Recent Stories of Interest from “Around the Pro Tennis Globe”

• This week in Doha, Qatar at the year-end WTA Sony Ericsson Championships, Spaniard Fernando Verdasco was seen sitting in former World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic’s players box during her opening round match. This could be the icing on the cake that they are an item after tons of dating rumors about the pair. Earlier in the fall, Verdasco watched Ivanovic's match from her player box at the China Open in Beijing. Later that week he attended her practice and spent the time speaking to her mother.
  
  
• On Tuesday, medical tests confirmed that World No. 1 Rafael Nadal has been diagnosed with tendinitis in his quadriceps tendon. Nadal, who has already withdrawn from the year-end Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai that begins on Sunday, will have more tests early next week to assess the injury. He is likely to miss the Davis Cup finals between Spain and Argentina, which will be held from November 21-23.
  
  
• World No. 48 Jose Acasuso has replaced Guillermo Canas on the Argentina Davis Cup team that is looking for it’s first career team title. Juan Martin Del Potro, David Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri will be the other members on Team Argentina.
  
  
• USTA CEO of Professional Tennis Arlen Kantarian has resigned. Kantarian, who has run the US Open since 2000, will leave his position at the end of the year. This year the US Open broke tournament records for revenue and attendance.
  
  
• Swedish media reports that Bjorn Borg’s former tennis coach Lennart Bergelin has died at the age of 83.
  
  
• James Blake and brother Thomas will be participating in the Serving Up The Holidays Fundraiser in Harlem at the renovated Harlem Armory on November 25th.

World No. 1 Nadal withdraws from Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai due to knee injury

After injuring his right knee during last week’s quarterfinal match against Nikolay Davydenko at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, World No. 1 Rafael Nadal has officially withdrawn from the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. Taking his place will be talented Frenchman Gilles Simon, who won titles this year in Bucharest, Casablanca and Indianapolis, while also reaching the finals at the recent Masters Series Madrid.

Through a written statement released on Monday, Nadal said: “I have decided not to compete on the Masters Cup in Shanghai...This is one of the most difficult decisions in my career due to the importance of the event and above all, due to the fact of not making possible my will to be with the fans in China and the tournament organizers that always treated me in such special way. “I am deeply saddened and disappointed for my fans around the world that expected to see me in Shanghai fighting in every match. I do expect to be there again in October '09 for the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Shanghai.”

The 22-year-old Spaniard played his way to a marvelous season in which he won eight singles titles including winning his fourth straight French Open, his first Wimbledon title, Masters Series titles in Monte Carlo, Hamburg and Toronto, an Olympic gold medal in Beijing and titles in Barcelona and at Queen’s Club in London. Nadal surpassed Roger Federer as the No. 1 player in the world in August and is guaranteed to end the year as the top-ranked player after the Swiss legend held the top spot at years-end for the last four years. Nadal finishes the 2008 season with an impressive 82-11 record, while winning $6,773,773 in tournament prize money.

Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai Entry List

Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai
Shanghai, China
November 9-16, 2008

Singles Qualifiers
1. Rafael Nadal (ESP)
2. Roger Federer (SUI)
3. Novak Djokovic (SRB)
4. Andy Murray (GBR)
5. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
6. Andy Roddick (USA)
7. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)
8. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)
*Gilles Simon replaces Rafael Nadal (Injury)

Doubles Qualifiers
1. Bob Bryan (USA)/Mike Bryan (USA)
2. Daniel Nestor (CAN)/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)
3. Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/Andy Ram (ISR)
4. Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/Mark Knowles (BAH)
5. Jonas Bjorkman (SWE)/Kevin Ullyett (ZIM)
6. Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/ Leander Paes (IND)
7. Jeff Coetzee (RSA)/Wesley Moodie (RSA)
8. Pablo Cuevas (URU)/Luis Horna (PER)
*Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/Marcin Matkowski (POL) replace Erlich/Ram (Erlich Injury)

ATP Challenger Series Results* (Oct. 27-Nov. 3)

Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A. (Hard)
No. 3 Robert Kendrick (USA) def. No. 4 Donald Young (USA), 6-1, 6-1

Busan, Korea (Hard)
No. 2 Ivo Minar (CZE) def. Alex Bogomolov Jr. (USA), 6-1, 2-0, ret.

