Masters Cup Shanghai - Roddick going to Shanghai

Eurosport - Wed, 05 Nov 13:55:00 2008

American Andy Roddick claimed one of the three remaining spots for the Masters Cup, while world number three Novak Djokovic crashed out of the Paris Masters in the third round.

TENNIS 2008 Roddick - 0

A dream final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal was still on the cards after the two top seeds advanced to the quarter-finals.

Federer swept past Croatian Marin Cilic 6-3 6-4 while Spaniard Nadal beat local favourite Gael Monfils 6-3 6-2.

Roddick booked his ticket to Shanghai by ending the run of Frenchman Gilles Simon with a 6-3 7-5 victory.

The 2003 US Open champion needed his best serve to beat the in-form Simon, who reached the Madrid Masters final earlier in October.

Although he managed only four points on Roddick's first serve, Simon proved a tough nut to crack and the American needed five match points to clinch victory.

"It's always an honour to qualify. I think this is six straight years, so that's a good accomplishment. I'm looking forward to it," said Roddick, who will next face another Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Simon, eighth in the ATP Race, still has a chance of joining Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Andy Murray, Nikolay Davydenko and Roddick in Shanghai but his fate now depends on his rivals' results in Paris.

Despite Simon's exit, the crowd at Bercy still had plenty to cheer about as Australian Open runner-up Tsonga produced some amazing shots to down Djokovic 6-4 1-6 6-3.

Tsonga, who still has an outside chance of qualifying for the Masters Cup, has now beaten Djokovic twice in succession after losing to the Serb in the Melbourne Park final in January.

Argentine David Nalbandian also hit some brilliant shots to thrash Davis Cup team-mate Juan Martin Del Potro 6-4 6-0 and keep his hopes of travelling to Shanghai alive.

Nalbandian, 14th in the ATP Race, showed he has what it takes to retain his Paris title during a ruthless 66-minute drubbing of Del Potro. Nalbandian will secure a place in the season ender if he triumphs in the French capital.

Del Potro, seventh in the ATP Race, will miss out on a Masters Cup spot if Nalbandian faces James Blake in the final and the Argentine claims the crown.

Nalbandian will next face Briton Murray as the world number four eased past Spain's Fernando Verdasco 6-3 7-6.

American Blake produced a clinical 6-4 6-4 victory against German Philipp Kohlschreiber to stay in the running for China.

Tennis romantics still can dream of Federer-Nadal showdown for the first time since their epic Wimbledon final.

Federer, who showed no mercy in his victory against big-serving Cilic, will be gunning for revenge when he takes on Blake. The last time they met, Blake ruined Federer's Olympic hopes by beating the Swiss in the Beijing quarter-finals.

"I don't like the word 'revenge' but I would be pleased to beat him," Federer said.

A break in each set was enough for Wimbledon champion Nadal to see off Monfils although he had to stave off five break points in the third game of the second set.

Nadal, who now has won all three of his matches against Monfils, will face world number six Davydenko, who was impressive in a 6-1 6-1 demolition of Czech Tomas Berdych.

Reuters

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  1. whose not aware that marat safin won his two grandslams against two of the greatest tennis player on earth.....marat won it against fed and sampras when both are still on top of their career

    From Ray V, on Sat 1 Nov 1:38AM

  2. can01jordan, "safin one hit wonder"...first off hes got at least 2 hits, since he won 2 slams. secondly he was in the finals of 2 others, and after this years wimbledon run, hes been in the semis of every single slam...something only a few players have ever done EXCLUDING nadal who hasnt reached the semis of the australian open. finally, safin was ranked number 1 in the world.
    if anyone is a one hit wonder, its you...your @#$% only worked once.

    From kukashatz, on Fri 31 Oct 5:57PM

  3. People, dont try to predict stuff. There are a lot of things that affect their lives and careers.
    Congrats Andy for qualifying, this year's Masters Cup will be very very interesting.

    From budimirbojan, on Fri 31 Oct 5:24PM

  4. Novak will be back sooner or later. He is to talented to vanish so easy. All players get in crisis sometimes, it can be short, or long. But this gay will definitely be back to dominate besides Murray and few others ! I’m afraid that time of some oldies is just passed, sorry ! He proved how much he can do in the first part of the year.
    But definitely has to change lots of things and do something on motivation and concentrations. Changing coach would be the best !

    From Igor K, on Fri 31 Oct 4:09PM

  5. safin-one hit wonder????? he won 2000 us open and 2005 aus open ,inbetween he was pretty much on top ,too bad he was injured a lot .

    From Daria, on Fri 31 Oct 2:50PM

  6. I don't get Roddick, I really don't =/
    x

    From Philomena, on Fri 31 Oct 10:50AM

  7. @ can01jordan: Lmao, Safin - one hit wonder?! Are you out of your f*cking mind? Djokovic still has mountains to climb to even stand near Marat. Selfish piece of cr*p.

    From TT, on Fri 31 Oct 10:33AM

  8. jorda 8
    PLEASE don't insult adorable Ana Ivanovic by linking her name to this controvosy

    From olga.wins, on Fri 31 Oct 7:49AM

  9. tsonga got an unfair 10 minute massage, and another massage halfway through the third set. he faked that injury, coz he knew he was gonna lose after the second set. come on, you can see how he was moving in the third set, clearly he cheated.

    From aleksicn93, on Fri 31 Oct 7:41AM

  10. Djokovic is another Ana Ivanovic, or even another Marat Safin. Too bad, another one-hit wonder

    From can01jordan, on Thu 30 Oct 11:57PM

  11. novac is soon to be evicted from his current location...the year will end with a big bang for murray. novacs recent on court (other) tactics and attitude is haunting him....he should undergo yoga sessions to heal his soul and ego that was tainted in the recent US open.He should stick and depend on his brilliant skill rather than that phantom injuries he used to inject in his tennis strategies.....we have seen enough on court dramas.

    From Ray V, on Thu 30 Oct 10:20PM

  12. novic has been tired @#$%...for months even before the french.....looks like murra will take his number 3 spo pretty soon if he does'nt fix whatever right now is obviously broken.

    From mertron1, on Thu 30 Oct 8:22PM

  13. Oh no Nole is such a babe don't want him to go down just like that

    From Jelena F, on Thu 30 Oct 7:47PM

  14. Novak needs to concentrate more his tennis, he tends to lose focus during the end of the year. welldone tsonga good match to win...........

    From ololade, on Thu 30 Oct 5:58PM

  15. WELL DONE ANDY RODDICK ON WINNING YOU'RE MATCH TODAY AND MAKING IT TO THE END OF YEAR MASTERS CUP. GO ANDY GO YOU CAN DO IT I SUPPORT YOU.
    ALISON MERRITT.

    From AJ, on Thu 30 Oct 4:47PM

  16. Poor Del Potro. This was clearly mental defeat. This guy has such a great potential only needs to cope with it somehow in order to become great.

    From risimko, on Thu 30 Oct 12:23PM

  17. awesome nalbandian* u make d Armenians proud

    From CuteC, on Thu 30 Oct 12:18PM
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