| This week all participants in the final tournaments will be determined The current week of play in world tennis should finally determine the participants in the final tournaments of the year - the men's Masters Cup with a prize fund of $3.7 million, which will take place in the middle of this month in Houston, and the women's WTA Championship with a total bonus amount of $3 million ., where the battles will begin on November 8 in Los Angeles. The last places in the coveted top eight players will be distributed at the Masters Series competitions in Paris and the second category women's tournament in Philadelphia.
Marat Safin is in sixth place in the ATP championship race with 472 points, and before the start of the fights in Paris there were theoretical concerns that, in a certain scenario, competitors might deprive him of the opportunity to go to Houston. However, after Andre Agassi and David Nalbandian refused to participate, Safin and his many fans breathed a sigh of relief. Moreover, the American and Argentine played in the finals of ATP tournaments last week, and both lost to their opponents. Agassi in Stockholm failed to cope with the owner of the court, Thomas Johansson - 6:3, 3:6, 6:7 (4:7), and Nalbandian in Basel lost to the Czech Jiri Novak in a five-set match - 7:5, 3:6, 4:6, 6:1, 2:6.
Agassi's agent notified the Paris organizers that his client's hip injury had worsened. The American was replaced in the bracket by the loser of the decisive round of qualifying, Romanians Victor Hanescu. As for Nalbandian, who could go to the Masters Cup only if he won the title in Paris, he did not indicate any reason, saying, however, that he would undergo a medical examination by the tournament doctor, Bernard Montalvan. The Argentine’s place was taken by another “lucky loser”, Italian David Sanguinetti. And finally, the third player who refused at the last moment was the Spaniard Carlos Moya. On Saturday, experiencing pain in the shoulder joint, he received medical recommendations directly in Paris to refrain from playing practice.
Thus, the ticket to Houston is already in the pocket of Roger Federer (Switzerland), Andy Roddick (USA), Lleyton Hewitt (Australia), Tim Henman (Great Britain), Moya and Safin. Guillermo Coria also scored a sufficient number of points in the championship race, but his trip to the Masters Cup is a big question mark - the Argentine has not competed since July due to injury. Agassi and Nalbandian can be overtaken by the winner of the French Open, Gaston Gaudio (Argentina). We must also not forget that according to the Masters Cup regulations, a ninth participant - an official substitute - must also arrive at the tournament venue. If Corea is unable to return to action before the end of the season, then Spaniard Tommy Robredo can apply for this position, but for this he will need to jump, as they say, over his head in Paris.
The situation in women looks more intriguing. Our Elena Dementieva, Anastasia Myskina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, world number one American Lindsay Davenport, her compatriot Serena Williams and number two in the BTA rankings Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo have completed their task of getting to Los Angeles. There are three contenders for the eighth spot - Venus Williams (2332 points in the annual classification), Jennifer Capriati (2300) and Vera Zvonareva (2291). The Russian woman must play better than her two rivals from the USA, and at the same time reach at least the quarterfinals. Late yesterday evening, Vera played against the Austrian qualifier Sybille Bammer, and if she won, she would go on to play the winner of the match between Natalie Dechy (France) and Tina Pishnik (Slovenia). If Williams Sr. prevails over her fellow countrywoman Lisa Raymond in the first round, then Zvonareva’s task will become more complicated - she will definitely have to break through to the semifinals.
Philadelphia has a serious lineup of participants, as many view this tournament as a dress rehearsal for Los Angeles. Mauresmo was seeded first, Myskina second, then Sharapova, Capriati, Williams Sr., Zvonareva, Nadezhda Petrova and the rapidly progressing Australian Alicia Molik, who won two tournaments in a row. Among the Russian participants is also Tatyana Panova. Ilya TRISVIATSKY |
|
