Breaking News: Nadal out of Davis Cup final

Rafael Nadal has given the word that he will not be part of the Spain team for the Davis Cup final against Argentina. Nadal has been struggling with tendonitis in his right knee since pulling out of the Paris Masters semifinals and is blaming the intense ATP calendar for his injury problems. Nadal will be replaced by No. 56 in the world, Marcel Granollers and the rest of the team will include David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez, Fernando Verdasco and Santiago Ventura as the first substitute. Argentina's chances of winning have been lifted with the absence of Nadal, and with top players such as Juan Martin Del Potro and David Nalbandian on the team as well as Jose Acasuso and Agustin Calleri. The tie will take place on an indoor hard court in Mar del Plata, Argentina from 21 - 23 November.

Djokovic battles into semis; Del Potro keeps semi hopes alive

Novak Djokovic overcame a mental battle today by beating Nikolay Davydenko. Djokivic had a hard time in the first set but managed to win it76(3), then Davydenko stepped up a level by disarming Djokovic and taking the second set 60. The last set saw Djokovic breaking Davydenko, and taking the last set with a final score of 76(3) 60 75. This win gives Djokovic a ticket to the semifinals of the event.

Juan Martin Del Potro kept his chin up today by beating Paris Masters winner Jo-Wilfried Tsonga with an extremely close score of 76(4) 76(5). Tis loss for Tsonga will mean he cannot reach the semis even if he wins to Djokovic in his last round-robin match. Del Potro now has a win-loss record of 1-1, so his next match against Davydenko will decide both their fates in Shanghai, since Davydenko has a win-loss record of 1-1 as well. Winner takes all!

More news coming soon.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Singles - Round Robin
[2] N Djokovic (SRB) d [4] N Davydenko (RUS) 76(3) 06 75
[7] J Del Potro (ARG) d [6] J Tsonga (FRA) 76(4) 76(5)

Doubles - Round Robin
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) d [3] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Knowles (BAH) 75 36 10-4
[8] P Cuevas (URU) / L Horna (PER) d [5] J Coetzee (RSA) / W Moodie (RSA) 62 67(2) 11-9

Federer gets a surprise from Simon; Murray wins battle of Andy's

Roger Federer got a big wake up call from Gilles Simon today, with the Frenchman winning with a score of 46 64 63. Getting to the victory, Simon had to recover from a set and a break down to defeat the four-time champion. Amazing comeback!

Andy Murray also pleased the crowd with a splendid win over Andy Roddick. The Scot won the first set 64 by breaking Roddick in the fifth game of the set, then lost the second set 61 mainly because of a poor serve. But in the last set, Murray finally got it together and put together a hard fought 64 16 61 win and his first in the season-ending finale.

More news coming up,stay tuned!

Day 2 - Monday, November 10, 2008

Singles - Round Robin
[8] G Simon (FRA) d [1] R Federer (SUI) 46 64 63 
[3] A Murray (GBR) d [5] A Roddick (USA) 64 16 61

Doubles - Round Robin
[2] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d [7] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) 76(4) 57 10-4
[4] J Bjorkman (SWE) / K Ullyett (ZIM) d [6] L Dlouhy (CZE) / L Paes (IND) 63 75

Djokovic and Davydenko win opening matches

On the first day of action in Shanghai, Novak Djokovic showed his superb form by beating one of the debut qualifiers, Juan Martin Del Potro with a score of 75 63. It was Djokovic's first win at the Masters Cup since he lost all three matches at his debut last year. Djokovic managed to finish the match in 1 hour 57 minutes.

Nikolay Davydenko also won his match but had to battle it out until the very end to beat another debut qualifier, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The score was 67(6) 64 76(0) and took 2 hours 43 minutes.

Tomorrow's action will see Roger Federer play Gilles Simon and Andy Murray play Andy Roddick.

Stay tuned for more on the action in Shanghai!

Day 1 - Sunday, November 9, 2008

Singles - Round Robin
[2] N Djokovic (SRB) d [7] JM del Potro (ARG) 75 63
[4] N Davydenko (RUS) d [6] JW Tsonga (FRA) 67(6) 64 76(0)

Doubles - Round Robin
[1] Bryan (USA)/ Bryan (USA) d [8] Cuevas (URU)/ Horna (PER) 61 76(4)
[3] Bhupathi (IND)/Knowles (BAH) d [5] Coetzee (RSA)/Moodie (RSA) 62 63

Masters Cup 2008 Official Portrait released

From left to right: Nikolay Davydenko, Gilles Simon, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin Del Potro.