Rafael Nadal ends year as world no.1 after win over Hyeon Chung

Source: AFP

Rafael Nadal has created history by becoming the oldest male player to finish the year as the world no.1 after securing his the top ranking for the fourth time in his amazing career in tennis.

The 31-year-old Spaniard assured himself the no.1 ranking by defeating Hyeon Chung 7-5, 6-3 in the second round of the Paris Masters. If you are interested to see how the other players fair at the Paris Masters, be sure to follow them at NetBetSport.

The 16-time major singles winner becomes the first player to finish no.1 for a whooping four times(!) in non-consecutive years since the ATP rankings were introduced back in 1973, while the nine-year gap between his first in 2008 and most recent number one year is another record.

Nadal had not finished the year at the top since 2013, with Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray dominating the sport after that.

Source: AFP

"One year ago, for sure I never dreamed about being number one again at the end of the season," said Nadal, who suffered a devastating wrist injury.

"It has been an amazing year."

Nadal's comeback from injury, loss of form which affected his confidence level, has been a truly remarkable one.

He reached three Grand Slam finals this year, losing to Roger Federer at the Australian Open but followed by a historical win after capturing his 10th French Open title before clinching the US Open for the third time.

"It was impossible for me to think about coming back from a tough period without playing, and with so many injuries in the last couple of years," Nadal said.

The only downside to his exceptionally remarkable season was losing to Federer. The Swiss maestro has beaten Nadal in four consecutive matches this year compared to Nadal's clear advantage in their head-to-head meetings in the past.

Nadal was not playing at his best level against the Chung, but was rarely tested. He is tied for a record 30 Masters titles with Djokovic but has never won the tournament in Paris.

If you are interested to see how the players fair at the Paris Masters, be sure to follow the betting lines at NetBetSport.

Roger Federer skips Paris, Rafael Nadal eyes No 1 finish

Source: Getty

Unexpectedly, Roger Federer withdrew from the Paris Masters happening this week which leaves ensuring Rafael Nadal has a clear opportunity to end the year as the world no. 1.

Federer claimed a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 victory over Juan Martin del Potro on his home ground tournament, the Swiss Indoors final in Basel last weekend and right after that withdrew from the Paris Masters as he looks to get back to full fitness. If you would like to find out how other players perform instead, be sure to check out the betting lines for Paris Masters.

Nadal, currently leads the rankings and it is now every likely that the old rivals will battle it out at the ATP finals at the end of the season event.

Federer, fresh from winning a 95th career title which puts him into second on the all-time list behind the 109 of Jimmy Connors, had said all week that he would make a late decision depending on his post-Basel fitness.

"My body is asking for a break," said the Swiss maestro.

"Basel takes a lot out of me emotionally. I had five matches in six days. I feel sorry and sad for Paris."

"I love to play at Bercy, it's a few times now that I've not played there. It's a tough one but they have to understand that it's for the cause of staying injury-free and healthy."

"I'd like to be fully fit for London (the World Tour Finals) and for 2018."

Source: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images Europe

According to ATP calculations, Nadal can clinch the year-end number one status by winning his opening second round match in Paris.

The Spaniard will open his campaign at Bercy against South Korean young player Hyeon Chung. If you are tracking the betting lines for Paris Masters, you know where to go to while keeping an eye on the players' performance during this period.

Federer last played Paris in 2015 and won the title in 2011.

"I did think about the ranking, but I'm so far back in the points race that it was almost out of the question," added Federer.

"I asked myself what I would do if the ranking (issue) was not there. I want to stay injury-free, not push it and maybe get hurt next week and then miss London."

"It would be a snowball. It was not really about the ranking to be quite honest. If I was closer in the points race (to Nadal) it might have been."

Federer is now 1,460 ranking points behind Nadal and misses out on the chance of the 1,000 on offer in Paris.

Novak Djokovic goes bananas

Novak Djokovic chomps down on a banana while his lovely girlfriend Jelena Ristic is all smile with their family dog, a caniche poodle named Pierre in Paris.

Last weekend, Djokovic won the Paris Masters 1000 tournament after beating Gael Monfils in the final.

(Image by PacificCoastNews.com)

Novak Djokovic roars in Paris

The final match could have ended earlier.

When Novak Djokovic won the fourth game in the second set, I switched channel believing that the Serbian would have win it easily. I managed to catch the third set tie-breaker though.

Djokovic walked away with a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (3) victory over Frenchman Gael Monfils to win the Paris Masters for the first time.

The victory gave Djokovic back-to-back ATP Tour titles after his win over top-ranked Roger Federer in Basel last Sunday.

Looks like Djokovic will be a strong favorite when he’ll try to defend his title at the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals from November 22-29 in London next week.

In the doubles final, Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic beat Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Tommy Robredo with a 6-3, 6-4 win.

For now, it's just off court news...

I really wanted so bad for Rafael Nadal to win yesterday's semifinal match against Novak Djokovic but it just wasn't meant to be.

