2014? How will it pan out?

Most likely Rafael Nadal will go into 2014 World No 1, with points to be freely gained at the Australian Open. After that he will have an astonishing number of points to defend other than Wimbledon. If Djokovic is resurgent and takes titles off him, that makes it very tough for Nadal, but even if Nadal loses titles and they are taken up by more people - eg Djokovic, Murray, Federer or ano, then surely his number 1 will be easier to defend. What do others think? Will Djoko be chief contender and regain number 1? Will others step forward to challenge for titles? Will Rafa weather the storm?

Things change quickly in tennis.
In the last 6 years, Federer has been invincible, Rafa has been invincible, Djoko has been invincible, now Rafa is invincible again.
Invincibility is fairly fleeting.

Yep JHK I agree. Suppose that's what keeps the game exciting.

At this respective stage of their careers, I think Nadal and Federer aren't really all that bothered about the No 1 ranking.

Federer's record will stand the test of time I think. Nadal is not going to be in the hunt for longevity at No 1 ranking, and his goal I would imagine, would be to stay healthy, rack up some more Major Singles titles; add another Australian Open perhaps, so he's at least 2 for each of the four Majors - though I don't think he's really that bothered either about WHERE those Majors fall. The end total for him would be more of a target, than which Majors.

Djokovic however, does have the potential to rack up many more weeks at No 1, though again, think he'd happily trade 52 weeks of that ranking, for a title at Roland Garros. He may end up with 3 of them, or none, who knows?

Imagine he wants to salvage some pride by beating Rafa tomorrow and I wouldn't bet against him.

2014? Australian Open - Djokovic will be my pick, even if Rafa beats him in China. Djokovic does his best work there, however in all likelihood, Rafa was a point away from winning the 2012 edition. So there's a good chance of some serious battling there. If Federer's back is up to the task, think he can mentally put 2013 behind him.

French - unless something happens with Rafa's knees, he would be the favourite again, but much might depend on the draw - as it does with the Majors.

Wimbledon - the most "open" for me of the year's Majors, excepting injuries rearing their ugly head. Djokovic and Murray as top 2, with Federer and Rafa just behind. Don't see the past 2 years' results bearing too much on Rafa's performance - his game is about belief, and with what he's done since loss to Darcis, he should be alright.

US Open - again quite open with top 3, as always there will be some "surprises" thrown in for good measure.

Whatever, it's Oct 2013, with a lot still possible in the remaining tournaments, so not much point in desperately detailed run downs of 2014's Majors.

Talatonian wrote:Most likely Rafael Nadal will go into 2014 World No 1, with points to be freely gained at the Australian Open. After that he will have an astonishing number of points to defend other than Wimbledon. If Djokovic is resurgent and takes titles off him, that makes it very tough for Nadal, but even if Nadal loses titles and they are taken up by more people - eg Djokovic, Murray, Federer or ano, then surely his number 1 will be easier to defend. What do others think? Will Djoko be chief contender and regain number 1? Will others step forward to challenge for titles? Will Rafa weather the storm?

Djokovic has the maximum number of points to defend in Australia but this is a positive thing for him as it demonstrates his ability at this particular tournament. Same goes for Nadal at tournaments he has maximum points to defend. Having lots of points to defend shouldn't be viewed as a bad thing it's just a reflection of ability. Of course in 2014 things may well be very different but in general players should go into any tournament in a better position if they have experience of winning. Maybe the best way to look at things positively instead of seeing it as players losing points is to look at the race points. Then players do nothing but win.

JuliusHMarx wrote:Things change quickly in tennis.
In the last 6 years, Federer has been invincible, Rafa has been invincible, Djoko has been invincible, now Rafa is invincible again.
Invincibility is fairly fleeting.

Arguably, in the last 6 years Rafa would have been year end number 1 for 5 of them but for injury. Only 2011 Djokovic has actually had the better of him. I don't like his tennis and, of all the top players, he's the one I have most question marks about. However, but for those injuries, he would probably already have more YE1s than Federer.

Not looking further than Djoko and Rafa for the top two positions (not necessarily in that order) and Murray probably third. Not really expecting Rog to be a top four guy, although who would really be surprised if he had another resurgence?
 Ferrer still seems to be going strong and of the "youngsters" probably Raonic has the best chance of a top four or top five finish. Delpo, like in 2012, is finishing strongly. But u always worry about injuries with him.
  The Nole-Rafa rivalry looks set for more matches in 2014. Think this (2014) will be Rog's last season. Yet, if he does well, who knows?

