Radek Stepanek showing off his socks?They're playing the ATP Tour Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai this week. In this end-of the-season event, the top eight men's players in the world compete in a round-robin event, followed by knock-out semifinals and a final. The winner goes home with more than a million dollars, the equivalent of a Grand Slam purse, plus ranking points and bragging rights.
Before the event started, Frenchman Gilles Simon, ranked ninth in the world, got his chance to compete in Shanghai when number-one player Rafael Nadal withdrew because of a knee injury that occurred in the final tournament of the regular season. Czech player Radek Stepanek was on vacation in Thailand when he got an eleventh hour call to come to Shanghai to substitute for Andy Roddick, who had sprained his ankle. Stepanek grabbed his chance and took off for Shangai. Unfortunately, he didn't have any tennis gear with him, and his own equipment did not arrive in time for his match against number-two Roger Federer.
Stepanek went begging for equipment among the other players. He didn't even have contact lenses with him, but his prescription was made up in Hong Kong. Finally, with a racket borrowed from Novak Djokovic and socks borrowed from Andy Murray, Radek Stepanek took the court. He lost in straight sets to Federer, but he has the chance to play one more match in the round-robin before being eliminated. By that time, Stepanek will have his own equipment, but if I were he, I'd keep Andy Murray's socks. The way Murray has played this year, those socks may have some magic in them
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