Its getting closer to the end of yet another ATP tour event, this being the penultimate one at the BNP Paribas Paris Masters event, which is the last ATP 1000 Masters series event of the year. In the entrants we seen Djokovic, Murray, Federer, Ferrer, Berdych and Fish all take place in the fight to take the Parisian trophy home (but if memory serves its a right ugly looking thing like a big spider!). And already there has been some surprise exits so more on that below.
To begin with Djokovic came into the tournament fresh after his shock defeat at the hands of Kei Nishikori last week in Basel and managed to get the first two matches under his belt. However Djokovic was still fighting the pain of his shoulder injury which had returned, and yesterday (Thursday 10/11) he announced his withdrawal from the tournament as he sighted his shoulder which was getting worse. Well you can't argue with Djokovic's decision as his body has been hurting ever since he played in Cincinnati, and after such a physically punishing US Open campaign, I think Djokovic's body started to wave the white flag. Which means he now has more time to prepare for the ATP World Tour Finals at the o2 in London, which is something Nadal has been prepping for ever since having decided to not participate in recent tournaments. But I'm sure that Djokovic (and Nadal for that matter) will do everything they can to make sure they are fighting fit for the o2 Arena next weekend.
Now onto other matches of today, starting with David Ferrer who took on the American giant John Isner, who previously had never recorded a win against the Spaniard. And this really was a case of David and Goliath (well we have a David for once! :-)) as the 5 foot 9 inch Spaniard found himself dominated by the massive Yank, who had a virtually impenetrable serve, as Isner took the first set, in the second set Ferrer broke Isner and took that, but by the third, Ferrer again struggled to hold serve and ended up handing the match to Isner. This was Isner's first victory over Ferrer, and it really has to be said that Isner has really come on as a player this year, as in the past he was going out early on in tournaments, but this year he has already won 2 titles, made the US Open quarter finals, and now he has made his first ATP Masters series semi final. And Isner faces Tsonga next, the home favourite, I don't know what the head to head there is but I'm sure it will be a good match.
Next onto Federer who took on the Argentine, Juan Monaco, who actually despite facing inevitable defeat, acquitted himself quite well and put on a decent display of tennis before falling to the Swiss maestro in straight sets 6-3, 7-5. This gives Federer another semi final opportunity and a shout to get ot the final, but more on that in a minute.
Which brings us to the last match (well actually it was the first of the day!) between Andy Murray and the tall Czeck Tomas Berdych, who has come into this tournament on a good run of form. And right from the start we could see Andy was going to have a tough time with Berdych, who made Andy run from pillar to post (or from net to chairs). After winning the first set, Andy was made to suffer by Berdych in the second set, and despite being 4-2 down, he managed to break back to make things even, but after it went to a tiebreak that's when Andy started to show signs of losing control of the match when Berdych took the 2nd set. And in the 3rd set, Andy handed the crucial break to Berdych at 4-4 all on his serve, as he double faulted, but despite a thrilling last game, it was the big Czeck that cashed in (bad bad joke!) which saw him record his 3rd win over Andy, winning 4-6, 7-6, 6-4.
Despite Andy's loss however, this was an excellent match and both players played high quality stuff for the riveted Parisian crowd who were shouting for more near the very end. Berdych also deserves a great deal of credit for his performance in this match as well (well he won it!) as he stuck in there at the crucial moments, especially when it looked like Andy had a chance to break back in that final game. Andy himself however said after that he wasn't happy with his performance, and that he felt his serve and his backhand were particularly poor, and while that's true I think Andy once again showed what an incredible fighter he is on the court, win or lose, the guy gave it his all. And despite that little incident with Andy getting annoyed at the umpire over the unscheduled change of balls, it seems largely irrelevant to the outcome. The media would of course use that as an excuse for it affecting Andy's mood, which contributed to him losing the match, but I think that's a lot of crap really, as it didn't really make much difference, Berdych held well in the tough moments and that was it.
So despite the disappointment of losing, it does allow Andy more time to recharge his batteries before he gets to London, which he badly would need to do should he have managed to win the title. But with the way Federer is playing, its hard to see anyone else winning in Paris, except maybe Berdych, given his current form, is the only possible player that can beat him in the tournament. Although lets not discount Tsonga either, who already has beaten Federer twice this year, the most notable victory being at Wimbledon. But first things first, tomorrow promises two very good semi final matches between Federer and Berdych, and Tsonga and Isner, so its going to be intruiging to see who will win. My money is on Federer and Tsonga in the final, or maybe at a pinch, Berdych and Tsonga, although Isner leads the head to head against Tsonga, so it could well be Isner that final! Its going to be good whichever way it goes.
Right that'll do it for now....
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