So that's another couple of ATP men's tournaments over with as the men's tennis season is growing closer to an end this year, with the ATP 500 series events in Basel and Valencia.
In Valencia briefly, the top seed David Ferrer who was the defending champion from last year unfortunately was unable to make it to the final as he was defeated by Marcel Granollers, who went on to take the title himself. And in Basel there were one or two surprises this week, the main one being that the World No.1 Novak Djokovic, who has recently come back into the game after a month's absence, was handed his 4th defeat of the season, from an unlikely opponent, the Japanese player, Kei Nishikori, who put in a great performance against the Serb. Despite showing a dominant display in the 1st set, Djokovic went a break down in the 2nd, but broke back, however Nishikori held on and took it to a tiebreak, which he won. And in the 3rd set, Djokovic was nowhere, as his shoulder injury appeared to have resurfaced as he struggled to hold serve or do anything, and he was handed a shock defeat at the hands of the talented Japanese player, who won in 2-6, 7-6, 6-0.
This raises a concern about Djokovic, while his ability is undeniable, his injuries this year, especially since losing to Andy Murray in Cincinnati have really hampered him, as we seen at the end of the US Open with his back trouble, and at the Davis Cup where he collapsed in pain again from his back. And it could be difficult for Djokovic to hold on to the top spot if he ends up having to continually drop out of tournaments due to injury. Djokovic has already said he wants to play at the Paris Masters, which is coming up this week, but given his shoulder is it a good idea??? Probably not, however its up to Djokovic, but if I were him I would give Paris a miss and get ready for the o2 in the London, but we will soon find out if he takes part or not this week.
Anyway onto the Swiss Indoors final at Basel, which was between Federer and Nishikori, and as expected in the match Federer dominated it pretty much from the start, and didn't allow Nishikori into the match at all, and went on to win the match in straight sets in 6-1, 6-3, in just over an 1 hour and 12 minutes. This was only Federer's second title of the year, and on paper it sounds ridiculous but that's the way of it, and there has been a certain other player who has been hogging them this year. But Federer having taking that extra time out, looks like he is in really good form once again, and I think this week in Paris and especially at the o2 in London he will again pose a serious threat to everyone else on the tour. But its good to see Federer back in the winning circle for this first time in 10 months since Doha back in January, and it was a nice touch that he gave the ball boys a couple of pizzas to dig into as a post victoy celebration!
So this is us getting that bit closer to the end of the 2011 ATP tour season, next up is Paris, which promises to be really good, although Nadal won't be playing as he is also taking time out to prepare for the World Finals at the o2 in London, and of course the Davis Cup final. Andy Murray however will be taking part in the Paris Masters, which is great as he had a slight scare with pulling a muscle last week in Basel, which forced him to withdraw at the last minute, but hopefully it looks like Andy will be back on tour. And it would be great to see Andy lift the Paris trophy, and interestingly enough neither he or Federer have ever won in Paris, and should Djokovic not play or retire during play, it will give them the best chance of winning. Of course the biggest deal left is the ATP World Tour Finals in London, so if Federer wins in Paris, here's hoping that Andy can win in London instead (although it could be the other way round!).
So plenty more good tennis will follow soon enough, until then that is all.
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