The race for Shanghai is on

With only 12 days left before the start of the year-end Tennis Master Series Cup in Shanghai, there are still 2 spots up for grabs. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick and David Ferrer have all qualified for the tournament, however the 7th and 8th spots are still to be decided.

Right now, Fernando Gonzalez of Chile and Tommy Haas of Germany are hanging onto those spots, however from #10 to #25 still has a shot to get in. The last Master series Tournament before the cup is taking place right now in Paris, and the winner is awarded with 100 ATP Race points. Meaning somebody like 24th ranked, Paul-Henri Mathieu (263 points), could still overtake Current #8 player, Tommy Haas (329 points).

Federer secures year-end #1 ranking....again!

Swiss maestro, Roger Federer, not only captured his second consecutive Tournament win at the Basel Swiss Indoor Championship, but also guaranteed himself a #1 ranking to end the year, for what will now be his fourth consecutive year atop the rankings.

Federer, will hold off Rafael Nadal who was not much of a factor in the circuit, after his injury at wimbledon.

This latest title, came in his homeland of Switzerland, where he defeated Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

With 54 career titles, including 12 Grand Slam Titles, Federer has established himself as the best player in the game right now, and perhaps of all time. He sits only 2 grand slam titles behind the great American tennis player, Pete Sampras, who captured a total of 14.

Right now it seems as tough his only challenge remains to win the French Open, the only Grand Slam tournament that has avoided him. For two years straight, he has reached the final at Roland Garros, but both times has gone down to Rafael Nadal.

Nalbandian back on top form

After a dissapointing year, David Nalbandian has put himself back on the map with an incredible run last week at the Madrid Tennis Master Series event. Nalbandian finished the tournament in style, defeating the top 3 players in the world in succession (Nadal in the Quarters, Djokovic in the Semis and Federer in the final) to claim the 6th singles title of his career and first this year.



The argentine, has had to deal with injuries throughout an up and down career that has seen him ranked as high as 3rd (beginning of last year), but one that has also been limited.

Back in June, Nalbandian had dropped out of the top 25 for the first time since 2002, but even through this bad stretch he always claimed to soon recover his touch. This week, he showed us just that.

It remains to be seen, whether David will be able to keep up this high level of play, but his track record proves that he belongs back in the Top 10. When asked about his wishes to be #1 in the world, "Would i like to be #1?...of course i would, i think that is the goal of every tennis player. But i am also aware that Federer has got such a grasp on that position that not even Rafa can catch up to him. His consistency throught the year is something special. Right now i am just looking to get back into the Top 10 and work my way from there," said a realistic Nalbandian.

Clarin, Argentina's most popular newspaper, reports that Nalbandian has his eye set on winning a Grand Slam next year and helping Argentina win their first David Cup title.

Be careful of what you say

The meaning of those words held very true this week for young Andy Murray of Great Britain, who caused quite a stir when he acknowledged that match fixing is a problem in the sport.

This morning, Murray denied ever stating that matches are fixed, saying that some of his words were taken out of context. The tennis world was shook up last year when serious accusations of betting and match fixing arose at wimbledon, in a match between Carlos Berloq and Richard Bloomfield.

Since this incident, russian star Nikolay Davydenko has had to deal with accusations as well, although till this day, neither one of the forementioned accusations has proved to be true.

Meanwhile, aside from the controversy, Andy Murray is enjoying yet another fine season (34-12), in what is only his second full year in the ATP Tour. Murray put himself in the map last year, when he became one of only 4 players to defeat Federer during the whole 2006 Calendar.


"Andy Murray left other players upset after his remarks"

Novak "The Joker" Djokovic

It wasn't until recently that the world discovered that Novak Djokovic is one of the most colorful players on the ATP Tour. To be fair, before the beginning of this year, only avid tennis fans could have told you they knew Djokovic, the player, very well.

The combination of speed, consistency and just a great awareness in the court has allowed him to surge up the standings. He currently sits at the #3 spot in the world and has showed that he has the game to beat even great players such as Federer and Nadal.

Born in Serbia, Djokovic is one of many players that are appearing in the ATP Tour out of this small country. Players like Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic are keeping up with Djokovic in the Women's Tour....well at least in the court that is. Outside the court, Djokovic was filmed doing impersonations of other players, this video hit YouTube, and next thing you know was the hottest item in tennis.




In fact this video became so popular, that at the last US Open, he was asked to do 2 of his most famous impersonations after a match, and being the good sport that he is, Djokovic delighted the court at Arthur Ashe.

The Davis Cup Finals are Set!

USA will have a chance to redeem itself and show that it is a force to be reckon with, when in the weekend of November 30-December 2, they host the Davis Cup finals against none other than Russia.

Led by Andy Roddick and James Blake, the United States will face off against a Russian team that might have Marat Safin back for this decisive series. Russia will also have Nikolay Davydenko, the current #4 player in the world, at their disposal as well as veteran Igor Andreev, who was a key player in Russia's semifinal win over Germany.

Taking a quick lookback at the semifinals, as mentioned above, Germany went down to a scrappy Russian Team, who won the last 2 single matches to take the series 3-2.

Rubber 1: Igor Andreev (Russia) def. Tommy Haas (Germany) 6-2, 6-2, 6-2

Rubber 2: Philip Kohlschreiber (GER) def. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 6-7, 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5

Rubber 3: Waske/Petzschner (GER) def. Tursonov/Youzhny (RUS) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6

Rubber 4: Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) def. Philipp Petzchner (GER) 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

Rubber 5: Igor Andreev (RUS) def. Phililpp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3

Meanwhile the U.S. had an easier time defeating Sweden 4-1 to advance to their first Davis Cup Finals in 3 years. Roddick was once again key in helping the United States team progress forward in the tournament.

Rubber 1: Andy Roddick (USA) def. Joachim Johansson (SWE) 7-6, 7-6, 6-3

Rubber 2: Thomas Johansson (SWE) def. James Blake (USA) 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3

Rubber 3: Bob/Mike Bryan (USA) def Simon Aspelin/Jonas Bjorkman (SWE) 7-6, 6-2, 6-3

Rubber 4: Andy Roddick (USA) def. Jonas Bjorkman (SWE) 6-2, 7-6, 6-4

Rubber 5: James Blake (USA) def. Simon Aspelin (SWE) 6-1, 6-3