Szanghaj 2011

[Ranger]

W pierwszej rundzie ciekawie zapowiadają się spotkania: Nalbandian vs Gulbis, Tipsarevic vs Lopez, Ferrero vs Youhzny i Nishikori vs Haase.

To jest turniej Masters i nawet w tak okrojonej stawce Kubotowi ciężko by było jakoś zdecydowanie lepiej wylosować, a zresztą nie ma co załamywać rąk bo Dolgopolov nie jest ostatnio w najlepszej formie .

[Ranger]

Shanghai Draw Preview



World No. 2 Rafael Nadal heads up the field at the Shanghai Rolex Masters as he looks to win his 20th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown and his second of the season after victory at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (d. Ferrer) in April.

The Spaniard, who reached the Shanghai final in 2009 (l. to Davydenko), has a bye through the first round and will open his campaign against either countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Nadal leads 2-1) or India’s Somdev Devvarman (Nadal leads 1-0). The first seed he would face is No. 15 Florian Mayer of Germany, though Ernests Gulbis and David Nalbandian both lurk unseeded in that upper section of the draw, and he is due to face either sixth seed Tomas Berdych or ninth seed Janko Tipsarevic in the quarter-finals.

The eighth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event of the year offers crucial points in the Battle for London, and four players in contention for the four remaining berths at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals feature in the top half of the draw with Nadal. Berdych, who is eighth in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Year-To-Date Rankings, faces either Chinese wild card Ze Zhang or Czech Radek Stepanek in his first match, while the 13th-placed Tipsarevic opens against Spain’s Feliciano Lopez.

Third seed David Ferrer will look to back up his semi-final showing at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships with a strong showing in Shanghai, where he is yet to advance past the third round. The Spaniard, who is fifth in the Battle for London, has a tricky opener in either Canadian Milos Raonic or Frenchman Michael Llodra, though he has 2-0 career leads over both of them. He is set to face countryman and No. 16 seed Fernando Verdasco in the third round, with the prospect of No. 10 Andy Roddick or No. 7 Nicolas Almagro in the quarter-finals. Almagro is on the cusp of the London qualification spots at No. 9 in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Year-To-Date Rankings and after a bye through the first round will face either fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo or a qualifier.

World No. 4 and defending champion Andy Murray is the highest seed in the bottom half of the draw and is bidding to win his eighth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown, adding to the Western & Southern Open title (d. Djokovic) he won in Cincinnati in August. He is in a rich vein of form, having won the PTT Thailand Open title in Bangkok (d. Young) last week and is set to contest the Tokyo final against Nadal on Sunday. In his first match, the Scot comes up against either Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci, whom he lost to in their only previous meeting on clay at the Mutua Madrid Open in May, or Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov (Murray leads 5-0). The first seed the Scot could face is No. 13 Stanislas Wawrinka, and he is due to face either No. 8 Gilles Simon or No. 11 Viktor Troicki in the quarter-finals. Simon, another hopeful in the Battle for London (currently 11th), opens his campaign against either Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin, or Spain’s Albert Montanes.

A key clash in the Battle for London could take place in the Shanghai quarter-finals, should fourth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and fifth seed Mardy Fish both win their first two matches after first-round byes. Tsonga will come up against either Dutchman Robin Haase or Japan’s Kei Nishikori, neither of whom he has played before, with the likelihood of Austrian No. 14 seed Jurgen Melzer in the third round. Fish, coming off a semi-final showing in Tokyo, has a testing clash with either South Africa’s Kevin Anderson (Fish leads 1-0) or Australia’s Bernard Tomic, who pushed the American to three sets in the Tokyo quarter-finals. He would then be seeded to face No. 12 Alexandr Dolgopolov, with Beijing finalist Marin Cilic also lurking unseeded in that section.

Źródło: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis ... eview.aspx

[Bizon]

Banalna drabinka Roddicka. Sami kwalifikanci + Robredo, Almagro. Nie można tylko zlekceważyć Dimitrova i 1/4 spokojnie w zasięgu. Pod warunkiem oczywiście że Andy pokaże chociaż część umiejętności sprzed lat.

[robpal]

Po ostatnich występach Griszy, to Rod wcale niekoniecznie będzie dla mnie faworytem w 2R

E: Przepraszam bardzo, co Rafa robi w drabince debla?

