The 2009 Shanghai Masters is in its first year of being a regular masters event – now called Masters 1000 – and before it had even begun was struggling with the withdrawals of two of the top 4 Andy Murray and world number Roger Federer.

Since it’s started things have not got much better, US open Champ Juan Martin del Potro and Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick have both retired with injury during matches leaving just world number 2 & 3 Rafael Nadal & novak Djokovic as the only member of the top 6 competing.

Previously the ATP Shanghai event was the host for the end of season Tennis Masters Cup, the finale to the ATP tour where the top 8 ranked players meet. This year that even will be held in London for the first time.

Perhaps the fact that it’s a new event or that so many of the top players are out, but for some reason none of the bookmakers with the exception of Betfair is running odds on the outright winner of this event.

Not surprisingly Betfair does have Nadal & Djokovic as almost joint favorites, with Nadal at 23/10 edging Djokovic at 5/2 with the rest of the top 10 ranked players being given odds between 8/1 and 9/1.

Betfair will give you a free £25 bet if you do happen to sign up and place a bet.

Andy Murray has withdrawn from next week’s Shanghai Masters as he has still not fully recovered from the wrist injury he picked up earlier in the US hard court season.

The Scot wants to give his injured left wrist more time to heal and has not played since Great Britain’s Davis Cup defeat by Poland last month

Last week Murray also withdrew from the Japan Open and as a result of not playing Shanghai this week, Murray will slip to 4th in the world rankings and Novak Djokovic will rise to three in the world. Murray was the winner of the Madrid masters last year and those points will come off this week and his injury means he cannot replace them.

Murray formally withdrew through a letter to the Shanghai tournament organisers

I apologise for the inconvenience that my withdrawal may cause but I trust you understand, the situation is beyond my control and I would much rather participate in the tournament than be in the current position regarding my health.

Murray now plans to return at the Valencia Open which starts on the 2nd of November giving him another good 3 weeks to fully recover. He should then play his regular tournament of the year at the  BNP Paribas Masters in Paris before the season finale,  the ATP World Tour Finals in London.