DOHA
Three out of four best players in the world (Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray) arrived to Doha just after an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi where Murray (No. 4) beat Federer in the semis and Nadal in the final (in Doha this scenario can be repeated because Murray and Federer are in the same, bottom half of the draw). All three players won their first round matches very easily: Nadal dropped just one game against Fabrice Santoro who begins his 20th (!) and last season in the professional career; Federer lost 4 games to Potito Starace and defending champion, Andy Murray two more games against Albert Montanes.
Slovakian qualifier Karol Beck who was suspended for almost two years by taking clenbuterol, has won first ATP match since October 2005. Beck defeated 4-6 6-4 7-5 Michal Przysiezny of Poland being two points away from defeat at 4:5 in the third set on return. Also two points away from defeat was Belgian Kristof Vliegen but managed to win five consecutive points in a final tie-break against Oscar Hernandez.
First Round
(1)Rafael Nadal (ESP) d. Fabrice Santoro (FRA) 6-0 6-1
(q)Karol Beck (SVK) d. Michal Przysiezny (POL) 4-6 6-4 7-5
Nicolas Devilder (FRA) d. (WC)Abdulla Hajji (QAT) 6-0 6-3
(5)(WC)Gael Monfils (FRA) d. Jan Hernych (CZE) 6-2 6-2
(4)Andy Roddick (USA) d. Ivan Navarro-Pastor (ESP) 6-1 6-3
(WC)Arnaud Clement (FRA) d. Diego Junqueira (ARG) 6-1 6-2
Victor Hanescu (ROU) d. Viktor Troicki (SRB) 6-4 6-2
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) d. (6)Igor Andreev (RUS) 4-6 6-3 6-4
(q)Alexander Peya (AUT) d. (7)Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) 2-6 6-3 6-4
Sergey Stakhovsky (UKR) d. Christophe Rochus (BEL) 2-6 6-3 7-6(3)
Philipp Petzschner (GER) d. Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 7-6(2) 6-3
(3)Andy Murray (GBR) d. Albert Montanes (ESP) 6-2 6-4
(8)Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) d. (q)Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 6-4 6-3
Kristof Vliegen (BEL) d. Oscar Hernandez (ESP) 6-1 6-7(4) 7-6(5)
Andreas Seppi (ITA) d. Denis Gremelmayr (GER) 6-4 6-2
(2)Roger Federer (SUI) d. Potito Starace (ITA) 6-2 6-2
BRISBANE
The tournament has been moved from Adelaide to Brisbane and joined with the woman’s tournament. Ernests Gulbis made the biggest upset defeating 6-4 6-4 Novawk Djokovic. 20 year-old Gulbis broke Djokovic’s serve in the 5th game of the first set and held his serve to the end. The second set began with four breaks of serve. At 4:4 Djokovic lost his serve for the third time in this set, and Gulbis finished the match in the following game with an ace. “I’m not panicking. I’m not seriously a big doubt. The Australian Open is my highest goal for this part of the year” said Djokovic after losing an opportunity to overtake Federer in the ATP ranking this week.
American Taylor Dent has won first ATP match since February 2006. Dent, currently No. 865, didn’t play almost 2.5 years due to the recurring back and groin problems.
In the first all-tie-break match of this year, Mario Ancic edged past Amer Delic 7-6(2) 6-7(4) 7-6(6) after 2 hours 52 minutes with no break of serve. Ancic was two points away from closing out the match in two sets but in the third set he found himself in the reverse situation. Delic on three different occasions (5:4 deuce, 5:5 and 6:6 in the tie-break) was two points away from reaching second round but finally the Croat held his nerve and won for the first time in career a match composed of 3 tie-break sets. Ancic was better in aces (23-21) too.
First Round
Ernests Gulbis (LAT) d. (1)Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6-4 6-4
Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) d. (q)Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 6-3 6-3
Kei Nishikori (JPN) d. (q)Bobby Reynolds (USA) 6-3 6-2
(5)Tomas Berdych (CZE) d. (WC)Brydan Klein (AUS) 6-0 6-4
(3)Fernando Verdasco (ESP) d. (WC)Bernard Tomic (AUS) 6-4 6-2
Mario Ancic (CRO) d. (q)Amer Delic (USA) 7-6(2) 6-7(4) 7-6(6)
Florent Serra (FRA) d. Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) 6-3 7-6(3)
Jurgen Melzer (AUT) d. (6)Mardy Fish (USA) 6-4 4-6 7-6(4)
(8)Radek Stepanek (CZE) d. Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) 6-2 6-2
Michael Llodra (FRA) d. (q)Joseph Sirianni (AUS) 5-7 7-6(3) 6-2
Julien Benneteau (FRA) d. Robby Ginepri (USA) 3-6 6-3 7-5
(4)Robin Soderling (SWE) d. Samuel Querrey (USA) 6-3 6-3
(7)Richard Gasquet (FRA) d. Marc Gicquel (FRA) 4-6 6-2 6-2
(PR)Taylor Dent (USA) d. Steve Darcis (BEL) 7-6(0) 6-2
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) d. (WC)Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 5-7 6-1 6-4
(2)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) d. Agustin Calleri (ARG) 6-2 7-5
CHENNAI
Nikolay Davydenko as only Top 10 player arrived to India, and won his first match in Chennai Open convincingly 6-2 6-3 over Daniel Kollerer. In the most dramatic match of the first round, Dudi Sela eliminated Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo despite 4-6 4:5 (0-40) on return. Ramirez-Hidalgo was one out of 7 Spaniards who entered the draw, only two of them have won first round matches, Marcel Granollers and Carlos Moya. Two-time champion (2004-05), Moya was pushed to play a tie-break of the second set in a match against Danai Udomchoke. Moya in the second raound will take on local favorite Somdev K. Dev Varman who posted third ATP win in career but first in straight sets.
