Race for the line

1 of 2

It has been quite quiet since Rafael Nadal's US Open victory in New York, but it's starting to pick up again.

We may be heading into the end of the season now but there is still plenty to play for. We've got the Masters event in Shanghai this week and then there is Paris, and of course they are all looking forward to the ATP finals in London. There are still five places up for grabs at the O2 and there will be a race for the line to qualify.

Novak Djokovic has finally got a win under his belt which means he has qualified for London, and unless something disastrous happens Andy Murray should be there. Robin Soderling and Tomas Berdych are also expected to qualify, David Ferrer has had a good year but Fernando Verdasco is struggling a bit so will need to raise his game if he is to secure a place.

The re-emergence of Djokovic in the last couple of months has been interesting. Before the US Open I thought his game stood still and he wasn't where he needed to be. But he proved me wrong and he went on to win in Beijing last week. He has got his motivation back and he is playing more aggressively than before which makes a big difference.

Nadal won another title in Tokyo but had to work hard for it. He saved match points and was pushed all of the way by Viktor Troicki in the semi-finals. In Bangkok the week before he lost to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez which was a surprise. It's hard for him because he has achieved pretty much everything he could have hoped for this season - three grand slams and he is now world No. 1. Obviously he would like to do well in London but it is going to be tough as the season goes on - all those matches will start to take their toll.

Djokovic and Murray on the other hand are likely to have something left in reserve and it will be a good chance for them to do well and finish the season on a high. Murray in particular needs a strong finish to the season and he needs to be beating lesser opponents. He lost to Ljubicic in straight sets and he shouldn't be losing those kinds of matches. If he wants to be a serious contender at grand slams he needs to find a way of beating that kind of player. I think he has taken a step backwards this season - he was in a better position this time last year.

He has said he will look at appointing a new coach at the end of the season and it will be interesting to see who he might go for, and whether he decides to make any wholesale changes next season.