Born Slippy wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:Things change quickly in tennis.
In the last 6 years, Federer has been invincible, Rafa has been invincible, Djoko has been invincible, now Rafa is invincible again.
Invincibility is fairly fleeting.

Arguably, in the last 6 years Rafa would have been year end number 1 for 5 of them but for injury. Only 2011 Djokovic has actually had the better of him. I don't like his tennis and, of all the top players, he's the one I have most question marks about. However, but for those injuries, he would probably already have more YE1s than Federer.

Of course, other players don't get injured
tbh Born, in the realm of what ifs, I still have Sampras as YE 1 - arguably if he hadn't got old, he would still be there.
If Djoko had discovered gluten-free earlier, if Murray had hired Lendl earlier, if Fed didn't have a persistently bad back from a young age, if JMDP hadn't needed a year out with his wrist, if Soderling hadn't got mono....

If's but's and and's...

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Born Slippy wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:Things change quickly in tennis.
In the last 6 years, Federer has been invincible, Rafa has been invincible, Djoko has been invincible, now Rafa is invincible again.
Invincibility is fairly fleeting.

Arguably, in the last 6 years Rafa would have been year end number 1 for 5 of them but for injury. Only 2011 Djokovic has actually had the better of him. I don't like his tennis and, of all the top players, he's the one I have most question marks about. However, but for those injuries, he would probably already have more YE1s than Federer.

Of course, other players don't get injured
tbh Born, in the realm of what ifs, I still have Sampras as YE 1 - arguably if he hadn't got old, he would still be there.
If Djoko had discovered gluten-free earlier, if Murray had hired Lendl earlier, if Fed didn't have a persistently bad back from a young age, if JMDP hadn't needed a year out with his wrist, if Soderling hadn't got mono....

Hardly sensible comparisons really. My point was that in every year bar 2011 no-one can say that they were better than Rafa. He has been the best player every time he has been fit.

If Im to understand what Rafa said in his last presser ... the fact of being No.1. doesn´t mean that much.. its a number.. what he has achieved to reach that point again in his career since his comeback is what he is most proud of.

If Rafa can continue such strong form on hard courts, and at least match Djokovic in the hard court head to head, while doing his usual on clay, he should be 1.

If Djokovic can put together another hard court winning streak against Rafa, he should be 1.

Murray is definately in there as well. If he wins the Australian Open it becomes a 3-horse race, but if Rafa wins it Murray is probably locked out of the race until towards end of 14.

Also a small chance someone else can be 1 in 2014. The unexpected can happen in sport, you never know.

Born Slippy wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Born Slippy wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:Things change quickly in tennis.
In the last 6 years, Federer has been invincible, Rafa has been invincible, Djoko has been invincible, now Rafa is invincible again.
Invincibility is fairly fleeting.

Arguably, in the last 6 years Rafa would have been year end number 1 for 5 of them but for injury. Only 2011 Djokovic has actually had the better of him. I don't like his tennis and, of all the top players, he's the one I have most question marks about. However, but for those injuries, he would probably already have more YE1s than Federer.

Of course, other players don't get injured
tbh Born, in the realm of what ifs, I still have Sampras as YE 1 - arguably if he hadn't got old, he would still be there.
If Djoko had discovered gluten-free earlier, if Murray had hired Lendl earlier, if Fed didn't have a persistently bad back from a young age, if JMDP hadn't needed a year out with his wrist, if Soderling hadn't got mono....

Hardly sensible comparisons really. My point was that in every year bar 2011 no-one can say that they were better than Rafa. He has been the best player every time he has been fit.

But it's hardly sensible to assume he would have finished e.g. 2012 as YE No 1 if he had been fit. Too many unknowns. An if he'd stayed fit, but just lost out as YE No 1 to, say, Djoko, then that might have knocked his confidence a bit, plus he would have been more tired for 2013, and Djoko might have ended up YE No. 1 this year.
Too many unknowns to make a sensible prediction.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Born Slippy wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Born Slippy wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:Things change quickly in tennis.
In the last 6 years, Federer has been invincible, Rafa has been invincible, Djoko has been invincible, now Rafa is invincible again.
Invincibility is fairly fleeting.