Aachen, Germany (Carpet)
No. 5 Evgeny Korolev (RUS) def. WC Ruben Bemelmans (BEL), 7-6(5), 7-6(3)

Cali, Colombia (Clay)
Daniel Koellerer (AUT) def. Paul Capdeville (CHI), 6-4, 6-3

*The ATP Challenger Series is a series of international men’s professional tennis tournaments throughout the world that allow players to win enough ranking points to earn an entry into an ATP-level main draw or qualifying draw. The ATP Challenger Series is fully administered by the ATP Tour.

Key Phrases
WC = Wild Card

This Week's Biggest Movers: Tsonga cracks Top 10, Baghdatis plummets

On the rise:

• #91 (+17) Robert Kendrick (USA)
• #73 (+10) Martin Vassallo Arguello (ARG)
• #7 (+7) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)
• #94 (+7) Jesse Levine (USA)
• #75 (+6) Potito Starace (ITA)

Moving down:

• #98 (-39) Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)
• #87 (-17) Tommy Haas (GER)
• #105 (-10) Alberto Martin (ESP)
• #24 (-9) Richard Gasquet (FRA)
• #77 (-9) Guillermo Canas (ARG)

* Each week, this will feature players in or just recently out of the Top 100 whose rankings have undergone the greatest change since the last set of rankings.

** David Ferrer has dropped seven spots to No. 12

Tsonga wins BNP Paribas Masters in Paris; earns final Masters Cup Shanghai spot

Thirteenth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (pictured) captured the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris on Sunday in front of a pleased hometown crowd by defeating eighth-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. The win earned Tsonga his first career ATP Masters Series title, but more importantly a spot in the year-end Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

From the get-go the Paris crowd was visibly behind the Frenchman. Tsonga got out to an extremely quick start in his first career Masters Series final, as he broke the 26-year-old Nalbandian’s serve in the second game of the match. After saving a break point in the seventh game, Tsonga closed out the opening set in 32 minutes. In the second set, Tsonga served out of a 0-40 hole in the eighth game only to be later broken while serving down 4-5, 0-40. Nalbandian was able to even the match at one set apiece when the 23-year-old hit a forehand in the net. In the final set, Tsonga almost made things difficult as he gave Nalbandian three break point chances while in front 5-4. Tsonga quickly regrouped and was able to win the match on his first championship point when the Argentine netted a forehand.

“At the end of the match I felt a lot better. I played exactly like I had to,” said Tsonga. “I didn't do extraordinary things. Like in Australia I played volleys that were coming from nowhere, whereas today I played just right. I believe this is the way you win. It's not when you do lucky shots that you win. It's when you think about your shots.”

Tsonga smashed an incredible 25 aces past Nalbandian, while dropping just 10 points on his first serve throughout the roughly two hour match. Nalbandian, who won the If Stockholm Open a few weeks ago, hit only four aces but was haunted by four double faults. Tsonga was able to break serve on two of four chances, while Nalbandian broke serve only once in nine opportunities.

With his victory, Tsonga will rise to a career best No. 7 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings. Tsonga joins fellow Frenchman Gilles Simon as the only two French players ranked in the Top 10 in the current rankings. It’s the first time two French players held that honor since October 3, 1988, when Yannick Noah and Henri Leconte were both ranked in the Top 10. Tsonga, who started the year ranked No. 43 before making a fairytale run to the finals of the Australian Open before losing to Novak Djokovic, now owns two career singles titles. Missing three months earlier this year due to knee surgery, Tsonga became the first French player to win a Masters Series shield since Sebastien Grosjean defeated Yevgeny Kafelnikov to win the Paris title in 2001.