Djokovic played perfectly to overpower Nadal 6-2, 6-3 to reach the Paris Masters final :(

Now let's just talk about some Nadal's off court news which I have missed last week.

Earlier this week, Nadal was honoured and presented the prestigious Serge Kampf Award from the French Academy of Sports, for his exceptional results in 2008.

His girlfriend Maria Francisca "Xisca" Perello was in Paris and attended the award presentation.

The lovely couple was also spotted enjoying romantic stroll in Paris after dining at 'Cafe de La Paix'.

The paparazzi also caught them on camera on another unidentified occassion in Paris.

(Images via menstennisforums.com)

Rafael Nadal pulls out of Masters Cup; Gilles Simon is going to Shanghai

Whoever booed Rafael Nadal for retiring during the match against Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinal match at Paris Masters last Friday, or doesn't believe he is really injured, please give yourself a slap.

In these pictures, Nadal did seem a little annoyed upon returning to his hotel after announcing he has pulled out of the Paris Masters tournament with a knee injury.

And now it's even worse news.

Yesterday Rafael Nadal announced he had to pull out of the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai, citing fatigue after a long season and the need to prepare for the Davis Cup final.

He made the announcement on his website, describing his withdrawal as 'one of the most difficult decisions in his career'.

“It has been a long and difficult year where I managed to obtain great results, both on a professional and on a personal level,” he said.

“I have mentioned on various occasions that the tennis calendar has been extremely hard with practically all weeks playing and where it forces players to compete week in, week out, making it impossible for a top level player to be 100% for each event."

“On a personal level I had as one of my goals to become No. 1 during this year and competing at so many events might have harmed, especially at the end of the season, my physical condition, taking away the freshness needed to play at the top level of the game in these last events,” Nadal said.

Nadal also said he hoped that his absence would buy him time for the Davis Cup final against host Argentina from Nov. 21-23.

“I want to recover and be ready for the important Davis Cup final with my country that will be played in Mar del Plata, Argentina. That is also another reason for not coming to Shanghai,” Nadal added.

Nadal will be replaced in Wednesday’s draw in Shanghai by Frenchman Gilles Simon.

(Images by Flynet Pictures)

Quotes from the weekend winners

“I was playing with 15,000 people. Everybody was behind me today.
The crowd was magic."
~ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga said after defeating David Nalbandian 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to win the Paris Masters and becoming the 8th players to qualify for the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai next week.

“Winning in Bastad and Stockholm and finishing off with Paris it’s nothing that I could have really expected. This is way beyond my goals at the end here so I just hope the good omen continues in Shanghai.”

~ Jonas Bjorkman said after he and Kevin Ullyett defeated Jeff Coetzee and Wesley Moodie 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.

"It was really wonderful to win this event. To finish off the season like this is wonderful. Now I have a long journey ahead of me to Doha, but it'll definitely be worth it. And then it'll be really nice to put the racquets aside for a few weeks!"

~ Nadia Petrova beat Bethanie Mattek 4-6 6-4 6-1 to take the Quebec City title and qualify for WTA Championship in Doha.

In the doubles final, Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Vania King dismissed Jill Craybas and Tamarine Tanasugarn in only two sets, 7-6(3), 6-4. No quotation was available.

(Via Yahoo! Sport, ATP website, Sony Ericsson WTA website)

Veteran players roll on without Novak Djokovic

Nole continues to party hard and Muzza will take over his no. 3 position very soon.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer rolled into the Paris Masters quarterfinals but this time without Novak Djokovic.

Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, defending champion David Nalbandian and amazingly Nikolay Davydenko also made the last eight.

Rafa has bigger biceps than Monfils.

Nadal beat Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2, Federer defeated Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-4, while Djokovic lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

“I’m not playing my best level, but I’m not playing badly,” Nadal said.

“If I can improve a bit for tomorrow and for Shanghai I think I can finish the year playing well.”

Nadal will play Davydenko, who crushed 2005 champion Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-1.

Even though Nadal was guaranteed to start 2009 ahead of Federer in the rankings, he feels like he’s still behind him.

“Roger had four or five years with the No. 1, winning two, three Grand Slams a year,” Nadal said.

“So for that reason I think everybody says Federer is the best.”

Federer sets his eyes on his first semifinals at the Bercy Indoor Arena but he has to go through James Blake first, who defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-4, 6-4.

“I prefer to come back to a place where I had success in the past. This is not the case here,” Federer.

Federer is 8-1 against Blake, with the Swiss star’s only loss in the quarterfinals at the Beijing Olympics in August.

“I’m not the revengeful type, but I would be pleased to beat him,” Federer said.

Djokovic beat Tsonga in the Australian Open final for his first major title, but has lost to the Frenchman in successive matches since then including the recent Thailand Open.

“I just don’t feel quite comfortable on the court,” the Serb said.

“When you play indoors, points get quicker. (Tsonga) was serving really well.”

