Davydenko’s “Matrix” Moves Him into Shanghai Final.

Nikolay Davydenko literally appeared to be in all corners of the court at the same time during his three hour shootout with Novak Djokovic in the Shanghai Open Masters semifinals. Eating up the quick pace of Djokovic’s shots allowed Davydenko to hit winners from varying angles causing one commentator to compare the Russian to the “matrix”.

Davydenko’s 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1) win puts him in the final against Rafael Nadal who won over Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 3-0 (retired). Lopez said he woke up that morning with a right foot infection and then twisted his ankle later on the match.

Nadal has now won two matches on retirement and should be the favorite since he has played less tennis than Davydenko. Yet the Russian has not been been beaten in the other three finals he’s been in and a win in Shanghai will put him good shape for qualifying for the ATP London finale later this year.

Shangahi Masters Preview.

Since early round play in the ATP Shanghai Masters 1000 event has kicked off, I will do a very quick preview.

Obviously the main interest will be who will qualify next for London but I think whoever wins Shanghai will get a much needed boost into 2010.

Andy Roddick just needs to win a round or two to qualify for London but that won’t be easy. His first match will either be against Lukasz Kubot who took him out in Beijing or Stanislas Wawrinka who as we all know can beat anybody or lose to anybody depending on his mood. If Roddick survives that, he could potentially face either Fernando Gonzalez or Nikolay Davydenko in the quarters and I like Roddick against either of those guys.

Novak Djokovic in his section could face Tommy Haas early and then find himself up against Gilles Simon or Marin Cilic in the quarters. But Djokovic feeds off confidence and I see him getting through his section and facing Roddick in the semis where I actually like Djokovic in that one.

Fernando Verdasco and Gael Monfils must do well in Shanghai if they want to qualify for London. They are both in Nadal’s section and I like their chances of maybe getting through to the semis as Nadal still looks shaky to me.

On the bottom draw is Juan Marin Del Potro who could face off against Jo-Wilifred Tsonga in the quarters. Del Potro should be well rested after getting bounced first round in Tokyo. Tsonga needs another strong event but I can’t seem him winning two titles back to back.

So for the semis, I’m going with Roddick/Djokovic in one and Verdasco/Del Portro in the other potentially setting up a Djokovic/Del Porto final. But of course it’s the end of the year so maybe John Isner will use his new muay thai skills to blow everybody away.

Is Cilic the “Del Potro” of 2010?

Marin Cilic Celebrates in Beijing (Getty Images)

With his impressive 6-1, 6-3 blowout of Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the China Open, Marin Cilic, who I predicted could make a run in the tourney, has found himself in the final against Novak Djokovic.

Cilic, who won two events earlier in the spring, has had an up and down year but had suddenly found his game and confidence, especially against the very elite players. This was the same guy who was down two sets to love against Jesse Levine in the second round of the U.S. Open, but then pulled that out in five sets and then went on to thump a lazy Andy Murray in the next round.

Cilic has always had the big game, but like Juan Martin Del Potro, it is more about confidence and belief. If Cilic can continue this, he could definitely find himself in the top ten or even top five by next year.

As for Nadal he can look forward to Shanghai and London to perhaps salvage his year. Strange to be saying that after he started the year winning Australia and cementing the number one ranking.

Let me know what you think.

Day 12 Schedule – Is it fixed for Serena?

I just did a quick glance at the schedule for Day 12 at the U.S. Open and had to read it twice to make sure. The very first match on Ashe at 12:30pm is the Clijsters/Serena semifinal. That is followed by the continuation of the Nadal/Gonzalez quarterfinal followed by the Wozniacki/Wickmayer semi and then the Men’s Doubles’ Final.

Is this right?

The weather forecast for tomorrow is 90% rain so it’s very likely that the only “big” match that will get played tomorrow (and televised on CBS, very important) will be Clijsters/Serena.

Interesting.

It gets more interesting when you go through the schedule and find the other women’s doubles semifinal between world number ones Black/Huber against the third seeds Stosur/Stubbs on Court 11. Yet Serena/Venus played their doubles semi today on Ashe. Why couldn’t the other women’s doubles semi get on at least the Grandstand court?

I understand that the U.S. Open will do everything it can to get every match played but it’s very obvious that the heavy hand of CBS is making sure Serena makes it to Saturday night’s primetime event. I don’t have a problem with it per se but if you look at it from Nadal’s viewpoint, he will now have to play potentially three days in a row to win the title.

What are your thoughts?

ATP Player Mug Shots

This has intrigued me for sometime but has anyone noticed on the ATP World Tour site that the majority of the player photos look like mug shots? None of the top players are smiling.

No one.

It’s interesting because when you scroll through and look at some top fifty players, some smile, some do not. Gael Monfils is all smiles. Even John Isner. But Sam Querrey? Nope. Looks like a driver’s license photo.

What’s up with this? Did the ATP tell players that they needed to look dead serious so that it looks like every man is ready to go to war with the next player ala a mixed marital arts event?

In contrast, the ladies of the WTA all have their “glamour shots” going on, all smiles and makeup.

What do you think?