if they treated all players the same way 

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/oct/13/nick-kyrgios-fined-shanghai-masters-lack-of-best-effor


no luck for pouille,was really hoping that he would tank murray

Looking at the QF's

Agut vs Tsonga
Djokovic vs Zverev
Murray vs Goffin
Sock vs Simon

The final seems like a formality Murray/Djokovic collision.

One can only hope Goffin/Tsonga go into ultra purple patch mode.

Yes i fancy goffin chances tomorrow. He is the better player and should prove it.

Goffin will be more tired than Murray.

If fresh, he could do the damage.

I hope Tsonga blows Gutty off Shanghai dancefloor.

Gutty downs Tsonga. That's Djokovic in the final despite trouble from Zverev.

Will be the circus no wants to see.

legendkillar wrote:Gutty downs Tsonga. That's Djokovic in the final despite trouble from Zverev.

Will be the circus no wants to see.

I think it will be a good match, in fact.

Battle for number one.
It doesn't get bigger than that.

noleisthebest wrote:

legendkillar wrote:Gutty downs Tsonga. That's Djokovic in the final despite trouble from Zverev.

Will be the circus no wants to see.

I think it will be a good match, in fact.

Battle for number one.
It doesn't get bigger than that.

Yes it does....The slams!!

Naah, I reckon Murray would trade a slam for number one right now.

Slams can be won "by accident" number one less so.
But even if he was to snatch it, it will be short lived.

Well the number 1 ranking.

As it stands this is the standings post Shanghai should Novak win:

1) Djokovic 11,240
2) Murray 9,285

However if Murray wins:

1) Djokovic 10,840
2) Murray 9,685

Now as I see Murray is playing in Vienna and Djokovic isn't scheduled to play again until Paris. So if Murray were to win Vienna, this is how Paris would look at start if Djokovic wins Shanghai or if Murray did:

1) Djokovic 10,240
2) Murray 9,185

or

1) Djokovic 9,840
2) Murray 9,285

Murray could well be Number 1 by the WTF.

He certainly plays like the number 1!

I can't see this Djoko troubling him!

Though I can see this version of Murray troubling Murray!

Tenez wrote:He certainly plays like the number 1!

I can't see this Djoko troubling him!

Hehe

noleisthebest wrote:Naah, I reckon Murray would trade a slam for number one right now.

Slams can be won "by accident" number one less so.
But even if he was to snatch it, it will be short lived.

With Djokovic defending the next two Slams?

I think it's only a matter of time until he loses the top spot - weeks or months.

Murray's got two finals to defend in those two slams.

Nole's coming back from injury, if Murray does snatch number one it won't last long.

Nole is a better player. Always been always will be.

The rest is propaganda.

This how close the race gets!

http://live-tennis.eu/en/atp-race

If Djoko loses tomorrow and Murray wins Sunday there will be less than a 1000 points between them.

noleisthebest wrote:Murray's got two finals to defend in those two slams.

Nole's coming back from injury, if Murray does snatch number one it won't last long.

Nole is a better player. Always been always will be.

The rest is propaganda.

I think you've forgotten the 1300 points he's defending at the WTF versus Murrays 200.

Djoko wasted such a set point with another poor volley!

Yes BB, the race is bloody close now.

Djoko needs to win today match to have a chance to Hold on to number 1.

Djoko is a very nervous 12 slam champion. In fact like Nadal they built their mental strength by beating Federer simply relying on fitness and DHBH v SHBH.....but to neither are mentally strong contrary to popular belief.

They fight hard for sure but guts? nah! Dwarfs compared to Federer who played with thinest margins at all time!

I am so unlucky. £50 on Agut at 5.0 at the beginning.

He has 3 MPs. Djoko saves one with a lucky return in the very corner, one net call and lucky slice.

Ouch and finally does it on Djoko's serve.

The problem now is that Murray is going to be the most likely number 1.

The race likely just got even closer, probably under 1000 with Djokovic defending shedloads - almost half his points total - in the next few events.

Murray within 915 points if he wins tomorrow.

When the best players reach 29 they usually decline quite a bit and I expect it to be the same for Djoko.

BAgut was due a big win now I hope he can double his top 4 wins in the final.

It's quite interesting that once again the player who beat Djoko is just a year younger and the one who might overtake him as number 1 (Murray) is older than Djoko and never looked that strong in his carreer.

