The race to London 2013

Federer, for once, is struggling to make the year-end championship at the 02. With Murray unlikely to appear, and Rafa and Nole already qualified (with Ferrer almost certain to join them) they are plenty of places still up for grabs.
After strong showings at the USO, Stan and Reeechard failed to make the finals of their last tourneys but are still in with a shout. JWT is back but has already been knocked out this week. Raonic is making a good late run. Berdych and delpo are well placed.
Can Fed make it ? Twould be a pity for many if neither he nor Murray were to be there. The draw for the rest of the tourneys could be all important, with rivals wanting to be in opposite sides of the draw. Who would you like to see/expect to see in London?

I want Murray to surprise us all and make it. I want Federer to make it, and I want those 2 to be drawn in the second group with Nadal and Delpo.... Because I have day and night tickets for the second day.

I can but dream...

There seems to be no definite news about a date for Murray's return, except for the overall plan for him to be fully fit for the start of 2014.
 Of course, his absence would improve Fed's chances ! Would be ironic if Stan pips Rog.

I think it's virtually certain Murray won't be there sir Fred. He's still recovering from the op, and the tournament starts in a month. Unless he's back in training within the next week then he won't be anywhere near well prepared enough.

I'd be both delighted and staggered if Murray plays at the 02.

I think it's probably between Fed, Stan, Gasquet, Tsonga and Raonic for the last three places. It's a tough call actually. Fed and Tsonga are both traditionally very strong in this part of the season but Jo in particular is struggling with his fitness. Raonic's servebot style could well see him win Tokyo and go deep in Paris. Stan and Gasquet have the best form from the US but neither have overly good records late in the season.

At a push, I'm going to go for Gasquet and Tsonga to miss out.

Stan beaten today, but Raonic and Gasquet through. Wonder whether some of the contenders are running out of steam.

Gasquet should leapfrog Stan in the race if he makes the semis (probably facing Ferrer next in the next round). still plenty of tennis to come before london with 2 masters yet to be played. watched bits of gasquet-tomic game and it was quite entertaining (some great rallies and volleys)

whocares wrote:Gasquet should leapfrog Stan in the race if he makes the semis (probably facing Ferrer next in the next round).  still plenty of tennis to come before london with 2 masters yet to be played. watched bits of gasquet-tomic game and it was quite entertaining (some great rallies and volleys)

Is it just me or is there more volleying going on? Good to see, certainly

Very rarely does someone make a massive surge at this stage of the season. A 500 lead could be quite significant.

Henman Bill wrote:Very rarely does someone make a massive surge at this stage of the season. A 500 lead could be quite significant.

Not sure about that. The big points in Paris are usually a lot more up for grabs than the masters earlier in the season - see JJ last year for example.

Right, but he was too low to get in anyway. Every year before Paris it's "x needs to make the final to qualify, y needs to win it". Probably they won't though.

Raonic thru to another final today so he's keeping up his challenge. Berdych retired early against Rafa, though, and could be (no definite news) a doubt for Shanghai next week.
   Shanghai draw now out with Federer in Djoko's quarter and Raonic and Stan on early collision course.

Delpo has just got thru to the Japan final , so more points for him, too. Berdych's retirement, though, shows that it's going to be a hard slog from now on.

Rafa's sorted no1 spot now, he is officially now the new number one come monday.

Danny_1982 wrote:I want Murray to surprise us all and make it. I want Federer to make it, and I want those 2 to be drawn in the second group with Nadal and Delpo.... Because I have day and night tickets for the second day.

I can but dream...

 And I know the winning lottery numbers

Reechard has crashed out (funny how people always "crash out" of tennis tournaments) of Shanghai which is good news for all the others struggling to reach the 02.
Points in the bag are vital at this stage and there's only one big-scoring (Paris) tourney to go. Wonder if some of the hectic schedule employed by some of the players is beginning to catch up with them

Pospilil was on fire hitting 32 winners, nothing much Gasquet could do. he has now to regroup ahead of Paris.

Whocares - ta for the update. Clearly the other guy played well, but these really are the sort of matches Gasquet should be winning

There is always Valencia or Basel remember.

Anybody watching today? The scores suggest the courts must be fairly quick.

from what I saw this morning they look a bit faster than beijing. must be down to temperature and lack of cooling as I think the surface of the courts are the same (decoturf). also they put the roof on as it was raining.

Hey sfp, must say I'm also amused if I stop to think about some of the more commonplace expressions that get bandied around in the tennis world - or indeed sport in general - but which end up as part of the language over time.

"Crashing out" is certainly a regular, as you highlight.

My least favourite anchorwoman, Ms Sue Barker, has developed the tiresome habit of telling us that player X or player Y is "safely through to the next round"

I happen to take the simplistic view that you're either through to the next round or you're not.

I excitedly await the day when the ever-informative Sue B announces that a player has got through to the next round - but in an extremely unsafe manner.

Lags72 - Sue got that expression from the late lamented Dan Maskell who would invariably come out with "The British number one safely through"

Remember - waters are always shark-infested, violence is always mindless, atrocities are always senseless, people are always hard-working, money is always hard-earned etc etc.

Back on topic and mentioned in other posts above - Murray is definitely out of the 02 as most thought he would be. Fed's won today so that's another 90 points. Every little bit helps at this stage going forward at the end of the day (four more cliches)

Ah, ok. Well I can happily excuse Dan M.

He could 'carry off' pretty much anything IMO. Just had that certain special something as a commentator/observer. Unique even.

Not so Ms. Barker, I'm afraid.