The BNP Paribas Masters is the ninth and final ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event before the end of year finals in London.
With Nadal’s withdrawal, there are two final spots up for grabs in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and currently Tsonga and Tipsarevic occupy those spots. Jo Willy looks pretty good to be the 8th man headed for London, but with plenty of points available this week, it could get exciting with Gasquet on a roll right behind them.
Let’s break it down:
ATP Level: 1000
Surface: Indoor Hard
Defending Champion: Roger Federer – Needs to defend his points in Paris to stand a chance of being year-end number 1.
Nasty Floater: Alex ‘The Dog’ Dolgopolov – Played well last week and has the bite to take down either seeds in his quarter.
Veteran Watch: Radek ‘The Worm’ Stepanek – Always a danger but gets a draw including the Twin Towers of Del Potro and Isner.
Up and Coming: Benoit Paire - Showed game in Basel but lost to Federer and gets other young gun Nishikori.
Slumping: Milos Raonic – Beat Murray only a few weeks ago but has not followed it up. In Djokovic’s quarter.
On Fire: Richard ‘French Kiss’ Gasquet – He’s in Paris, so he’ll have the crowd and lights up any match with The Backhand looking to reach London.
My pick: Andy Murray – His psychological advantage over Federer should see him make the final. Against Djokovic he’s 50/50, but I pick him this week.
Did You Know? Federer is the first player to contest the final of all nine Masters 1000 tournaments.
Watch:
Thanks for reading and check back next week for more picks and amusement!