So I don;t expect a player to decline at 29....remember the last player to beat Djoko in a slam is 31!

We cannot attribute all drop of form to age. It doesn't make sense.

It's not just this tournament where Novak has been off form it's been there since Rome. His BH is doing nothing now and he doesn't engage in long rallies like he used to.

I may be mistaken here but I think in most cases players who play grinding tennis decline sooner. That might be due to physical wear of course, but it might also be that such play is mentally wearing after so many years.

Bottom line, Federers tennis is a joy to watch and doubtless also to play. Perhaps the opposite is true of Djokovic.

bogbrush wrote:I may be mistaken here but I think in most cases players who play grinding tennis decline sooner. That might be due to physical wear of course, but it might also be that such play is mentally wearing after so many years.

Bottom line, Federers tennis is a joy to watch and doubtless also to play. Perhaps the opposite is true of Djokovic.

I always thought so and I still think they decline sooner than the shotmakers. However at 29 they are still at their peak....and well into it. Ferrer thrived till 33.

The main reason for their earliier decline than the shot makers is I think the game becoming constantly faster and more powerful.
In fact those guys mostly thrive when the game slows down:

Borg: Amazing athlete difficult to shake off with wooden racquets but quickly overtaken by the new generation of fit shotmaker players.
Hewitt : Making the most of new strings and slow balls but not good enough against more powerful player (Federer)
NAdal, Djoko, Murray also making the most of slowed conds and new strings....but even them are going to be largely overtaken by the new shotmakers on their way.

As I said many times, no-one has been pushed down number 1 because of decline. It's way too competitive out there. They have always been replaced before reaching their peak. Federer managed to recover the number 1 spot and woudl have most likely stayed there longer had he adopted the larger frame earlier.....but the fact is he was never able to be consistent enough (with his old racquet) to maintain that position again the new Djoko (2014)....otherwise he may have been the only player able to decline at the top. His injured back in 2013 did not help.

I think attacking, shotmaking tennis is tougher to play than retrieving.

People underestimate the footwork needed esp for the one moving forward.

Percentage tennis is not that hard mentally at all.

Federer is an exception and not a benchmark.

Equalling or beating Roger's slam count not looking so obvious to people anymore, is it? :P  The problem with baseline dwellers who rely on speed and stamina is that those games rely on the attributes being top notch.  A loss of half a step to them is devastating.  It's still bad for Federer - but not as devastating because his serve and his forehand can hit winners and end points.

Not the case with defenders... to them it's almost game over.

Nice to see Djoko smash the racket, rip his shirt and b1tch with umpire when he knows he is wrong.

Great stuff from No:1 carrying the mantle of Tennis for younger aspiring tennis generations.....NOT!!!

This Sharapova scandal has taken a toll on Djoko too 

Hope he quits mid 2016 as I have predicted, that once he gets RG, he wont give a toss about tennis.

I just saw the smash/rip/argument clip.

Not good but good.

Good because he looked fired up.

Knowing him, he'll defend year end number one.

AceofDeath wrote:It's not just this tournament where Novak has been off form it's been there since Rome. His BH is doing nothing now and he doesn't engage in long rallies like he used to.

I thought that was good!

nitb, come on, he's no1, no need to smash rackets.

Or even you can't still believe he is no1 after all these years.

Fired up for what? He's not fighting to quality for WTF, it's not 2010.

How are you btw? missed me? 

Hello Yahoo,

I see you are still hoping to move to Monte Carlo...good luck!

Yes, I get your point with the facade needed for number one....imagine how long a list Murray will have to write for himself if and when he becomes resident in "the penthouse"...
1) smile a lot
2) say please and thank you to ball kids
3) do not yell
4) have a plastic surgery and hope to wake up charismatic...

.......

I am fine, thanks for asking.

Did I miss you?

Well, it's good to have your cheerful spirit around!

Andy is a spoiled immature kid, so his self-fighting, swearing and shouting at his box, is kind of normal, hoped him being a daddy would smooth him a little, guess not, Kim making him change nappies at 3am probably.

Have you been to MC? it's a pretty boring place, even Casinos are pretty bland, apart from that F1 street to have a go, not much to do, except cry from wealth and yachts.

So no, I'm not moving there, no one lives there, just Postal addresses for tax cheats

Done your turšija yet? i can help you with peeling baked peppers