[Bizon]

Racja, może być ciężko. Jak jednak wygra z Dimitrovem to później nikt go nie zatrzyma (w drodze do 1/4 rzecz jasna). Jak Rod przegra z Almagro/Robredo to znaczy że jest naprawdę fatalnie

[sheva]

Nie zapominajcie o "klątwie drugiej rundy" jaka ciąży w Szanghaju nad Roddickiem.

[robpal]

Przedturniejowa analiza Steve'a Tignora:

Spoiler:

It’s ironic, I guess, that two of the players who have complained the most in recent months about the length and organization of the schedule, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, are the two players currently carrying the fall Asian swing on their backs. They play each other later today in the Tokyo final, and, in the absence of their fellow members of the reigning Big 4, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, they’re the top two seeds in Shanghai this coming week. Whatever you think of their words, Rafa and Andy are doing their marquee-name duty. Let’s see what they, as well as the other 62 players in the draw, might face when they make the trip over to China for the season’s penultimate, and with the added absence of del Potro, Soderling, and Monfils, less than fully stocked Masters event. It may seem anti-climactic to start, but even these seemingly inessential end-of-year-events have a way of sneaking up and reeling you in one more time.

*****

First Quarter
Nadal has recovered from his latest defeat at the hands of Djokovic, at the U.S. Open, more quickly than he did from the one before, at Wimbledon. Then he suffered summer defeats at the hands of Ivan Dodig and Mardy Fish; the first one was surprising, the second one was ugly. This time he came back firing right away in the Davis Cup semifinals—leave it to DC to provide motivation that may otherwise be lacking—and yesterday he avenged that earlier loss to Fish in the Tokyo semis. Rafa might wish he were elsewhere, but he hasn’t played that way so far this fall.

The depleted field in Shanghai should theoretically help him even more. Nadal will play the winner of Garcia-Lopez and Devvarman to start, and the highest seed in his section if Tomas Berdych, a man who Rafa has owned for some time now. But it’s not a total breeze. David Nalbandian, a sometime tormenter of Nadal, is here, as is the newly titled Janko Tipsarevic. Last year Rafa was upset by another up-and-coming veteran, Jurgen Melzer; Tipsy fits that bill this time, though he would have to survive to the quarters to get his shot.

First-round match to watch: Gulbis vs. Nalbandian. Is it just me, of does Gulbis regularly draw a fellow talented slacker in the early rounds?

Players with something to play for: Berdych, Tisparevic. In the year-to-date rankings, they're currently 8th and 13th in the race for the eight-man, season-ending field in London. Tipsy's a long shot, but he can gain ground here.

Semifinals: Nadal

*****

Second Quarter
David Ferrer is the No. 3 seed here, and the king of the second tier at the moment, a fact that was in evidence once again yesterday, when he was beaten soundly by that straggler of the top tier, Murray, in Tokyo. Ferrer, bumped up into the Top 4 with the absence of Djokovic and Federer, will open with the winner of Raonic and Llodra, a tricky one either way. But the rest of his section appears manageable—Almagro, Roddick, and Verdasco are the other three seeds.

What about Roddick? He beat Ferrer at the U.S. Open but played poorly last week in Beijing. His draw is a good one—qualifier, Dimitrov possibly after that, and then Almagro. We know how well Andy has handled most Spanish players over the years.

Kids to watch, and wonder when their time will come (could it be this time?): Raonic, Dimitrov

Player with something to play for: Almagro. He’s 9th in the year-to-date rankings, 80 points behind Berdych.

Semifinals: Roddick

*****

Third Quarter
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga benefits the most from the void at the top. The Frenchman vaults into the fourth seed’s spot and avoids Nadal or Murray until the semifinals. Jo should also reap the benefits of a smooth road, or as smooth as it can be for him—leave it to him to create a bump or two along the way. The names on Tsonga's side are Nishikoro, Haase, Giraldo, Dodig, Ljubicic, and Melzer.

