The 2013 ATP Race heats up as 10 contenders are battling it out for the remaining four spots to qualify for the 2013 ATP World Tour Finals in London. With two ATP 500 tournaments scheduled this week, eight of the 10 contenders will have a huge chance to grab a very important and critical points. Four of the eight contenders are playing at 2013 Davidoff Swiss Indoors and the other four at 2013 Valencia Open. The draws are out and I will make a preview on who will gain a momentum and strengthen his qualifications going to London.
Currently, the top five were already qualified. Lead by world No.1 Rafael Nadal, who has a huge lead in ATP Race with 11,670 points. Followed by world No.2 Novak Djokovic with 9,610 points. Then, world No.3 Andy Murray with 5,805 points, world No.4 David Ferrer with 5,050 points, and world No.5 Juan Martin del Potro with 4,420 points. Therefore, only three remaining spots are up for grabs. But with Murray's withdrawal, it opened up another spot and it is a huge opportunity for those 10 contenders to rack up some points to qualify in the eight-man elite tournament. The big question is who will take this huge opportunity?
Let's take a look at the current standing of the 10 contenders in 2013 ATP Race. Note that the list below is the actual ATP Race points as of October 21, 2013:
With only two weeks before the year-end championships and only one tournament left, the 2013 ATP World Tour 1000 Paris, it is very important that contenders will do well in the tournament they currently played in.
World No.4 Ferrer is the top seed at 2013 Valencia Open 500 will meet unseeded Gael Monfils in the first round. Then a potential meeting with a winner between Feliciano Lopen and Julienne Benneteau in the second round. No.5 seed Jerzy Janowicz is in Ferrer's draw. Should he advanced, they will meet in the quarterfinals. The second quarter of this draw is a potential meeting between No.3 seed Nicolas Almagro and No.7 seed Fabio Fognini in the quarterfinals. Both are gaining some points to book a spot in the year-end finale. One will surely advanced to the semifinals and possibly meet the top seed Ferrer.
At the bottom half of the draw, London contender and No.4 seed John Isner has a tough draw. His first round opponent is the tricky Ernests Gulbis and could upset Isner and ruin his chances at the year-end finale. But if he is lucky enough, he could meet No.8 Kevin Anderson in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, another contender has a lot work to do. No.2 seed Tommy Haas has lot of tricky in his path for the Valencia Open title. But his previous win could boost his chances and clear all the barriers along the way. He will surely be challenged with his countryman Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first round, a meeting with a winner between Mikhail Youhzny and Bernard Tomic in the second round, a potential meeting with one of the Frenchmen Benoit Paire or Gilles Simon in the quarterfinals.
Therefore, No.1 seed Ferrer will surely gaining some points to cement his year-end ranking with a spot in finals. He could meet either No.4 seed Isner or No.2 seed Haas. This could be interesting given both London contender might make or break their qualifications and just try their luck in Paris.
Like the 2013 Valencia Open 500, the 2013 Davidoff Swiss Indoors currently has four London contenders too. Unlike the Valencia Open, these four contenders has a relatively high of qualifying at the year-end championships. Who will cement his spot at the year-end finale?
The top seed in this tournament is world No.5 Juan Martin del Potro, who already booked his spot in London. The London contender in his draw is No.5 seed Richard Gasquet, who just won the previous tournament, and they could meet in the quarterfinals. Another London contender in this draw is No.4 seed Stanislas Wawrinka, who has a relatively easy draw. He could meet No.7 seed Andreas Seppi in the quarterfinals. Both No.4 seed Wawrinka and No.5 seed Gasquet will have a tough challenge to gain some points here. But will surely have an advantage over the other, should they both do exceptionally well.
Recent Stockholm Open champion and No.8 seed Grigor Dimitrov has a huge advantage to continue his winning ways in Basel. But lurking in his path is his childhood idol and No.3 seed Roger Federer. Federer has been successful in his hometown tournament where he is a five-time champion. The No.3 seed who is currently experiencing a slump of his own is struggling to boost his chances at the year-end championships. Both may have same style of play. Dimitrov, who is dubbed as "Baby Federer", will possibly meet his idol in the quarterfinals. This is an interesting match-up to see. It is a huge breakthrough for Dimitrov should he upset Federer. For Federer, it will surely be a huge loss.
Meanwhile, No.2 seed Tomas Berdych, who currently lead Federer by 655 points in the ATP race has a huge chance to be qualified. But it may still slip in his hands if unseeded Ivo Karlovic drop him out of the tournament in the first round. Should he avoid that, another tough challenge from 2011 Davidoff Swiss Indoors runner-up and No.6 seed Kei Nishikori awaits him. Can Nishikori ruins Berdych's chance in the finale at London?
It is expected that the top four seeds will get through and meet in the semifinals. But one might fall along the way. For London contenders, one will surely ahead of the other to boost his chances in the finale. No.1 seed del Potro versus No.4 seed Wawrinka and No.3 seed Federer versus No.2 seed Berdych are potential match-ups. Three London contenders, one champion will emerge. The defending champion del Potro will just gaining points for his year-end ranking. As for the three contenders, one is surely on the top of the other and might go all the way.
The battle is on. But as I am doing this preview, below is the predicted ATP race standing after this ATP World Tour 500 tournament:
- CURRENT POINTS. The ATP Race standing as of October 21, 2013.
- EXPECTED ADDED POINTS. The points earned by a player in the scheduled ATP World Tour 500 series. Note that these are NOT the actual points earned by a player, they are only just a self-prediction. Actual points earned will depend on how the player performed in the scheduled tournament they played in.
- EXPECTED TOTAL POINTS. The ATP Race standing after the scheduled ATP World Tour 500 series. Note that these are NOT the actual race points of a player, they are only just a self-prediction. Actual race points will be determined after the conclusion of the scheduled tournament. Thus, a London finale contender might be qualified should he gained enough points during or after the tournament.
Since Federer has been successful in his hometown tournament, he has a huge chance to take home his sixth Basel title and his second title of 2013. As for the ATP Race standing, the only changes will be Federer will rise one spot to seventh place, Wawrinka down one spot to eighth place, Isner rise to 13th place, and Almagro down by one spot to 14th place. But the battle doesn't end here. They will continue their battle in Paris and in few matches the qualifiers will be determined before they headed to London. So, who will make the cut?
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