Two absolutely step up performances on the Asian Swing for the men by Marin Cilic and  Jo Willie Tsonga today. 

 Tsonga rolled countryman Gael Monfils in a surprisingly easy semifinal victory in Tokyo.  He’ll now play Mikhail Youzhny in the final.  This is a huge opportunity for Tsonga to earn some much-needed points in his race to the year- end ATP World Tour Final in London.  I feel like Tsonga should roll in this match tomorrow. He seems to thrive at the end of year as he did last year, winning the Paris Indoors. 

Cilic, the 21-year-old Croatian coming off of his great US Open quarterfinal performance, absolutely takes Rafael Nadal to the woodshed with a 6-1, 6-3 victory.  This is the second big result for him in the last month against a top 3 player: he beat third-ranked Andy Murray at the Open and now hammers Nadal. These two wins for Cilic have got me re-thinking that the big Croatian is actually on his way to big things in 2010. Cilic now plays a very in-form Novak Djokovic, aka, the Joker, in the Beijing final.  He’s got his swagger back and is playing as good right now as he has all year.  Djokovic won six of the last seven games in a 6-3, 6-3 win over Robin Soderling today. 

I like Djokovic in straight sets to win the title. He’s locked and loaded, aiming to close out the year in the top 3.

Nice to see Nadal playing, in supposedly good health, but this is a troubling score. We’re barely used to seeing Rafa lose, much less take two back-to-back poundings from younger players.  He’s going to be eager to get back on the court this coming week when he will be the top seed in Shanghai. 

Shanghai is next week for the men.  A new tournament boasting the most money of any ATP event, has 13 of the top 15, only missing a fatigued and new father Roger Federer, deciding to spend more time with the twins.  Good for you buddy.  You earned the break.

Also, the injured Murray will skip Shanghai, to rest the wrist, probably a smart move not to rush back.

There are seven players locked in a battle for two remaining spots for the London Masters: Joe Willie Tsonga, Fernando Verdasco, Soderling, Nikolay Davydenko, Cilic, Monfils, and Gonzo.

That’s what makes this week and all the remaining matches from here on out so big.

We’re in the salary stretch.  Should be some good viewing to see who makes the cut.

I think this is a big week for both Del Po who lost first round in Tokyo last week, and Andy Roddick, who suffered a first-round loss in Beijing to 143rd-ranked Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot.  I think both these players have the ability to brush off the losses and step up this week. 

My money is still on Djokovic as the player to beat…but I’m keeping a close eye on Joe Willie Tsonga to make a big run this week.