Nadal Out Early at Shanghai Masters

By Josh Martin, Sports Editor

‘re is one sport that you can
get yourself into no matter what
time of the year it is, whether

it be playing on the courts with some
friends, entering some tournaments or
even watching some matches on the
tube of your favourite tennis stars, it
simply doesn’t matter. It’s a sport that
caters to all, that’s the beauty of it.

In recent news in the world of
tennis, world ranked number one
plyaer Rafael Nadal got hit by a truck
last week, figuratively of course,
in Beijing where he couldn’t quite
advance past the third round after
having won the Japan Open title a few
days earlier. (It was his very first Japan
Open win of his career, defeating
Gael Monfils 6-1, 7-5). It was a first
for the Spaniard this year, where he
failed to reach the quarterfinals after
being defeated by Jurgen Melzer at the
Shanghai Masters last Thursday.

It was Nadal’s first loss to the
Austrian in his career, having won
their three previous meetings. Melzer
won the match 6-1, 3-6, and 6-3.
However, it wasn’t a big upset for the
number one ranked player in the world
who has had quite the year having
won the U.S. Open back in September,
completing the career Grand Slam and
becoming the seventh man in history
to do so.

He won the Japan Open title
last Sunday right before travelling

 

to Shanghai for the Masters in hopes
of winning his eighth tournament of
the season. Playing in back to back
championships would definitely ~
serve as a good excuse as to why his
performance was fatigued.and not up
to par.

“This isn’t a surprise for me. I
didn’t play well,” said Nadal. “I felt
slow on [the] court and I made more
mistakes than usual. In general, I
am a little bit more tired than usual,
physically and mentally”.

Nadal’s top rivals; Roger Federer,
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, all
had an easier time advancing into the
quarterfinals last Thursday. Federer
beat Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-4,
Murray beat qualifier Jeremey Chardy
of France 6-3, 6-4 and Djokovic
defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet
6-1, 6-1.

Djokovic is looking to win back-
to-back titles after winning the China
Open in Beijing last week for the
second consecutive year while also
capturing his second crown of the
year. He beat his Spanish opponent,
David Ferrer in the final in a 6-2, 6-4
match to win the title. Djokovic is
currently ranked second overall behind
Nadal. With the Shanghai Masters
coming to an end, there will be a
lot more tennis to come just around
the corner that will entertain you
nevertheless at any time during the
year.

   
 

 

 

Royals get Reality Check

Your Douglas College Royals weekly update

By Josh Martin, Sports Editor

he Royals men’s soccer
team has been on fire so
far throughout the season,

winning games left and right, but

last weekend they faced a couple of
tougher matches than what they’re
used to. After such a dominating
outing a couple of weeks ago, where
the Royals offensively exploded to
combine for 14 goals in two games,
they were held to a measly two tallies
last weekend.

However, despite the lack of
production, the undefeated number
one ranked team managed to continue
to keep up their winning streak in
last Saturdays match, beating the
Quest University Kermodes in a
low scoring game resulting in a
1-0 contest. In Sunday’s game, the
Royals finally met their match. They
faced and tied the Vancouver Island
University Mariners by a score of 1-1
apiece. The Mariners are ranked as
the number one team in Group B and
in the overall standings sit at second
position just under your Douglas
College Royals.

With that tie the Royals winning
streak, which seemed to go on
forever, finally came to an end at
seven games, however they still
remain undefeated in the league
and sit at the number one rank in
both Group A and B with a record
of 7-1-0, a plus/minus + 30, and 22
points. With those impressive stats,
the Royals have nicely solidified
themselves as the red hot team to
beat in the BCCAA.

The women’s soccer team

 
   

wasn’t as fortunate as the men’s
squad once again, tying the Quest
University Kermodes 0-0 on their
Saturday match and then losing

3-1 against the top seeded team

in Group B, the Vancouver Island
University Mariners, at Mariner field
in Nanaimo on Sunday.

The Royals are now 3-3-2 in
eight games played with a plus/minus
+1 and 12 points. They remain in the
third position in Group A and have
been there now since week three.
Kwantlen is ahead of them in second
position with 16 points and UBCO
sits in first with 23.

The Royals men’s and women’s
volleyball season starts off on
November 5" with both teams on
the road, visiting Selkirk College
in Castlegar and then the next day
making their way from the Kootenays
to UBCO to face off in Kelowna.
Both teams will be making their
home game debut for some Friday
night volleyball action at Douglas
College on November 12" against
the Vancouver Island University
Mariners, with the women’s team
commencing at 6 P.M. and the men’s
team at 7:45 P.M.

And of course, last but not least
the men and women’s basketball
teams will start their season off on
November 5" at Douglas College
against UNBC in a Friday night
battle. The women’s team will start
off the night at 6 P.M. and the men
will follow, playing right after at 8
P.M. Be sure to check these games
out, before you go out on a Friday
night!

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