Tsonga survives a nailbiter; top two seeds retire

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga survived a scare of a match today by defeating the latest qualifier for Shanghai, Andy Roddick. The score was an extremely close 57 64 76(5). Tsonga will next play another Shanghai hopeful, James Blake. The stakes couldn't be higher. If Blake wins the match, he will qualify for Shanghai and if Tsonga wins the match he will qualify for Shanghai regarding that Nalbandian loses his semifinal match.

Both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were forced to pull out of their matches with injuries. Nadal retired because of a knee injury and Federer gave Blake a walkover because of a back injury. The other semifinal will have Nikolay Davydenko and David Nalbandian battling for a place in the final.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Singles - Quarterfinals
[6] N Davydenko (RUS) d [1] R Nadal (ESP) 61 ret. (knee)
[11] J Blake (USA) d [2] R Federer (SUI) W/O (back)
[8] D Nalbandian (ARG) d [4] A Murray (GBR) 76(3) 63
[13] J Tsonga (FRA) d [7] A Roddick (USA) 57 64 76(5) 

Doubles - Quarterfinals
[5] J Bjorkman (SWE) / K Ullyett (ZIM) d M Melo (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) 64 36 10-7
M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) d [7] S Aspelin (SWE) / J Knowle (AUT) 63 64
[6] J Coetzee (RSA) / W Moodie (RSA) d J Monaco (ARG) / R Nadal (ESP) W/O (Nadal - knee)
[8] A Ram (ISR) / B Soares (BRA) vs A Clement (FRA) / M Llodra (FRA)

Djokovic and del Potro eliminated from Paris; Roddick qualifies for Shanghai

Novak Djokovic took in a big blow on Day 4 of competition, by losing to his Australian Open Final opponent, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The score was 64 16 63, and the home favorite was very pleased with his performance and said that it had a little bit of everything.

Juan Martin del Potro also suffered a loss to David Nalbandian, who he has lost to for the second straight time, with the last loss being in Basel just a week ago. The final score was 64 60 and Nalbandian managed to finish it off in just 67 minutes. Since del Potro is 7th in the race to Shanghai,he will just have to wait and see if he has done enough to get there.

Andy Roddick also enjoyed triumph today with a win to Frenchman Gilles Simon. With this win, Roddick also propelled himself to a place in the year-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai. Roddick struck 15 aces and needed 5 match points to finish Simon with a 63 75 score.

Other winners for today also include Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Singles - Third Round
[1] R Nadal (ESP) d [16] G Monfils 63 62(FRA)
[2] R Federer (SUI) d M Cilic (CRO) 63 64
[13] J Tsonga (FRA) d [3] N Djokovic (SRB) 64 16 63
[4] A Murray (GBR) d [15] F Verdasco (ESP) 63 76(6)
[6] N Davydenko (RUS) d T Berdych (CZE) 61 61
[7] A Roddick (USA) d [10] G Simon (FRA) 63 75
[8] D Nalbandian (ARG) d [9] J del Potro (ARG) 64 60
[11] J Blake (USA) d P Kohlschreiber (GER) 64 64

Doubles - Second Round
A Clement (FRA) / M Llodra (FRA) d [2] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) 64 75
[6] J Coetzee (RSA) / W Moodie (RSA) d J Murray (GBR) / P Vizner (CZE) 75 75
[5] J Bjorkman (SWE) / K Ullyett (ZIM) d L Arnold Ker (ARG) / D Nalbandian (ARG) 76(5) 64 
M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) d [1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) 64 46 10-5 

Nadal, Federer and Murray all move on along the track

Rafael Nadal started his Paris campaign with style as he breezed through his match over lucky loser Florent Serra in just 74 minutes with a smooth score of 62 64. Nadal won 79 percent of service points and hit 5 aces during the match to secure his place in the third round of the event.

Roger Federer also started his pursuit for the title with a rather rusty result against Robin Soderling, who won the Lyon title last week. Though the Swiss smashed 10 aces and didn't face a break point during the match, the score ended up being 64 76(7) with a very close second set.

Andy Murray was able to keep up his winning ways with an easy win over big serving American, Sam Querrey. The score was 62 64, and Murray even was down 0-2 in the first set, still came back and won six games in a row to win the first set.

Other winners of the day include David Nalbandian, Nikolay Davydenko and Tomas Berdych, while number five seeded David Ferrer has been knocked out by Phillip Kohlschreiber.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Singles - Second Round
[1] R Nadal (ESP) d [LL] F Serra (FRA) 62 64
P Kohlschreiber (GER) d [5] D Ferrer (ESP) 63 62
[6] N Davydenko (RUS) d [Q] I Ljubicic (CRO) 76(5) 75
[8] D Nalbandian (ARG) d N Kiefer (GER) 76(5) 63
[10] G Simon (FRA) d I Andreev (RUS) 63 75
T Berdych (CZE) d [12] S Wawrinka (SUI) 63 75
M Cilic (CRO) d [Q] M Granollers (ESP) 64 76(2)
[13] J Tsonga (FRA) d R Stepanek (CZE) 36 64 64 
[11] J Blake (USA) d [Q] S Bolelli (ITA) 67(10), 63 64
[2] R Federer (SUI) d R Soderling (SWE) 64 76(7)
[4] A Murray (GBR) d S Querrey (USA) 62 64

