ATP news

Federer wins home title to top year-end rankings



BASEL, Switzerland, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Roger Federer won his seventh tournament of the season on Sunday, beating unseeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-3 6-4 to successfully defend his hometown title in Basel.

Federer's latest victory guarantees that the Swiss will finish the season as world number one for a fourth consecutive year.

Federer had not dropped a set in any of his previous seven meetings with the world number 29 and the Swiss Indoors final proved predictably straightforward.
"It's been a fantastic week, having the support of my home crowd behind me all the way," said Federer after receiving a standing ovation at the tournament where he once worked as a ballboy.

"Securing the number one ranking for the year and doing it here is particularly special."

"In a way it's a shame for the fans when the match only lasts for an hour now it's no longer a best-of-five final, especially after they have travelled from all over the country and even down from the mountains.

"But I think they were all wanting me to win so hopefully I sent them home happy."

FIND RHYTHM

A single break of the Finn's serve at the start of the opening set put Federer comfortably on his way to winning his 52nd career title and his third on home soil -- following last year's Swiss Indoors title and his 2004 triumph in Gstaad.

Nieminen started to find his rhythm in the second set, securing a break point in Federer's first service game but failing to convert it.

The left-hander then won two service games to love, a feat that Federer failed to pull off throughout the match.

But any hopes that Nieminen might make things difficult for the world number one faded when he next came to serve, double-faulting to hand Federer a further break point before hitting a forehand wide.

"I was trying a little too much in the beginning and falling 3-0 behind is obviously not the best way to start against Federer," said the Finn after missing out on what would have been his second career title.

"I started to play better in the second set but it wasn't enough. But I've had a great week and losing to Roger is not the same as losing to other players," he said.

"Saving match points in my first and second round matches and then playing Roger in the final of his home tournament has given me a lot of confidence going into Paris next week."

Grosjean grabs first title in five years in Lyon

By Eric Salliot

LYON, France, Oct 28 (Reuters) - France's Sebastien Grosjean clinched his first title in five years when he won the Lyon tournament by beating compatriot Marc Gicquel 7-6 6-4 on Sunday.

Grosjean, who had won his last title in St Petersburg in 2002, played solid tennis throughout to wrap up victory in one hour 36 minutes.

Gicquel was beaten by compatriot Richard Gasquet in last year's Lyon final.

Both players held serve in the first set with Grosjean winning the tie break 7-5 with a forehand winner after 54 minutes. The former French number one broke decisively in the ninth game of the second set but Gicquel saved three match points.

Grosjean, however, served his 15th and 16th aces of the match before sealing the win with a stunning cross-court passing shot.

"It was hard to finish it off," said Grosjean, who now has four titles to his name. "I served well throughout and I am very happy today."

Gicquel, who did not create a single break chance before the last game, said: "Seb deserves his victory. He played very well, served very well. However, I am happy with the way I've played this week."

Andy Murray beats Fernando Verdasco to win St. Petersburg Open
October 28, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) -- Second-seeded Andy Murray won his third career title Sunday, beating sixth-seeded Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the St. Petersburg Open.
Earlier this season, Murray defended his title in San Jose and was runner-up at Doha and Metz.
With the victory, the 20-year-old Briton has improved to 41-13 this season and boosted his chances of qualifying for the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, starting Nov. 11.

Murray broke Verdasco in the third game of the first set. Leading 3-2, he won five consecutive games to go 2-0 up in the second set.
The 16th-ranked Murray saved a break point in the fourth game and had three break points on Verdasco's serve in the next game but failed to convert. He closed out the match on his first match point.

"It was a pretty comfortable match," Murray said. "I had a lot of chances on his serve and he had only one or two chances -- one love-30 game and a game where he had a break point. The pressure on him was on his serve."

"It was a bad day for me," Verdasco said. "I lost my confidence in the first games of the match and could not come back and play like I was playing the whole week."
The 30th-ranked Verdasco had not dropped a set on the way to his first final this season.

Murray broke into the top 10 earlier in the season and was at a career-high No. 8 for two weeks in June before injuring his wrist to be sidelined for three months.

He is 11th in the Champions Race with 326 points, three behind No. 8 Tommy Haas, who is followed by Tommy Robredo (328 points) and James Blake (327).

"I think a lot of guys have a chance of making Shanghai," Murray said. "I've missed three and a half months of the year and wasn't expecting to have a chance of qualifying. So, I'm just going to go out and try to play the way I did this week."

Fernando Gonzalez has 380 points to be seventh. Four more players are still in contention -- Tomas Berdych (322), Richard Gasquet (321), Carlos Moya (316) and Ivan Ljubicic (315).

Six players have already qualified for the event. The two spots left will be decided at the Paris Masters.

Has anyone fresh news about Davydenko's Betting Scandal?

Russian Nikolay Davydenko fined $2,000 by ATP for lack of effort at St. Petersburg Open
October 26, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) -- Nikolay Davydenko, already at the center of a betting investigation, was fined $2,000 for lack of effort a loss at the St. Petersburg Open.

The ATP said Friday the fourth-ranked Russian was fined for lack of "best effort" in his 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 loss Thursday to Marin Cilic.

The top-seeded Davydenko won the first set in 27 minutes, but drew a rebuke from chair umpire Jean-Philippe Dercq in the third set. Davydenko double-faulted four times in the second set and six times in the third.

