i seriously doubt djokovic is going to come through this quarter. There are too many obstacles,and he hasnt posted a SINGLE win over a top 10 player all year. Until he does,im not picking him to do so. He made it to the Toronto semis primarily bcoz of an easy draw,and when he came up against a good quality opponent(federer) he got exposed immediately. He only put up a fight because federers level dropped off throughout the match.

Djokovic vs nalbandian should be great. And then there's most probably Soderling. Oh and them Murray. And then rafa. Yikes! :O

Don't worry mriiidula, I think Nalby may feel exhausted by now with all the matches he played so far, eight in total. To get to Nole, he needs to play another two more, that will be ten in total and he will be playing for three consecutive weeks. Who knows, Nalby may just want to conserve his energy, rest well and prepare for the USO. He just needs to do enough to gain some points to be seeded for the USO, I believe he also wants to go far at the slam and avoids meeting the top few guys in the early rounds. With Delpo and Tsonga out, Nalby most likely can be seeded at no.32 if he gain say 90 points at Cincy.

As for Roddick and Sod, Nole needs to face only one of them at the QF stage. If Nole can get past Nalby and reach the QF, I think he'll be fine and good enough to deal with Roddick/Sod. Murray may want to rest well and prepare for USO too so I don't think Murray will go all out to fight with Nole for the final berth.

If Nole meets Rafa at the final, then I think that will be interesting, as I think they both want a confidence boost before the USO, after losing at the semi stage in Toronto. That's my take, and I may be wrong of course!

Personally, I would rather he saves his energy at Cincy, although it might do wonders for his self confidence if he gets thru a tough draw. But please Nole, don't underperform at the USO!!

nole just needs to improve his serving a bit so he gets more free points; his defensive game is already top notch. and a cool head above everything.

Luckystar - I agree with almost everything you said except for one thing; I don't think Murray is going to try and save energy. This is a masters tourney after all, and there's a whole week left to rest before the Open. Given how close in ranking points the top 4 or 5 guys are, I would be very surprised if they don't give it their all this week.
So I'm hoping Nole reaches the semis because I wanna see him play Murray, should be one great match. Of course, all this assuming he gets past nalby and sod.

mriiidula - I guess if Sod makes it to the semi, Murray would want to meet him there and beat him, and whoever of the two wins that match will be the no.4 ranked player. For his no.4 ranking's sake, as long as he does as well as Sod in Cincy, he should be able to retain his ranking. Murray will not overtake the top 3 guys regardless of how well he does and how badly those three guys do. So a win in the semi against Sod will be crucial for retaining his current ranking, should they both get there.

Another guy who is remotely possible to take the no.4 ranking is Davy. For that to happen Davy has to win Cincy and Murray to bomb out before the QF. It is highly unlikely that Davy would get past Fed in the QF, Rafa in the SF and beat the likes of Nole/Sod or whoever in the final.

I think the top four guys will remain where they are, for I don't see anything convincing from Davy and Sod to suggest that they are ready to push into the top four.

yea true. nole could get the #2 ranking back if fed falls early but i dont see that happening since he's got a pretty easy road til the semis.

Actually if both Fed and Nole reach the semi only (at Cincy), Nole will retake the no.2 ranking. I think it doesn't matter whether it is no.2 or no.3; the most dangerous player among the top four currently is Murray and being no.3 may mean avoiding Murray until the final, not a bad thing.

oh thats true! i didnt even think about that!
but somehow, personally, i wanna see nole finish the year as world #2. even last year he got the position but let it slip. it'll give him confidence for next year imo.