Masters Cup 2007

Murad

Two Teams Qualify; Four Spots Remain

Shanghai, China – The No. 3 and No. 4 duos in the Stanford ATP Doubles Race, Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett and Simon Aspelin and Julian Knowle, have clinched their Tennis Masters Cup berths, leaving four spots remaining in the elite eight-team doubles field.

Hanley and Ullyett will be making their second consecutive appearance in Shanghai, and last year reached the semifinals. The second-year duo opened the year in Sydney by capturing their sixth team title and delivered consistent results by reaching the finals at the ATP Masters Series events in Hamburg and Canada and the semifinals at the Australian Open and US Open.

“I’m really happy,” said Hanley. “That’s what everyone plays for, to try and make the end of the year Masters. It’s a great place. We’ve done well in the past, and we like going there. We like the conditions.”

Ullyett said: “It’s awesome. They really go out of their way to make you feel really special. The crowd are really knowledgeable and there’s good support for the doubles, which we really love, so we really enjoy going back there.”

Aspelin and Knowle have put together an impressive debut season, winning titles at Poertschach, Halle, Båstad and the US Open. They secured their Shanghai invitation as the highest-placed Grand Slam champions assured of finishing within the Top 20 of the Race standings. Should they confirm their spot in the Top 7, the berth reserved for Grand Slam champions will go to Wimbledon titlists Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra, currently No. 10 in the Race.

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Gość

znalazlem takie smieszne karykatury zawodnikow

Kubecki

ale swietne te karykatury

fajnie Canas wyszedl

szkoda tylko ze nieliczni z tych zawodnikow zagraja w tegorocznym Masters Cup.

Gość

Mnie troche wkurzyl Masters, bo zawodnicy wogle ci co mieli grac to zrezygnowali <_<

aś

Ferrer to Make Masters Cup Debut

China – Versatile Spaniard David Ferrer will make his debut at the prestigious Tennis Masters Cup -- to be held at Shanghai's Qi Zhong Stadium from November 11-18 -- after his qualification for the circuit finale was announced Saturday.

Ferrer's addition to the Masters Cup field, alongside Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko and Andy Roddick, leaves just two Shanghai spots up for grabs heading into the final event of the regular ATP season - the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, which begins Sunday.

Ferrer, who will finish in the year-end Top 10 of the South African Airways ATP Rankings for the first time, has won three titles this year - Tokyo, Bastad and Auckland - and also reached the US Open semifinals.

"This is like a dream come true," Ferrer said. "It's been my best season ever and it is going to be great to compete in Shanghai as one of the top eight players. I have heard it is such a special event."

The final two Tennis Masters Cup spots will be determined in Paris. Seventh-placed Chilean Fernando Gonzalez has a strong claim on the seventh spot with a 51-point break on No. 8 Tommy Haas. The battle for the eighth and final place will be intense, with eight players separated by just 18 points (See latest ATP Race standings). Four spots in the doubles event at Tennis Masters Cup remain up for grabs.

Qualification also means that Ferrer will join the other qualifiers by having a larger-than-life Terracotta Warrior sculpture created of himself by award-winning artist Laury Dizengremel to celebrate the Tennis Masters Cup.

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Murad

Three Teams Secure Shanghai Berths

Shanghai, China – Doubles veterans Martin Damm and Leander Paes and Wimbledon titlists Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra have secured their berths in the prestigious Tennis Masters Cup, leaving just two spots open in the elite eight-team doubles field going into the final week of the regular ATP season.

Damm and Paes, the No. 5 team in the Stanford ATP Doubles Race, will be appearing in their second consecutive Tennis Masters Cup. Last year, the two reached the semifinals where they fell in a battle of three tie-breaks to eventual champions Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi.

The Czech-Indian duo made a quick start to the second full year of their partnership with a runner-up finish in Doha and the title win in Rotterdam. In March, they clinched their team’s first ATP Masters Series title at the Pacific Life Open and took their winning streak to the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, where they were defeated by the top-seeded Bryans in the final.

Clement and Llodra will be making their team debut at the circuit finale after they received the berth reserved for Grand Slam champions with US Open titlists Simon Aspelin and Julian Knowle’s confirmed Top 7 finish. Llodra won the Tennis Masters Cup title in his last event appearance, partnering compatriot Fabrice Santoro to the 2005 title.

