Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai Gets Terrific Opening
© Getty Images By Sandra Harwitt
It is bound to feel like déjà vu when this year’s Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai picks up where it left off last year with world No. 1 Roger Federer facing defending champion David Nalbandian in the opening match of the tournament.
As tennis fans around the world will remember, last year’s final was a nail-biter with Nalbandian playing the upset king, taking a 6-7 (4-7), 6-7 (11-13), 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) surprising win over Federer. Now Federer will have a chance to avenge that loss in the opening match of the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup.
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But before taking a look at the opening day of matches, let’s pay tribute to the magnificent host city and site for the always exciting year-end Tennis Masters Cup.
Shanghai is the perfect location for cutting edge 21st Century tennis because it is without a doubt a cosmopolitan and financial Asian pearl. From the astounding modern architecture that presents one of the most illustrious skylines in the world to famed Yu Yuan Garden and The Bund, a strikingly elegant area of 52 buildings lining the waterfront, Shanghai is a visitor’s delight.
And the eight players that have been fortunate to make this year’s Tennis Masters Cup – Roger Federer, Ivan Ljubicic, Andy Roddick and David Nalbandian in the Red Group, and Rafael Nadal, Nikolay Davydenko, Tommy Robredo, and James Blake for the Gold Group – will all be enjoying Shanghai as well as the tennis. One would imagine that even though tennis is on the player’s minds, they won’t be able to escape taking part in a little of Shanghai’s famed nightlife either.
But tennis is why they are here and they will all be giving their best as they play for a share of the $3.7 million of prize money at the beautiful Qi Zhong tennis stadium. Certainly an architectural wonder when it comes to tennis stadiums, the design is representative of the magnolia flower, the flower of Shanghai. The roofs eight petals are actually a high-tech retractable roof that can open and close in just 8 minutes. And the stadium offers choice seats for all 15,000 fans it can hold.
© Getty Images Fans on the first day will relish in the opportunity to see Federer and Nalbandian start this year’s event with a rematch of last year’s final.
The two are definitely no strangers as they grew up playing in the juniors together and have often encountered each other on the ATP tour. While Federer holds a slim 7-6 career edge over Nalbandian, Federer has already had revenge over his loss here last year in beating the Argentine on all three occasions they’ve played this year, including when an injured Nalbandian abandoned their Roland Garros semifinal date in the third set.
Once again, Federer has been an omnipresent force in 2006, similar to how he’s been the past few years. The Swiss sensation comes into the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai winning 11 titles, including victories at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Masters Series events in Indian Wells, Miami, Canada and Madrid. And it would be foolish not to take note of his incredible 87-5 win-loss record heading into this final week of the year.
But Federer never takes any opponent lightly and he’s not about to do so with Nalbandian, who he knows is always a pugnacious foe to fend off. Nalbandian hasn’t had a year as fabulous as Federer’s year – no one has that kind of luck – but he has put together a solid season with a tournament victory in Estoril and a 41-16 win-loss record. The Argentine is the type of competitor who always walks on the court with a strong belief he has the goods to beat any colleague he meets.
After the opening battle ends – give Federer the high five on this opportunity to avenge his loss from last year – fans will enjoy a match between Andy Roddick and Ivan Ljubicic.
Roddick has picked up the pace this summer when he hooked up with the legendary Jimmy Connors as is coach. While Connors is not traveling full-time with Roddick, there is good news for fans in Shanghai, who will be able to spot the former great sitting in Roddick’s corner this week as he tries to lead the American to the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai title.
Roddick had gone ten months without a title when he reeled in the Masters Series-Cincinnati trophy this past August. Just a few weeks later, Roddick reached the final of the U.S. Open, a title he won in 2003. Roddick was on a rocky road up until the U.S. hard court summer, but he had a daunting 18-2 record during those couple of months.
While Roddick holds a 5-3 winning edge over Ljubicic, the Croat has won their last two meetings -- the Davis Cup first round and at the Paris Indoors tournament in 2005. Ljubicic is a sturdy and solid competitor to Roddick’s power serving, but somewhat erratic style, which is bound to make for a fan-friendly match.
© Getty Images In Sunday’s doubles action, Bob and Mike Bryan, the world’s best doubles team, take on Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, who won four titles this year and are the first Israelis to reach the Tennis Masters Cup ranks. The Bryans are the force behind the recent Doubles Revolution and completed a career Grand Slam this season when they won their first Wimbledon title in July.
In the second doubles match on Sunday, the new pairing of Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett, who reeled in three titles this season, will face Martin Damm and Leander Paes. Veterans to the doubles game, Damm and Paes won their first grand slam title together at the Australian Open this year, which was the first grand slam they played together.
The good news is that Sunday is action-packed day on the courts at the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai. And the better news is that every day this week is guaranteed to be an action-packed day on the courts as we await the verdict on who will be the year-end Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai champions.
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