Novak Djokovic ran his winning streak to 17 matches by winning the final Masters event of the year in Paris. He hasn't lost since losing the US Open final to Nadal. He will have the confidence and should be favorite heading to London, in part due to Ferrer upsetting Nadal in the semis. Also we may have not seen the last of Federer, who beat Del Potro and then won a set from Djokovic in the semis.
2) Novak Djokovic (SRB) def. 3) David Ferrer (ESP) 7-5 7-5
-Djokovic wins 40th career title, 6th of 2013, last '13 Shanghai
-It is his 16th Masters title, and he is still 4th all-time
-It is his 2nd win in Paris ('09)
-He is the first man since Safin ('04) to be a repeat champion in Paris
As a recap, here are the Masters winners for 2013:
Indian Wells: Rafael Nadal (ESP)
Miami: Andy Murray (GBR)
Monte Carlo: Novak Djokovic (SRB)
Madrid: Rafael Nadal (ESP)
Rome: Rafael Nadal (ESP)
Montreal: Rafael Nadal (ESP)
Cincinnati: Rafael Nadal (ESP)
Shanghai: Novak Djokovic (SRB)
Paris: Novak Djokovic (SRB)
It is fewest different winners of Masters tournaments in a year since 2005 (Federer, Nadal, Berdych).
At the second tier Tournament of Champion in Sofia, Bulgaria, Simona Halep continued her success, winning her 6th title of the year, defeating Stosur in the final 2-6 6-2 6-2. She is now on the verge of the top 10, ranked #11, and does not have many points to defend early in the year. It was certainly a breakout season for the young Romanian and now we will see if she can translate her success and now high ranking into better runs at the Tier I and major tournaments.
Ivanovic and Pavlyuchenkova advanced to the semis in Sofia. The players not making it out the round robin were Cornet (1-2), Kirilenko (0-1 - withdrew), Svitolina (0-2 - replaced Kirilenko), Vesnina (2-1), and wildcard Pironkova (0-3).
I will also use this page to briefly summarize the anticlimactic Fed Cup final. This result really doesn't warrant its own page since Russia didn't bother to send its best players and the ending was as anticipated.
ITA 4 RUS 0
Roberta Vinci def. Alexandra Panova 5-7 7-5 8-6
Sara Errani def. Irina Khromacheva 6-1 6-4
Errani def. Alisa Kleybanova 6-1 6-1
*rubber #4 not played*
Karin Knapp/Flavia Pennetta def. Margarita Gasparyan/Khromacheva 4-6 6-2 10-4
I did tell you that I did expect a little fight from the Russians but I didn't expect Panova to provide that fight. She nearly put the Russians ahead to begin the tie, but Vinci prevailed 8-6 in the 3rd. Curiously, Panova didn't play the opening rubber on day 2 and instead Kleybanova, who hasn't played on clay in 2-1/2 won only 2 games against a French Open finalist.
But congrats to the Italian ladies, who win their 4th Fed Cup, all coming since 2006. Now it is only 3 months until the competition begins again in 2014.
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