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First Round
(1)Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) d. Daniel Kollerer (AUT) 6-2 6-3
(WC)Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) d. Go Soeda (JPN) 3-6 6-2 6-4
Andreas Beck (GER) d. Roko Karanusic (CRO) 6-1 6-0
(8)Marcel Granollers (ESP) vs Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR) 6-4 7-5
(3)Marin Cilic (CRO) d. Alberto Martin (ESP) 6-4 6-4
Denis Istomin (UZB) d. (q)Rohan Bopanna (IND) 6-4 7-6(3)
Dudi Sela (ISR) d. Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo (ESP) 4-6 7-6(3) 6-1 – 4 M.P.
(7)Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) d. Pablo Andujar (ESP) 6-3 6-2
(6)Carlos Moya (ESP) d. (q)Danai Udomchoke (THA) 6-3 7-6(4)
(WC)Somdev K. Dev Varman (IND) d. Kevin Kim (USA) 6-3 6-3
Ivo Minar (CZE) d. Wayne Odesnik (USA) 6-3 6-0
(4)Ivo Karlovic (CRO) d. (q)Rajeev Ram (USA) 6-4 6-3
(5)Rainer Schuettler (GER) d. (WC)Prakash Amritraj (IND) 6-2 4-6 6-1
Simon Greul (GER) d. Daniel Gimeno (ESP) 6-3 6-4
Bjorn Phau (GER) d. Santiago Ventura (ESP) 6-2 7-5
(q)Flavio Cipolla (ITA) d. (2)Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 6-4 6-1
Mario Ancic
ATP New Year's Resolutions
Happy New Year!
That’s another way of saying, “Yes! The 2009 ATP season is just days, hours, minutes away!” So let’s the kick off the new year by taking a look at some of the men’s new year’s resolutions. Well, these are at least what their resolutions SHOULD be.
Rafael Nadal – Play a lighter schedule to preserve his body for the fall indoor season and the Masters Cup. (Note: there is not much Nadal can do about this due to mandatory tournaments, but limiting his clay-court events to the Masters Series and French Open and nothing else would be a good start).
Roger Federer – Take back Wimbledon. Take back the No. 1 ranking.
Novak Djokovic – Win back the U.S. Open crowd. (Note: borderline impossible).
Andy Roddick – Get back his mojo.
Gilles Simon – 1) Get in the weight room. 2) Come up big, for once, in the Slams. 3) Other than that, do exactly what he did in 2008.
Juan Martin Del Potro – See Simon (especially part 3).
Andy Murray – Win a Slam. Other than that, do exactly what he did in 2008.
Ernests Gulbis – Get a brain. Or–if he has one–use it.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – Stay away from the infirmary.
Mario Ancic – See Tsonga.
Tommy Haas – See Ancic.
Marcos Baghdatis – See Haas.
Lleyton Hewitt – See Baghdatis.
Robin Söderling – Do something of significance at a tournament that’s not indoors.
Nicolas Almgaro – Do something of significance at a tournament that’s not on clay.
Marat Safin – Either play or retire. No more playing like he would rather be retired.
Fernando Gonzalez – Admit when balls hit his racket before going out.
James Blake – Get over the Gonzalez Olympic controversy.
Fernando Verdasco – Be as successful on the court as he was off the court in 2008.
Tomas Berdych – Beat someone ranked ahead of him.
Mikhail Youzhny – Refrain from self-inflicted harm.
Well, there’s the new year’s resolution list. If any applicable player was left off, let’s hear who it is and what his–or her–resolution should be (in the comments section below). With the 2009 season just days away, it won’t be long before we find out which players are prepared to make the necessary changes.
Happy New Year to all tennis fans and here’s to another great season on the ATP Tour!
Voo's Paris Second Round Wrap Up
Before the tournament 10 players had their chances to take three remaining spots for Masters Cup. After the second round three players dropped out from this competition, among them last year’s Masters Cup finalist David Ferrer who has completely lost his form in the second half of the year. Ferrer was able to win only 5 games on Wednesday in his second round match against Philipp Kohlschreiber. The German hasn’t lost a service game in two rounds saving 14 break points (8 against Youzhny, 6 against Ferrer). Kohlschreiber next meets James Blake. The American (10th in Champions Race) wasted a couple set points in the first set tie-break against Simone Bolelli but won the match 6-7(10) 6-3 6-4 mainly thanks to good serving – 17 aces (3 in the last game).
Robin Soderling who had the least chance to qualify to Shanghai, lost 8th match in a row to Roger Federer – this time 4-6 6-7(7). The Swede had two set points in the tie-break, first on his own serve but made a forehand error. Second set point Federer saved with forehand winner after a good serve.
The revelation of the last two weeks, Gilles Simon defeated second time this month Igor Andreev. Simon won 6-3 7-5 (despite 1:3 down in the first set and 0:4 in the second) and almost secured himself a ticket to Shanghai. Simon’s compatriots Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won second round matches (Tsonga from break down in the final set) and they have still a chance to play in Shanghai but they both need to win the tournament.
Defending champion David Nalbandian needed two sets (first set lasted 82 minutes!) to win a match against Nicolas Kiefer, setting up a third match within three weeks with fellow Argentine Juan Martin del Potro. Del Potro demolished Mario Ancic 6-0 6-4 – Ancic has lost set to “love” for the first time in career indoor.
