Masters Cup Shanghai - 2008

Nadal is out, Simon is in

Nadal withdraws from the 2008 Masters Cup in Shanghai due to a knee injury he incurred during his battle with Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters event the week before. He will still end the year holding on to his coveted world number one ranking. This does, however, open the door for Federer to pursue yet another astonishing record. If Federer wins this year's Shanghai tournament, he will join Pete Sampras and Evan Lendl as the only men to win the Masters Cup Championship five times.

Round one results - singles

Novak Djokovic edges out Juan Martin Del Potro

In the first round, world number three Novak Djokovic edges out Argentine up and comer Del Potro 7-5, 6-3. Djokovic came into the opening round having not won a single match at last year's year ending championships. This year, he prepared himself by playing less and conditioning better prior to the tournament. Still, he felt the tension going into the match. Up 5-1 in the first set, with the position to give Del Potro a KO, he let the Argentine back in, and just managed to hold on to close out the first set. This gave him the needed confidence and momentum to hold on for the win. A big fan of languages and culture, Djokovic proudly presented his thanks to the fans in Chinese at the end of the match, which greatly impressed his already wooed audience.

Nikolay Davydenko toughs it out against Jo-Wildfried Tsonga

Davydenko's battle against Tsonga was long and hard fought. He managed to win in three very tight sets, with extensive, exhausting rallies, 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(0). The only unchallenging moment in the entire match was the third-set tiebreaker, where the moment, the pressure, and the physicality of the experience got the better of the young Frenchman. Davydenko went on to win the tiebreaker without dropping a single point.