Shanghai concludes, Djokovic edges Del Potro in superb final, 6-1 3-6 7-6(3)

Novak Djokovic

The Novak Djokovic-Juan Martin del Potro rivalry is fast becoming THE rivalry everyone wants to watch as they slugged out out an absorbing final in Shanghai.  This is the 4th time they have played this year and 3 of those matches have been classics.  Novak Djokovic once again came out on top as he edged Juan Martin Del Potro, 6-1 3-6 7-6(3) for his 10th consecutive win in a final that lasted 2 hours and 33 minutes.  

I must say I love DelPo and he is my favourite ATP player by a mile.  He is dynamite when his game is on the money and is generally an entertaining character to watch.  I think he easily has the potential to break the top 4 and he has shown that he can beat the big players; however I don't see him as a future world number one because his consistency is not quite up there with the likes of Djokovic and Nadal... still, what a great tournament for DelPo!

It was another sensational week for Djokovic, who has suddenly burst into life and started owning the big moments of matches where he had been faltering for much of the year, particularly in the last three Slams.  The O2 is going to be really exciting and we are guaranteed a Djokovic-DelPo or Nadal-DelPo match in the round robin stages, which I will be eager to watch!

In Osaka, Eugenie Bouchard came up short in the third set as Sam Stosur claimed just her fifth title with a 3-6 7-5 6-2 victory.  This is the second time she has won at this event, which she obviously loves as she has been here every year since 2009.  I am still convinced Bouchard is the future and her remarkably improved consistency in the second half to this season has seen her deservedly push on towards the top 30.

A final note to say this was my best week of predictions all year as I correctly predicted the semi-finalists and final for Shanghai.  In fact, I managed to finish 56th out of 8447 on the ATP Fantasy Draw Prediction game, which I was pretty chuffed about! I hope you enjoyed all the previews... next week will be a bit quieter but previews to follow later tonight.