Wk.40- Del Potro, Djokovic... Delighted

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

This week, we had two 500 tournaments and in the semifinals we had seven different nations represented: Argentina, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Serbia and Spain. I have been to just two of those countries. The ATP, and WTA, is truly global, especially with the emerging Asian interest.

For the first time since July -or June- 2011, a Spaniard is the world number one on either tour. No, not Carla Suarez-Navarro, but Rafael Nadal. I had written Nadal off because of his knees. That loss at Wimbledon looked like the end, or close to it. Well, Nadal has come back again and he is now the undisputed world number one. There are no caveats next to his name. He has won slams, won Masters and is having a surprisingly dominant season. I'm now finding it hard to predict which direction his career will take. Will there come a day when his knees finally quit and that really is it? If so, how long does he have? Will there come a time when he is no longer able to compete with the tours big guns? I would answer possibly to the first, impossible to tell to the second and unlikely to the third. One can never tell.

You can follow RafasKnees on twitter. He is following MariasShoulder. I'd imagine they'd have a fair amount in common.

Del Potro won in Japan, defeating Raonic in the process. Hmmmm, the young Canuck is putting together a serious fall resume here- a run at Bercy or in Shanghai is a serious possibility. Anyway, he makes back-to-back finals in the Japanese capital. Del Potro wins another title, as does Djokovic. Kind of funny that the runner-up grabs all the headlines despite being dismissed in straight sets in the final. Well, I guess that's tennis. It was also a surprisingly good week for Almagro, who has looked a little flat as of late.



*WEEK 40 CHAMPIONS*
BEIJING, CHINA
S: Novak Djokovic def. Rafael Nadal 6-3/6-4
D: Mirnyi/Tecau d. Fognini/Seppi
TOKYO, JAPAN
S: Juan Martin del Potro def. Milos Raonic 7-6/7-5
D: Bopanna/Roger-Vasselin d. J.Murray/Peers


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO, ARG
...I am picking him simply because he had a slightly harder run through than the Serb, although both played fantastic tennis. Delpo took a wild card in and defeated Baghdatis in the opening round 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to move through to the second round, where he dismissed compatriot Berlocq 6-2, 6-2. He also came back against Ukrainian Dolgopolov 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to make the semifinals. He needed two breakers to edge Almagro, winning 9-7, 7-1 in those breakers. Once in the final he managed to come through in straight sets 7-6 [5], 7-5 against steadily rising Canadian Raonic. His forehand is really cooking now and I think he may be a dark horse to win the unfortunately named WTF. He hasn't qualified yet but it is very likely. He should be able to gather points at Basel, which he won last year, and Paris, too, if he needs those points. He played some amazing points and it seems his early US Open loss has motivated him to improve. The serve is big now and he is looking close to his form of 2009. But just when he starts to look good, he loses early once more.
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RISER: NOVAK DJOKOVIC, SRB
....He wins a 500 and will be number two afterwards. That's depressing. He opened his defence of the tournament he has won four times with a brutal 6-0, 6-3 dismissal of Rosol. He followed this up with a tight 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 victory over Verdasco. He then smashed Querrey 6-1, 6-2 before beating Gasquet in an entertaining affair 6-4, 6-2 which was closer than it sounds. He then beat Rafael Nadal with surprisingly few problems 6-3, 6-4. He improves to 19-0 at this event. He seemed more able to dominate Nadal than before and he did so using his backhand and forehand to great effect. The greatest weapon he has against the Spaniard is his return of serve. Nadal can't serve into the backhand of the Serb because his backhand return is too strong and that takes away his classic serve which he uses so often. Then he has to mix up his serve and it makes sure Nadal is disrupted.
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SURPRISE: IVAN DODIG, CRO
...The big-hitting Croat had a great week in Tokyo. He once beat Nadal in Montreal using the serve and drop-volley to great effect. This week, he opened by easing past Sugita 6-3, 6-1. He wasn't highly favoured against a slightly rusty Tsonga but nonetheless he came through in a tight match 6-4, 7-6. He was then too good for Nieminen 6-2, 7-6 [3] and he was into the semifinals. He was competitive for a set and he had his chances before falling 7-6, 6-1. With that run, he hits his highest ever ranking this week at # 29.
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VETERAN: NICOLAS ALMAGRO, ESP
...He is now 28 but it seems like he has been around for ages. He has been around since 2006 and he has been a feature of that top twenty for a while. Incredibly, he has never been to a final outside of clay although he been to 20 finals on the dirt, where he is 12-8. He has two runner-ups on clay this year. He lost to Isner and Nadal in Houston and Barcelona. Neither went three. He has been as high as #9 but is now at #15. He has had a poor year at the 1000 level and has progressed beyond the second round just twice, making the fourth round just once. He has never done particularly well off the dirt but he showed a lot of skills during this week. He needed a pair of breakers to see off Benjamin Becker before dispatching Zeballos 6-4, 6-2. He then edged Nishikori 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 for a semifinal berth where Del Potro was too good.
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COMEBACK: RAFAEL NADAL, ESP
...So, there was this kid called Rafael Nadal and he had a coach called Uncle Toni and a big watch. He won the French Open in 2005 aged 19. He was even able to defeat Federer most anywhere. He won more and more French Opens and spent the longest amount of time at number two ever. He even beat Federer in the greatest match ever to win his first slam outside of the French. Finally, in 2008, he ascended to number one after beating Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 at the French and winning 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 in the Wimbledon final. He didn't stay there long, however, because of injury. He had to withdraw from the 2009 Wimbledon due to injury. Since then, injury has plagued him and it struck once more, but now he is back.
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DOWN: JANKO TIPSAREVIC , SRB
...Another early loss. Doing decently at the US should not mask the fact the Serbian is seriously slumping right now.
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1. TOKYO FINAL - DEL POTRO d. RAONIC
.../7-6/7-5. In a high quality affair, Del Potro overcame the surging Canadian. There was some huge serving and some cracking rallies, too. Del Potro seems to have gotten the hang of patience and he played some very clever points all week and during this match, too.
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2. TOKYO QF - DEL POTRO d. DOLGOPOLOV
...4-6/6-4/6-4. Delpo came through in this lengthy clash of styles. It was quite a physical match, surprisingly, and despite some stern resistance, the slam champ was too good this time around.
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3. BEIJING QF - DJOKOVIC d. NADAL
.../6-3/6-4. Djokovic proved he is still the daddy on hard courts, or at least indoor hard courts.
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*MOST WEEKS AT ATP #1*
302...Roger Federer
286...Pete Sampras
270...Ivan Lendl
268...Jimmy Connors
170...John McEnroe
109...Bjorn Borg
103...RAFAEL NADAL *
101...Andre Agassi
101...Novak Djokovic *
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* - active




*SHANGHAI*
=SF=
Djokovic [1] d. [3] Ferrer
Del Potro [6] d. [10] Raonic
=FINAL=
Djokovic [1] d. [6] Del Potro

In the doubles, the Bryans will defeat seventh seeds Benneteau/Zimonjic in the final.

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