The race for the three remaining places in November’s ATP World Tour Finals intensified last week with a number of contenders battling for valuable ranking points in Kuala Lumpar and Bangkok.
At the inaugural Proton Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur the top four seeds progressed to the semi-finals for only the second time in 53 tournaments on tour in 2009. With all four players – Nikolay Davydenko, Fernando Verdasco, Robin Soderling and Fernando Gonzalez – jostling for places at the tour finale in London it made for an exciting end to the tournament.
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Kuala Lumpar won a bid process against three other Asian cities to host the tournament.
Number two seed Verdasco overcame Gonzalez in straight sets and in the other semi-final top seeded Davydenko recovered from a slow start to see of Roland Garros finalist Soderling 1-6 7-6(7-1)6-2.
Davydenko had lost his last four matches to Soderling including at both this year’s French Open and US Open.
In the final Davydenko defeated Verdasco 6-4 7-5 for his third title of 2009. The 28 year-old has now won 17 of 22 career finals on the tour. The Russian has reached four Grand Slam semi-finals but is yet to feature in a major final. However, in 2008 he was runner-up to Novak Djokovic at the Masters Cup. He has qualified for the year end tournament every year since 2005
Davydenko has finished each of the last four years ranked in the top five.
Second seeded Gilles Simon claimed the title at the PTT Thailand Open at Bangkok after a 7-5 6-3 over the fourth seed Viktor Troicki. It gave the Frenchman a sixth career title in his eighth final. The 24 year-old broke into the top 10 for the first time in October 2008 and reached his first Grand Slam quarter final at this year’s Australian Open.
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Simon had been the only player in the top 10 not to have won a title in 2009.
Serbian Troicki had been looking to pick up his first tour title and served for the first set at 5-4 against Simon in the final. In the semi-finals the 23 year-old had fought back to upset the top seeded defending champion Jo-Wilfred Tsonga 1-6 6-2 6-3 in the semi-finals. Despite the loss Tsonga remains in the hunt for a place in London.
Andy Roddick did not compete last week but leads the pack for the remaining three spots to compete at the O2 arena in November.
The Bangkok doubles tournament saw former top 10 player Paradorn Srichaphan play his first tour match since March 2007 due to a wrist injury. The 30 year-old competed as a wildcard entrant in the doubles draw partnering Danai Udomchoke. To the disappointment of the home crowd the Thai pair fell in match tie-break to Michael Kohlman and Alexander Peya in their first match.
Srichaphan became the first Thai player to win an ATP title in 2002 and the first Asian born player to break into the top 10 in 2003.
WTA tour
The Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo was previously held indoors in February after the Australian Open but has been moved to September on outdoor hard courts as part of the tour’s Asian swing. The 2009 edition was won by former world number one Maria Sharapova who took the title when 7th seed Jelena Jankovic retired 2-5 down in the first set.
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Sharapova also won the Pan Pacific title in 2005 by beating Lindsay Davenport 6-1 3-6 7-6(5) in the final.
It was the 20th title of Sharapova’s and the first since her comeback from a career threatening shoulder injury. The Russian has a 30-8 match record since returning to the tour at Warsaw in May.
Sharapova owns three Grand Slam singles titles – 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open.
The 24 year-old had trailed 4-6 2-4 against Francesca Schiavone in her first match in Tokyo but was then in impressive form beating Samantha Stosur, Alisa Kleybanova, Iveta Benesova, Agnieszka Radwanska en route to her 28th career tour final.
Sharapova now leads Jankovic 5-1 in their head-to-head series. The Serb’s lone success was a 4-6 6-3 7-5 win in the 2007 Birmingham final.
For Jankovic it was a third final of 2009 having won in Marbella and Cincinnati earlier in the season. To reach the final the 24 year-old recorded wins over two players she has losing records against - Marion Bartoli and Li Na.
It was a week of upsets as all of the top 6 seeds lost their first matches. Top seed Dinara Safina let slip a 5-3 final set lead against qualifier Chang Kai-Chen in going down 6-7(5-7) 6-4 5-7. It was only a fourth main draw WTA event for the 18 year-old Chang ranked 132.
Safina has now lost four of her last six singles matches stretching back to Toronto in August.
Second seeded Venus Williams went down in two tight sets to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova; Olympic Champion Elena Dementieva fell to Kateryna Bondarenko, US Open finalist Wozniacki retired after five games against Aleksandra Wozniak and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to German qualifier Andrea Petrovic.