In addition to their triumph at Wimbledon, the Frenchmen collected two titles on home soil, at Marseille and Metz. The No. 10 team in the Stanford ATP Doubles Race will attempt to defend their title at the BNP Paribas Masters this week.

UPDATE: Monday, October 29, 2007

Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner qualified after Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram made a first round exit at the BNP Paribas Masters on Monday. Eric Butorac and Frantisek Cermak saved one match point at 9-8 in the Match Tie-break and eventually beat the Israeli duo 7-6(1) 2-6, 11-9 (Match TB).

The eighth and final position hinges on whether defending Tennis Masters Cup champions Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi win or loss their first match at the final ATP Masters Series event of the year.

Should Bjorkman and Mirnyi win their first match they will qualify for the circuit-finale. Otherwise Erlich and Ram will get the nod for a second trip to Shanghai.

Bjorkman and Mirnyi are both past doubles titlists at the BNP Paribas Masters, Bjorkman winning in 2004 (w/ Woodbridge) and Mirnyi in 2000 (w/ Kulti).

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Kubecki

Bjorkman/Mirnyi Clinch Final Shanghai Berth

Oct. 31, 2007 - No. 3 seeds Max Mirnyi and Jonas Bjorkman (pictured) will have the chance to defend their Masters Cup doubles title after clinching the last berth for the season finale with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Austrian/American pairing Jurgen Melzer and Todd Perry at the BNP Paribas Masters on Wednesday.

Bjorkman and Mirnyi won their first title of the season recently in Stockholm, defeating Wimbledon champions Clement and Llodra in the final. The Swedish/Belarusian duo also finished runners-up at the Australian Open at the start of the year (l. to Bryan/Bryan). In last year’s Masters Cup they defeated Knowles/Nestor in the final, and will have the chance to defend that title in Shanghai 11-18 November.

Pairing up for just the second time this season, Perry and Melzer were finalists in St. Petersburg last week, losing to Nestor/Zimonjic in the final.

World No. 1 pairing Bob and Mike Bryan also booked their place in the Paris quarterfinals with a close 4-6, 6-4 10-7 victory over Jeff Coetzee and Rogier Wassen in one hour and 15 minutes.

The American Bryan brothers recently clinched their 10th title of the season at AMS Madrid (d. Frystenberg/Matkowski) and last week won the Basel title (d. Blake/Knowles). The Dutch/South African duo of Coetzee/Wassen are two-time titlists in 2007, winning together in Auckland (d. Aspelin/Haggard) and ‘s-Hertogenbosch (d. Damm/Paes).

Elsewhere, No. 7 seeds Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett set up a quarterfinal meeting with either Frystenberg/Matkowski or No. 2 seeds Nestor/Zimonjic after defeating Argentine/Chilean duo Fernando Gonzalez and Guillermo Canas 7-6(5), 4-6, 10-8.

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Murad

ATP Tour - Gonzo books seventh Masters Cup berth

Eurosport - Fri, 02 Nov 21:05:00 2007

Chilean Fernando Gonzalez has become the seventh player to qualify for this month's Masters Cup.

More StoriesMasters Cup calculus - Latest
Gonzalez lost in the second round of this week's Paris Masters but results by other contenders mean he is now certain to finish in the top eight of the ATP Race, thereby booking a ticket to China.

The last remaining spot for the Shanghai event will be between Briton Andy Murray, Frenchman Richard Gasquet and Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.

Gonzalez joins Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick and David Ferrer at the season-ending competition featuring the world's top eight players.

The Masters Cup starts on November 11.

Reuters

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Raddcik

no i juz niemal wszystko jasne

,Gonzo ma start zapewniony to walczą juz tylko Gasquet i Marcos,osobiscie wolałbym aby w Szanghaju zjawił sie francuz,i póki co ma to większe szanse od cypryjczyka...Allez Ryszard

Kubecki

Jesli dzisiaj Nalbandian odprawi go z kwitkiem, a do finalu wejdzie Baghdatis i jutro byc moze pokona rywala w finale.. to w MC chyba bedzie Cypryjczyk

Gość

Ja mysle ze Baghdatis nie ma wielkich szans by wygrac ten turniej. Z Nadalem wedlug mnie sobie nie poradzis bo Rafa chyba gra coraz lepiej. Ale zalozmy ze wygra. To nastepnie Richard albo Nalbi. Nalbandian jesli bedzie w formie psychicznej to zniszczy i tego i tego niezaleznie od ich gry. A o gre Richarda jestem spokojny- w tej chwili gra bardzo dobrze i rowno

Murad

Gasquet Completes 2007 Tennis Masters Cup Field

Richard Gasquet (pictured) claimed the final spot in the elite-player Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai on Saturday. The 21-year-old will be the first Frenchman to compete at circuit-finale since Sebastien Grosjean reached the 2001 final in Sydney, Australia (l. to Hewitt).

