The top four doubles seeds all advanced to the semi-finals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Friday, with top-seeded duo Henri Kontinen and John Peers leading the way as they seek the title after reaching the final last year. It looked like the No. 2 doubles team in the Emirates ATP Race To London would not get the opportunity to better their result from last year when they fell behind a set and three consecutive break points to open the second set, but Kontinen and Peers rebounded to eliminate fifth-seeded Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers, 2-6, 6-3, 10-8. While the Croatian-Spanish pairing won one more point overall in the match, they were unable to overcome that lost opportunity. Kontinen and...
Roger Federer moved another step closer to earning his second Shanghai Rolex Masters title on Friday with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Richard Gasquet to advance to the semi-finals, where he will play No. 16 seed Juan Martin del Potro. "I thought it was a really good match. Some big points, important shots at the right time for both guys sometimes to stay even, and we both created chances," Federer said. "I thought we were able to keep up the level from the beginning till the very end...I enjoyed it because it was slices and topspins and angles and power and finesse. I think the match had a bit of everything." Considering the Swiss entered the match having won the...
While at times it looked as if Juan Martin del Potro was in trouble, the Argentine continued his last-ditch effort to climb the Emirates ATP Race To London standings with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Viktor Troicki, advancing to his second semi-final at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. After failing to convert on two immediate break points, del Potro would eventually drop the first set to the Serbian, who took advantage of his first and only opportunity of the set at 3-3. But del Potro quickly stormed to a 3-0 lead in the second set and would not give the advantage back, evening the match after 72 minutes. It was at 2-2 in the decider that del Potro faced a...
Rafael Nadal kept alive his hopes of clinching a 31st ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy on Friday at the Shanghai Rolex Masters in a resurgent season that could end with the Spanish superstar becoming year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for a fourth time (also 2008, 2010, 2013). The World No. 1 defeated sixth-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov for the second time in as many weeks 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3 for a place in the semi-finals against fourth seed Marin Cilic of Croatia, who has not dropped a set all week at the Qi Zhong Stadium. “It was a very tough match,” said Nadal. “I think both of us, we played at a very high level of tennis. The...
Roger Federer continued his pursuit of a second Shanghai Rolex Masters title with a straightforward 6-4, 6-2 win on Thursday evening against the lone qualifier to advance to the third round, Alexandr Dolgopolov. "I felt good in the first match, I must tell you," said Federer of his opening victory over Diego Schwartzman in which he broke on two of eight opportunities. "So I felt, I think, the same. I think maybe the matchup was maybe a bit easier and I took my chances more. Had a better ratio of winning on the break points that I didn't quite have against Schwartzman. That's maybe the biggest difference of both matches, so I'm happy I was able to do better today...