On the other side is fifth-seeded Mardy Fish. He says he’s determined to reach London—Fish is currently sixth in the race—and he showed more late-season resilience than he has in the past when he reached the semifinals in Tokyo this week. He has a potentially tricky opener, in the winner of Kevin Anderson and Bernard Tomic, and the other seed in his section, Dolgopolov, is even trickier. But I expect a U.S. Open rematch of Fish and Tsonga in the quarters to determine this one—both should, as Mardy said last time, be “fired up” out there.

Players with something to play for: Fish and Tsonga, who are sixth and seventh, respectively, in the year-to-date rankings.

Semifinalist: Fish

*****

Fourth Quarter
What should we think of Andy Murray’s fine early fall form? Does it give anyone hope for the future, or is it just another sign that he can only get it done when it doesn’t count? Based on past history, you’d have to say the latter, but that doesn’t mean Murray isn’t still fun to watch when he’s at his best. He might, it appears, even be enjoying it himself.

Murray is the defending champion in Shanghai. The players in his path to another title include Tursunov, Bellucci, Wawrinka, Monaco, Troicki, and Simon. That’s a road that an in-form Murray should be able to negotiate. One caveat may be the amount of tennis he’ll have played—Murray won in Bangkok last week and is in the final in Tokyo today. I guess it would be poetic justice in reverse if the man who wants the schedule fixed went ahead and won his way straight through the Asian swing.

Player with something to play for: Simon. He’s 10th in the race, and a long shot for London.

First-round matches to watch: Pablo Andujar vs. Albert Montanes; just to see how deep the Spanish depth chart goes. Bellucci vs. Tursunov; for the shotmaking, as well as the potential for berserk rage.

Semifinalist: Murray

*****

Semifinals: Nadal d. Roddick; Murray d. Fish

Final: Murray d. Nadal

Źródło: http://blogs.tennis.com/thewrap/2011/10 ... drome.html

[Ranger]

Shanghai Sunday Briefing



SHANGHAI TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

The eighth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament of the year offers crucial points in the Battle for London, and four players in contention for the four remaining berths at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are featured in the top half of the draw.

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal heads up the field at the Shanghai Rolex Masters as he looks to win his 20th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown and his second of the season after victory at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (d. Ferrer) in April. The Spaniard, who reached the Shanghai final in 2009 (l. to Davydenko), has a bye through the first round and will open his campaign against either countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Nadal leads 2-1) or India’s Somdev Devvarman (Nadal leads 1-0). The first seed he would face is No. 15 Florian Mayer of Germany, though Ernests Gulbis and David Nalbandian both lurk unseeded in that upper section of the draw, and he is due to face either sixth seed Tomas Berdych or ninth seed Janko Tipsarevic in the quarter-finals.

In the second quarter of the draw, third seed David Ferrer will look to back up his semi-final showing in Tokyo with a strong showing in Shanghai, where he is yet to advance past the third round. The Spaniard, who is fifth in the Battle for London, has a tricky opener in either Canadian Milos Raonic or Frenchman Michael Llodra, though he has 2-0 career leads over both of them. He is set to face countryman and No. 16 seed Fernando Verdasco in the third round, with the prospect of No. 10 Andy Roddick or No. 7 Nicolas Almagro in the quarter-finals. Almagro is on the cusp of the London qualification spots at No. 9 in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Year-To-Date Rankings and after a bye through the first round will face either fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo or a qualifier.

In the third quarter of the draw, a key clash in the Battle for London could take place in the quarter-finals, should fourth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and fifth seed Mardy Fish both win their first two matches after first-round byes. Tsonga will come up against either Dutchman Robin Haase or Japan’s Kei Nishikori, neither of whom he has played before, with the likelihood of Austrian No. 14 seed Jurgen Melzer in the third round. Fish, coming off a semi-final showing in Tokyo, has a testing clash with either South Africa’s Kevin Anderson (Fish leads 1-0) or Australia’s Bernard Tomic, who pushed the American to three sets in the Tokyo quarter-finals. He would then be seeded to face No. 12 Alexandr Dolgopolov, with Beijing finalist Marin Cilic also lurking unseeded in that section in the third round.

