Tennis

Satisfied Tsonga beats Djokovic - Davydenko in semis

Jo-Wilfried TsongaShanghai - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga claimed his third revenge win in two months over Novak Djokovic as he produced a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 Gold group comeback to spoil the Serbs hopes for a perfect record on Thursday at the Masters Cup.

The 23-year-old Tsonga is out of consideration for a semi-final spot, but earned a moral victory over the man who beat him in the Australian Open final in January. Djokovic ended with a 2-1 mark.

ATP official defends schedule after Roddick protest

ATP official defends schedule after Roddick protestShanghai - ATP executive candidate Brad Drewitt on Thursday defended the decision to increase the 2009 player workload in exchange for more prize money after Andy Roddick charged that an over-heated schedule is leading to injuries on court.

Roddick withdrew with some frustration on Wednesday after rolling his ankle in training and handing a spot in the eight-man Masters Cup wrap-up event to alternate Radek Stepanek.

UK’s Andy Murray says he will KO Fed

London, Nov. 13: Britain’s Andy Murray has said that he aims to dump Roger Federer out of the Masters Cup in Shanghai tomorrow to get his hands on a one million pound paycheck.

The Brit faces the Swiss star in the final group game with a semi-final spot already in the bag.

Federer will be out if he loses and Murray has admitted: “I’d like to knock him out of the competition.”

Murray, 21, was quoted by The Sun as saying: “I’ll try and beat Federer. Ideally I’d like to knock him out. I’d rather not have to play him twice in one week. Any time you play Federer, probably the greatest player of all time, it is disrespectful if you don’t try to win.”

Vilas to attend Davis Cup final on site

Shanghai  - Former Argentine tennis player Guillermo Vilas plans to attend the Davis Cup final pitting Argentina against Spain next week in the Argentine city of Mar del Plata, where Vilas himself grew up.

"Yes, I am heading there," Vilas said Wednesday in Shanghai, where he was attending the Masters Cup. "I do not know when. I am returning to Buenos Aires Friday or Saturday, but I do not know when I will be arriving in Mar del Plata."

Vilas, 56, a myth of Argentine tennis, won two editions of the Australian Open, one French Open and one US Open, as well as a Masters.

ITF president: "Nadal has a very serious problem"

Rafael Nadal reigns supreme in men's tennisShanghai - World number one tennis player Rafael Nadal is suffering from serious physical problems, the president of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), Francesco Ricci Bitti, said on Wednesday.

"Nadal has a very serious problem," Ricci Bitti told a small group of media, including Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, at the Masters Cup tournament in Shanghai.

Ankle injury forces Roddick from Masters Cup

Shanghai - Andy Roddick withdrew from the Masters Cup shortly before his match on Wednesday, citing a right ankle injury he suffered during training the day before.

The American, who lost his opening match to Andy Murray, will be replaced in the Red group by Czech Radek Stepanek.

The American dropped his bombshell a few hours before he was due to take to the court against Roger Federer.

"In practise I just went over on it, we tried as much as we could to get it better," he said. "I can't really stop and start very quickly. It's anything when I go kind of over on the outside it hurts.

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