“This is going to be the third time in three weeks, so that is a little bit strange,” Nalbandian said of facing del Potro again. “It’s going to be a tough one, we both know each other very well.”
Second Round – Paris
(1)Rafael Nadal (ESP) d. (LL)Florent Serra (FRA) 6-2 6-4
(16)Gael Monfils (FRA) d. (q)Juan Monaco (ARG) 6-4 6-4
Tomas Berdych (CZE) d. (12)Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 6-3 7-5
(6)Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) d. (q)Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) 7-6(5) 7-5
(4)Andy Murray (GBR) d. Samuel Querrey (USA) 6-2 6-4
(15)Fernando Verdasco (ESP) d. Tommy Robredo (ESP) 6-2 6-7(6) 6-2
(9)Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) d. Mario Ancic (CRO) 6-0 6-4
(8)David Nalbandian (ARG) d. Nicolas Kiefer (GER) 7-6(5) 6-3
(7)Andy Roddick (USA) d. Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 6-3 6-4
(10)Gilles Simon (FRA) d. Igor Andreev (RUS) 6-3 7-5
(13)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) d. Radek Stepanek (CZE) 3-6 6-4 6-4
(3)Novak Djokovic (SRB) d. Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) 6-2 4-3 ret.
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) d. (5)David Ferrer (ESP) 6-3 6-2
(11)James Blake (USA) d. (q)Simone Bolelli 6-7(10) 6-3 6-4
Marin Cilic (CRO) d. (q)Marcel Granollers (ESP) 6-4 7-6(2)
(2)Roger Federer (SUI) d. Robin Soderling (SWE) 6-4 7-6(7
St. Pete seeds lack Simon survival skills
The St. Petersburg draw is already in shambles after just two rounds of the tournament, as seeds are tumbling out at an alarming rate. No. 5 Marin Cilic, No. 6 Dmitry Tursunov, and No. 7 Mario Ancic were all upset in their openers. No. 2 Nikolay Davydenko, No. 4 Mikhail Youzhny, and No. 8 Marat Safin followed suit in round two, much to the chagrin of the Russian fans. Davydenko pulled out after his first-round win with a wrist injury, while Youzhny lost to doubles partner Mischa Zverev and Safin fell to qualifier Andrey Golubev.
The only seeds to reach the quarterfinals were No. 3 Fernando Verdasco and–not surprisingly–No. 1 Andy Murray. Murray won the Masters Series Madrid last week and has had no problems so far in St. Petersburg taking care of Viktor Troicki and Ernests Gulbis.
Pehaps the six unfortunate seeded players in St. Petersburg should be taking notes from Gilles Simon. The Frenchman won five matches in three sets–four in third-set tiebreakers–last week en route to the Madrid title match, and he is already up to his old tricks in Lyon. Simon recovered from being a set and a break down in the first round to outlast Juan Monaco in three. He went to three again on Thursday with Andreas Seppi, but was far too strong mentally and physically in the end for the Italian.
Simon will play countryman Josselin Ouanna, who got into the event as a wildcard, in the quarterfinals. Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are also through, while Richard Gasquet got upset by Steve Darcis in the second round.
Over in Basel, top two seeds Roger Federer and David Nalbandian have been doing their best Simon impersonations. Federer struggled with Bobby Reynolds in his opener and lost the second set in a tiebreaker, but he outlasted the American in three. The Swiss then saw Jarkko Nieminen serve for the first set on Thursday, but Federer came back to win the match in two tiebreakers. Nalbandian cruised in his first match, but the Argentine needed a third-set breaker to overcome Kristof Vliegen.
James Blake and Juan Martin Del Potro are still looming large as potential semifinal opponents for Federer and Nalbandian, respectively.
A Painful Defeat For Stanislas Wawrinka
BASEL
Stanislas Wawrinka suffered the most painful (6-3 6-7 6-7) defeat of the year at the hands of German qualifier Benjamin Becker and practically lost chances to book his place at the Masters Cup in Shanghai. Wawrinka couldn’t handle the pressure playing in front of the home crowd. Lost the second set despite a comfortable lead at 6-3 5:3 up and the third set despite 4:1 up and two match points on 6:5 on Becker’s serve. Wawrinka stayed positive after the bitter loss: “I’ve still had a great year and I have one more chance to qualify for Tennis Masters Cup when I compete in Paris next week”.
Swiss No. 1 Roger Federer surprsingly lost a set after wasting match point but finally won the match against Bobby Reynolds 6-3 6-7 6-3 without facing a break point in the whole match.
Other contenders to play in Shanghai: those with big opportunities like Juan Martin Del Potro and James Blake, and those with theoretical chances like Igor Andreev and David Nalbandian, all won their 1st round matches without too much trouble
LYON
One out of 12 Frenchmen, who played in the 1st round in Lyon, Josselyn Ouanna has got his first ATP victory, beating former champion Ivan Ljubicic 6-7 7-6 6-4. Ljubic was serving for the match at 5:3 in the second set. In Lyon, likewise in Basel, three players fight for a spot in Masters Cup. All of them (Andy Roddick, Gilles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga) won first round matches. Madrid’s hero Gilles Simon needed a three-setter again to win another match on the road to Shanghai. Defending champion Sebastian Grosjean playing first match since US Open, lost 7-6 4-6 4-6 to Robby Ginepri. In the next round Ginepri will face Andy Roddick for the 9th time in his career but for the first time in the European indoor season.