Arguably, in the last 6 years Rafa would have been year end number 1 for 5 of them but for injury. Only 2011 Djokovic has actually had the better of him. I don't like his tennis and, of all the top players, he's the one I have most question marks about. However, but for those injuries, he would probably already have more YE1s than Federer.

Of course, other players don't get injured
tbh Born, in the realm of what ifs, I still have Sampras as YE 1 - arguably if he hadn't got old, he would still be there.
If Djoko had discovered gluten-free earlier, if Murray had hired Lendl earlier, if Fed didn't have a persistently bad back from a young age, if JMDP hadn't needed a year out with his wrist, if Soderling hadn't got mono....

Hardly sensible comparisons really. My point was that in every year bar 2011 no-one can say that they were better than Rafa. He has been the best player every time he has been fit.

But it's hardly sensible to assume he would have finished e.g. 2012 as YE No 1 if he had been fit. Too many unknowns. An if he'd stayed fit, but just lost out as YE No 1 to, say, Djoko, then that might have knocked his confidence a bit, plus he would have been more tired for 2013, and Djoko might have ended up YE No. 1 this year.
Too many unknowns to make a sensible prediction.

Ifs and buts?...I have always had a theory that if Nadal had faced Djokovic in the 2011 FO final then Nadal could have won. I know this goes against the general consensus but it is Nadal's best surface and over 5 sets IMO he would have had a good chance of getting a win. With a slam win over Djokovic at the FO facing him at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2011 and the AO in 2012 Nadal might not have been quite as spooked and things could have turned out very differently... Maybe Djokovic got lucky losing to Fed in that FO semi?

djokovic could even regain number 1 in paris

hawkeye wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Born Slippy wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Born Slippy wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:Things change quickly in tennis.
In the last 6 years, Federer has been invincible, Rafa has been invincible, Djoko has been invincible, now Rafa is invincible again.
Invincibility is fairly fleeting.

Arguably, in the last 6 years Rafa would have been year end number 1 for 5 of them but for injury. Only 2011 Djokovic has actually had the better of him. I don't like his tennis and, of all the top players, he's the one I have most question marks about. However, but for those injuries, he would probably already have more YE1s than Federer.

Of course, other players don't get injured
tbh Born, in the realm of what ifs, I still have Sampras as YE 1 - arguably if he hadn't got old, he would still be there.
If Djoko had discovered gluten-free earlier, if Murray had hired Lendl earlier, if Fed didn't have a persistently bad back from a young age, if JMDP hadn't needed a year out with his wrist, if Soderling hadn't got mono....

Hardly sensible comparisons really. My point was that in every year bar 2011 no-one can say that they were better than Rafa. He has been the best player every time he has been fit.

But it's hardly sensible to assume he would have finished e.g. 2012 as YE No 1 if he had been fit. Too many unknowns. An if he'd stayed fit, but just lost out as YE No 1 to, say, Djoko, then that might have knocked his confidence a bit, plus he would have been more tired for 2013, and Djoko might have ended up YE No. 1 this year.
Too many unknowns to make a sensible prediction.

Ifs and buts?...I have always had a theory that if Nadal had faced Djokovic in the 2011 FO final then Nadal could have won. I know this goes against the general consensus but it is Nadal's best surface and over 5 sets IMO he would have had a good chance of getting a win. With a slam win over Djokovic at the FO facing him at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2011 and the AO in 2012 Nadal might not have been quite as spooked and things could have turned out very differently... Maybe Djokovic got lucky losing to Fed in that FO semi?

Thank you for reinforcing my point - that guesswork is just that

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Born Slippy wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Born Slippy wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:Things change quickly in tennis.
In the last 6 years, Federer has been invincible, Rafa has been invincible, Djoko has been invincible, now Rafa is invincible again.
Invincibility is fairly fleeting.

Arguably, in the last 6 years Rafa would have been year end number 1 for 5 of them but for injury. Only 2011 Djokovic has actually had the better of him. I don't like his tennis and, of all the top players, he's the one I have most question marks about. However, but for those injuries, he would probably already have more YE1s than Federer.

