Men’s Update: Dubai, Acapulco, & Delray Beach

Written by: Staff on 27th February 2012

Men's Update: Dubai, Acapulco, & Delray Beach

Serbian Novak Djokovic in action against Australia's Lleyton Hewitt during their fourth round match at the Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 23 January 2012. Djokovic won 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. EPA/MARTIN PHILBEY |

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Dubai

Singles – First Round: (1) N Djokovic def. C Stebe 6-4 6-2

We haven’t really seen Novak Djokovic much this year — this is his first match since the Australian Open — but there is no sign that he’s suffering from rust.

Singles – First Round: (6) M Fish def. A Beck 6-1 6-1

Mardy Fish looked very bad last week, but evidently he was right when he said he hadn’t been well; clearly he was saving up his best game for this week! He hasn’t clinched the #8 ranking yet, but his chances look good.

Singles – First Round: L Rosol def. A Mannarino 6-2 6-2

Lukas Rosol just took a big rankings dive. This won’t let him regain all that ground, but he has been playing pretty well lately. So he may well be able to regain most of that ground in the next few weeks.

Singles – First Round: A Golubev (Q) def. (WC) M Djokovic 6-3 6-2

Marko Djokovic has said that the Djokovic name is a mixed blessing. It puts pressure on him. On the other hand, the only way he can get into events like this is because of the name….

Singles – First Round: (Q) L Lacko def. (WC) S Bubka 2-6 6-2 7-6(16-14)

Lukas Lacko faced half a dozen match points in this match — but this is why he’s winning this year. He has finally learned to deal with pressure situations.

Doubles – First Round: (3) Fyrstenberg/Matkowski def. Baghdatis/Youzhny 6-2 7-5

Doubles – First Round: Kohlmann/Stakhovsky def. Cerretani/Ljubicic 7-5 6-4

Acapulco

Singles – First Round: (5) F Mayer def. F Bagnis 6-2 6-4

Florian Mayer is to the stage where the points start counting. That makes it very likely, although not quite sure, that he will stay Top Twenty.

Singles – First Round: P Andujar def. L Mayer 7-6(7-5) 6-3

Pablo Andujar came in right at #50; this doesn’t clinch his Top Fifty spot, but it improves the odds significantly.

Delray Beach

Singles – First Round: R Sweeting def. D Young 6-1 6-1

This being Davis Cup week, Donald Young isn’t defending anything — but it’s just possible he will lose his Top Forty ranking anyway, because a lot of players will be adding points this week.

Singles – First Round: D Istomin def. M Ebden 6-2 6-3

This continues to look like a comeback year for Denis Istomin, although these points alone aren’t enough to make any real difference.

Singles – First Round: D Sela def. D Kudla (WC) 6-4 6-3

Given the way points will be distributed this week, we’d guess this will drop Denis Kudla below #180.

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