The final ATP Masters 1000 event is over. The faster and slicker court at Palais Omnisports in Bercy produced some stunning upsets and great matches were on display, which includes the drama. Now that players a left Paris by displaying great tennis, they are heading into London for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, the conclusion of ATP 2010 season.
With the absence of Rafael Nadal, defending champion and No.2 seed Novak Djokovic was on the course of strong showing in Bercy after he failed to defend his title in Basel. But the No.2 seed wasn't able to sustain such kind of performance in Basel as he was stunned by local talent Michael Llodra in front of his home supporters.
Having said that, the BNP Paribas Masters title was handled by different hands since 1972. Only Arthur Ashe able to defend the Paris title, winning it in back-to-back years, 1970-1971. Former world No.1s, Boris Becker and Marat Safin won this event three times. Did I predicted it right? My pick for BNP Paribas Masters Champion.
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| Robin Soderling 2010 BNP Paribas Masters Champion |
Llodra's fairytale run in this event was abruptly ended by Robin Soderling in a semifinal drama. Soderling saved three match points to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 final and a chance to win his first ATP Masters 1000 title with a scoreline 6-7(7-0)|7-5|7-6(8-6). After his stunning win against Djokovic, Llodra fights back from 1-4 deficit but still failed to capitalize the comeback until third set tiebreaker.
World No.2 and top seed Roger Federer was on a mission of improving his performance in Bercy after three quarterfinal finishes. The BNP Paribas Masters is the only ATP Masters 1000 event where Federer hasn't reached the final. He entered this event riding with 13-match winning streak. By defeating Radek Stepanek in third round, Federer has won 15 of the past 16 matches.
Trying to become the first man to reach the final in nine ATP Masters 1000 event since Andre Agassi, Federer is also bidding to tie Nadal's record of 18 ATP Masters 1000 shield. By reaching semifinal, Federer holds 16-1 win-loss record. But unfortunately, Federer's mission was come to an end when his streak was suddenly halted by another local hopeful Gael Monfils in their semifinal round.
Monfils, backed up by his home crowd, to fight back into the match after falling to a 1-4 deficit in the deciding set, to force a tiebreaker. What a drama indeed, when Monfils saved five match points to record his first even win against Federer in six attempts and to reached his consecutive final at Bercy, 7-6(9-7)|6-7(7-1)|7-6(7-4). Monfils considered his win against Federer, a man he admired a lot, as the beautiful victory.
As for Federer, who owns a 17-12 career win-loss record in ATP Masters 1000 finals, reaching a final at BNP Paribas Masters for the very first time or winning a title is too good but a semifinal finish was not bad at all. Getting stronger since his 2010 US Open loss to Djokovic is surely the man to beat in London finals, as he targets strong finish, will he be able to regroup and go all the way at the season finale for his fifth year-end championships title?
The two semifinal matches, which featured two Frenchmen since 1990, were concluded with five tiebreaks and the two Frenchmen fought back from 1-4 deficit to force such tiebreaks in the deciding set. However, one Frenchman has succeeded in the comeback, the other failed to do so. Therefore, the anticipated Federer-Soderling final was spoiled by Monfils and the anticipated all-Frenchmen finale was spoiled by Soderling, as it was Soderling and Monfils who will battle it out for the title.
In the finals, Monfils, who has been a finalist last year losing to Djokovic, may have not enough stamina to face the challenge of Soderling. The crowd's support was in no question as Monfils got back into the match in the second set by forcing a tiebreak, but his nerves was way too loose as he just finished runner-up again for two consecutive years in Bercy.
Soderling was on fire as he wrapped the victory cruising past Monfils with a 6-1|7-6(7-1), to win his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy. This win gave Soderling 1,000 points in South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking as champion and will rise to a career-high world No.4 ahead of Andy Murray. This will also give him a huge boost in the upcoming London finale in a week. With this win, can Soderling pose a threat to the rest of the men in London?
Given such boost, is Soderling the man to beat at the year-end championships in London? Who will end the year on a high note? We'll find that out in the upcoming week. For now, Soderling is the man of the hour.
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Congratulations Robin Soderling!
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