Of course, other players don't get injured
tbh Born, in the realm of what ifs, I still have Sampras as YE 1 - arguably if he hadn't got old, he would still be there.
If Djoko had discovered gluten-free earlier, if Murray had hired Lendl earlier, if Fed didn't have a persistently bad back from a young age, if JMDP hadn't needed a year out with his wrist, if Soderling hadn't got mono....

Hardly sensible comparisons really. My point was that in every year bar 2011 no-one can say that they were better than Rafa. He has been the best player every time he has been fit.

But it's hardly sensible to assume he would have finished e.g. 2012 as YE No 1 if he had been fit. Too many unknowns. An if he'd stayed fit, but just lost out as YE No 1 to, say, Djoko, then that might have knocked his confidence a bit, plus he would have been more tired for 2013, and Djoko might have ended up YE No. 1 this year.
Too many unknowns to make a sensible prediction.

Its obviously subjective. That's why I used the words "arguably" and "probably". Of the two i would say 2012 is the more debatable. 2009 Nadal was the only one of the top 4 actually playing well before he was sadly injured. Being so unlucky with injury that year may well have cost him two slams.

"May well have" - no
"Could have" - maybe, who knows
"Not really relevant to what actually happened" - yes

Sigh, you can't say "may well have - no" because its clearly a subjective statement. However, I would say its a fair opinion to suggest that, had he been fit, the guy who won the previous 4 and the next four French Opens and the Wimbledon before and after may well have won them that year as well, particularly given how they actually worked out.

Born Slippy I see what you are saying, but 2010 I would have loved to have seen what would have happened if Del Potro had not got injured, he finished 09 so strongly I think he would have been number 1 at some point that year in my opinion, which could have altered Nadals year.

Like Julius says we will just never know, Federer has been injured a lot more than he lets on, but because of his style I think he can play on with it more so than Rafa can.

What if Federer had not got mono? think how bad is losses were at the start of 08 in Indian Wells, Miami, Rome some were just plain bizarre, (Stepanek on clay!) had he won more points there, Rafa may not have caught him in even 08.

Born Slippy wrote:Sigh, you can't say "may well have - no" because its clearly a subjective statement.

You said 'may well have' i.e. 'yes, he may well have'. We're both being equally subjective. Am I not allowed to disagree with you without you sighing?

CAS wrote:Born Slippy I see what you are saying, but 2010 I would have loved to have seen what would have happened if Del Potro had not got injured, he finished 09 so strongly I think he would have been number 1 at some point that year in my opinion, which could have altered Nadals year.

Like Julius says we will just never know, Federer has been injured a lot more than he lets on, but because of his style I think he can play on with it more so than Rafa can.

What if Federer had not got mono? think how bad is losses were at the start of 08 in Indian Wells, Miami, Rome some were just plain bizarre, (Stepanek on clay!) had he won more points there, Rafa may not have caught him in even 08.

Nice post.

My personal view is that Del Potro benefitted from a perfect storm at US 09. Neither Nadal or Murray were fully fit, Djokovic was in awful form and Federer played, in my view, the worst slam final of his career. I don't think Del Potro would have been any more of a threat in 2010 than he has been over the last couple of years. He simply doesn't quite have as complete a game as the top 4.

As for 2008, I have to say I don't have huge interest in Fed's mono. In my view, he started to lose a bit of focus in 2007 - Volandri, Canas? and that continued during 2008 and 2009. It was only when he re-focused in 2010 that we were lucky enough to see three more years of Fed near his very best (albeit slightly less consistent).

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Born Slippy wrote:Sigh, you can't say "may well have - no" because its clearly a subjective statement.

You said 'may well have' i.e. 'yes, he may well have'. We're both being equally subjective. Am I not allowed to disagree with you without you sighing?

Whilst I don't really want to get into language semantics, "no" is a certain term, whereas "I disagree" would be an entirely reasonable response to my opinion.

Yeah its all opinions at the end of the day, I for one am reluctant to say Rafa will be the best again next year, you just never know. When Federer won 2010 Aus Open I don't think anyone would have predicted he wouldn't win a slam for 2 and a half years after that. After 2010 I would never have thought Rafa would be dominated by Novak the following year.

McEnroes never winning a slam after '84 etc, If Rafa doesn't win the Aus Open next year he will be 28 by the time the French Open comes around pretty much, all of a sudden winning 4 slams after he is 28 looks tough, might be lucky he unlike Federer doesn't have a young generation coming after him.