In the final quarter, World No. 4 and defending champion Andy Murray is the highest seed (No. 2) in the bottom half of the draw and is bidding to win his eighth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown, adding to the Cincinnati title he won in August (d. Djokovic). He is in top form, having won the Bangkok title (d. Young) last week and is set to contest the Tokyo final against Nadal on Sunday. In his first match, the Scot comes up against either Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci, whom he lost to in their only previous meeting on clay in Madrid in May, or Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov (Murray leads 5-0). The first seed the Scot could face is No. 13 Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round and he is due to face either No. 8 Gilles Simon or No. 11 Viktor Troicki in the quarter-finals. Simon, another hopeful in the Battle for London (currently 11th), opens his campaign against either Mikhail Kukushkin, or Albert Montanes.

DOUBLES HIGHLIGHTS

• The top eight seeded teams receive a bye into the second round. An outstanding field is led by top seeds and World No. 1 Bob and Mike Bryan, who are 6-3 in finals this year and the winningest team in the Open Era with 73 titles together. They won Grand Slam crowns at the Aust. Open and Wimbledon.
• The No. 2 seeds are Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor, who captured the Roland Garros title followed by No. 3 Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic.
• The other seeds are No. 4 Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes, No. 5 Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner, No. 6 Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, No. 7 Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Ul Haq Qureshi, and No. 8 Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau.
• There are 1000 South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings points available to the winning team and four positions are remaining for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. The four teams to qualify thus far are the Bryans, Llodra-Zimonjic, Mirnyi-Nestor and US Open champions Melzer-Petzschner.

Źródło: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis ... efing.aspx

[robpal]

Harrison pokonał w TB decidera Gabaszwiliego i witamy w głównym

[DUN I LOVE]

Udanie eliminacje przebrnął też Donald Young, który dość pewnie pokonał Zvereva. Dzisiaj rusza turniej główny, rozegrane zostaną 2 mecze: F Fognini (ITA) vs [15] F Mayer (GER) i [13] S Wawrinka (SUI) vs J Monaco (ARG).

Dolosowano kwalifikantów:
Lu v Roddick
Ilhan v Dimitrov
Bohli v Robredo
Ramos v Cilic
Ebden v Andujar
Harrison v Troicki
Young v Gong

[Art]

Drabinka turnieju głównego

(1)Rafael Nadal (ESP) bye
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) vs Somdev Devvarman (IND)
Ernests Gulbis (LAT) vs (WC)David Nalbandian (ARG)
Fabio Fognini (ITA) vs (15)Florian Mayer (GER)
(9)Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) vs Feliciano Lopez (ESP)
Alex Bogomolov Jr (USA) vs Marcel Granollers (ESP)
(WC)Ze Zhang (CHN) vs Radek Stepanek (CZE)
(6)Tomas Berdych (CZE) bye

(3)David Ferrer (ESP) bye
Milos Raonic (CAN) vs Michael Llodra (FRA)
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) vs Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)
(WC)Zhe Li (CHN) vs (16)Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
(10)Andy Roddick (USA) vs [Q] Yen-Hsen Lu (TPE)
[Q] Marsel Ilhan (TUR) vs Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
[Q] Stephane Bohli (SUI) vs Tommy Robredo (ESP)
(7)Nicolas Almagro (ESP) bye

(5)Mardy Fish (USA) bye
Kevin Anderson (RSA) vs Bernard Tomic (AUS)
[Q] Albert Ramos (ESP) vs Marin Cilic (CRO)
Lukasz Kubot (POL) vs (12)Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR)
(14)Jurgen Melzer (AUT) vs Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)
Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs Santiago Giraldo (COL)
Robin Haase (NED) vs Kei Nishikori (JPN)
(4)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) bye

(8)Gilles Simon (FRA) bye
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) vs Albert Montanes (ESP)
Pablo Andujar (ESP) vs [Q] Matthew Ebden (AUS)
[Q] Ryan Harrison (USA) vs (11)Viktor Troicki (SRB)
(13)Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) vs Juan Monaco (ARG)
(WC) Mao-Xin Gong (CHN) vs [Q] Donald Young (USA)
Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) vs Dmitry Tursunov (RUS)
(2)Andy Murray (GBR) bye

[sheva]

Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and the Shanghai Rolex Masters Preview



Looking at the draw of the Shanghai Masters, I was subconsciously thinking that this was the field for a strong 500 point tournament in the Asian swing. It didn't quite occur to me for a while that I was looking at the draw for a Masters tournament. I mean, does that surprise you, particularly when David Ferrer is the number 3 seed? Or better still, when Florian Mayer is seeded at all?



