paris masters

Final ATP Masters Of The Season in Paris Features Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The final full field ATP tournament of the season in Paris kicks off Monday as players look to either build for 2019 or finish 2018 in the best form. Here is your look at all the action from the Paris indoor Masters.

Nadal’s Quarter

Presuming he’s fit, Rafael Nadal will be favored against Fernando Verdasco/Jeremy Chardy, Richard Gasquet should be up in the third round at home, Gasquet will be favored against Denis Shapovalov and a struggling Jack Sock. Borna Coric should also make a run, Coric takes on Daniil Medvedev or Pablo Carreno Busta, if he gets past an in-form Medvedev it’ll be Dominic Thiem or Gilles Simon/Lucas Pouille. I’ll take Coric over Simon, with Coric facing Nadal in the quarters.

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Zverev’s Quarter

Alexander Zverev has reached consecutive semifinals, he’ll be heavily favored to reach the quarters in Paris as a path of Frances Tiafoe/Nicolas Mahut, and Diego Schwartzman (or Feliciano Lopez/Alex De Minaur) on deck. Zverev has the best form of anyone in this section and he could reach the quarters without dropping a set.

John Isner takes on Pierre-Hugues Herbert or Mikhail Kukushkin, while Kyle Edmund faces Karen Khachanov/Filip Krajinovic. Khachanov is in good form and I’ll back him to emerge into the quarters defeating Krajinovic, Edmund, and Isner before falling to Zverev.

Federer’s Quarter

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After winning Basel, Roger Federer‘s path to the quarters looks clear with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Milos Raonic both in poor form and first up, while Fabio Fognini should get past Marton Fucsovics/Benoit Paire before falling to Federer in round 3.

Kei Nishikori just fell to Kevin Anderson in the Vienna file and they should matchup again as Nishikori has just Adrian Mannarino/Ugo Humbert in his way while Anderson has to defeat Nikoloz Basilashvili/John Millman. I’ll take Anderson over Nishikori for a spot in the quarters.

Djokovic’s Quarter

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Novak Djokovic will start against Marco Cecchinato or Joao Sousa, with Stefanos Tsitsipas likely to defeat Peter Gojowczyk/Damir Dzumhur before facing Djokovic in round 3. Djokovic defeating Tsitsipas is the smart choice from this section, though an upset is possible.

I’ll back Roberto Bautista Agut to get past Steve Johnson, Grigor Dimitrov, and Marin Cilic to reach the quarters. Cilic and Dimitrov are struggling, though Cilic should still defeat Philipp Kohlschreiber/Robin Haase in round 2.

Predictions

Quarters

Coric d. Nadal
Zverev d. Khachanov
Federer d. Anderson
Djokovic d. Bautista Agut

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I’ll back Coric and Zverev to continue their form and make a run, Federer and Djokovic look to be on a collision course as well.

Semis
Zverev d. Coric
Djokovic d. Federer

Djokovic will be the favorite in Paris, though Zverev/Coric could certainly take it.

Final
Djokovic d. Zverev

Djokovic Savors His Sixth Masters Title of the Season in Paris
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

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It was a three-peat in Paris for world #1 Novak Djokovic who captured his sixth Masters 1000 title, and tenth overall title of the season, with a routine 6-2 6-4 victory over Andy Murray, the current world #3. It’s been the year of Novak as he moves to 78-5 on the season with one tournament left to play (the World Tour Finals in London), and reached the final of every tournament he entered, save the ATP Doha tournament at the start of the season. Djokovic also reached eight Masters 1000 finals (6-2 record in those finals), and is the first player to accomplish that momentous feat.

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Djokovic faced a pair of tough matches before the final, winning his quarterfinal over Tomas Berdych in a pair of tiebreaks, and defeating his rival Stan Wawrinka with a third set bagel after a pair of hard fought sets. The win over Berdych was the first time Djokovic had won an ATP match without breaking his opponents serve. He also notched routine wins over Thomaz Bellucci and Gilles Simon in his first two matches.

Murray posted his best ever result in the Paris Masters with a pair of crushing wins over Borna Coric and David Goffin, followed by a nip and tuck three set win over home Frenchman Richard Gasquet and a straight set victory over an outmatched David Ferrer. Murray is now 9-0 after the US Open against opponents other than Novak Djokovic. The Brit will be leading his country in the Davis Cup final against Goffin and Belgium in just a couple of weeks.

Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo stopped the World Tour Finals qualification bid of Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil 2-6 6-3 10-5, as the veteran pairing made it three titles together on the season.

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The singles players qualifying for the World Tour Finals in London are Djokovic, Murray, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal, Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer, and Kei Nishikori with Richard Gasquet as the first alternate in the #9 race to London spot. The youngest player is 25 (Nishikori) and four of the eight contestants are over the age of 30.

The doubles teams qualifying are Bob and Mike Bryan, Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau, Jamie Murray/John Peers, Dodig/Melo, Simone Bolelli/Fabio Fognini, Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut, Marcin Matkowski/Nenad Zimonjic and Rohan Bopanna/Florian Mergea, with Pospisil/Sock and Bruno Soares/Alexander Peya coming up just short. Only Bolelli and Fognini are top tier ATP singles players, and the rest of the contestants are best at doubles.

The World Tour Finals begin November 15th.

Steen Kirby (Marseille)

Ferrer Breaks Top Four Masters Stranglehold in Paris

Posted by Admin on November 5, 2012

Posted in: Paris. Tagged: atp, bnp paribas, david ferrer, paris masters, tennis. Leave a comment

Ferrer Breaks Top Four Masters Stranglehold in Paris

David Ferrer

David Ferrer claimed his first Masters title and broke the streak of top 4 winners in Masters series events with a 6-4, 6-3 win over shock finalist Jerzy Janowicz. Ferrer has claimed 7 titles this year, the most on tour and has 72 match wins, also the most on tour. He picked up wins against Marcel Granollers, Stan Wawrinka in 3, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and shock semifinalist Michael Llodra earlier in the week.

Janowicz, the young Polish giant killer with a powerful serve and nifty shotmaking, qualified and proceeded to run the gambit of Phillip Kohlschreiber, Andy Murray and Janko Tipsarevic (both comebacks from a set down) and Gilles Simon. Janowicz has been a fixture on the challenger circuit and was due for a big breakthrough soon. This was it. He skyrocketed 43 places in the rankings to 26, where he will now be seeded for the Australian Open in January and appears to have a bright future ahead.

To break the stranglehold of the top 4, it took losses from Murray and Novak Djokovic, who lost to Sam Querrey in 3 sets in one of Sam’s biggest wins ever (coming back from 0-6 0-2 to pull it out), as well as Federer and Nadal not being in the field.

Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna won the doubles title.

Only the World Tour Finals remain and then the ATP calendar will be concluded for the year. Most of the top players will be participating in exhibitions or taking a few weeks off until the season fires up again in January. It’s been a great year of tennis!

—Steen Kirby