The tournament marked the end of Ai Sugiyama’s seventeen year professional career. Her final match came fittingly in the doubles final - the 71st of her career - where she and Daniela Hantuchova went down 4-6 2-6 to Kleybanova and Schiavone.
Sugiyama finished 13 consecutive years between 1996 and 2008 ranked in the top 40 for singles.
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The popular 34 year-old won 6 career singles titles and 38 doubles titles and reached a career high singles ranking of 8 in 2004 and became the world number one doubles player in 2000 – the first Asian player, man or woman to do so.
Sugiyama achieved one win over a reigning world number 1 when she beat Justine Henin 6-2 6-4 in round robin play at the 2003 year end championships.
Sugiyama will perhaps be remembered for her incredible streak of competing in 62 consecutive Grand Slam singles draws stretching from Wimbledon in 1994 until her final major at this year’s US Open. This is an all time record for men and women surpassing Wayne Ferreira’s previous record of 56.
ITF/ Challenger Circuit
The $100k event ITF event in Athens was held on the hard courts constructed for the 2004 Olympic Games. In her first tournament as a top 100 player British number two Elena Baltacha had a battling 3-6 7-5 7-6(7-4) win over Tashkent finalist Akgul Amanmuradova in the first round.
Baltacha now has a 32-17 win / loss record in 2009.
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Unfortunately before the 26 year-old could take the court in the second round against top seed Petra Kvitova she succumbed to a bout of food poisoning and had to withdraw. The tournament was subsequently won by former world number four Jelena Dokic.
This week on Tour
The top men and women compete at the combined ATP and WTA China Open in Beijing – an ATP 500 event for men and Premier event for the women. Rafael Nadal heads the men’s field due to the absence through injury of Roger Federer. All of the WTA top ten will be present in the women’s draw.
British number three Katie O’Brien will make her debut as a top 100 player as the third seed at this week’s $100k tournament in Tokyo.
Movers and Shakers
There are no changes in either top 10 this week.
Despite her early loss in Tokyo fourth loss in six matches Safina holds onto the number one ranking for a 25th consecutive week. She is now 10th on the all-time WTA list. But Serena Williams will have the chance to reclaim the top spot if she progresses further than the Russian in Beijing.
Number 1 ranked players in WTA history
| Steffi Graf |
377 weeks |
| Martina Navratilova |
332 weeks |
| Chris Evert |
260 weeks |
| Martina Hingis |
209 weeks |
| Monica Seles |
178 weeks |
| Justine Henin |
117 weeks |
| Lindsay Davenport |
98 weeks |
| Serena Williams |
72 weeks |
| Amelie Mauresmo |
39 weeks |
| Dinara Safina |
25 weeks |
| Tracy Austin |
21 weeks |
| Kim Clijsters |
19 weeks |
| Jelena Jankovic |
18 weeks |
| Jennifer Capriati |
17 weeks |
| Maria Sharapova |
17 weeks |
| Ana Ivanovic |
12 weeks |
| Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario |
12 weeks |
| Venus Williams |
11 weeks |
| Evonne Goolagong |
2 weeks |
Following her Tokyo victory, Sharapova moves up 10 places back into the top 20 at 15. When she returned to the tour in May the Russian was ranked 126. Having won in Athens Dokic has risen to 68; her highest ranking since October 2004.
Baltacha’s career high top 100 ranking improves by three places up to 90. Naomi Cavaday has moved past Georgie Stoop into the British top 5.
ATP rankings 05/10/2009
- 1. Roger Federer (SUI)
- 2. Rafael Nadal (ESP)
- 3. Andy Murray (GB)
- 4. Novak Djokovic (SER)
- 5. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)
- 6. Andy Roddick (US)
- 7. Jo-Wilfred Tsonga (FRA)
- 8. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
- 9. Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
- 10. Gilles Simon (FRA)
Top Brits
- 3. Andy Murray
- 196. James Ward
- 243. Alex Bogdanovic
- 247. Josh Goodall
- 308. Dan Evans
WTA rankings 05/10/2009
- 1. Dinara Safina (RUS)
- 2. Serena Williams (US)
- 3. Venus Williams (US)
- 4. Elena Dementieva (RUS)
- 5. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
- 6. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
- 7. Vera Zvonareva (RUS)
- 8. Jelena Jankovic (SER)
- 9. Victoria Azarenka (BLR)
- 10. Flavia Pennetta (ITA)
Top Brits
- 75. Anne Keothavong
- 90. Elena Baltacha
- 98. Katie O’Brien
- 143. Mel South
- 228. Naomi Cavaday