ST. PETERSBURG
Ernests Gulbis demolished Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-0 6-2 in just 51 minutes, serving 11 aces at 81% of the first serve and for the first time in the history, Latvian tennis will be represented by two players in the second round of an ATP tournament. Gulbis’ compatriot and peer, Karlis Lejnieks playing first ATP match in career beat Alexandre Koudriavtsev 3-6 7-6(1) 6-3. Lejnieks saved double match point at 5:6 (15-40) in the second set.
The Croats were unlucky in the first round : Mario Ancic lost to Jeremy Chardy 4-6 6-3 4-6 despite a 3:1lead in the third set, in turn Marin Cilic wasted two match points in the final set tie-break against unknown Kazakhstan qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin in a match which lasted 3 hours.
Basel – First Round
(1)Roger Federer (SUI) d. Bobby Reynolds (USA) 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) d. Eduardo Schwank (ARG) 6-2 6-4
Marcel Granollers (ESP) d. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 6-2 4-6 6-2
Simone Bolelli (ITA) d. (7)Tomas Berdych (CZE) 6-4 7-5
(4)James Blake (USA) d. Nicolas Kiefer (GER) 3-6 6-3 6-4
Oscar Hernandez (ESP) d. (q)Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) 7-6(6) 6-7(5) 6-1
Feliciano Lopez (ESP) d. (WC)Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 7-6(5) 7-6(7)
(8)Mardy Fish (USA) d. Agustin Calleri (ARG) 7-6(5) 6-2
(6)Igor Andreev (RUS) d. Jurgen Melzer (AUT) 7-6(5) 7-5
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) d. Denis Gremelmayr (GER) 6-4 7-6(5)
(WC)Stephane Bohli (SUI) d. Jose Acasuso (ARG) 6-3 6-2
(3)Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) d. (q)George Bastl (SUI) 6-2 6-4
(q)Benjamin Becker (GER) d. (5)Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 3-6 7-6(5) 7-6(5) – 2 M.P.
(LL)Andreas Beck (GER) d. Nicolas Devilder (FRA) 6-4 6-4
(q)Kristof Vliegen (BEL) d. (WC)Philipp Petzschner (GER) 6-2 6-3
(2)David Nalbandian (ARG) d. Albert Montanes (ESP) 6-4 6-2
Lyon – First Round
(1)Andy Roddick (USA) d. Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 7-6(5) 6-4
Robby Ginepri (USA) d. (WC)Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) 6-7(4) 6-4 6-4
(q)Christophe Rochus (BEL) d. Gilles Muller (LUX) 6-2 6-4
(7)Robin Soderling (SWE) d. (q)Thierry Ascione (FRA) 6-4 6-1
(4)Gilles Simon (FRA) d. Juan Monaco (ARG) 2-6 6-4 6-1
Andreas Seppi (ITA) d. (q)David Guez (FRA) 6-2 7-5
(WC)Josselyn Ouanna (FRA) d. Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) 6-7(2) 7-6(5) 6-4
Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) d. (6)Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 7-6(4) 6-3
(8)Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) vs Guillermo Canas (ARG) 6-3 6-4
Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) d. Samuel Querrey (USA) 6-3 7-5
Fabrice Santoro (FRA) d. Fabio Fognini (ITA) 6-4 6-1
(3)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) d. Marc Gicquel (FRA) 7-5 4-6 6-3
(5)Tommy Robredo (ESP) d. Michael Llodra (FRA) 6-4 6-3
Julien Benneteau (FRA) d. Arnaud Clement (FRA) 6-3 6-2
Steve Darcis (BEL) d. (WC)Radek Stepanek (CZE) 6-4 3-6 6-3
(2)Richard Gasquet (FRA) d. (q)Santiago Giraldo (COL) 5-7 6-3 7-6(3)
Basel – First Round
(1)Andy Murray (GBR) d. Viktor Troicki (SRB) 6-3 6-3
Ernests Gulbis (LAT) d. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 6-0 6-2
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) d. Potito Starace (ITA) 6-3 7-6(4)
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) d. (7)Mario Ancic (CRO) 6-4 3-6 6-4
(3)Fernando Verdasco (ESP) d. (q)Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 1-6 6-4 6-3
(WC)Karlis Lejnieks (LAT) d. (WC)Alexandre Koudriavtsev (RUS) 3-6 7-6(1) 6-3 – 2 M.P.
Rainer Schuettler (GER) d. Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) 6-2 6-3
Dominik Hrbaty (SVK) d. (6)Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) 6-1 6-1
(8)Marat Safin (RUS) d. Sergey Stakhovsky (UKR) 6-2 6-4
(q)Andrey Golubev (KAZ) d. Olivier Rochus (BEL) 6-1 6-4
(q)Michael Zverev (GER) d. Florent Serra (FRA) 6-4 6-2
(4)Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) d. Ivan Navarro-Pastor (ESP) 6-2 6-1
(q)Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) d. (5)Marin Cilic (CRO) 7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(6) – 2 M.P.
Victor Hanescu (ROU) d. Evgueni Korolev (RUS) 6-1 6-2
(WC)Michail Elgin (RUS) d. Filippo Volandri (ITA) 6-4 6-4
(2)Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) d. Chris Guccione (AUS) 6-4 6-4
Tennis As Usual: Action Heats Up With Masters Series Madrid
The perceived post-U.S. Open lull on the ATP Tour provided opportunities for some lesser-known players to make name for themselves, and two unheralded competitors did just that last week. Philipp Petzschner, a German ranked 125th in the world, took home the title in Vienna while journeyman Russian Igor Kunitsyn, ranked 71st, hoisted the trophy in Moscow.
