The penultimate Masters 1000 event of the 2012 ATP season is well underway and the standard has been high so far despite the absence of top players such as Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer and Juan Martin Del Potro. Although the year is coming to an end there is still plenty to play for as players battle it out for the final four spots on the plane to London for the ATP World Tour Finals. Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Nadal have already booked their places and now the dram starts as players have got just a few weeks to make up enough points to qualify. So here is a look at Wednesday's order of play.
Starting with the Stadium Court and an interesting clash between fourth seed Tomas Berdych and dangerous Italian Andreas Seppi. Berdych was sensational at times at the US Open but in the semi final he couldn't cope sufficiently with the strong winds. The Czech star has really impressed me this year and has proven he can play with the very best and I am expecting him to make a huge impact in 2013. He was disappointing in the Summer with poor performances at Wimbledon and the Olympics but he picked it up at the US Open and I think he will want to finish the year with a flourish especially at the bigger events. He lost to Kei Nishikori last week but I would put that down to a lack of game time since early September. This week he will go deep, starting with a straight sets win over Seppi.
Novak Djokovic faces the tricky Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in his opening match. Djokovic is another who was playing sensational tennis in New York but then failed to cope with the conditions in the final. Last week he was back to his usual brilliant best and picked up what must be a confidence boosting title in Beijing. Dimitrov has shown this season that he has got real potential and I think he might be capable of getting into the top fifteen at least next season. Djokovic is playing some great tennis however, and it's hard to see anybody outside of the top players beating him. Seppi is capable of disrupting the Serb but Djokovic will get through in straight sets.
Next on court is third seed Andy Murray as he looks to recover from his tough semi final loss in Tokyo to Milos Raonic when he faces Florian Mayer. Mayer overcame Bernard Tomic in impressive fashion yesterday and will relish the prospect of playing Murray. The Scot is playing with real confidence recently though and he will be looking to close the gap on Djokovic and Federer at the top of the rankings before Nadal makes his return to the tour. I expect Mayer to come out firing but Murray will wear him down and eventually take over in possibly three sets.
The final match on the Stadium Court sees qualifier Yen Hsun Lu face Roger Federer in their second round clash. Lu is capable of playing great tennis but consistency is a major problem for the Taipei man. I'm not sure how much he can hurt Federer even if he does play near his best with the Swiss star proving this year that he still has what it takes to win the biggest events on the tour. The battle for number one is really heating up and Federer must produce some good results this week to stay ahead of Djokovic who has made it clear he wants the top spot back. Those good results start tomorrow with a comfortable win over Lu.
The Grandstand Court will have four competitive matches on it with the fifth and sixth seeds in action. First up is the resurgent Sam Querrey who faces the fourteenth seed Kei Nishikori. Nishikori became the first Japanese winner of the Tokyo Open last weekend and will look to carry on that form to the end of the season. He has had a great season and the indoor swing usually brings out the best of him. Querrey has really hit back this season after run of tough injuries disrupted him but I think he could be found lacking in fitness for the last few weeks of the season after playing twenty five tournaments already this season. Nishikori is playing very good tennis right now and he will win this one in three.
The next match sees Jo-Wilfried Tsonga face Benoit Paire in what should be a comfortable match for Tsonga. He currently occupies the final qualifying spot for the race to London and Paire won't disrupt him. Tsonga reached the final last week in Beijing before losing to Djokovic and he shouldn't be far away from the weekend in this event. The next match sees another Frenchman looking to make the year end championships. Richard Gasquet takes on Radek Stepanek looking to add to the title he won in Bangkok a few weeks ago. Last week he was very disappointing losing early but he should be more focused this week and I would expect him to keep himself in the hunt for London with a strong showing this week. The final match on this court should be a straight forward win for Serbian Janko Tipsarevic against countryman Victor Troicki. Tipsy is currently just outside the top eight but has been consistently making the final stages of tournaments recently and he will be well in contention for a spot right up until the final event in Paris.
If I could buy a ticket to one court tomorrow it would be Court Three. First up is the fascinating match between Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis and Milos Raonic. The Canadian scored a sensational win over Andy Murray last week. This guy has got an incredible mentality for such a young player. He fought back from a break down in the final set and held his nerve to win it in a tie breaker. He lost to a strong performance from Nishikori in the final but it was a huge step in the right direction for him to beat Murray. Baghdatis will cause him trouble but I think he might have a strong week here as he aims towards London and that must start with a win tomorrow. Serve will be key and I think Raonic will come through in two close sets. The next match is between two exciting players. Aleksandr Dolgopolov and Gilles Simon do battle tomorrow in what should be a great spectacle and I would expect to see plenty of long rallies between the pair. Simon is the more consistent player and he has played well at this stage of the season before so he must be the favourite. Dolgopolov can be brilliant but he has been too inconsistent this season. I would give Simon a slight nod to win in three sets.
The final match on this court is between two fantastic tennis players who have given so much to the game in their long careers. Tommy Robredo and Tommy Haas may be both at the wrong side of thirty but both are still very much major players in the game. Robredo has made a steady return this season after a long injury lay off and if he avoids injury he will have a solid season next year. Haas made a sensational return to the game this season. The injuries this man has had would have retired any other man but Haas not only still plays, he still wins. Haas was really disappointed with his loss in the first round at the US Open but he will be hoping for a strong showing here after impressively beating Nicolas Almagro in the first round. I think Haas will come through this one in three sets and keep alive his feint hopes of making it to London.
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