To say that the status of Shanghai as a city for elite tennis has declined since 2008 would be a massive understatement. Long gone are the times when all tennis players used to slug it out for the full year, fighting tooth and nail just for the honour of being included in the top eight to simply be able to play in Shanghai at the World Tour Finals.



With Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and, perhaps less significantly, Robin Soderling, Richard Gasquet and Juan Martin Del Potro all withdrawing from China's premier tournament, let's take a look at the draw itself.



Rafael Nadal is the top seed, and although he's got a mildly tricky quarter, he's the overwhelming favourite to make it comfortably to the semis from his side. Receiving a bye in the first round, he opens against Somdev Devvarman or Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, and even though the latter shocked him last year in Thailand, this is probably going to be a stroll to the third round. There, he could well meet the unpredictable Argentine wildcard David Nalbandian, who he's struggled against sometimes. A lot depends on the kind of form Nalbandian is on the day, though it's interesting to note that historically, he's at his best at this time of the year, on the indoor courts. Should Rafa negotiate that stern test, he runs into Berdych or Tipsarevic. The Czech hasn't had the best of results this year, but Janko has been on fire since the North American hard court season, and if his booming ground-strokes are working, he could create problems for the Spaniard. However, with Nadal never having dropped a set against him, I expect to see him standing tall come semifinals day.

Third seeded David Ferrer heads the second quarter, which has a bunch of very good players, albeit in woeful form. Players like Youzhny, Verdasco, Robredo, Almagro and, not least, Andy Roddick all have a decent chance against Ferrer on their best days,but they simply aren't cutting it at the moment. Ferrer faces young Canadian Raonic or veteran Frenchman Llodra in the second round, with neither expected to offer much resistance at the moment (with Raonic just returning from injury, and Llodra simply not being good enough). He then either meets Youzhny or Verdasco, both of whom he should put away with ease given the vast difference in form between them and him right now. He will then probably run into Roddick or Almagro, with the Spaniard not quite as potent a force indoors as he is on the clay courts, while Roddick is unlikely to repeat his impressive US Open defeat of Ferrer without thousands of doting Americans giving him very vocal support. In short, it would take a big upset to prevent a Nadal-Ferrer semifinal from happening.

Enigmatic Frenchman Jo-Wilfred Tsonga is the fourth seed in what is comfortably the most exciting quarter of the draw. He faces Robin Haase or Kei Nishikori in the second round, which is his only (relatively) easy match. He then meets Ivan Ljubicic, who is in great form at the moment and was in some ways unlucky not to triumph against Tsonga in Metz a couple of weeks ago. If he does manage to pull that off, he could face either of Mardy Fish, Kevin Anderson, Marin Cilic or Alexandr Dolgopolov, each of whom have intriguing match-ups of their own in the earlier rounds. So this is easily the most competitive yet open section of the draw, with a host of people capable of making it to the semifinal.

Second seed Andy Murray probably has the easiest draw, with Gilles Simon the only probable threat to prevent him from reaching the last four. He faces Tursunov or Belluci first up, which is likely to be a cakewalk. He is then likely to play talented Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, but Stan is simply not in good enough form to take out a hot Andy Murray at the moment. With a match against Simon looking inevitable, the Scot is expected to come out tops, having beaten the Frenchman the last eight times they've played.

So there we have it: Three of the top four seeds are almost locks for the semifinals. While the Nadal-Ferrer semi could be the match of the tournament, given that Ferrer beat Nadal in straight sets at the Australian Open, Rafa was injured then. Count on the left hander to extract revenge in a gruelling three set battle. The other semi could be Murray vs "A host of players" but I count on Fish producing his best tennis to make the final four, where Murray will prevail in two tight sets.



A Nadal-Murray final is expected, and I believe we'll get one. While Nadal isn't at his best post-US Open, Murray has probably played too much tennis in the last few weeks to produce a big enough challenge to dismantle Rafa. Expect Nadal to win his 20th Masters series shield in a pulsating three set contest.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/8849 ... rs-preview

Troszkę się uśmiałem czytając ten artykuł.

