BNP Paribas Tennis Masters—Do or Done in Paris!

According to Bogart in Casablanca—while seductively soothing a prostrate Bergman—we’ll always have Paris…

Has there ever been a more fitting end of the road than Paris? Oui?

Whether it sizzles or not will soon be revealed as some intensely hungry young guns on tour play for ultimate tennis survival in 2008. 

A myriad of questions will be answered in Paris…first and foremost…who will be the last three to qualify for the ATP season-ending championship where Roger Federer has lifted four of the last five trophies.

Entry into the Master Series Championship is a reward for the top eight players on tour finishing with the most calendar year points. In the ATP race, players begin each calendar year at zero.

Rafael Nadal has qualified for the tournament in 2008 along with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Nikolay Davydenko. 

Andy Roddick, the U.S. number one, did himself no favor by crashing out in the quarterfinals to Robin Soderling in Lyon this past week, thereby failing to lock up his number six place in the 2008 ATP race. 

Currently Juan Del Potro and Gilles Simon have nudged out David Ferrer and James Blake for spots seven and eight. 

But there are others sitting back on the rail waiting for a chance to break into the pack.  Among these are Stanislav Wawrinka, Fernando Gonzales, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Fernando Verdasco, and David Nalbandian, last year’s champion in Paris. 

The final three spots are up for grabs and the mathematical calculations are limitless.  Suffice it to say 11 players have a chance to qualify, providing enough on-court drama for daytime…

In addition to deciding who will be playing in Shanghai are the nagging questions about Roger Federer.  One he answered today: he will play.  Can he win? 

Paris has never been kind to the Swiss maestro.  Last year he was unceremoniously dumped from the tournament in the third round by his frequent nemesis David Nalbandian. 

As late as Sunday, Federer had not committed to playing in Paris even after securing a rock solid victory over the never-wished-for but always present Nalbandian in the tournament final in Basel.

Federer, who seeks a slimmer schedule in 2009, does not gain much by playing Paris except garnering points that are apparently patently useless to him in 2008. 

But there is always the challenge of winning in Paris, one of the few places where he has never won a championship. 

Another question centers on the new world number one, Nadal. 

Nadal has not won a tournament since becoming number one. That being said, it is not unusual for Nadal to fade during the second half of the season. Typically, that has been his modus operandi during the past few years.

No one since Greta Garbo has complained more of being tired than world number one Nadal since Wimbledon.

Winning in Paris would go a long way toward silencing his soft-spoken critics and cementing his number one ranking while bolstering his confidence for the year end championships.

Add to all this the ongoing saga contrasting the rising star of Murray with the fading moon of Djokovic.  Will the real #3 please sign in? 

Murray just completed a defense of his title in St. Petersburg just as Federer did in Basel.  Murray also won in Madrid.  He has been holistically hot of late. 

Since his early departure at Wimbledon at the hands of Safin, Djokovic has failed to impress pundits and tennis fans. 

The draws are announced.  The four seeds are ready to rumble. In these tournaments, nothing is easy and no one takes anything for granted. It all depends on mental fortitude served with a saccharine slice of lady luck. 

Questions abound and Paris is all about supplying answers…