Nalbandian, who could have won his second straight Paris title and clinched a spot in Shanghai, drops to No. 11 in the rankings and finishes the 2008 season with a 43-16 record. Besides reaching the finals this week, his season highlights included winning the singles title in Buenos Aires, as well as Stockholm. Nalbandian will rest for a couple weeks before being a top dog in his countries Davis Cup finals match against Spain in Mar de Plata in Argentina from November 21-23.

Nalbandian, Tsonga to face off in the finals at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris

Eighth-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian (pictured) moved within one match of qualifying for the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai on Saturday after defeating No. 6 seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, in two hours and five minutes at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. The defending champion will look to win a second straight title in Paris on Sunday when he faces French star and No. 13 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who continued his magical run in France with a, 6-3, 6-4, victory over eleventh-seeded American James Blake.

A Wimbledon finalist in 2002, Nalbandian got off to an extremely quick start against his Russian opponent, winning the first set in a compelling 28 minutes. In the opening set, the World No. 8 was able to break Davydenko’s serve twice, while saving three break points that he faced on his own serve. After Nalbandian quickly broke serve to go up 2-1 in the second set, Davydenko responded and immediately broke back to even the set at 2-2. In the 12th game of the set, Davydenko broke Nalbandian at love to claim the second set 7-5. In the seventh game of the final set, Nalbandian broke serve on his first break point chance and would eventually win his next two service games to win the set 6-4 and earn a spot in the final. The 26-year-old now owns a 6-4 series record against Davydenko, while improving to 43-15 on the season, which includes a 14-2 record on indoor courts.

“It was tough. I mean the first set didn't look like, because I just play great and he made some unforced errors and I take the chances that he gave me,” said Nalbandian. “In the second and third set he start serving better, and very good rallies for both. He hit a lot of lines, and it's okay. I played great.”

En route to earning a spot in his sixth career Masters Series final, Nalbandian defeated three straight Top 10 players, which included No. 9 Juan Martin Del Potro, No. 4 Andy Murray and now World No. 6 Davydenko. Nalbandian, who recently won the singles title at the Stockholm Open in Sweden, is looking to become the first back-to-back winner at the Paris event since it started being held at the Bercy venue in 1986. The Argentina Davis Cup star has won nine titles throughout his professional career.

Tsonga showed no signs of fatigue after a thrilling three set win over No. 7 Andy Roddick on Friday, as he vigorously took care of Blake in straight sets. Throughout the 67-minute match, Tsonga smashed 12 aces, won 89 percent of his first service points, dropped only six second serve points and was able to break serve three times. The American who was hoping to win the title in Paris and clinch a spot at the year-end Tennis Masters Cup, only won 70 percent of his first serve points and did not have any break point opportunities throughout the match.

“I know it's going to be difficult, because David has a good return,” said Tsonga. “Of course for me it's going to be difficult. But it's a final, and you never know what's happened at this moment. So I will do my best and I will see what's happen.”

The talented Frenchman improves his season record to 32-12, which includes winning the Thailand Open in Bangkok and reaching the finals at the Australian Open. Tsonga is looking to become the first French player to win a Masters Series shield since Sebastien Grosjean defeated Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov to win the Paris event.

On advancing to the final at his countries Masters Series event, Tsonga said, “It's just very special. It's like a dream. All my small career I dream like every day about to play a final in France. So for me it's going to be maybe the best moment of my life. So I will l just do my best for that.”

Currently ranked No. 14 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, Tsonga has never played in a Masters Series final and will be facing Nalbandian for the first time in his career. The winner of Sunday’s singles final will earn the final spot in the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai. Recent reports indicate that even if Nalbandian wins tomorrow and earns the final spot, he might not compete in the year-end championship since he wants to get ready for the following week’s Davis Cup final between his native Argentina and Spain.