Ironically, all the people who said Federer had it easy early on in his career, Rafa, Novak and Andy may have it easy after their peak with no one threatening their dominance.

everybody takes for granted nadal will end up as number 1 this year. so I have a question. year end ranking is before or after WTF?

nadal os 1160 and djokovic is 1120, this is just 40 points.
now in shanghai nadal sill add points, and djokovic has to win it not to lose points. but even so, after that nadal has basel and after that it comes paris and nole can gain 990 points there too.

so if by the time paris comes, nadal has not widened his advantage in more than 900 points, nole could catch him again

is this difficult? to is if nadal makes long runs in shanghai basel and paris...but who knows

I thought the same Naxroy, but Novak will have a problem as he if he tries to win Paris which ends a day before WTF he could risk his chances in London through being tired and he has 1500 points to defend there. For Novak to stay number 1 he will have to IMO win Shanghai, Paris and WTFs and even then hope Nadal doesn't do much in those tournaments either, a herculean performance is needed and Rafa to take his eye off the ball

Sigh!

Easier to think of the ranking in YTD terms.

Rafa is currently 2700 points ahead of Novak.

If Novak wins Shangai, Paris and WTF, he earns 3,500 points. I think he can also get about 150(?) points from Davis cup too.

So, even if Novak sweeps the board between now and the end of the season, about 900 points will see Rafa home.

Making the SF at Shanghai, the F at Basel and two round robin wins at WTF will be enough.

So mathematically Novak can still be YE#1 but in reality it is extremely unlikely.

My expectations are for more of the same for 2014, same people fighting it out for the big prizes and same players chasing no.1. Of course there are some assumptions in there, like Murray's op having cleared his back issue and Rafa's knees holding firm.

AO - 3 horse race, Novak favourite.
FO - 2 horse race, Nadal favourite.
W - 4 horse race, tough to pick favourite. Maybe Murray.
US - no favourite, very open.

I expect Rafa and Novak to be battling it out for number 1 as they are the only ones that really produce week after week. Maybe Murray will do better in the masters and other tournies if his back is better, but with his clay form he'd still lag behind anyway.

Some outside bets for the season:

Jerzy to make a slam final.
Dan Evans to make top 50.
Murray to reach a clay final.
Wawrinka to make top 5.
British woman to win Wimbledon.
Sabine Lisicki to call me and ask me out.

I can't decide which is the longest shot - Lisicki asking you out or Andy making a clay final! 

Another outside bet - Del Potro to win a Masters event.

Yeah the big question for me is how fit Rafa and Andy will be next year. Personally, I think Rafa is favourite for Oz - whilst Djokovic has won there several times, in a match up with Rafa I think it suits him less than FM.

Agree RG is a two horse race unless Del Potro can really kick on.

Wimbledon for me is the most open. Nadal and Djokovic are weaker there and players like Raonic and Janowicz come more strongly into the thinking. Murray, if fit, has to be favourite though.

US Open similar position to Oz, except I'd currently put Djokovic and Murray just ahead of Nadal. Hard to see them both playing as badly again and Rafa being quite so strong.

HM Murdoch wrote:I can't decide which is the longest shot - Lisicki asking you out or Andy making a clay final! 

Another outside bet - Del Potro to win a Masters event.

Frankly, I'm insulted. I think right at this very moment Sabine is wishing a dark haired, handsome, intelligent, good humoured, well built Brummie would take her out and show her the bright lights of Birmingham.

That man won't be available, but I have dark hair!

Just outside Smethwick? Now that's the place to be

HM Murdoch wrote:Easier to think of the ranking in YTD terms.

Rafa is currently 2700 points ahead of Novak.

If Novak wins Shangai, Paris and WTF, he earns 3,500 points. I think he can also get about 150(?) points from Davis cup too.

So, even if Novak sweeps the board between now and the end of the season, about 900 points will see Rafa home.

Making the SF at Shanghai, the F at Basel and two round robin wins at WTF will be enough.

So mathematically Novak can still be YE#1 but in reality it is extremely unlikely.

YES, ITS MOST PROBABLE that nadal will end up as number 1 in december
but I wouldnt find it strange if nole retakes number 1 for a week after paris (if nadal does fail from now on)

I would find it very strange if Novak took number 1 for a week after Paris.