Doubles - Second Round
M Melo (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) d [4] L Dlouhy (CZE) / L Paes (IND) 63 62
[7] S Aspelin (SWE) / J Knowle (AUT) d J Acasuso (ARG) / D Ferrer (ESP) 62 62
[8] A Ram (ISR) / B Soares (BRA) d G Monfils (FRA) / G Simon (FRA) 61 76(3) 

Doubles - First Round
J Murray (GBR) / P Vizner (CZE) d M Cilic (CRO) / M Mirnyi (BLR) 62 67(5) 10-8
M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) d F Lopez (ESP) / F Verdasco (ESP) 76(0) 62
[3] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Knowles (BAH) vs J Monaco (ARG) / R Nadal (ESP) 

Roddick and del Potro boost their chances for a Masters Cup appearance

On the second day of action from Paris, Andy Roddick made his hopes for an appearance at the year-ending Masters Cup stronger with a convincing win over Feliciano Lopez. Roddick lost just 3 points on his first serve, shot 13 aces and didn't face a break point. The final score was 63 64. Roddick can guarantee his place at the Masters Cup if he reaches the semifinals in Paris.

Juan Martin del Potro also boosted his chances of a berth at the Masters Cup this year with a superb win over former top ten player, Mario Ancic. Del Potro knocked Ancic out in just 79 minutes with a score of 60 64. He hit 3 aces and won 70 percent of service points, he also converted 4 of 7 break points.

Other winners include Novak Djokovic who defeated Dmitry Tursunov with a score of 62 43 when Tursunov retired because of  a shoulder injury, Radek Stepanek and Fernando Verdasco.

Tuesday, October 27, 2008

Singles - Second Round
[3] N Djokovic (SRB) d D Tursunov (RUS) 62 43 ret. (right shoulder)
[7] A Roddick (USA) d F Lopez (ESP) 63 64
[9] J del Potro (ARG) d M Ancic (CRO) 60 64
[16] G Monfils (FRA) d [Q] J Monaco (ARG) 64 64
[15] F Verdasco (ESP) d T Robredo (ESP) 26 76(6) 62

Singles - First Round
P Kohlschreiber (GER) d M Youzhny (RUS) 61 64
R Stepanek (CZE) d M Gicquel (FRA) 64 36 64
R Soderling (SWE) d [WC] J Ouanna (FRA) 63 64
[Q] I Ljubicic (CRO) d [Q] V Troicki (SRB) 63 64
[LL] F Serra (FRA) d [LL] G Canas (ARG) 46 75 63

Doubles - First Round
J Monaco (ARG) / R Nadal (ESP) d [WC] N Mahut (FRA) / P Mathieu (FRA) 62 64
A Clement (FRA) / M Llodra (FRA) d R Lindstedt (SWE) / R Soderling (SWE) 76(5) 57 10-8
L Arnold Ker (ARG) / D Nalbandian (ARG) d [WC] J Ouanna (FRA) / J Tsonga (FRA) 62 75

One former champion prevails, while the other is sent home

The Paris Masters have started on a wobbly road today with Tomas Berdych, former champion of the event in 2005, beating American Robby Ginepri  in 89 minutes with a close score of 64 75. Berdych will next clash in the second round with Stanislas Wawrinka.

But Marat Safin, former three time champion of the event, has been surprisingly knocked out by Juan Monaco of Argentina with a score of 60 76(4). The match lasted 80 minutes. monaco will next play against sixteenth seed Gael Monfils of France.

Other winners of the day include Igor Andreev, Sam Querrey, Marin Cilic and Mario Ancic.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Singles - First Round
M Cilic (CRO) vs A Seppi (ITA) 76(5) 62
N Kiefer (GER) d I Karlovic (CRO) 64 75
M Ancic (CRO) d R Schuettler (GER) 64 36 61
S Querrey (USA) d M Baghdatis (CYP) 75 67(5) 32 ret. (back)
T Berdych (CZE) d [Q] R Ginepri (USA) 64 75
[Q] J Monaco (ARG) d M Safin (RUS) 60 76(4)
[Q] S Bolelli (ITA) d J Nieminen (FIN) 75 64
P Mathieu (FRA) vs I Andreev (RUS) 
F Lopez (ESP) d J Tipsarevic (SRB) 63 64

Doubles - First Round
G Monfils (FRA) / G Simon (FRA) d M Damm (CZE) / R Stepanek (CZE) 61 26 10-8
J Acasuso (ARG) / D Ferrer (ESP) d N Djokovic (SRB) / V Troicki (SRB) 64 64
M Melo (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) d J Kerr (AUS) / J Nieminen (FIN) 61 64