Events / Barry Millns / 13 October 2008 /

Barry Millns talks us through what the world's best players have been up to since the US Open and who we find in good form going into the Madrid Masters.

With four weeks to go to the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, four of the eight qualifying places are still up for grabs. The world's top four ranked players Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have already book their places in the end of season finale, but heading into this week's Madrid Masters Series there are still plenty of players in the running to join them.

Nadal, currently trading at [3.35] to regain the title in the Spanish capital, Federer [3.35] and Murray [12].0 have not competed since their Davis Cup duties three weeks ago, while Djokovic [7.4] subsequently played another full week in reaching the final in Bangkok. But for those currently just behind them in the ATP Race, there has been more recent activity.

Nikolay Davydenko ([46.0]), enters Madrid in fifth place, 103 points behind Murray on 417 having been knocked out as the defending champion of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow by fellow Russian Marat Safin in the quarterfinals. Although Safin went on to reach the final and jumped up five places to 27th in the Race his late withdrawal from Madrid (where 100 Race points go to the champion) could seriously jeopardise his hopes of making Shanghai.

Andy Roddick [34], currently sixth in the Race on 354 points, followed up his Davis Cup visit last month to Madrid with a successful trip to Asia, winning the tournament in Beijing and making the semi-finals in Tokyo. Certainly at altitude the indoor court in the Madrid Arena should be more to the American's liking than the bull-ring clay-court he lost on against Nadal and David Ferrer [190].

The latter, now established as Spain's No.2 and runner-up last year to Federer in Shanghai, is next in line to Roddick in the Race on 337 points. But unlike the American, he was not as successful in Asia, losing his opening match in Beijing and winning only two in Tokyo.

Only 25 points behind him in the Race is the in-form young Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro ([46.0]) who moved up a place to eighth following his hugely impressive run post-Wimbledon. Winner of four successive titles before Murray ended his 23-match winning streak in the US Open quarterfinals, Del Potro then put Argentina into the Davis Cup final and finished runner-up in Tokyo, but it remains to be seen whether he has fully recovered from a toe injury which forced him to pull out early during last week's tournament in Vienna.

Del Potro's rise in the Race came at the expense of James Blake ([230]), who slipped down to the first alternate's position of ninth. The American, who was the TMC runner-up in 2006 but who missed last month's Davis Cup semi-final because of mental and physical fatigue, could certainly do with a good week to boost his flagging spirits and fortunes but with only 109 Race points covering the next 20 players behind him nothing can be taken for granted.

Among those who made significant moves up the Race in the last week are Gael Monfils ([120.0]), up eight places to joint 16th following his runners-up finish in Vienna, defending Madrid champion David Nalbandian ([14.5]), up eight places to 18th after winning his second title of a largely disappointing season in Stockholm, and Robin Soderling ([160]) who was runner-up there to the Argentine and moved up six places in the Race to 23rd.

After a slightly barren spell of quality tennis over the last few weeks post-Flushing Meadows we are finally back to watching the world's best strutting their stuff in Madrid with plenty of money and ranking points up for grabs. Nadal will be keen to show his rivals that his defeat to Murray in New York was no more than a hiccup and that he's a force to be reckoned with on hard-courts, whereas Federer will want to build on his US Open success if he's to regain his number one spot. But don't discount that man David Nalbandian who showed incredible form this time last year and who on his day - fit and motivated - can compete with the very best.

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