Master Cup Preview 2008

The Tennis year climax with the Shanghai Masters s the top eight players in the world meet to decide the masters player of the year. It's a chance to finish the year in style for some players who after a long season are desperate to get some sort of break before the season starts again in Australia in January.

This year however we won't be graced by the world's best player, Rafael Nadal due to tiredness. Now we all know that Nadal is no slouch and that if he's ain't fit enough to play he must be in some sort of state. However with him missing the whole feeling of the evet has taken a downturn, you must feel for the organizers who build the event up as the crowning event of the year. To not have the world's best player involved must be frustrating.

And maybe even possibly for the eventual winner of the competition. They will know that however they win it wasn't against the world's best and that he didn't get to prove himself against the world number 1.

Let's get onto the competition itself shall we, and this week does throw up an interesting format unlike any other tennis tournament. Unlike a predetermined draw like in every other championship the players are split into two groups, and red and gold group. They play each other in a group stage format and the top two from each group play each other in a semi-final and then the two winners of that in a final.

It must be refreshing for the fans and the players to have a different format from the normal ATP events, and as previous years have shown the format has proved to be a success.

Players now-a-days complain that they have to be on-top of their game for every tournament. Well in this tournament you can afford to lose a game and still come out the other side as the winner.

So lets look at the players involved. The lucky man who qualified due to Nadal's withdrawal is Giles Simon who certainly won't be throwing away his chance after the nature of his qualification. He is one of the two Frenchman in the top eight and shows the strength his country have for the sport.

He is liable to be very dangerous as well. He is one of only three players to have beaten all of the 'big three' this season and is coming off the back of his most successful season ever as a tennis player, rising to a career best 9th in the rankings and taking three tour titles this year.

Joining him in the red group is American Andy Roddick who has had good year as his resurgence in the sports starts to gather some pace. This consistency in getting to at lest the semi-final in eight tour events is pretty remarkable, but unfortunately for the American it's his performances in the Grand Slams that have let him down.

A best of the quarter-final in the US Open is poor going from the former home-town champion and it shows that on the big stage he maybe can't quiet cut the mustard.

His semi-final performances this year have reflected how he's done in previous masters cup outings as on three occasions he's gone out at the last-four stage.

Andy Murray is the next in the group after a brilliant year for the 21-year old. He has achieved so much this year that the Brit can be excused of taking a break now ahead of his first Masters Cup tournament. Murray collected his first Masters Series Shield and reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open in a year that has seen him sore to forth in the world.

He's beaten every player whose turning up at the tournament this week this year, and is bound to be full of confidence.

Rodger Federer is the last player from the red group, and after what has been a difficult year he has still come out of it with a lot of credit. After loosing his Wimbledon crown in dramatic style to Nadal and the his world number 1 status the season could have petered out for the Swiss. However an amazing win at the US Open over Murray showed that class is permanent. His performance in that match was one of the best ever seen not only by him but of all time on the Arthur Ash court.

Going in as Number 1 seed with brim him with confidence that he can overhaul Nadal next year, and there wouldn't be a better time to start that this week in Shanghai.

In the Gold group we have the remaining four players, Novak Djokovic, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Juan Martin Del Potro and Nikolay Davydenko.

Djkovic started the season brilliantly winning his first Grand in Australia as he beat Tsonga in the final. His dominance this year can be summed by by saying that as some players need a good performance in the last tournament of the year in Paris, Djokovic had qualified by July.

The Serb has a poor Wimbledon and the back end of his year hasn't been the best. After last year's disappointment at this event loosing all three of his matches he will be keen to put it all right and stake a claim to Nadal's number 1 crown.

Jo Wilfred Tsonga got in by the skin of his teeth as he won the final Masters Shield in Paris by beating David Nalbanian. Tsonga only made two of the Grand Slam's this year, missing out through injury only to return at the US Open. His Australian Open final however will surely be his crowning achievement and the moment that he arrived on the scene. Defeating Nadal in the semi-final was a huge moment for the Frenchman, and will hope to build on that in his first Masters Cup.

He has to be seen as a huge threat by the other players. He goes into the tournament in form, after his success in Paris and after a brilliant year in which he has jumped up the rankings.

The season of Juan Martin Del Potro has been one of amazing achievement. From July where he was ranked 65, just two months followed before he found himself ranked 8th. He won four titles in that period in a 23 match winning streak which was ended by Andy Murray at the US Open. Since July in fact he was won 36 of his 41 matches.

The most improved player on the circuit certainly deserves his chance to shine in Shanghai and after a break in Paris will be eager to show that Nadal isn't the only youngster on the circuit. His will-to-win can't be paralleled with any other player. is drive and determination is something to be admired and this sort of competition will suit him ideally. expect him to be around when the trophies are handed out.

Finally Nicolay Davydenko who has slipped in the Rankings somewhat but has still had an impressive year. Three tour titles to boot, along with wins over Nadal and Roddick along the way. He succeeded mostly on the clay where two of his titles came. He was the only player this year to beat Nadal on clay. However of course Shanghai is a hard court event, a surface the aging Davydenko doesn't favor as slowing down the game has become an art to now established Top ten player.

His success in this tournament dates back to 2005 as he went out to eventual winner David Nalbanian at the semi-final stage. This is his forth tournament appearance and although he isn't fancied as one of the winners, he can certainly raise his game when it's needed.

So there we have it the best eight players in the world, apart from Rafael Nadal. It's sure to be an interesting week and with the tournament more open than ever, anyone from the eight can come out as Champion