A near-flawless Juan Martin Del Potro thrashes Rafael Nadal in straight sets on Saturday in Shanghai. Del Potro will go up against Novak Djokovic for the title.
Juan Martin Del Potro once again showed how dangerous he can be against the very best in the world, when armed with a clean bill of health.
Fresh off a title in Tokyo, the oft-injured Argentine hammered Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Saturday night. Del Potro blasted 28 winners to his opponent’s 15 while needing one hour and 46 minutes to set up a showdown for the title against Novak Djokovic.
The world No. 5 came out firing right from the start and won the first four games of the match. Nadal finally got on the scoreboard with a hold for 1-4, but he missed a break-point chance in the following game and eventually watched Del Potro serve out the opener at love in the eighth game.
Break-point struggles were a big part of the story for Nadal, who failed on two opportunities in the first set and on four more in the second. As such, Del Potro’s break at 1-1 in the second proved to the final difference. Shanghai’s No. 6 seed held the rest of the way and capped off his remarkable performance with a routine hold at 5-4.
“I played so solid all the time, hitting the ball so hard,” Del Potro explained. “I saw Rafa playing very far off the baseline, which is good for my game, for my serve and confidence. That’s the way to beat this guy.”
“He played amazing,” Nadal assured. “I just congratulate him. Very few times I play against a player with a level like today. I really go home with the feeling that I didn’t play bad. That’s the thing. It is fair to say that. I am humble enough to say that I played well and I lost 6-2, 6-4.”
Del Potro improves to 4-8 lifetime against the top-ranked Spaniard. He is 3-9 against Djokovic, but Del Potro extended the Serb to five sets in a recent Wimbledon thriller and he won their Indian Wells semifinal showdown earlier this season.
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So two year’s ago Nole tells Basel they can stuff their tournament if they don’t pay his asking fee. Knowing he needs all the points he can get this year, Basel offer him a wild card (presumably without an appearance fee commensurate with his status) so Nole declines the WC rather than lose face – even though by doing so he knows he is probably saying goodbye to any chance of overtaking Rafa for the Y/E title.
#PorkChopsAtHalfPrice
666 is the magic number for rafa. Rafa needs 666 points to wrap up the no.1 ranking even if nole sweeps paris and WTF. A semi in basel (180 pts) , 3rd rnd in paris (90 pts) and two RR wins in WTF (400 points) would seal the deal. Anyone worrying over this as of now must get a check up from a good doctor
you get 200 points for an RRWTF win?
666 he needs to add , add on top of 150 of Vina Del Mar. So based on that, it should be final at Basel, not semi.
11170(Noles points) + 225 (DC)+ 990(Paris gain for Nole) – 11570 (Rafas points) = 815
815-150 (Vina Del Mar) =665.
665 needed =150 final Basel (incremental on top of 150 of Vina Del Mar) + 360 semi Paris + 1 WTF RR 200 win = 710
OR 150 final Basel (incremental on top of 150 of Vina Del Mar) + 180 qtr Paris + 2 RR matches (400) = 730.
that is correct, sanju ! thanks !
@ricky, yup ! 200 points it is
Sanju, I just recheked ! You are confusing the race with the rankings. DO NOT bring the rankings in the conversation haha…
rafa currently has 11670 race points, so a semi in basel, 3rd in paris and 2 RR wins in WTF would take him to 12340.
Nole currently has 9610 points in the race . His max payout for the remaining of the season : 1000+1500+225=2725 so that would bring his cumulative to 12335.
it is THAT simple.
#666IsTheMagicNumber
#DealAlmostSealed
#DO NOT FREAK OUT
vamosrafa.No I am not..I just madea mistake of putting 50 more in boh Noles and Rafas points, but it negates as I added for both.
11120(Noles points) + 225 (DC)+ 990(Paris gain for Nole) – 11520 (Rafas points) = 815
815-150 (Vina Del Mar) =665.
Race includes his Vina Del mar 150 points, ranking points dont
Net Net we saying the saame thing. I am saying he needs to add 665 points on top of 150 of Via Del Mar which will get counted on 28 Oct if he falls before semis in Basel.
815-150 (Vina Del Mar) =665.
.
I dont think it is right to just use RACE s it includes non countable too. It is safer to go with ranking points and add incremental based on last years results for defnding points.
got it sanju, thnx 🙂 keep the updates coming dude
for the remainder of the season*
Ricky was right, it needs a massive choke from rafa and perfection from djokovic to let the unexpected happen. Also remember that winning WTF not always yields 1500 points ! that is the max payout you get if you stay unbeaten throughout the event
vamosrafa@October 18, 2013 at 4:24 am
— a semi in basel—
If Rafa reaches the semifinals in Basel, he’ll ADD only 30 points to his race points! Reason: his 150 points from Vina del Mar will move to the ‘Non-Countable Tournaments’ section – they will be REPLACED with a better result (Basel’s 180). 180 – 150 = 30.
Currently, Rafa’s ‘SIX best results’ in the RACE TO LONDON include:
1) Monte Carlo Masters, 2013 – 600 points (a non-mandatory Masters tournament; it’s counted as one of four ATP-500 tournaments a player has to play)
2) Acapulco ATP-500, 2013 – 500 points
3) Barcelona ATP-500, 2013 – 500 points
4) Beijing ATP-500, 2013 – 300 points
5) Sao Paolo ATP-250, 2013 – 250 points
6) Vina del Mar ATP-250, 2013 – 150 points (can be replaced with a better result)
The 2013 ATP Rulebook:
“Commitment Players. The year-end Emirates ATP Rankings is based on calculating, for each player, his total points from the four (4) Grand Slams, the eight (8) mandatory ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals of the ranking period, and his best SIX (6) results from all ATP World Tour 500, ATP World Tour 250, ATP Challenger Tour and Futures tournaments.”
oh i see…thanks augusta ! still very much achievable