Tennis News

Defending Shanghai Rolex Masters champ Roger Federer was ousted in the opening round. Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych all survived three setters in reaching the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, top seed Novak Djokovic appears to be knifing his way through the draw all but unopposed. Coming off his record sixth title in Beijing, where he surrendered just 18 games en route to the trophy, the Serb is playing with an energy-preserving potency rarely seen in the sport. With Friday’s 7-6(6), 6-1 elite-eight dispatch of Aussie Bernard Tomic, he has now won 15 straight matches and 18 straight sets dating back to his title run at the China Open.

How’s that for efficiency?

“There is no secret,” insisted Djokovic. “I guess it depends how do you feel on a given day, depends how well your opponent is playing, how well you’re playing. It’s a combination of things. You can’t just expect to win all the time very comfortably, but I’ve been doing that so for the last week and a half. Obviously, it’s giving me more confidence. Any time I come back to the court, I feel good and I start off well.”

Djokovic is a seeking his career-high 13th straight final since falling in the quarter-finals in Doha to start the year (l. to Ivo Karlovic). The last player to reach 10 or more consecutive finals in a season was Federer (11 in 2006, 17 dating back to 2005).

“I’m not going to go too much into what I’m doing because you want to keep some things for yourself and for your team,” said Djokovic. “Generally, most of the work that is done is done before I start a tournament. You’re just trying to keep this fine‑tuning and good feeling on the court. Obviously, it’s better to win comfortably in two sets than staying too long. Again, the result is not in your hand, but you can always do your best to prepare yourself for the battle and try to perform your best.”

It once seemed an impossible ask for Djokovic to surpass his output from 2011, a historic year in which he went 70-6 (.921) and claimed three of four majors. But he’s already 71-5 (.934) in 2015, having once again won three Grand Slams, in addition to ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo and Rome. And it’s only October. The 28-year-old’s claim that 2015 is his the best year of his career — something he began hinting at as far back as Wimbledon — is now becoming a reality.

“I don’t allow myself to really lose the concentration or commitment to any tournament because it’s my life,” he explained. “I have a responsibility not just towards myself but towards the team of people that travels with me. So I accept and approach every tournament equally professionally and serious.  I try to give my best anytime I’m on the court.”

DJOKOVIC’S 70-WIN SEASONS

“As No. 1 of the world it’s another dimension of responsibility and attention that you have,” Djokovic added. “You need to be able to carry yourself well because everybody wants to win against you. You don’t want to lose. You want to go out on the court and fight for the wins as much as anybody else. That’s the way I’ve been brought up. Regardless of the category of the event that I’m playing in, I’m always going to try my best. I think that kind of approach allows me to motivate myself and to stand up each day and do repetitively things that I’ve been doing for so many years. In the end, I know it pays off.”

Could there possibly be any room for improvement at this point in his career, or is it just a matter of maintaining his level?

“I think it’s a combination of the two: maintaining the high level, the performance, the tennis I have right now, and also working on certain parts of the game that I think can be improved,” he said. “I was brought up that way and thought to always look for some room for improvement. I still believe there are shots in my game that can be better. I think that’s one of the things that keeps me going. It motivates me.”

Rafael Nadal’s growing confidence was clear for all to see as the Spaniard dismissed Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-1 on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters and claim his 300th win at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level.

Nadal might not have received the test he expected from a tired Wawrinka, who toiled for almost three hours on Thursday to overcome Marin Cilic. But the left-hander, who reached the Beijing final last week (l. to Djokovic), took full advantage to race to victory in 63 minutes.

“Being in the semi-finals is a great result for me,” said Nadal. “I hadn’t played the semi-finals on hard court all year and now I am playing two weeks in a row in the final rounds. That’s a big improvement for me. In terms of confidence, in terms of level of tennis, I am playing better. Very happy for that because I am working so hard.” 

From 2-2 in the first set, Nadal reeled off nine straight games before Wawrinka chalked up a game in the second set to avoid a bagel. Having lost his past two contests with Wawrinka, Nadal improved to a 13-2 lead over the Roland Garros champion in their FedEx ATP Head2Head.

The 29-year-old Nadal has spoken of his desire to finish the 2015 season in the best form possible after some ups and downs during the campaign. As he looks to reach his sixth ATP World Tour final of the season, the Spaniard will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whom he has beaten in eight of their past 11 meetings.