[robpal]

Mnie ubawił ostatni akapit

[Ranger]

Stanislas Wawrinka pokonał ubiegłorocznego półfinalistę Szanghaju - Juana Monaco 6/3, 3/6, 6/3. Juana w przyszłym tygodniu czeka spory spadek w rankingu po stracie 360 punktów.

W drugim dzisiejszym meczu Florian Mayer zmiażdżył Fabio Fogniniego 6/0, 6/2 .

[Bizon]

Roddick - Lu

Zemsta będzie słodka?

Jutro gra góra czy dół drabinki?

[sheva]

I góra i dół. Rod gra drugi mecz dnia na centralnym, czyli ok. 10 naszego czasu.

[Shinoda]

Roddick - Lu

Musi jest .

I góra i dół. Rod gra drugi mecz dnia na centralnym, czyli ok. 10 naszego czasu.

Oczywiście nie obejrzę.

[robpal]

A tu analiza dziennikarza ESPN, zupełnie inna niż z tennis.com

Spoiler:

http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id/70 ... japan-loss

[Barty]

Uwaga: Została uwzględniona różnica czasu!



Plan gier na poniedziałek

• Stadion, start o godz. 08:00.
  E Gulbis (LAT) vs [WC] D Nalbandian (ARG)
  [10] A Roddick (USA) vs [Q] Y Lu (TPE)
  
  Nie przed godz. 12:00.
  [WC] Z Li (CHN) vs [16] F Verdasco (ESP)
  
  Nie przed godz. 14:00.
  M Youzhny (RUS) vs J Ferrero (ESP)
• Grandstand, start o godz. 08:00.
  K Anderson (RSA) vs B Tomic (AUS)
  [Q] S Bohli (SUI) vs T Robredo (ESP)
  [WC] M Gong (CHN) vs [Q] D Young (USA)
  
  Nie przed godz. 12:00.
  I Dodig (CRO) vs S Giraldo (COL)
• Show Kort, start o godz. 07:00.
  G Garcia-Lopez (ESP) vs S Devvarman (IND)
  [Q] M Ilhan (TUR) vs G Dimitrov (BUL)
  M Granollers (ESP) / V Troicki (SRB) vs M Knowles (BAH) / L Kubot (POL)
  S Bolelli (ITA) / F Fognini (ITA) vs [WC] D Wu (CHN) / Z Zhang (CHN)
• Kort 4, start o godz. 07:00.
  M Kukushkin (KAZ) vs A Montanes (ESP)
  P Andujar (ESP) vs [Q] M Ebden (AUS)
  O Marach (AUT) / J Tipsarevic (SRB) vs A Bogomolov Jr. (USA) / R Ram (USA)

• Wszystkie dotychczasowe wyniki znajdują się na 1 stronie wątku.

[Joao]

Szanghaj to największe miasto na świecie. Zamieszkuje je prawie 18 mln ludzi. Posiada trzeci co do wielkości port na świecie. Miasto nabrało znaczenia po zakończeniu pierwszej wojny opiumowej (1842r.). Wtedy to port szanghajski został otwarty dla międzynarodowej wymiany handlowej. W mieście powstały zagraniczne strefy wpływów, które były wyłączone spod chińskiej jurysdykcji. Gwałtowny rozwój rozpoczął się w 1992 roku, kiedy to rząd chiński zachęcił obcy i krajowy kapitał do wielkich inwestycji. Wtedy rozpoczęła się budowa nowoczesnej dzielnicy Pudong. Miała być wizytówką miasta oraz symbolem rozwoju gospodarczego Chin. W dzielnicy mieści się wiele drapaczy chmur. W Pudongu znajdują się dwa budynki o wysokości ponad 400 m: Shanghai World Financial Center (492m), Jin Mao Tower (421 m). Przez dzielnicę przebiega kolej magnetyczna, która umożliwia podróżowanie z prędkością do 431 km/h.