Tsonga will next meet Roddick for the first time in nearly two years.

“If I manage to stay in shape physically, I will go from strength to strength in this tournament,” Tsonga said.

Gilles 'Crybaby' Simon

The seventh-seeded Roddick overcame 10th-seeded Gilles Simon 6-3, 7-5 on his fifth match point.

“It wasn’t going to do me any good to play patty-cake back and forth with him today,” Roddick said.

“I’m not as quick as he is and I’m not as consistent as he is. It actually made for a pretty simple game plan.”

Murray topped Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-3, 7-6 (6) for his 14th straight win, staying on track for a third straight Masters title.

Fat Dave shows del Potro he's still the big brother of Argentina tennis.

Murray will face Nalbandian in the quarterfinals, after the Argentine defeated countryman del Potro 6-4, 6-0.

“His results have been pretty special the last couple of years. Should be a great match,” Murray said of Nalbandian.

“He picks his schedule very well and is fresher than the other players toward the end of the year.”

After victories at Cincinnati and Madrid, Murray hopes to become the only player to win three straight Masters titles.

(Via AP, Images via Yahoo! Sport, zimbio.com)

Xisca the new fashionista shopping alone in Paris

When the boyfriend (in this case it's Rafael Nadal) is getting all the attention on court...

Or out for early training...


What would you do if you are in Paris, the city of love?

Of course you go shopping because Paris is also the city of fashion!

I wonder why Xisca is walking alone in the city.

Nadal should consider beef up the security of his girlfriend because Xisca is a popular figure now and especially in a foreign country during a big tournament like Paris Masters.

By the way, don't you find these more like fashion photos rather than by the paparazzi's?


(Images via menstennisforums.com)

Is this Sam Querrey or Sam Queer-ey?

I just find these photos of Sam Querrey a bit fascinating. If you don't know what I mean, just look at his left hand.

Last night, Andy Murray defeated Querrey 6-2, 6-4 to stay on track for a record third straight Masters title after winning at Cincinnati and Madrid.

Probably Querrey was intimidated by Murray's magnificent run hence handed him an easy win.

(Images via Yahoo! Sport)

Novak Djokovic's best Halloween costume

Novak Djokovic arrived on the court wearing a mask before his match against Dmitry Tursunov at the Paris Tennis Masters tournament.

Djokovic said: "I got this mask at dinner (three years ago). I asked them, Can I take it? They allowed me to take it. The next day I say for fun I'm going to get into the court like that. I did. That's a little tradition I have with the mask at Halloween."

In that match, Tursunov retired with a shoulder injury. Djokovic was ahead of the match with 6-2, 4-3.

(Via Yahoo! Sport)

Rafael Nadal and Xisca arrived Paris in style

Down the Line reported on Rafael Nadal and girlfriend Maria Francesca Perello or better known as Xisca arriving in Paris in a rather stylish manner earlier this week.

Gone are the t-shirt and khaki shorts we sometimes see when Nadal arrived at the airports for tournaments.

Both Nadal and Xisca look absolutely stunning with those snuggly, stylish scarves!

Later that evening, the lovely young couple headed for a dinner with Nadal continued his argyle ways with the same scarf.

Perhaps that's a gift from Xisca?

Back to business at the BNP Paribas Masters, Nadal who is last year's runner-up finds himself in a quarter of the draw dominated by qualifiers – of the six players looking to secure a spot in the main tournament over the weekend, five are in the Majorcan's section.

Nadal will meet the surging Gael Monfils next up.

(Via Down the Line, Images by ELIOT PRESS @ BauerGriffinOnline.Celebuzz.com)

Roger Federer hands out pizza; Marat Safin delivers bagel

It was pizza all-around for ballboys and girls after Roger Federer claimed the title at the Davidoff Swiss Indoors Tournament last weekend.

However, it's a different story with two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin who is now considering retirement after a 6-0, 7-6 (4) loss to Juan Monaco in the first round of the Paris Masters yesterday.

Safin, a former top-ranked player and a three-time champion at the Paris tournament, wants a long break before making a decision.

“I don’t know what happened. Just couldn’t find my rhythm and couldn’t find the game,” the 28-year-old Russian said.

“I need to think everything through. I have no pressure and I have nothing to prove or show. I just want to be comfortable with my decision, whatever I will take.”

“I need to sit down and relax and just enjoy my life without any tennis (for) a couple of months and then I will see,” Safin said. “If I feel like I want to continue to play, I will. If not, it will be over.”

Safin won the U.S. Open in 2000 and the Australian Open in 2005. He hasn’t won a tour title since the victory in Australia.

“I’ve been struggling throughout my career with injuries left and right,” said Safin, who is ranked 31st.

“It’s a little bit uncomfortable to find yourself in the top 10 for many years and to find yourself ranked 70 and 30 and 50 … It’s not really a comfortable position.”

(Via Yahoo! Sport)