“It is a court that he likes to play on,” said Nadal. “The court is quick. He feels comfortable on these surfaces because he has a huge serve, very, very good forehand. He likes to hit the serve and then hit the forehand and go to the net. He’s a very competitive player. When he’s in the semi-finals it’s because he’s playing well. So it will be a very tough match. I hope to play well, keep doing like every day, playing a little bit better every day. I hope tomorrow to continue with that improvement.”

Nadal is chasing crucial points in the Emirates ATP Race To London as he looks to clinch one of the four remaining spots at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The Manacor native moved up to sixth in the year-to-date standings after last week’s run in Beijing and is looking to make up ground on fifth-placed Tomas Berdych, who lost to Andy Murray in the quarter-finals.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is through to the semi-finals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters after edging Kevin Anderson 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-4 on Friday.

The Frenchman is bidding to reach his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final since August 2014, when he defeated Roger Federer to win the Toronto title. In Saturday’s semi-finals he will face Rafael Nadal. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 8-3, with Tsonga’s last win coming four years ago at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

It could have been very different for Tsonga, though, had new Top 10 member Anderson taken his chances in the first set. Trailing 3-6 in the first-set tie-break, Tsonga saved three set points as he reeled off five straight points to sneak the opener.

Anderson did not miss his opportunity in the second set, converting the only break point in the 12th game to level the match. Tsonga quickly regained the lead in the third set, though, breaking for a 2-1 advantage. The Frenchman fended off break back points in the fourth and sixth games before sealing victory in two hours and 41 minutes.

“It was a good match,” said Tsonga. “It was a good level, I think. We both played good tennis. I was really aggressive. I served really, really well today. I moved well. I’m just really happy to win today. It come at the good moment. It’s good to play like this.” 

The 29-year-old Anderson was looking to mark his first week in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings by reaching his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final. The South African has a 42-21 record on the season, highlighted by winning his third ATP World Tour title in Winston-Salem (d. Herbert).

The 30-year-old Tsonga is through to the Shanghai semi-finals for the second time (also 2013). He is chasing his second ATP World Tour title in as many months, having triumphed recently at the Moselle Open in Metz (d. Simon). After the first three months of his season were hampered by injury, Tsonga has hit form in the second half of the year, reaching the semi-finals at Roland Garros (l. to Wawrinka) and the quarter-finals at the US Open (l. to Cilic).

“I am really happy to be back at the good level,” said Tsonga. “It’s good things for next year. The most important thing for me now is to stay healthy and continue to play and improve my game.”
 

Rafael Nadal’s Asian swing gathered further momentum on Thursday with the eighth seed posting a 6-3, 7-6(3) triumph over Canada’s Milos Raonic at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. After reaching his first hard-court final of the season last week in Beijing, Nadal registered his first win over a Top-10 opponent in six attempts to reach the quarter-finals. His last was against World No. 7 Tomas Berdych at ATP Masters 1000 Madrid.

The 2009 Shanghai runner-up broke Raonic’s opening service game for 2-0 when the No. 9 seed fired a forehand well wide. He maintained the advantage to serve out the opening set with Raonic dumping a backhand return into the net on set point.

“Today, I felt that I was not playing with as much nerves when I am on court,” said Nadal. “I was able to enjoy the match.”

Nadal scored the early mini-break in the second-set tie-break for 1/0. He surged to 5/2 and whipped a forehand passing shot winner to bring up four match points. He secured the match on his second chance when Raonic’s forehand hit the net. The win extended Nadal’s FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Raonic to 6-1 and avenges a quarter-final defeat the last time the pair met at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells this year.

“Winning a match 7‑6 in the third yesterday and winning a match again today in the tiebreak of a second set, two tiebreaks without losing a point with my serve, it’s impossible if you don’t have control of your emotions.  That’s something that, a couple of months ago, would have been impossible for me,” added Nadal.

 “My serve obviously worked much better than yesterday, but when I play well on my service game, it’s not just because I serve well, but especially because I play well from the baseline,” said Nadal, who has not dropped serve since being broken by Ivo Karlovic in the opening game of the second round.

Nadal’s quarter-final foe will be Stan Wawrinka, who needed nearly three hours to overcome Marin Cilic, 7-5, 6-7(7), 6-4. The Swiss came away with the first set by break his opponent on the final point, but squandered a match point in the second-set tie-break before closing out the win in three. The Spaniard leads the rivalry 12-2, but Wawrinka has not dropped a set in the pair’s past two meetings (2015 Rome and 2015 Australian Open).