Zawody odbywają się w Qi Zhong stadium. Stadion został zbudowana w 2003 r. za 200 mln dolarów. Może pomieścić 15 tys. kibiców. Posiada zamykany dach w kształcie magnolii. Obiekt znajduje się w dzielnicy Minhang, położonej w południowo-zachodniej części miasta. W Qi Zhoung Stadium odbyły się mistrzostwa świata w pływania na 25-metrowym basenie (2006) oraz przedsezonowy mecz NBA w 2007 r. W 2009 r. na potrzeby turnieju Masters Series oddano do użytku Grand Stand 2 o pojemności 5 tys oraz Grand Stand 3 (2 tys.). Turniej jest rozgrywany na nawierzchni decoturf. Zawody finansują: Rolex (sponsor tytularny), Heineken oraz BNP Paribas.




Po raz pierwszy tenisiści mieli okazję rywalizować w Szanghaju w 1996r. Turniej należący do ATP International Series rozgrywano do 2004 r z przerwą na Masters Cup 2002. Pierwszym zwycięzcą został rosyjski tenisista Andriej Olchowski. Oprócz niego w zawodach triumfowali Ján Krošlák (1997), Michael Chang (1998), Magnus Norman (1999-2000), Rainer Schüttler (2001), Mark Philippoussis (2003) oraz Guillermo Cañas (2004). W 2002 w Szanghaju odbył się turniej mistrzów. Imprezę wygrał Lleyton Hewitt, który w pięciu setach pokonał Juana Carlosa Ferrero. Po trzech latach przerwy Masters Cup powrócił do Chin. W 2005 r. triumfował David Nalbandian w pięciu setach ogrywając Rogera Federera. Rok później nie było mocnych na Szwajcara. Federera w trzech setach zdeklasował Jamesa Balke’a. W 2007 roku historia się powtórzyła. Tym razem Helwet łatwo pokonał Davida Ferrera. 2008 rok to triumf Novaka Đokovicia, który w finale pokonał w dwóch setach Nikołaja Dawidienkę. Od dwóch lat w Szanghju odbywa się turniej ATP World Tour Masters 1000.Pierwszym zwycięzcą okazał sie Nikołaj Dawidienko, który w finale ograł w dwóch setach Rafaela Nadala.

Ubiegłoroczny turniej rozpoczął się dobrze dla Łukasza Kubota, który przeszedł przez kwalifikacje. Niestety w 1. rundzie uległ Johnowi Isnerowi, marnując przy tym pięć piłek meczowych. Niespodziewanie w 3. Rundzie zakończył swój udział w turnieju nr 1 Rafael Nadal, którego pogromcą okazał się Jürgen Melzer. W półfinałach znalazło się trzech zawodników z top 4. Stawkę uzupełnił Juan Monaco ( w ¼ pokonał Melzera). Do finału awansowali: Andy Murray (wygrał z Monaco) oraz Federer (ograł Đokovicia). Zwycięzcą turnieju okazał się Szkot, który bez problemów poradził sobie ze Szwajcarem. Warto odnotować dobrą postawę polskiego debla Fyrstenberg/Matkowski. W ¼ polska para pokonała rozstawiony z dwójką duet Nestor/Zimonjić. W ½ doszło do bratobójczego pojednyku Polaków z Łukaszem Kubotem i Oliverem Marachem. Frytka i Matka wygrali po supertiebraku. W finale Polacy znaleźli pogromców w osobach Melzera i Paesa.




Faworytami tegorocznego turnieju wydają się być Andy Murray oraz Rafael Nadal. Wobec niedyspozycji lidera rankingu Novaka Đokovicia oraz utytułowanego Rogera Federera, to właśnie Szkot i Hiszpan powinni rozdawać karty w tym turnieju. Murray podbudowany zwycięstwem w Tokio będzie chciał po raz drugi udowodnić wyższość nad hiszpańskim rywalem. Jednak trzytygodniowy maraton może dać mu się we znaki. Natomiast Nadal będzie starał się o pierwszy w tym roku triumf na nawierzchni twardej. Wielu sympatyków tenisa chciałoby, żeby skład finału był mniej przewidywalny. Kto może zagrozić fawrotym? Swoich szans będą szukać Jo-Wilfiried Tsonga, David Ferrer, Mardy Fish, Tomas Berdych. Zoabaczymy jak pójdzie młodym gniewnym Dimitrovowi, Tomiciowi i Harrisonowi. Niezbyt dobrze wylosował Łukasz Kubot. Może tym razem uda się sprawić niespodziankę i pokonać wyżej notowanego Aleksandra Dogopołowa.