Shanghai 2007

[wendy]

Andy reall looked in great form for DC .Andy break from tennis seems to have done him some good.wendy

[davis]

The first two Semi-Finalists are... Rafa and Ferrer

Rafa expectedly beat Novak 64 64.
David slaughtered Richie 61 61. Richie won just 1 service game during the entire match (the other one was a break) - bad bad bad. Well, I suppose Ferrer also played really well. Still, I gotta give my boy some lesson in keeping his act together during important matches

Anyway, the Spanish move on in force! Vamos boys!!!

[jenhatter06]

who would have thought Ferrer would be the one to come through 3-0


first part of Day 6 preview: (kinda amusing how all the math/possibilities can make your head spin a little ;D)

Battle Royale for Semifinal Berths

We have had five days of competition, five days of upsets and surprises, and still everything hangs in the balance. Who will qualify from the Red Group, both singles and doubles, has come down to the wire. Welcome to the wonderful world of the Tennis Masters Cup.

The trouble with a round robin tournament is that simply winning matches does not always guarantee success – it's not always what you do that matters, it is what everyone else does that can make the difference. A degree in applied mathematics also helps as, when the standings are as tight as they are in the Red Group, qualification depends on matches won, sets won and lost, head to heads between players… it is enough to make you see double.

To help cut through the complications, here is a brief guide to who needs to what and to whom in order to reach the semi finals. If Nikolay Davydenko (who cannot qualify whatever happens) beats Fernando Gonzalez, then Roger Federer goes through to the last four. If Gonzalez beats Davydenko and Federer beats Andy Roddick (who has already qualified), Gonzalez is out and Federer is through. In order to qualify, Gonzalez needs to beat Davydenko and hope against hope that Roddick beats Federer. Right, that's the singles sorted out.

In the doubles, the Red Group is even more confusing. All four teams have the chance to qualify and all four could go out. The whys and wherefores would take too long to explain but suffice to say that Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra, who have yet to win a match, need to beat Simon Aspelin and Julien Knowle to have any chance of reaching the semi finals while Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor just need to win a set against Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner to earn their ticket to the last four.

Confused? Don't be. By the end of today, everything will become clear.

www.masters-cup.com/1/news/2007/day6_previ.asp

[davis]

Tom Perotta is blogging from Shanghai, and I love his witty, funny (and never disrespectful!) reports:

tennisworld.typepad.com/string_theory/index.html

[Alya10]

Well Federer is through ;D
Kolya just beat Gonzo 6-4;6-3 so he solved the Red Group riddle lol.
Too bad for Gonzo but a good match from Kolya. Good news for the Russian DC team

[yarina]

Does anybody have the rules for the Round Robin format?

As far as I understood, the the order of importance is as follows:

- matches won
if tied, then
-sets won
if tied again, then
-sets lost
if tied again, then
-head-to-head encounter.

But I've heard that the ratio of games won to games lost also matters at some stage....(maybe if 2 players are tied according to all three criteria i've put above they'll be judged first according to this ratio of games won and lost and then go to the head-to-head result...)

Also, if a player gets a walk over, (is this possible first of all, or the alternate gets in at that stage?) how do they count that? it is neither a straight set win, nor a 3 set win...

[jenhatter06]

no matter what Andy does, he can't solve the Roger puzzle ... Roger wins 64 62 and therefore wins the group and gets to play Rafa tomorrow, while Andy plays Ferrer ;D

Saturday, November 17, 2007

CENTER COURT start 1:30 pm
P Hanley (AUS) / K Ullyett (ZIM) vs M Knowles (BAH) / D Nestor (CAN)

Not Before 3:00 PM
S Aspelin (SWE) / J Knowle (AUT) vs M Damm (CZE) / L Paes (IND)

Not Before 5:00 PM
(6)D Ferrer (ESP) vs (5)A Roddick (USA)

Not Before 7:30 PM
(1)R Federer (SUI) vs (2)R Nadal (ESP)

Shanghai Time
- 7 hours for Central European Time
- 13 hours for Eastern Time, USA

[davis]

davis said:

This year's projected final: Fernando Gonzalez vs. David Ferrer...? LMAO!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D

Never thought I could be even 50% right with my prediction ;D

David "I run down EVERY ball" Ferrer beat Andy Roddick 61 63 and made the TMC final!

Roddick was hampered by injury in the first set but also didn't find a recipe against the Spaniard in set 2, which featured some amazing ralleys. Ferrer won deservedly.

Venga, David!

[maryb]

Ferrer v Maestro. Excellent. A bit different. ;D

Meastro showed no mercy to Rafa today. He's on killer-mode again.

[jenhatter06]

Fed v Ferrer -- should be some fun. ;D

... and here's to Knowles & Nestor going out on top

different official group pictures of the singles & doubles groups:
www.masters-cup.com/3/media/






and some blasts-from-the-past, just for fun ;D

2001


2002


2003

[maryb]

Normal service was resumed in the final. Superb display Maestro - and well done David.

PS Give the car to charity Maestro. You don't need it. There's probably a dozen in the garage already.

[Annie]

What a performance from the Boss !!!! And congrats to David...one hell of a dark horse...excellent tournament!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D

Happy closing of the season everyone!!!!!

[Luciana]

This cup is the one i have enjoyed the most!!!! Ohh god!!! fantastic!!! i Loved Ferrer game!!! Congrats to both!!!!!

and my mom, who doesnt like tennis but is learning very quickly (she knows who safin and federer are), was on the moon watching ferrer because she says he is very handsome LOOOOL!! thats my mom hahahaha