Sir David Gray
14-11-2008, 05:02 PM
The group stage was completed this afternoon and the placings were decided for the two semi finals tomorrow.
After two withdrawals from the original line up (Rafael Nadal prior to the tournament and Andy Roddick after one match) Gilles Simon replaced Nadal and Radek Stepanek replaced Roddick and both men played in Andy Murray's Red Group.
Novak Djokovic qualified from the Gold group by winning his first two matches against Juan Martin Del Potro (7-5 6-3) and then Nikolay Davydenko (7-6 0-6 7-5). He was already through by the time he played Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his last match. The Frenchman won 1-6 7-5 6-1 but was already out having lost his first two matches.
Nikolay Davydenko joined Djokovic in the semis. The Russian won his first match against Tsonga but then lost his next match against Djokovic. This meant that his final match against Juan Martin Del Potro was a straight play off match for the semi finals. Davydenko hammered Del Potro 6-3 6-2.
Gilles Simon caused a huge upset in the opening match of the Red Group by beating defending champion Roger Federer 4-6 6-4 6-3. In the following match Andy Murray eventually defeated American Andy Roddick 6-4 1-6 6-1. It was to prove to be Roddick's one and only match in Shanghai as he pulled out the next day due to an ankle injury and was replaced by Radek Stepanek.
In the second round of matches, Federer got his first win by beating Stepanek 7-6 6-4. Murray confirmed his place in the last four by hammering Gilles Simon 6-4 6-2.
And today that meant that if Murray beat Federer then Gilles Simon would go through to the semi finals instead of the Swiss great.
Simon played his final match first, against Stepanek and the Frenchman had no trouble winning as he won 6-1 6-4.
It all came down to the last match of the group stages as Murray took on Federer for the fourth time this year and Murray going into it with a 3-2 career head to head. The British number one also had the comfort of knowing that he was through regardless of the result.
It all started well for Federer as he took the opening set 6-4. However Murray came back in the second set and looked to be coasting it at 5-2 up. However, two bad service games allowed Federer to even it back up to 5-5. Both men held serve and it went into a tie-break which Murray controlled and eventually won to take the match into a decider.
Murray started quicker and raced into a 3-0 lead but again Federer, who had two lengthy sessions with the physio with a back problem, came back and rattled off four games in a row to lead 4-3 with a break. But back came Murray to lead 5-4.
In an incredible 10th game, which lasted for over 15 minutes, Murray squandered 7 match points as Federer desperately tried to hang on to his crown. Federer eventually took the game to level it up at 5-5. Murray held his serve to lead 6-5 and finally Federer's resistance broke as Murray eventually won 4-6 7-6 7-5. The result confirmed Murray as group winner and ensured that Roger Federer failed to make the semi finals of the Masters Cup for the first time ever as Gilles Simon takes his place in tomorrow's semi finals.
It was a fantastic advert for tennis and was one of the best matches i've seen. It said a lot about Roger Federer's character. He was clearly struggling with injury but even still he would have beaten most players with his performance today.
The semi final line up is now complete and it is as follows;
Djokovic v Simon
Murray v Davydenko
After two withdrawals from the original line up (Rafael Nadal prior to the tournament and Andy Roddick after one match) Gilles Simon replaced Nadal and Radek Stepanek replaced Roddick and both men played in Andy Murray's Red Group.
Novak Djokovic qualified from the Gold group by winning his first two matches against Juan Martin Del Potro (7-5 6-3) and then Nikolay Davydenko (7-6 0-6 7-5). He was already through by the time he played Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his last match. The Frenchman won 1-6 7-5 6-1 but was already out having lost his first two matches.
Nikolay Davydenko joined Djokovic in the semis. The Russian won his first match against Tsonga but then lost his next match against Djokovic. This meant that his final match against Juan Martin Del Potro was a straight play off match for the semi finals. Davydenko hammered Del Potro 6-3 6-2.
Gilles Simon caused a huge upset in the opening match of the Red Group by beating defending champion Roger Federer 4-6 6-4 6-3. In the following match Andy Murray eventually defeated American Andy Roddick 6-4 1-6 6-1. It was to prove to be Roddick's one and only match in Shanghai as he pulled out the next day due to an ankle injury and was replaced by Radek Stepanek.
In the second round of matches, Federer got his first win by beating Stepanek 7-6 6-4. Murray confirmed his place in the last four by hammering Gilles Simon 6-4 6-2.
And today that meant that if Murray beat Federer then Gilles Simon would go through to the semi finals instead of the Swiss great.
Simon played his final match first, against Stepanek and the Frenchman had no trouble winning as he won 6-1 6-4.
It all came down to the last match of the group stages as Murray took on Federer for the fourth time this year and Murray going into it with a 3-2 career head to head. The British number one also had the comfort of knowing that he was through regardless of the result.
It all started well for Federer as he took the opening set 6-4. However Murray came back in the second set and looked to be coasting it at 5-2 up. However, two bad service games allowed Federer to even it back up to 5-5. Both men held serve and it went into a tie-break which Murray controlled and eventually won to take the match into a decider.
Murray started quicker and raced into a 3-0 lead but again Federer, who had two lengthy sessions with the physio with a back problem, came back and rattled off four games in a row to lead 4-3 with a break. But back came Murray to lead 5-4.
In an incredible 10th game, which lasted for over 15 minutes, Murray squandered 7 match points as Federer desperately tried to hang on to his crown. Federer eventually took the game to level it up at 5-5. Murray held his serve to lead 6-5 and finally Federer's resistance broke as Murray eventually won 4-6 7-6 7-5. The result confirmed Murray as group winner and ensured that Roger Federer failed to make the semi finals of the Masters Cup for the first time ever as Gilles Simon takes his place in tomorrow's semi finals.
It was a fantastic advert for tennis and was one of the best matches i've seen. It said a lot about Roger Federer's character. He was clearly struggling with injury but even still he would have beaten most players with his performance today.
The semi final line up is now complete and it is as follows;
Djokovic v Simon
Murray v Davydenko