"When I made a double-fault, he gave me a notice for a wrong behavior on the court as if I was throwing the match," Davydenko said Thursday after the match. "I was surprised. I've never heard anything like this before. No matter how I'd played, no matter what had happen to me, I was never given such a notice."

Davydenko said during the exchange, Dercq asked him about his condition. Davydenko first said there was nothing wrong, but later said the problem was in his legs.
"He could not solve my problem anyway, that why I first told him I was OK, but I didn't play the way I did in the first set. That's why he gave me a notice," Davydenko said. "Later I told him that my legs have collapsed. I could not move."

The ATP is investigating a match involving Davydenko in August in which online gambling site Betfair voided bets because of irregular betting patterns.
In that match in Poland, Davydenko won the first set 6-1, then withdrew against 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello in the third set because of a foot injury.

Davydenko qualified for the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai next month by winning the Kremlin Cup two weeks ago.
He is scheduled to play next week in the Paris Masters, where he is the defending champion.

BNP Paribas Masters:)
Singles - First Round:

M Fish (USA) d D Tursunov (RUS) 76(7) 64
S Wawrinka (SUI) d N Kiefer (GER) 75 63
[Q] J Del Potro (ARG) d F Lopez (ESP) 64 63
[Q] A Seppi (ITA) d [Q] S Querrey (USA) 57 61 63
[Q] J Tipsarevic (SRB) d [Q] V Spadea (USA) 76(9) 76(2)
M Youzhny (RUS) d A Clement (FRA)64 63
M Ancic (CRO) d P-H Mathieu (FRA) 46 62 63
M Baghdatis (CYP) D J Ferrero (ESP) 64 62

BNP Paribas Masters
Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Singles - Second Round
[5] D Ferrer (ESP) d M Fish (USA) 61 76(4)
M Youzhny (RUS) d [7] F Gonzalez (CHI) 36 63 63
[8] T Robredo (ESP) d G Simon (FRA) 64 26 64
[9] T Haas (GER) d [Q] J Tipsarevic (SRB) 63 67(5) 63
[11] G Canas (ARG) d [Q] A Seppi (ITA) 63 76(5)
[12] T Berdych (CZE) d M Ancic (CRO) 63 63

Singles - First Round
F Santoro (FRA) d A Montanes (ESP) 76(4) 62
J Nieminen (FIN) d J Monaco (ARG) 64 64
F Volandri (ITA) d J Melzer (AUT) 60 63
[WC] N Mahut (FRA) d [Q] T Gabashvili (RUS) 64 76(4)
[WC] J Tsonga (FRA) d [WC] S Grosjean (FRA) 63 36 63
I Karlovic (CRO) d F Verdasco (ESP) 46 63 64

WOOOOOHA!

Andy Murray just won his match against Neimmenen!!!
Good man Andy!

Santoro def Djokovic 6:3 6:2

Yeh! Good for Fabbie! I really love that guy - Amelie should take a leaf out of his book right now. Fab is in and around the later rounds pretty much wherever he plays, he just plays the sweetest tennis you could wish to see and everybody loves to watch him.

wolfcub wrote:Yeh! Good for Fabbie! I really love that guy - Amelie should take a leaf out of his book right now. Fab is in and around the later rounds pretty much wherever he plays, he just plays the sweetest tennis you could wish to see and everybody loves to watch him.

so true..
love that guy too

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Singles - Second Round
[1] R Federer (SUI) d I Karlovic (CRO)63 46 63
[2] R Nadal (ESP) d F Volandri (ITA) 63 61
F Santoro (FRA) d [3] N Djokovic (SRB) 63 62
[4] N Davydenko (RUS) d [Q] J del Potro (ARG) 76(3) 61
[6] J Blake (USA) d [WC] N Mahut (FRA) 67(3) 76(4) 61
[10] R Gasquet (FRA) d [WC] J Tsonga (FRA) 75 76(3)
:)M Baghdatis (CYP) d [13] I Ljubicic (CRO) 64 76(4)
D Nalbandian (ARG) d [14] C Moya (ESP) 64 64
[15] A Murray (GBR) d J Nieminen (FIN) 76(5) 63
S Wawrinka (SUI) d [16] J Chela (ARG) 63 61

Hi there!

By winning his match against Murray, Gasquet has one foot in Shanghai.
Allez Riri! :D

2 Rafael Nadal def Marcos Baghdatis 46 64 63

David Nalbandian def 10 Richard Gasquet 62 64

So, it's Rafa vs David in the final. Vamos Rafa!!!

Gotta be Raffa! But David when he's actually playing decent tennis has a very very strong game, and a strong pair of legs! Remember Raffa is carrying an injury going into this Final.

David is playing awesome atm
I think he has the best cards to win, and i hope he does.

too bad he cant qualify for the masters anymore

Vamos Rafa!!

dave won 6:4 6:0 :D

In France, we know congratulate the winner.

Julien wrote:

In France, we know congratulate the winner.

Congrats, David! No wonder Rafa was so sad when he lost.

Julien wrote:

In France, we know congratulate the winner.

Is that Yoko Ono on the extreme right

sunny wrote:

Julien wrote:

In France, we know congratulate the winner.

Is that Yoko Ono on the extreme right

hope she didnt sing..

ps: those dresses....poor leopards