The Worm Does Shanghai

I'm sorry, but what is the Worm doing in Shanghai?

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It didn't occur to me yesterday when I was writing about Nicolas Kiefer being one of the alternates to think of whom the other one might be - stupid mistake, I know. But had I thought about it, I certainly wouldn't have picked Radek Stepanek, the scary man of tennis. Why did he decide to come, anyway? Shouldn't he be off ruining some female player's career, like he did with Hingis and Vaidisova? Or is he not done with Nicole yet?

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It certainly didn't look like the Worm was thinking about playing - it says he was on holiday in Thailand before coming to Shanghai. (In which case, was he actually an alternate? Or was he just the nearest convenient player? But Kiwi's in Shanghai - why not use him?) His tennis stuff got stuck at customs and he had to borrow a racquet from Novak Djokovic (imagine if he'd broken a string - would he kindly have asked Roger for a lend of one of his? On court?) and socks from Andy Murray and get an emergency prescription of contact lenses. Kudos to him for being so resourceful and stuff, but seriously, why him? You've got a perfectly good alternate in Kiwi - I presume he is actually in Shanghai as well. I just don't get it.

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None of this meant that the Worm actually did that well - Roger took him out in straights, keeping himself in contention for the semis. Now, all he has to do is beat Murray... and I suppose it would help if the Worm beat Simon. (How does that work, exactly? What is the tie system?) I hope Roger can pull it out against Andy - he's certainly capable of beating him, and this would level their head-to-head, instead of Andy pulling ahead 4-2. We certainly don't want Roger to acquire another Rafa, that's for sure!

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Speaking of Andy, he beat Simon pretty handily in the other Red Group match today - he's certainly looking the guy to beat. I suppose he will finish top of the group regardless (yes? no?) which is a shame, because I guess Djokovic will finish top of the other group, which means they couldn't possibly meet until the finals. As I want Roger in the final, this is not a good circumstance, and I would really like to see Andy take it to Novak. I don't think they've played since Murray has put himself up there as the fourth guy in the three-guy domination squad, and I would really like to see him challenge for that #3 spot. Not that he can take it, I think, but it would be nice to see a struggle begin which might be very intriguing all through next year...

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Today's Results

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Tennis Masters Cup (Shanghai)

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Red Group

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Roger Federer def. Radek Stepanek, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

Andy Murray def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 6-2