Tennis News

The Shanghai Rolex Masters — the eighth ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season — will feature a star-studded field, including the entire Top 20 in the Emirates ATP Race to London.

Defending champion and World No. 2 Roger Federer, set to make his fifth appearance in Shanghai (13-3 record), finds himself in the same half of the draw as longtime rival Rafael Nadal, and could face the likes of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Round of 16, and Kei Nishikori, Kevin Anderson, Nick Kyrgios or Fabio Fognini should he return to the quarter-finals.

Nadal’s quadrant also includes some heavy-hitting competition in Milos Raonic, Marin Cilic and Stan Wawrinka.

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Meanwhile, top-seeded Novak Djokovic’s draw is no cakewalk either. The former champion had his 13-match winning streak in Shanghai snapped with a semi-final loss to Federer last year, and in 2015 could be tested as early as the Round of 16 by Feliciano Lopez, and in the quarters by Richard Gasquet, David Ferrer or Bernard Tomic.

Lurking elsewhere in Djokovic’s half of the draw are potential semi-final opponents Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Gilles Simon and John Isner.

Shanghai will mark Federer’s first tournament since reaching the US Open final on September 13 (l. to Djokovic). The following weekend he played in a Davis Cup World Group playoff tie vs. the Netherlands, winning both singles matches. The 34-year-old Swiss star enters with a 53-8 record on the year (29-3 on hard courts). He has five ATP World Tour titles on the year. His last title came in August in Cincinnati, where he captured his 24^th career ATP Masters 1000 crown (d. Djokovic).

This is the seventh year of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament at the Qizhong Tennis Center, which was the site of the Tennis Masters Cup from 2005 to 2008. Reigning champion Federer, 2012-13 winner Djokovic and 2010-11 titleholder Murray are all former champions.

Benoit Paire held his nerve on Saturday to record the fourth Top 10 win of his career for a place in the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships final. Paire, who captured his first ATP World Tour title at Bastad (d. Robredo) in July, will now challenge his good friend, Stan Wawrinka, the top seed. Wawrinka leads Paire 4-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

Paire came back from a slow start to beat second seed Kei Nishikori, the two-time champion, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 to silence the Japanese support at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo. Paire, who will now contest his fourth ATP World Tour final (1-2 record) also beat Nishikori last month in the US Open first round.

“Kei was playing unbelievably well in the first set,” said Paire. “I couldn’t do anything, he made no mistakes. He wasn’t missing and hitting every ball on the line. The only thing I could do was stay focused and try to hold my serve. That’s what I did and I began to build my confidence. But then I think he began to feel to the pressure. In the third set, it was different. I was playing very well, aggressively and serving well. I think I was better in the third set.”

The loss denies Nishikori the opportunity to strengthen his claims for one of the four remaining spots at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 15-22 November. Rafael Nadal has risen one spot, usurping Nishikori at No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, with his run to this week’s China Open final in Beijing.

Nishikori took a 3-0 lead in the 21-minute first set, breaking a second time in the sixth game and seemingly having the answer to everything Paire threw at him.

The second set was more competitive with neither player giving away any half chances. Paire had strapped applied around his left ankle after the fifth game, then, at 3-3, saved five break points in a 20-point game.

Paire grew in confidence and on leading 5-4 his moment came. Although he could not convert two set point opportunity on Nishikori’s serve from 15/40, he struck a stunning backhand winner down the line on his third chance to take the pair’s fourth meeting to a decider.

The breakthrough was the catalyst as Paire took a 3-0 lead in the third set, courtesy of breaking Nishikori in a 12-point second game. Paire went on to save one break point at 4-2, 30/40 with an ace down the middle, which proved to be Nishikori’s last chance. At 2-5, 30/40, Paire’s first match point, the 2012 and 2014 titlist could not successfully scramble back a second deep forehand and struck a lob long.

Paire hit 11 aces and saved seven of nine break points, regrouping from winning just seven of his service points in the first set, to improve to a 23-14 match record on the season.

The 25-year-old Nishikori, now 17-6 lifetime at the future tennis venue of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, had been looking to reach his 16th final. He is now 51-12 on the year, the fourth best ATP World Tour match wins record in 2015. His wait on qualifying for the London season finale continues. Next week, he has been drawn to play Nick Kyrgios or Andreas Haider-Maurer in the Shanghai Rolex Masters second round.

