Results: Shanghai Rolex Masters
- Novak Djokovic def. Juan Martin del Potro 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(3)
- Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo def. David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 10-2
Results: Generali Ladies Linz
- Angelique Kerber def. Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 7-6(8)
- Karolina and Kristyna Pliskova def. Gabriela Dabrowski and Alicja Rosolska 7-6(6), 6-4
Results: HP Open in Osaka
- Samantha Stosur def. Eugenie Bouchard 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
- Flavia Pennetta and Kristina Mladenovic def. Samantha Stosur and Shuai Zhang 6-4, 6-3
Tournaments this week:
- ATP/WTA: Kremlin Cup in Moscow
- ATP: Stockholm Open in Sweden
- ATP: Erste Bank Open in Vienna
- WTA: Luxembourg Open
Shanghai saw Juan Martin del Potro dominate Rafael Nadal in the semifinals 6-2, 6-4; but the big Argentine – who says he’s playing better now than he played in 2009 when he won the US Open – fell in the final to Novak Djokovic in a third-set tie-break.
The Linz draw was a complete mess. Sloane Stephens was the #1-seed after the draw, but then the tournament granted Angelique Kerber a wild-card, making her the #1-seed. That completely shuffled the deck, giving the original #2, now #3 seed Ana Ivanovic a tougher road to the final. Ivanovic rose to the challenge, but lost to Kerber in the final. With the win, Kerber won the final slot in the year-end WTA Championships.
In Osaka, Sam Stosur won her second tournament of the year, fifth of her career. Canadian Eugenie Bouchard made it into her first WTA final. Stosur also found herself in the doubles final, where she and partner Shuai Zhang lost in straight sets.
While the ladies play this week in Moscow and Luxembourg, The WTA Championships are set – starting next Tuesday in Istanbul. This year’s top-8: Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, Na Li, Petra Kvitova, Sara Errani, Jelena Jankovic and Angelique Kerber.
The guys are in Moscow, Stockholm and Vienna for the final ATP-250 events of the year. Next week, Valencia and Basel host ATP-500 events, followed by the Paris Masters-1000 Indoors. With only four ATP World Tour Finals spots clinched, top-names continue to play with important points on the line.
So far, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer and Juan Martin del Potro are in. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet and Milos Raonic are all playing this week, while other top contenders like Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych and Stan Wawrinka are waiting for the 500-point events in Basel and Valencia, and the 1000-point Paris Indoors.
Roger Federer and coach Paul Annacone have been working together for three-years now, and after a tough 2013 with no Grand Slam final appearances, the two announced they were parting ways over the weekend. Roger’s most recent loss was to Gael Monfils in the Shanghai Masters 4-6, 7-6(5), 3-6. Roger’s last Grand Slam championship was at Wimbledon in 2012. This year, he lost in the Australian Open semifinals, the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, and the second-round at Wimbledon. At the US Open, the last tournament he played before Shanghai, he was eliminated in the fourth round by Tommy Robredo.
