THIS WEEK IN TENNIS, OCTOBER 31, 2018

October 31, 2018

Second seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa has defeated Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the final of the Vienna Open 6-3, 7-6.  Top seed, Dominic Thiem was beaten by Nishikori in the quarter finals, while defending champion Lucas Pouille went down to Borna Coric of Croatia in three sets in the second round.  Anderson reached the final by beating Fernando Verdasco of Spain in three sets in the semi-final, while Nishikori defeated qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan in the other semi-final.

Meanwhile, home town hero Roger Federer successfully defended his title at the Swiss Open, beating Romania’s Marius Copil 7-6, 6-4 in a tough final.  Copil, a qualifier had earlier beaten third seed Marin Cilic, and qualified for the final with a 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 upset win over the second seed, Alexander Zrevev of Germany, in the semi-final.

The ATP Tour moved to Paris for the season ending Masters Tournament.  Top seed, Rafael Nadal withdrew with injury, and surrendered his number one ranking to Novak Djokovic.  Defedning champion, Jack Sock is through to the third round after a straight sets win over French veteran Richard Gasquet, and Djokovic has also advanced after beating Portugeuse qualifier, Jo Sousa.  Other top seeds Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem, Kevin Anderson, and John Isner are all through to the third round.

On the WTA Tour, Elina Svitolina defeated Sloane Stephens in the final of the WTA Finals tournament in Singapore.  Both players had won all three of their round robin matches, and advanced to the final with wins over Kiki Bertens and Karolina Pliskova respectively.

The final event on the WTA calendar is the Elite Trophy, for players that did not qualify for the WTA Finals tournament.  Held in China, the event is in its round robin stages, with top seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia looking likely to advance to the semi-finals.  Others on top of their groups in the early stages are Ashleigh Barty of Australia, Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, and Spain’s Garbine Muguruza.