Rafael Nadal isn’t one to shy away from a rivalry. His confrontations with peers Novak Djokovic (44 matches), Roger Federer (33 matches) and Andy Murray (21 matches) are the stuff of tennis legend. But there’s a new antagonist on the scene these days: Italy’s Fabio Fognini.

Nadal and Fognini faced each other just four times prior to 2015, Nadal emerging victorious on each occasion. But coming into the China Open, they had played that many times this year alone, Fognini having reversed his fortunes with three victories, including a stunning come-from-behind third-round shocker at the US Open, one in which he erased a seemingly irreversible two-sets-to-love deficit. Nadal had never lost a Grand Slam match after winning the first two sets.

As fate would have it, they would meet yet again on Saturday with a trip to the Beijing final on the line. But this time it was Nadal who would move ahead 6-3 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head with a 7-5, 6-3 win on a chilly day at the National Tennis Center.

There were no less than five breaks of serve in the jittery opening set as the foes searched for rhythm from the baseline. But with Fognini serving to stay in the stanza at 5-6, it was Nadal who grabbed the break that mattered most.

Nadal would score another important break in the sixth game of the second set when a Fognini backhand sailed long, giving him a 4-2 advantage. The 28th-ranked Italian managed to save two match points to hold at 2-5, but one game later his opponent held serve to close it out in one hour, 45 minutes.

“He’s a great player, a great and talented player,” said Nadal. “It was a tough first set, as I expected. Tough match in general. But I think I played well. I played much closer to the baseline than the previous days. That’s very important for me, very important for my game. The position for me on the court today was more aggressive, and that’s why I was able to beat him today after a couple of defeats.”

Nadal, who landed 73 per cent of his first serves and converted four of 10 break-point chances, remains in the hunt for one of four remaining spots at the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be played 15-22 November at London’s O2 arena. The Beijing champion will receive 500 points in the Emirates ATP Race to London.

“I’m happy to be in the final obviously,” said Nadal. “It’s a good result for me, very positive one. And tomorrow is a match to enjoy.

“[This result gives me] a lot of important points for the [Barclays ATP World Tour Finals] too,” added Nadal. “I don’t say that I am qualified, but with that result I am much closer to being qualified for the World Tour Finals.

“At the same time, the goal for me is try to find a good level at this end of the season. Playing matches is the best practice possible, trying to do things in the matches, to have better feelings, practice the things that I need to do next year. I think today was an important victory. I really played the way that I wanted to play.” 

Fognini, still seeking his first title of 2015, was hoping to join Djokovic as one of only two men to beat Nadal four or more times in a single season. Nadal will next meet the top-seeded Djokovic for the Beijing title.

“Of course, I’m disappointed because I lost,” said Fognini. “But this is sport. I think I played good tennis. I have to accept these kinds of matches, that I know I can beat him anytime at the moment. So it’s really good for me that I know I can play with him.”

Stan Wawrinka booked a spot in his fourth final of the year Saturday at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo. He will face Benoit Paire for the title.

The top seed ended the fine run of Gilles Muller 6-4, 7-6(5) in one hour and 36 minutes and will now look to capture the 11th title of his career. It was his 47th match win in 60 matches this year.

The first set went with serve until the seventh game, when Wawrinka capitalised on his second break point opportunity to take a 4-3 lead. Overall, the Swiss hit six aces and lost just four of his service points.

Pressure mounted for Muller to keep points short early in the second set, when he struck a double fault to lose his serve in an 10-point third game. However, he bounced back immediately breaking to 30 to level at 2-2.

At the encounter wore on, Muller kept attacking to rush Wawrinka into a number of groundstroke errors but at 4-4, Wawrinka flicked a crosscourt forehand return that led to him convert his third break point chance. Muller was left deflated, but managed to regroup in the next game and strike back – planting a forehand approach into the corner, prior to a smash winner.

Wawrinka hit his spots to keep the points short and Muller used his swing server to great effect in the tie-break, which saw no mini breaks. On Wawrinka’s first match point, at 6/5 with Muller serving, the Luxembourg native punched his first backhand volley wide into the tramlines.

Muller, who had beaten Kevin Anderson, Jeremy Chardy and Gilles Simon en route to his fourth ATP World Tour semi-final of 2015, is now 32-20 in a career-best season. On Monday, he will break back into the Top 40 of the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time since the week beginning 23 March.

Wawrinka has already qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 15-22 November. He has won three titles at Chennai (d. Bedene), Rotterdam (d. Berdych) and Roland Garros (d. Djokovic) this year.

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