Hi, folks. I had a quick opening to do a post during my exams. Since my last post, Djokovic and Murray won both their matches to make quarterfinals in Paris. That means Murray has not gained any more ground on Djokovic in the rankings since he won Vienna.
Both players had one straight-set win and one three-setter. Murray was pushed hard by Verdasco in the second round but after having two breaks points at 5-5 and 40-15 on Murray’s serve in the third set and failing to take advantage he dropped serve in the next game to lose 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-5.
Verdasco has all the talent in the world but he is mentally fragile and that cost him again against Murray. Djokovic, on the other hand, had a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win in the second round against Muller.
It was a promising start but today he was struggling again in the first set against Dimitrov. It has to be said that Dimitrov played probably his best tennis so I will give Djokovic the benefit of the doubt after coming back to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
He was playing much better in the second and third sets which hopefully bodes well for the rest of the tournament for him. As for Murray, he had a very comfortable 6-3, 6-0 victory over Pouille which was disappointing from Pouille.
But Pouille had a breakthrough year and played a lot so it is hard to criticize him.
Looking Ahead
Going into this week I wasn’t feeling very positive about Djokovic’s chances. I didn’t think he would get over his burnout until next year and although that may still be the case I feel more positive about his form after having seen him play.
Obviously, he is not just going to give up his number one ranking like that. Burned our or not, Murray now has a real shot at passing him and Djokovic’s champions mentality will kick in.
It must, or Murray will pass him. It’s till early to predict anything but there have been some promising signs for Djokovic. He plays Cilic next who won Basel last week. Obviously, Cilic is playing well but Djokovic does lead the head-to-head 14-0.
Then Murray will play Berdych who he leads 9-6. Djokovic has the harder quarterfinal but Murray has the harder semi-final because he could play the winner of Tsonga and Raonic while Djokovic could play Sock or Isner.
In the end, Djokovic and Murray are the favorites to make the final but like I said it is still hard to make any predictions. Whatever the case may be, it is fun to follow and this number one chase makes things interesting for the end of the season.
I think tomorrow is quite a big day for Djokovic. If he makes semis then I like his chances of making the final and if he makes the final he goes to London still in the lead regardless of Murray’s result in Paris.
Looking forward to some exciting tennis this weekend!
Ps. My newsletter is not currently going out(at least for some people) and I am not receiving notifications by email when I receive comments. I have no idea why and I am trying to fix it. I did reply to recent comments when I saw them in case you left one and wondered why I didn’t reply.
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