Strong-finishing Djokovic staying fit for the future

Enlarge Photo Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a shot to Rainer Schuettler of Germany during the Shanghai...

Novak Djokovic credited his fitness regime for his strong finish to the year, which continued at the Shanghai Masters on Thursday.

Despite the long season, the Serbian looked fresh in his "comfortable" third-round victory over Rainer Schuettler on a day when Gael Monfils and Stanilas Wawrinka became the sixth and seventh players to retire injured in Shanghai.

World number one Roger Federer and Andy Murray, who Djokovic will replace as number three next week, skipped the new tournament citing fatigue and a wrist injury.

The 22-year-old Djokovic said, however, that looking after his body had a longer-term goal than merely picking up titles in the dying weeks of the season.

"I'm trying to keep my body in good condition all the time," the Serb told reporters.

"I'm not saying they're not, it's just that I always was taking care of the body in general and health and always putting that as a priority in front of everything, and the bottom line is that you want to stay healthy after your career.

"It's great if you are successful in what you do but you don't want to live up to 30 and then just have big problems with the knees and back like most of the professional tennis players do when they finish their career."

Djokovic's victory over Schuettler was his 16th in 18 matches, a sequence which includes his China Open title last week and defeats by Federer in the Cincinnati Masters final and the U.S. Open semi-finals.

"I've been working on physical strength and fitness a lot in last couple of months, and it's been paying off," he added. "It's playing one of the key roles in the situations like this.

"When you are playing week after week, it's important to be physically strong, and that gives you advantage over your opponents."

Next up for the former Australian Open champion is Frenchman Gilles Simon, who Djokovic beat on his way to ending last season with victory in the final Masters Cup in Shanghai.

"I'm well aware that's going to be a long match," he said. "I just hope I can put up good shots in important moments and get another win."

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Sania in Japan Open quarterfinals

India's Sania Mirza stormed into the $220,000 Japan Open tennis quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Ukraine's Viktoriya Kutuzova in the second round here Wednesday.

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The 22-year-old Hyderabadi, who defeated fifth-seeded Israeli Shahar Peer in the first round, now plays second-seeded Marion Bartoli of France.

Bartoli, who won the title in 2006, defeated Japanese wild card Kurumi Nara 6-1, 6-1.

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ATP season length complaints old news for Safin

Shanghai: Marat Safin claims he raised the issue of the 11-month gruelling Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) season five years ago though without success. 'In 2004, we had this discussion at the Olympic Games with [Andy] Roddick,' said the 29-year-old Russian who plans to retire next month after a decade and a half in the sport. 'I was saying that the season is too long - we should make it shorter, and the guys, they jumped on me, like I was the one who was wrong,' he said. 'So look at all of them - everybody is falling apart,' Safin said. 'Everybody is getting injured left and right, and everybody is complaining the season is long. It takes six years to realize that something is wrong? Wozniacki reaches quarters at Japan Women's Open 'It's a beautiful sport, so why kill the players and make the calendar a 12-month affair?' This week at the Shanghai Masters has seen a revival of the annual complaint about the gruelling nature of the campaign with Roddick leading the verbal charge this time. The American ironically exited a day later when he pulled up short with a knee injury. US Open winner Juan Del Potro also failed to finish in his second disastrous showing since New York with the Argentine heading home and hoping to resume in a few weeks after suffering wrist tendinitis. Rafael Nadal also lent his support - somewhat diluted by the fact that the player who faces a Davis Cup final the first week of December has also signed on for a $250,000-exhibition from New Year's Eve in Abu Dhabi.

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Davydenko keeps hold over Gonzalez

​Shanghai: Sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko got a sixth win in six meetings against Fernando Gonzalez to reach the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters with a 6-3, 7-5 victory on Thursday.

As the debate about the length of the men's season continued, however, Stanislas Wawrinka and Gael Monfils became the sixth and seventh players to retire injured from a match at the $3.24 million (2 million pound) tournament.

Russian Davydenko has only ever lost one set to the 10th seeded Gonzalez and never looked liked conceding another as he defused the Chilean's serve and fierce forehand with his mobility along the baseline.

