Rafa Barely Edges Blake; DelPo and Roddick Retire

The 2nd round of play at the Shanghai Masters ended today, and unfortunately, Marat Safin's retirment is coming closer and closer. The Russian fell to Tomas Berdych 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, but not without a fight. Rafael Nadal continued his very shaky play by barely defeating the fallen James Blake. Maybe "El Matador's" partying ways are slowing him down. He wasn't at his best last week in Beijing either. Novak Djokovic, on the other hand, kept his hot streak alive by trouncing Fabio Fognini. The French Trio of Jo Willy Tsonga, Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils all advanced, helping the three in their fight for the 3 remaining qualifying spots for the ATP World Finals. Losses by Roddick and Fernando Verdasco will also benefit Robin Soderling, who, like Simon and Monfils, is on the outside looking in on the season-ending Cup. Soderling earned a straight set victory over Nicolas Almagro.

Shanghai

Men's Singles- 1st Round

Robin Soderling (9) def. Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-4

Gael Monfils (11) def. Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 6-2

Tomas Berdych def. Marin Cilic (12) 7-6 (10-8), 3-6, 6-4

Tommy Haas (15) def. Benjamin Becker 7-6 (7-5), 6-4

Viktor Troicki def. Juan Monaco 6-1, 6-2

Jurgen Melzer def. Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-4

Nicolas Almagro def. Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-7 (2-7), 6-1, 7-6 (8-6)

Lleyton Hewitt def. John Isner 6-2, 6-4

Ivan Ljubicic def. Julien Benneteau 6-3, 3-6, 6-1

Men's Singles- 2nd Round

Rafael Nadal (1) def. James Blake 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4

Novak Djokovic (2) def. Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-1

Jurgen Melzer def. Juan Martin Del Potro (3) 7-5, 2-1 retired

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Andy Roddick (4) 3-4 retired

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (5) def. Shao Xuan Zeng 6-3, 6-3

Nikolay Davydenko (6) def. Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 6-2

Ivan Ljubicic def. Fernando Verdasco (7) 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)

Gilles Simon (8) def. Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-4

Robin Soderling (9) def. Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 7-5

Fernando Gonzalez (10) def. Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-4

Gael Monfils (11) def. Lleyton Hewitt 4-6, 6-4, 6-2

Radek Stepanek (13) def. Andreas Beck 7-5, 6-4

Tommy Robredo (14) def. Florian Mayer 4-6, 7-6 (12-10), 6-4

Rainer Schuettler def. Tommy Haas (15) 6-4 retired

Feliciano Lopez def. David Ferrer (16) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1

Tomas Berdych def. Marat Safin 3-6, 6-4, 6-4