Those surprises made for nice entertainment, but now it’s truly back to business. Heck, Petzschner and Kunitsyn were good enough to win ATP titles, but neither one came even close to getting into this week’s event. The first huge tournament since the U.S. Open is finally upon us as the Masters Series Madrid is already underway. Each and every one of the Top 30 players in the world (No. 31 Mario Ancic recently pulled out) is in the field. Yes, that means it’s time to fasten your seatbelts for the return of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Federer withdrew shortly before last week’s IF Stockholm Open, so he will be playing for the first time since Switzerland’s Davis Cup win over Belgium three weeks ago. The second-ranked Swiss won’t have long to get back in the swing of things, either, as he has been placed in by far the most difficult quarter of the draw. In round two he will face Radek Stepanek, a straight-set winner over Juan Monaco on Sunday, and his potential remaining path to the semifinals includes Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round and either Juan Martin Del Potro or David Nalbandian in the quarters.
Nalbandian captured last week’s other tournament, the IF Stockholm Open, where he lost a mere 15 games in four matches before needing three sets to dispatch Robin Soderling in the final. The Argentine, however, has not been rewarded with a friendly draw in Madrid. He could open with Tokyo champion Tomas Berdych before meeting an on-fire Del Potro.
Novak Djokovic’s quarter also appears to have a number of potential winners, although the quality of the field is far inferior to that of Federer’s. The third-seeded Serb is surrounded by players looking to turn around recent slumps. Seeds Nikolay Davydenko, James Blake, and Ivo Karlovic have done nothing of late, and Djokovic has not exactly been setting the tennis world on fire himself. Indoor-court genius Robin Soderling, who finished runner-up to Nalbandian in Stockholm, could take advantage of a vulnerable section.
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal are clear favorites in their respective sections. Nadal’s nearby seeds-David Ferrer, Stanislas Wawrinka, and Richard Gasquet-do not look overly ominous on paper, but the Spaniard will have to face Ernests Gulbis in the second round. The young Latvian, who played Nadal tougher at Wimbledon than anyone other then Federer, survived Nicolas Kiefer in round one on Sunday.
Murray probably has the easiest journey to the semis of all the top four seeds. Unless Marin Cilic returns from injury with a bang, the Scot should cruise into the quarterfinals, where he could face Andy Roddick, Fernando Gonzalez, or Gael Monfils.
Tennis As Usual: Hey Marat, You Won the Match
Marat Safin stole the show in Moscow, where most of the tennis action is taking place this week since both men and women are competing at the Kremlin Cup. As usual, Safin made headlines for something other than his play. After securing a break with opponent Noam Okun serving to stay in the match at 4-5 in the third set, Safin walked over to his chair thinking it was time for just another changeover. Little did Safin know that the match was over. Umpire Carlos Bernardes kindly informed the Russian that he had won and Safin finally walked up to the net to exchange both a handshake and a laugh with Okun.
Also advancing in Moscow on Tuesday were No. 1 seed Nikolay Davydenko, Robby Ginepri, and Serbs Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki.
Flavia Pennetta made the most noise on the women’s side with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 upset of Venus Williams. The crowd, however, had to be more enthusiastic about a host of Russians making it to the second round. Russian winners included Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, and Daniela Hantuchova.
Seeds also tumbled at the Bank Austria Tennis Trophy in Vienna, where No. 1 seed Stanislas Wawrinka fell to Philipp Petzschner in a third-set tiebreaker and No. 7 Gilles Simon bowed out to Eduardo Schwank, also in three sets. Fellow Masters Cup hopeful Fernando Gonzalez, on the other hand, survived Simone Bolelli after dropping the first set.
On the ATP Tour, however, the day really belonged to long-lost Joachim Johansson. The big-serving Swede, who had not played competitively in exactly one year, came out of retirement this week to take part in the Stockholm Open and he thrilled the crowd by winning his first match on Tuesday night over Nicolas Mahut. “Pim-Pim” fired 20 aces in just two sets en route to a 7-5, 7-6(5) victory.
In round two Johansson will face top-seeded David Nalbandian, a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Bobby Reynolds. Other seeded players who safely moved through were No. 2 Mario Ancic, No. 5 Rainer Schuettler, and No. 6 Jose Acasuso. Jonas Bjorkman, who is retiring at the end of 2008, was not as fortunate as his countryman Johansson. The veteran lost his first-round match to Juan Monaco in straight sets.
Mondays With Bob Greene: For Me An Olympics Gold Medal Ranks High
STARS
Juan Martin Del Porto beat Andy Roddick 6-1 7-6 (2) to win the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles, California
Sergiy Stakhovsky won the Open Castilla y Leon in Segovia, Spain, defeating Rhiago Alves 7-5 7-6 (4)
Jim Courier beat John McEnroe 7-5 7-6 (3) to win the Countrywide Classic Legends title in Los Angeles, California
Marcelo Rios won the Vale do Lobo Grand Champions CGD in Algarve, Portugal, when Goran Ivanisevic retired after losing the first set 6-4
Yaroslava Shvedova beat Magdalena Rybarikova 6-4 6-1 to win an ITF women’s event in Monterrey, Mexico
SAYINGS
“I feel good considering the calendar this year, which was terrorizing. It’s been a good year, but a difficult one.” – Rafael Nadal, who replaces Roger Federer as the world’s top player on August 18.
“If maybe I am a player who doesn’t have any Grand Slams, maybe a Grand Slam would still do more for my own career. But because I have 12 already, for me an Olympic gold ranks high.” – Roger Federer.