Gasquet qualified after World No. 2 Rafael Nadal blocked the run of Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, No. 14 in the ATP 2007 Race, in the BNP Paribas Masters semifinals. Baghdatis had needed to win the Paris title and hope that Gasquet did not reach the final in order to secure his invitation.

Gasquet had started the week at No. 13 in the ATP 2007 Race to Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai. By reaching the BNP Paribas Masters semifinals, he has risen five places to No. 8.

On Friday, Fernando Gonzalez became the first Chilean since Marcelo Rios in 1998 to directly qualify for the Tennis Masters Cup following Rafael Nadal’s victory over Mikhail Youzhny in quarterfinal action in Paris. Read More

David Nalbandian, who captured the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup title, could rise to No. 9 in the ATP 2007 Race should he win the Paris title. At present Tommy Robredo holds the No. 9 position.

Below is a chart of the ATP 2007 Race UPDATED throughout the day on Saturday, November 3, showing how many points the respective Shanghai contenders have added this week.

On the Bubble - Tennis Masters Cup Contenders
(Updated ATP 2007 Race Position. Saturday's winners in BOLD)

Pos./Player Points Pts. This
Week Paris Status
8th/R. Gasquet 366 45 Plays Nalbandian in SFs
9th/T. Robredo 353 25 Lost to Baghdatis in QFs
10th/A. Murray 351 25 Lost to Gasquet in QFs
11th/T. Haas 344 15 Lost to Youzhny in 3rd Rd.
12th/J. Blake 342 15 Lost to Gasquet in 3rd Rd.
13th/T. Berdych 337 15 Lost to Ferrer in 3rd Rd.
14th/M. Baghdatis 320 45 Lost to Nadal in SFs
15th/C. Moya 317 1 Lost to Nalbandian in 2nd Rd.
16th/I. Ljubicic 316 1 Lost to Baghdatis in 2nd Rd.
17th/G. Canas 314 15 Lost to Robredo in 3rd Rd.
18th/M. Youzhny 314 25 Lost to Nadal in QFs
19th/D Nalbandian 300 45 Plays Gasquet in SFs
20th/J.I. Chela 285 1 Lost to Wawrinka in 2nd Rd.
21st/L. Hewitt 273 0 not playing
22nd/I Karlovic 272 7 Lost to Federer in 2nd Rd.
23rd/J. Monaco 270 1 Lost to Nieminen in 1st Rd.
24th/J.C. Ferrero 268 1 Lost to Baghdatis in 1st Rd.
25th/P-H Mathieu 264 1 Lost to Ancic in 1st Rd.

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Nula

ATP Tour - Murray rules out "alternate" option

British number one Andy Murray says he would refuse a place at the Masters Cup as an alternate if any of the Shanghai finalists were to drop out of the season-ending championship with an injury.
The British number one was eliminated from contention for a place at this year's tournament by Frenchman Richard Gasquet on Friday, but could still earn a place in the tournament if two of the current finalists pulled out.

American number one Andy Roddick withdrew from this week's tournament in Bercy and could possibly abandon his Shanghai campaign to build fitness for next month's Davis Cup final between the USA and Russia.

But the 20-year-old Scot says he would not to take anyone's vacated place in China.

"I'm not going to go all the way over to Shanghai when it's a time where I'm going to be taking a break, and I plan to start training really hard the week right after Shanghai," Murray said.

"If I'm having to get ready for matches and obviously stay in great shape, because you're going to be playing against one of the best players in the world I'd rather not go all the way over there and end up not playing a match," he said.

"Two guys need to pull out. I'm not expecting that to happen."

Unless Marcos Baghdatis advances to the Bercy final, Murray is second in line for a Masters Cup berth as a replacement behind current ATP Race number nine Tommy Robredo.