He's 2700 points behind and the most he can win between now and the end of Paris is 2000 points.

My recollection is that WTF points from the previous year come off before the tournament starts. Assuming that's right, there is no chance of Novak overtaking Nadal after Paris.

HM Murdoch wrote:I would find it very strange if Novak took number 1 for a week after Paris.

He's 2700 points behind and the most he can win between now and the end of Paris is 2000 points.

mmm interesting
its true nole is 2700 points behind in the race. and he is only playing shanghai and paris before wtf. so that is 2000.
from that point of view, it is impossible.

but in the rankings he is just 40 points behind.
imagine nole wins and nadal loses in second rond of shanghai (isner) he gets just 45 points, and leads just for 85 points

imagine nadal wins basel, 500 points. he leads with 585 points

if nole wins paris he earns 990 points, so if nadal loses in semifinals (360 points), nole would surpass him by 45 points (and in my scenario nadal wins basel and makes semis in paris which is not bad at all comparing to nadal´s usual late year performance)

as I see it and despite my previous posts nadal will keep the number 1 till the 19th of may. after rome. this means 34 more weeks

Naxroy - as stated in my previous post Novak will drop 1,500 points from last year's WTF at the end of Paris. Consequently, in your scenario, rather than Novak leading by 45 points at the end of Paris, Rafa would in fact lead by 1455 points.

then it is indeed impossible that nole regains number one before march

Not quite impossible but highly unlikely. Novak could take a wild card to Basel or Valencia. If he did that and won every event from now until the end of the WTF then Rafa would need a reasonable finish to the season to fend him off.

If Murray comes back 99% 'back fit' as opposed to the 90% it's obviously been this spring / summer (at times) then he could will be a joint favourite (with Rafa and Novak) for the three non dirt majors

It's a big 'if' though, back surgery is notoriously varied in its success

Born Slippy wrote:Not quite impossible but highly unlikely. Novak could take a wild card to Basel or Valencia. If he did that and won every event from now until the end of the WTF then Rafa would need a reasonable finish to the season to fend him off.

Under the hypothetical scenario where Novak wins Shanghai and Rafa gets knocked out early, Novak could really put the cat amongst the pigeons by doing this.

Let's say Rafa picks up 90 points from Shanghai, his lead will be 130 points.

Novak then enters Basel and beats Rafa in the final. This puts Novak back in the lead by 70 points!

So although Rafa will return to number 1 at the start of WTF when Novak's 1500 pts for that come off, in effect the Year End #1 pretty much comes down to who wins the most points over Paris and WTF!

what news do you have of nole playing basel?

nadal defends 0 points untill february
nole defends 4500 in that same period

from then on, it will be difficult for nadal to keep the number 1 spot. first he has to defend 900 points from his south american tour, but nole defends 500 in dubai. so probably their diference will move in no more than 500 points between the two. after that despite winning IW he didnt go to miami, so he can manage to defend those 1000 points with good runs in both tournaments even if he doesnt win either.. then comes montecarlo in which nole defends more points than nadal, and then barcelona. (easy win for nadal if he plays it)
seeing this, my bet is he manages to defend his number 1 at least till madrid open and this is may

if nole stays close to nadal from now on. this means, defending most of his points untill IW and winning paris too, he will surpass nadal in madrid, and from then on, he could go unreachable for the rest of the season, as I doubt nadal will repeat his august-september success. nadal only chance of keeping his number 1 further than april is if nole doesnt win everything nadal fails to defend, this is, if murray, federer, berdych, del potro... share success with nole and nadal

naxroy wrote:what news do you have of nole playing basel?

He probably won't. It doesn't make scheduling sense. The better question is surely whether a player with dodgy knees should be playing Basel, Paris and the WTF. I personally doubt he will do so. I suspect Paris may fall by the wayside if Rafa does well in Basel.

yes, actually only 3 times in the last 9 years he played both of october masters

I am almost sure nadal wont play paris

Depends how it goes I think. If Nole is within striking distance (ie. Nole wins Shanghai and Rafa doesn't win Basel) then I think Rafa will risk playing Paris. Getting YE1 must be a big target.

basel - paris - wtf

3 weeks in a row. mistake