“Honestly, my Olympic gold, even though it was in doubles, is my favorite trophy I have.” – Serena Williams.
“It has been beyond my dreams to play the Olympics. It takes awhile to set in. A few years after you win you’re like, ‘Wait a minute, this is my gold. Oh, my gosh, yes.'” – Venus Williams.
“I’ve obviously experienced a lot in my 16-year career and I have to say (Friday) night was probably the greatest night I’ve had professionally in my whole career.” – Lindsay Davenport, commenting on the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics.
“Talk about being in the right place at the right time. It was like – wow!” -Devin Mullings of the Bahamas, who was in Beijing to play doubles and got called up as a last-minute replacement in the singles competition.
“It’s great to play in a final against Goran, but it’s unfortunate it had to end on an injury. It’s better for him to take care of his knee.” – Marcelo Rios, after winning the Vale do Lobo Grand Champions CGD senior tournament for the second time in three years.
“I always get injured at the wrong time. I’m getting older, so I have to be careful now.” – Goran Ivanisevic, after retiring with a knee injury in the final at Algarve, Portugal.
“We had one intent, and that is to build the event.” – Paul Floury, tournament chairman, on the U.S. Tennis Association becoming the major owner of the men’s tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“If I continue in this way, I have a chance to be in the top 10. I don’t know when – if I am still beating (Andy) Roddick and top-10 players, for sure I will be, but you never know what may happen.” – Juan Martin Del Potro, who beat Roddick in the final of the Countrywide Classic.
“He certainly has the weapons; it depends on how he builds on it.” – Andy Roddick, about Juan Martin Del Potro.
STREAK TO 14
Teenager Juan Martin Del Potro hasn’t lost since the second round at Wimbledon, and his 14-match winning streak has raised the Argentine right-hander’s ranking to number 17 in the world. The 19-year-old, who won on clay in Stuttgart, Germany, and Kitzbuhel, Austria, upset top-seeded Andy Roddick in the final of the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles, California, 6-1 7-6 (2). He becomes the first teenager to win the Los Angeles tournament since Pete Sampras did it in 1991 at the age of 19. “I think I am playing very good and my confidence is very, very high,” Del Potro said. Roddick didn’t dispute the statement.
SWINGING DOOR
Who’s playing who was a difficult question when the Beijing Olympics tennis competition finally got underway, thanks to a slew of withdrawals at the last moment. Among the last to pull out were top-seeded Ana Ivanovic, Tatiana Golovin, Ivo Karlovic, Ivan Ljubicic and Marcos Baghdatis. Even Lindsay Davenport withdrew from the singles competition, but remained in the doubles where she is teaming with Liezel Huber. Ivanovic, the French Open champion, has failed to recover from an injured right thumb. Karlovic is out because of a stomach illness, while Ljubicic withdrew from the singles with back trouble, although he still plans to play doubles.
SUCCESSFUL WEEK
Although he was not happy with the way he won the tournament, Marcelo Rios was delighted with the fact that his victory moved him to the top of the South African Airways Rankings. Rios won the Vale do Lobo Grand Champions CGD title when Goran Ivanisevic was forced to retire with a left knee injury. Rios broke Ivanisevic’s serve in the tenth game of the opening set before the Croat retired. It was the second time in three years that Rios has won the Algarve, Portugal, tournament, joining John McEnroe as the only players to twice win in Algarve.
SAFINA’S TOP
Dinara Safina has set herself up for one of the biggest paydays in tennis. By winning the Rogers Cup in Montreal, Canada, Safina clinched the 2008 Olympus US Open Series women’s title. If the Roland Garros runner-up should win the U.S. Open, she would receive not only the winner’s check of USD $2.5 million, but also a USD $1 million bonus. Great Britain’s Andy Murray and Spain’s Rafael Nadal are tied for the men’s lead with 145 points each.
STEPPING IN
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the new owner of the Western & Southern Masters tournament in Cincinnati. Paul Flory, the tournament chairman, will retain a minority interest and continue to play a major role in the event. The USTA acquired only the men’s tournament from the nonprofit Tennis for Charity, which will continue to own the women’s event played at the same venue. The deal does not include the tennis center facility, which is located near the Kings Island theme park north of Cincinnati.
SONY CHAMPIONSHIPS
The world’s top two women players – Jelena Jakovic and Ana Ivanovic – are the first to qualify for the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, which will be held November 4-9 in Doha, Qatar. The women’s tournament will feature the world’s top eight singles players and top four doubles teams. The two Serbs are currently in first and second place in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships.
SIDELINED AGAIN
Mario Ancic will miss his second straight U.S. Open. Ranked number 25 in the world, Ancic withdrew from this year’s final Grand Slam tournament because of a recurrence of mononucleosis. The former Wimbledon semifinalist was slowed throughout the 2007 season with the same illness. Ancic is best known as the last player to beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon until Rafael Nadal did it this year. The native of Croatia beat Federer in the first round at Wimbledon in 2002.
SENIORS TO LOS CABOS
The senior players are moving south of the border, down Mexico way. Tos Cabos, Mexico, will be the site of an event on the Outback Champions Series calendar beginning next year. The Del Mar Development Champions Cup will be held March 18-22 at the Palmilla Tennis Club and will be the first tour stop in Central America on the Outback Champions Series, a circuit for champion players 30 years old and over. Players competing on the Outback Champions Series include Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Michael Chang and Todd Martin.
