Here on my thoughts on the final masters 1000 of the year at Paris-Bercy. I didn't see a thread in the main discussions so I'm posting it here. The draw is at:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2012/352/mds.pdfIf Mr. Federer is not exhausted coming out of Basel, I think we will see him start in Paris and take it match by match has he has often said. In that case, I believe he'll get by Simon and Nishikori and don't be surprised if the draw opens up. Richard Gasquet had Berdych on a string the last time they played in Toronto and has been playing well recently.
We also don't know yet how fast Paris will be. I'll be expecting relatively faster conditions than we saw in Shanghai. Mr. Murray's section is not simple. He'll probably deal with Mathieu, but then will have either Kohlschreiber or Cilic to deal with. In best of 3 in faster conditions, either of those players is capable of upsetting Murray.
Tipsarevic's section is the weakest in the top half and is up for grabs. Monaco, Melzer, Dolgopolov and Tipsarevic. Anything can happen.
In the bottom half Tsonga should dispense with Almagro or F. Lopez. I expect Ferrer or Wawrinka to come out of the next section. In their only hard court matches, Wawrinka manhandled Ferrer in the faster Cincinnati conditions in 2012, while Ferrer had the upper hand at the same venue in 2009.
Juan Martin Del Potro should get by F. Mayer, but could have trouble with Stepanek who should upend Isner in faster conditions.
Young Raonic and Chardy have never faced each other. Anything can happen here, but I'll go with Raonic in faster conditions.
Mr. Djokovic will likely face Sam Querrey, whom Nole has handled in their previous 4 meetings. So I expect Djokovic to come through and likely face Raonic for the first time. I look forward to a most interesting match. In a best of 3, will Raonic, the best server of 2012*, be able to upset Djokovic, the best returner of 2012 (not inc. Nadal)* or will it go the other way?
*ATP Match facts - Service games won - Return games won
All this said, we can't be sure of how much the year end championship players will put into their Paris efforts, possibly jeopardizing their World Tour Finals chances starting the following day after Paris concludes. It's plainly a silly situation that will hopefully be rectified in the future.Respectfully,
masterclass