"Returning is very important," said the 28-year-old Davydenko, who reached the Masters Cup final here last year.

"If he has a second serve, I know I have a 90 percent chance to win the point. He has good motivation when he makes first serve and winners from the forehand."

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Swede Robin Soderling later upset error-prone fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-3 in their third-round encounter under the open roof of the Qizhong central arena.

Tsonga, who won his third title of the season last week in Tokyo, was consistent only in missing his lines and smashed his racket on the court in frustration after fluffing two volleys at the net on successive points in the second set.

Another miscued forehand gave Soderling a break for a 3-1 lead and, although the fired-up Frenchman broke straight back, another string of errors gave the Swede a second break.

Soderling was not going to let his opponent off the hook twice and three stinging aces helped the ninth seed serve out to love for victory two games later.

Davydenko, Tsonga, Soderling and Gonzalez are all still in with a chance of claiming one of three spots still up for grabs at the season-ending championships in London next month.

Swiss Wawrinka, who reached the last 16 when fourth seed Andy Roddick was unable to finish their second-round tie, was losing 3-6, 7-6, 4-2 to Czech Radek Stepanek when abdominal pains caused him to withdraw.

French 11th seed Monfils was trailing 30-year-old Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-2, 3-0 when he called it quits because of a back injury.

Ljubicic will face the winner of Thursday's later all-Spanish clash between top seed Rafa Nadal and Tommy Robredo in the quarter-finals

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Tennis

Tennis is a sport played with racquet between either two players ("singles") or two teams of two players ("doubles"). The players use a stringed racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered in felt over a net into the court of the opponent. In some places, it is still called lawn tennis in order to distinguish it from real tennis (also known as royal tennis or court tennis), an older form of the game that is played indoors on a very different kind of a court. DO YOU KNOW Until the mid-1950s, Bill Tilden was generally considered the greatest player ever His only rivals was Vines, Budge, and Kramer. In 1950s and 1960s, many thought Gonzales had claimed that title. Roger Federer is now considered by many observers to have the most "complete" game in modern tennis. Among the women, Suzanne Lenglen and Helen Wills Moody vie for the distinction of greatest of all time, along with several modern players: Margaret Smith Court, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Billie Jean King, and Maureen Connolly Brinker. HISTORY OF TENNIS The earliest version of the game was known as 'La Soule' where players would hit a ball to each other using either their hands or a stick. In 16th, 17th and 18th centuries the game became the highly fashionable sport of kings and noblemen and was called ' Jeu de paumme' - the game of the palm. Wimbledon Championship was one of the most significant developments in the history of tennis. The first championships at Wimbledon (London) were played in 1877. William Renshaw has won the championship title 8 times between 1881 and 1889 (he was runner-up in 1887) - a record that remains unbeaten till today. The development of tennis continued and the 1927 Championship saw the first ever radio braodcast of a tennis event. Bunny Austin from the USA shocked the crowds in the year 1933 when he became the first player to step out on to centre court wearing shorts. TENNIS COURT Rectangular, flat surface, usually grass, clay, or a hardcourt of concrete and/or asphalt. 78 feet (23.77 m) long and 27 feet (8.23 m) wide for singles. 78 feet (23.77 m) long 36 feet (10.97 m) wide for doubles matches. Net is 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) high at the posts and 3 feet (914 mm) high in the center.

TYPES OF TENNIS COURTS Clay court - (green clay, mainly in the U.S. and red clay) Grass court Hardcourt - (cement, rebound ace, coated ashphalt) Indoor (most commonly wood, cement, or carpet)

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French Open - Men's Singles Finals