SUING ATP
A Wilmington, Delaware, jury has decided that the ATP can restructure its calendar the way it wants. But the German tennis federation (DTB) is considering appealing the decision. The governing body of men’s tennis plans to downgrade the Masters tournament in Hamburg, Germany, and move it from May to July. The DTB went to court and argued that the ATP’s plans violated American anti-trust laws. But after nine hours of deliberation, the jurors agreed with the ATP and rejected the suit. Before the case went to the jury, United States District Court Judge Gregory Sleet dismissed several ATP officials as defendants. He also dismissed breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty claims against the ATP, but kept intact the main antitrust claims.
SCHUETTLER IN
Germany’s Rainer Schuettler is in the Beijing Olympics, much to the chagrin of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). Schuettler sought a spot in the men’s singles draw in Beijing by going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, where he was successful. He then wrote an open letter to ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti demanding an apology over the ITF’s reaction to the successful challenge. “I find the statement shocking, harming and damaging to my reputation due to the inaccuracy of its content,” Schuettler wrote. The ITF, which originally said it deplored the CAS decision, countered with another statement, saying: “There are so many inaccuracies in Mr. Schuettler’s open letter that it would be impossible for us to respond to each of his allegations.” The German Olympic Committee supported Schuettler’s petition and failed to nominate either Denis Gremelmayr or Michael Berrer, both of whom were ranked higher than Schuettler on the June 9 deadline for entries.
SPORTING BLEMISH
Mathieu Montcourt of France has been banned from the men’s tour for two months and fined USD $12,000 for betting on tennis matches. The ATP said that while Montcourt bet on matches between June and September 2005, it found no evidence that he had tried to affect the outcomes of the matches. The Frenchman did not bet on his own matches. A winner of two Challenger titles this year, Montcourt will be able to return to the tour in October.
SPLIT FOR SHRIVER
Citing irreconcilable differences, Pam Shriver has filed for divorce from her husband of six years, actor George Lazenby. The former tennis star is seeking custody of the couple’s three children, including twins born in 2005, with supervised visits for Lazenby. The winner of 22 Grand Slam doubles titles, Shriver has served as a tennis commentator since retiring. Lazenby, who is best known for his role as James Bond in the film “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” said he will seek sole legal and physical custody of the children.
SHARED PERFORMANCES
Los Angeles: Rohan Bopanna and Eric Butorac beat Travis Parrott and Dusan Vemic 7-6 (5) 7-6 (5)
Segovia: Ross Hutchins and Jim Thomas beat Jaroslav Levinsky and Filip Polasek 7-6 (3) 3-6 10-8 (match tiebreak)
Monterrey: Jelena Pandzic and Magdalena Rybarikova beat Monique Adamczak and Melanie South 4-6 6-4 10-8 (match tiebreak)
SITES TO SURF
Cincinnati: www.cincytennis.com
Olympics: http://en.beijing2008.cn/
Olympics: www.Itftennis.com/Olympics/
Washington: www.leggmasontennisclassic.com
Newport: www.championsseriestennis.com/newport2008/
New Haven: www.pilotpentennis.com
Istanbul: www.tedopen.org/
TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
(All money in USD)
ATP
Olympics, Beijing, China, hard
$483,000 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, Washington, DC, hard
$100,000 TED Open Challenger, Istanbul, Turkey, hard
WTA TOUR
Olympics, Beijing, China, hard
$175,000 Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open, Cincinnati, Ohio, hard
TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK
ATP
$708,000 Pilot Pen Tennis, New Haven, Connecticut, hard
WTA TOUR
$600,000 Pilot Pen Tennis, New Haven, Connecticut, hard
Olympic Withdrawals – From Tilden and Lenglen – Agassi and Sharapova
Pull-outs from the Olympic tennis competition has become almost as much of a tradition as the Olympics Games itself.
Maria Sharapova is the most recent example with the reigning Australian Open champion pulling out of the Beijing Games – and the U.S. Open – with a shoulder injury. Other recent pullouts include Marcos Baghdatis, Mario Ancic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Some other examples of high profile pullouts from past Games include Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf before the 1996 Games in Atlanta, (strained Achilles tendon and left knee injury, respectively) Andre Agassi before the 2000 Games in Sydney (cancer diagnosis to his mother and sister), Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati before the Athens Games (left knee and hamstring, respectively).
The other high-profile player not in the Beijing field is of course 2003 U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick and 2004 Olympic silver medalist Mardy Fish. While a super-patriot when representing the United States in Davis Cup – and at the 2004 Games – Roddick made the tough decision to focus on getting a leg up on his rivals at the U.S. Open by not traveling to the other side of the globe just two weeks before the fourth and final major tournament of the year. Roddick’s reasoning for skipping the Games is to put the Open as a high priority this time around. Fish, another Davis Cup stalwart, made the tough decision as well having already achieved Olympic glory on his resume.
Another great American tennis champion, Bill Tilden, took perhaps the same reasoning when skipping the Olympic tennis competition at the 1924 Games in Paris, although his public excuse for missing out on the Games was due to his journalistic contracts. On March 11, 1924 – as documented in the my new book On This Day In Tennis History (New Chapter Press, $19.95) – Tilden announced that he will not represent the United States in the Paris Games. Tilden’s reasoning is that even if he wanted to play for the United States, the U.S. Olympic rule that forbids athletes from writing for newspapers prevents him from competing since he is contracted to write two articles per week for various outlets. Wrote the New York Times on the day “The tennis champion had never definitely announced that he would go abroad this year if picked for the Olympic team. Two months ago, Tilden said he did not think he would go because of the sharp competition expected in the national singles and in the Davis Cup matches. He said he regarded the Davis Cup competition more important than the Olympics and that he felt he could husband his strength for those matches in the event he is to be one of the contestants.” The USLTA also had enacted a similar rule for amateur tennis, but it is not scheduled to take affect until Jan. 1, 1925.
