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Studs and Duds: Reviewing Shanghai, Linz, and Osaka

Oct 13th 2013

The eighth ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season unfolded in Shanghai last week, together with two small WTA events.  Many of the usual suspects distinguished themselves, but some less familiar faces also did.

Novak Djokovic

Studs:

Novak Djokovic:  China’s last emperor abdicated in 1911, but Djokovic might harbor imperial designs after winning his 20th straight match in that nation.  Defending his Shanghai title, he stayed within range of Rafael Nadal and retains an outside chance at regaining the No. 1 ranking at the Paris Indoors.  Djokovic’s 15th Masters 1000 title and second of 2013 came without any signature victories over other members of the ATP Big Four.  Yet he continued his dominance over the leading challengers to that group with victories over Juan Martin Del Potro and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.  After a spring and summer defined by narrow misses and painful disappointments, Djokovic looks determined to craft a more authoritative script this fall. 

Angelique Kerber:  Receiving a last-minute wildcard to Linz, not without controversy, Kerber did what she came to do there and more.  After she ate a bagel in her first set of the week, the world No. 10 lost just 10 games in her next eight sets en route to the final.  There, Kerber ended a long title drought that had extended since the spring of 2012.  All three of her titles have come indoors, an odd statistic for a counterpuncher.  Kerber’s more significant achievement had come earlier in the week, though, when the German seized the last berth in the WTA year-end championships.

One-hit major champions:  Still the only active man to have won a major but no Masters 1000 title, Juan Martin Del Potro thrust Djokovic to the brink in a sequel worthy of their epic Wimbledon semifinal.  The 2009 US Open champion has played three Masters 1000 finals, falling just a tiebreak short of victory in two of them and leading by a set and a break in the third.  The narrow margin in the final seemed to symbolize the size of the gap separating Del Potro from the elite.  His semifinal demolition of world No. 1 Rafael Nadal marked his first victory over that opponent since his 2009 peak, and a promising sign that he can return there.

Even when she struggles at other tournaments, Ana Ivanovic regularly finds consolation in Linz.  One might not expect a former Roland Garros champion to dazzle on an indoor hard court, yet the surface has witnessed all four of her titles in the last five years.  She has reached three Linz finals during that span, collecting the titles in 2008 and 2010.  Although Ivanovic finished runner-up to Kerber this time, the tournament surely can expect her to revisit a place that holds so many fond memories for her.

One might say something similar of Samantha Stosur in Osaka.  Outside the 2011 US Open, Stosur has won just four titles.  But two of them have come at this International tournament, where she mounted a run nearly as surprising as her Carlsbad victory this summer.  Amid one of her most disappointing seasons in recent years, the coach-less Stosur somehow won multiple titles in a season for the first time. 

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga:  The courts in Shanghai played faster than in previous years, and nobody benefited more from that change than Tsonga.  Rebounding from an early exit in Tokyo the week before, the Frenchman gained 360 crucial points with his first Masters 1000 semifinal on an outdoor hard court since 2011.  Tsonga vaulted from No. 11 to No. 9 in the Race, a spot that will earn him a ticket to London should he hang onto it.  He historically has fared well during the indoor hard courts of fall, such as the Paris Indoors, so rivals will find him hard to catch during the tournaments ahead.

Teenagers in Osaka:  International tournaments like this small event often give young talents the opportunity to test their wings.  En route to the first semifinal of her career, Madison Keys lost no more than five games in any of her first three matches.  During one of her second sets, in fact, she lost just three points.  Keys had shown earlier this year that she can overwhelm opponents when all components of her powerful game coalesce. 

The WTA’s top-ranked teenager, Eugenie Bouchard, marked a first of her own.  Having reached a Premier Five quarterfinal in Tokyo, Bouchard rallied from losing the first set to the pesky Barbora Zahlavova Strycova as part of a run to her maiden final in Osaka.  She can look forward to an Australian Open seed if her momentum continues in Luxembourg next week and through the offseason. 

Nicolas Almagro:  Bragging rights in his occasionally bitter rivalry with world No. 6 Tomas Berdych return to the Spaniard after an uncharacteristically clutch performance in their most recent meeting.  Well, perhaps not quite the epitome of clutch.  Almagro failed to serve out the match in a throwback to losses past, but he regrouped to pull out the decisive third-set tiebreak and reach his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal since Indian Wells 2012.  He defeated Berdych at that tournament too. 

Japanese women:  Making the most of their home-court advantage in Osaka, Kimiko Date-Krumm and wildcard Kurumi Nara slashed through a group of rising WTA stars.  While Date-Krumm defeated Laura Robson, young enough to be her daughter, Nara rewarded organizers for offering her a wildcard by dismissing Caroline Garcia and Monica Puig.  Countrywoman Misaki Doi joined her in the quarterfinals, even taking a set off Stosur there, but Nara one-upped her compatriot by outlasting Polona Hercog for her first WTA semifinal appearance.

Roger Federer

Duds:

Roger Federer:  The same tune continues to play for the 17-time major champion, gone in the third round to the talented but deeply flawed Gael Monfils.  Once able to eke out those matches against sub-elite foes, Federer has lost his killer instinct—and much of his aura—in 2013.  The loss forestalled an intriguing quarterfinal against Djokovic, whom Federer has not faced all season.  A few days later, he parted from coach Paul Annacone after a three-year partnership that included a title at Wimbledon, two titles at the World Tour Finals,

Richard Gasquet:  After Andy Murray withdrew from the World Tour Finals, Gasquet hovers on the edge between the haves and have-nots in the Race.  He would have placed himself firmly among the haves, however, if he had managed to survive a first-round match with Vasek Pospisil in Shanghai.  That wasted opportunity at a Masters 1000 event, against an opponent who had lost six of his last seven matches, could cost Gasquet dearly in the coming weeks.

Unseeded US Open quarterfinalists:  Neither Flavia Pennetta nor Daniela Hantuchova has capitalized on their surprise runs in New York, where Pennetta even reached the semifinals.  Perhaps exhausted or a bit complacent, they have compiled a 1-6 record since that fortnight.  Pennetta’s most recent loss came in Linz to a lucky loser, Vania King, who bageled her in the third set.  Her only victory came in Tokyo against—Hantuchova.

John Isner:  The top-ranked American man was fortunate to escape one dirt devil, Santiago Giraldo, in three tight sets to start the week.  Isner could not escape a second South American clay specialist, Carlos Berlocq, despite the hard court that should have favored one of the ATP’s best servers against one of the worst servers in the top 100.  He remains two different players on and off American soil. 

Julia Goerges:  There once was a time when Goerges looked likely to burst into the top 10 not long after compatriot Andrea Petkovic.  She won 74 matches in 2011-12 but has fallen off the radar this year with just 16 victories (2-11 since Wimbledon).  Outside the top 50, she should use the offseason to step back and reset a game with too many weapons to misfire so comprehensively.