1960	Pietrangeli	ITA	Ayala	MEX	3:6,6:3,6:4,4:6,6:3
1961	Santana	ESP	Pietrangeli	ITA	4:6,6:1,3:6,6:0,6:2
1962	Laver	AUS	Emerson	AUS	3:6,2:6,6:3,9:7,6:2
1963	Emerson	AUS	Darmon	FRA	3:6,6:1,6:4,6:4
1964	Santana	ESP	Pietrangeli	ITA	6:3,6:1,4:6,7:5
1965	Stolle	AUS	Roche	AUS	3:6,6:0,6:2,6:3
1966	Roche	AUS	Gulyas	HUN	6:1,6:4,7:5
1967	Emerson	AUS	Roche	AUS	6:1,6:4,2:6,6:2
1968	Rosewall	AUS	Laver	AUS	6:3,6:1,2:6,6:2
1969	Laver	AUS	Rosewall	AUS	6:4,6:3,6:4
1970	Kodes	CZE	Franulovic	YUG	6:2,6:4,6:0
1971	Kodes	CZE	Nastase	ROM	8:6,6:2,2:6,7:5
1972	Gimeno	ESP	Proisy	FRA	4:6,6:3,6:1,6:1
1973	Nastase	ROM	Pilic	YUG	6:3,6:3,6:0
1974	Borg	SWE	Orantes	ESP	2:6,6:7,6:0,6:1,6:1
1975	Borg	SWE	Vilas	ARG	6:2,6:3,6:4
1976	Panatta	ITA	Solomon	USA	6:1,6:4,4:6,7:6
1977	Vilas	ARG	Gottfried	USA	6:0,6:3,6:0
1978	Borg	SWE	Vilas	ARG	6:1,6:1,6:3
1979	Borg	SWE	Pecci	PAR	6:3,6:1,6:7,6:4
1980	Borg	SWE	Gerulaitis	USA	6:4,6:1,6:2
1981	Borg	SWE	Lendl	CZE	6:1,4:6,6:2,3:6,6:1
1982	Wilander	SWE	Vilas	ARG	1:6,7:6,6:0,6:4
1983	Noah	FRA	Wilander	SWE	6:2,7:5,7:6
1984	Lendl	CZE	McEnroe	USA	3:6,2:6,6:4,7:5,7:5
1985	Wilander	SWE	Lendl	CZE	3:6,6:4,6:2,6:2
1986	Lendl	CZE	Pernfors	SWE	6:3,6:2,6:4
1987	Lendl	CZE	Wilander	SWE	7:5,6:2,3:6,7:6
1988	Wilander	SWE	Leconte	FRA	7:5,6:2,6:1
1989	Chang	USA	Edberg	SWE	6:1,3:6,4:6,6:4,6:2
1990	Gomez	ECU	Agassi	USA	6:3,2:6,6:4,6:4
1991	Courier	USA	Agassi	USA	3:6,6:4,2:6,6:1,6:4
1992	Courier	USA	Korda	CZE	7:5,6:2,6:1
1993	Bruguera	ESP	Courier	USA	6:4,2:6,6:2,3:6,6:3
1994	Bruguera	ESP	Berasategui	ESP	6:3,7:5,2:6,6:1
1995	Muster	AUT	Chang	USA	7:5,6:2,6:4
1996	Kafelnikov	RUS	Stich	GER	7:6,7:5,7:6
1997	Kuerten	BRA	Bruguera	ESP	6:3,6:4,6:2
1998	Moya	ESP	Corretja	ESP	6:3,7:5,6:3
1999	Agassi	USA	Medvedev	RUS	1:6,2:6,6:4,6:3,6:4
2000	Kuerten	BRA	Norman	SWE	6:2,6:3,2:6,7:6
2001	Kuerten	BRA	Corretja	ESP	6:7,7:5,6:2,6:0
2002	Costa	ESP	Ferrero	ESP	6:1,6:0,4:6,6:3
2003	Ferrero	ESP	Verkerk	NED	6:1,6:3,6:2
2004	Gaudio	ARG	Coria	ARG	0:6,3:6,6:4,6:1,8:6
2005	Nadal	ESP	Puerta	ARG	6:7,6:3,6:1,7:5
2006	Nadal	ESP	Federer	SUI	1:6,6:1,6:4,7:6
2007	Nadal	ESP	Federer	SUI	6:3,4:6,6:3,6:4
2008	Nadal	ESP	Federer	SUI	6:1,6:3,6:0
2009	Federer	SUI	Soderling	SWE	6:1,7:6,6:4

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