Also in 1924, French superstar Suzanne Lenglen withdrew from the competition in the capital city of her home country due to illness. She does, however, attend select sessions of the competition. Reported the Associated Press on the first day of the 1924 competition, “Suzanne Lenglen, the world’s champion, watched some of the matches until the sun became too uncomfortably warm for her. She looked thinner than usual. Mlle. Lenglen said she still felt ill and her appearance bore out her statement.”
The benefactors of Tilden and Lenglen’s withdrawals in 1924? Vincent Richards, Tilden’s Davis Cup teammate who won singles gold over France’s Henri Cochet, and Helen Wills, who won the singles competition over France’s Didi Vlasto.
Rogers Cup Qualies Day 1
Just got back from day one of the qualifying draw at the Rogers Cup and it was a great day to be a tennis fan. It has been almost a year now since I’ve been able to catch some live tennis action and it was a nice way to ease back into things and get reacquainted with the game up close. Of course, having a press pass for the first time doesn’t hurt either!
I arrived on site around 9:30am local time and found my way from the parking lot to the actual venue. A short ten minute hike later and I was drenched in sweat on this humid July day but ready to begin my exploring of the site and all that the media access would allow me. Putting on the press pass for the first time was like wearing a badge of honor, and it also elicited a few curious looks from fans trying to figure out who I was and why I was fortunate enough to be wearing such a large pass around my neck. Seriously, this thing is huge!
I caught parts of a few different qualifying matches today, mostly the ones with the more familiar names. There were not a lot of well known players in the qualifying draw and I was somewhat surprised given that this is a Masters Series event. I suppose that due to the compressed schedule, many players that would otherwise be here by now are still in Europe playing in one of the three current tournaments over there. I’d be very impressed if the names, Andrey Golubev, Farrukh Dustov and Alexandre Kudryavtsev ring a bell with any of you out there, because I can honestly say I’ve never heard of them before. And these are some of the round one winners from today!
I checked out one time Grand Slam winner Thomas Johansson who won the Rogers Cup back in 1999. He was taking on local Canadian hope Philip Bester. This match went the distance with Johansson’s experience proving to be too much for the young Bester. Prior to the match I noticed Johansson having an animated discussion with ATP liaison Thomas Schrader about the ranking cutoff used to make the main tournament draw. Johansson is the number one seed in the qualifying draw and I got the impression that he was not impressed to have to go through this pre-tournament process.
I felt bad for players who did not enjoy the privilege of playing on center court today. Just outside the grounds and relatively close to the Grandstand Court and other practice courts was some sort of Reggae festival that had rhythmic music blaring all morning long. A fan on the Grandstand watching Arnaud Clement march to victory against Illia Marchenko stood up between games and yelled at the umpire to, “turn off that damn music and show the players the respect they deserve.” The umpire addressed the crowd after this comment and explained that the neighboring festival was a nuisance that we would all have to put up with.
After leaving that match I moved on to the practice courts. It is always interesting to see who hits with who on the tour. I’m not sure how much thought goes into the practice combinations, but I always enjoy seeing these pairings up close. Mikhail Youzhny was playing a practice set against Paul Henri Mathieu. I was not keeping score, but it seemed to me that Mathieu was getting the best of the Russian on this day. Fortunately still lots of time to work out the kinks. These two were hitting quite hard and the contrast between some of the qualies and these higher ranked pros was obvious.
I noticed another practice court nearby to be packed with fans and it turned out to be recent Wimbledon champ Rafael Nadal was there hitting with Tommy Robredo. After a quick break Nadal took off his shirt and all of the women in the crowd were cheering and whistling right on cue! Nadal did not seem fazed by the attention, however Robredo turned to the crowd and teased them by lifting up his shirt to see what kind of reaction he might get. Everyone got a good laugh out of his light hearted gesture.
The draw ceremony took place promptly at 2pm just outside of Center Court and brought in quite a large gathering of fans and media alike. On hand to help with the draw were Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, and Canadian Frank Dancevic. It was really interesting to see how such a ceremony was conducted and to analyze potential matchups on the spot as they were being announced. They began by placing Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s names on opposite ends of the large draw sheet. Then they randomly put the number three and four seeds, Novak Djokovic and Nikolay Davydenko into the draw. I had always thought that the number one and four seeds were together, and two and three ended up on the other side, but that is not the case. Although fortunately for Federer, that is exactly how it worked out and he won’t have to see either Djokovic or Nadal until a potential final encounter.
After this, the 5th through 8th seeds were randomly picked and placed into the appropriate slots that received first round bye’s. I prefer when the top seeds have to play from the get-go, but in recent years in Canada this is how they have operated. After the remaining seeds were placed, they allowed fans to come up on stage to select the rest of the players from a big silver cup one by one. Both players participating in the draw ceremony cringed slightly when they realized what they were up against. Gonzalez didn’t seem to mind drawing Julien Benneteau of France in the first round, but did not seem thrilled when he saw that he was in Federer’s section of the draw with a potential third round matchup looming. Dancevic for his part also looked sullen when the name of Mario Ancic was called for his opening match, with the winner to face Djokovic.
Still there is plenty of time left for the players to adjust their practice routine according to who they will face in a few days. For now, everybody is in the hunt and anything can happen. I will be back with more updates from Toronto in the coming days.