Murray finished the season on spectacular form with a title last week in St Petersburg and a final appearance last month in Metz, but a three-month absence from the ATP Tour due to a wrist injury cost him greatly.

"A lot of good players have struggled to come back from wrist injuries. It was a tough time for me, that's for sure," he said. "But I said at the time it wasn't an injury that I could put down to poor conditioning or lack of professionalism."

"It was just a freak injury that happened on one shot and I hadn't been feeling it before. It was a tough time."

The world number 12 fell at the final hurdle on Friday losing 6-3 0-6 6-4 to the French number one Gasquet in the Paris quarter-finals in a match that would have made him a favourite to secure the eighth and final Masters Cup place.

But instead of travelling to Shanghai as an alternate Murray now plans to take a week to relax and then start preparing for next season.

"I've had a great year. I'm really positive about what I did at the end of the year and at the start of the year," he said.

"Next year I think, again, I've said this before, I think there's so many things that I can improve on, and I'm going to do that in the off season and I'm going to get even fitter and stronger than I was this year, and hopefully next year I'll be in Shanghai."

Jeremy Stahl / Eurosport

DUN I LOVE

6 days remaining - czas zaczac polemike

Singiel:
1. Federer, Roger SUI
2. Nadal, Rafael ESP
3. Djokovic, Novak SRB
4. Davydenko, Nikolay RUS
5. Roddick, Andy USA
6. Ferrer, David ESP
7. Gonzalez, Fernando CHI
8. Gasquet, Richard FRA

Alternates:
1.David Nalbandian
2.Tommy Robredo

Co do wycofan to padaly typy Roddicka i Davydenki. Kolia raczej sie nie wycofa. Wydaje mi sie ze on sam doskonale wie ze jego czas na takim topie swiatowego tenisa sie konczy i raczej ma ostatnia szanse by zagrac w MC, tak wiec przyjdzie do Szanghaju chocby mial reke amputowana.
Co inneog sytuacja z Roddickiem , ze zdrowiem moze byc roznie ,sam zainteresowany sie nie wypowiada ale oczywistym jest ze dla niego teraz priorytetem jest Puchar Dwighta Davisa ( macie to wygrac "UeSanczycy"

) i raczej bedzie robil wszystko by na poczatku grudnia w Portland byc w jak najlepszej formie a do tego Szanghaj chyba nie jest mu niezbedny.

Porzadany jest wystep Nalbiego i to bardzo zwlaszcza gdy czolowka albo sie sypie albo odczuwa trudy sezonu albo po prostu nie ma formy.
Tak wiec widac duzo analogii z rokiem 2005 , oby tym razem Roger i David zagrali w finale i tie-break 5 seta poszedl w 2-ga strone

A moze ktos zaskoczy tak jak James przed rokiem ?

Murad

MATCH SCHEDULE 2007

All times are local Shanghai times
- 7 hours for Central European Time
- 13 hours for Eastern Time, USA

DateTime/Matches

Sunday, Nov. 11
- 2:00 pm - Singles RR
followed by
(fb) - Singles RR
fb - Doubles RR
fb - Doubles RR

Monday, Nov. 12
- 3:00 pm - Doubles RR
not before 5:00pm - Singles RR
not before 7:30 pm - Singles RR
fb - Doubles RR

Tuesday, Nov. 13
- 3:00 pm - Doubles RR
not before 5:00pm - Singles RR
not before 7:30 pm - Singles RR
fb - Doubles RR

Wednesday, Nov. 14
- 3:00 pm - Doubles RR
not before 5:00pm - Singles RR
not before 7:30 pm - Singles RR
fb - Doubles RR

Thursday, Nov. 15
- 3:00 pm - Doubles RR
not before 5:00pm - Singles RR
not before 7:30 pm - Singles RR
fb - Doubles RR

Friday, Nov. 16
3:00 pm - Doubles RR
not before 5:00 pm - Singles RR
not before 7:30pm - Singles RR
fb - Doubles RR

Saturday, Nov. 17
- 1:30 pm - Doubles SF
not before 3:00 pm - Doubles SF
not before 5:00 pm - Singles SF
not before 7:30 pm - Singles SF

Sunday, Nov. 18 -
1:30- Doubles Final
not before 4:00 pm - Singles Final

* Doubles is a best of two sets.
* Singles is a best of three sets / Singles Final is a best of five sets.