SONY ERICSSON OPEN- Daily Update: Men News

Written by: Staff on 25th March 2012

SONY ERICSSON OPEN- Daily Update: Men News

epa03157960 Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates a point against Marcos Bagdatis of Cyprus during their match at the Sony Ericsson Open on Key Biscayne, Florida, USA, 24 March 2012. Djokovic won in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. EPA/RHONA WISE |

Miami

Singles – Second Round: (1) N Djokovic def. M Baghdatis 6-4 6-4

Novak Djokovic had one very long service game in the second set, but the bottom line is, he was never broken. He leaves Marcos Baghdatis right around #40.

Singles – Second Round: (3) R Federer def. (WC) R Harrison 6-2 7-6(7-3)

This went perhaps a little longer than it should have. Roger Federer was serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set, but faced a break point, and a cry from the stands caused Federer to stop play. He lost the point, and hence the game — but took it calmly, and won the match four games later. Which keeps alive his admittedly faint hopes of returning to #2 here.

Singles – Second Round: (5) D Ferrer def. B Tomic 6-4 6-4

David Ferrer moves back ahead of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the contest for #5 — but in the process he leaves Bernard Tomic still stuck at no better than #36.

Singles – Second Round: (8) M Fish def. (Q) F Dancevic 6-3 7-6(7-1)

Mardy Fish is defending semifinalist points, so he will need a lot more than this if he is to stay #8 — indeed, if he is to stay Top Ten. Particularly because of the next result:

Singles – Second Round: (11) J del Potro def. I Karlovic 7-5 6-4

Juan Martin del Potro raises the bar for Mardy Fish to stay Top Ten. Whichever one of them lasts longest probably gets the spot, but ties go to del Potro, so the pressure is primarily on Fish.

Singles – Second Round: (12) N Almagro def. (Q) D Goffin 6-4 6-2

Nicolas Almagro has almost no chance of climbing in the rankings — he’s #12, but almost 400 points behind #11 — but he isn’t likely to fall, either.

Singles – Second Round: (14) G Monfils def. (Q) S Bubka 6-4 6-4

Good to see Gael Monfils healthy enough to play for once. He didn’t play last year, so these points put him ahead of Gilles Simon in the contest for #13.

Singles – Second Round: A Ramos def. (15) F Lopez 6-4 7-6(7-5)

After eleven matches, we finally had the day’s first upset. Which means that Feliciano Lopez will not rise above #15, although he isn’t likely to fall either.

Singles – Second Round: (17) R Gasquet def. C Stebe 6-3 6-7(6-8) 6-2

Richard Gasquet defends his points, but he will need several more wins to rise above #17.

Singles – Second Round: (20) F Verdasco def. (Q) B Phau 6-3 6-0

Fernando Verdasco lost his opener last year, so he is now extremely likely to stay Top Twenty and fairly likely to rise in the rankings.

Singles – Second Round: (21) J Monaco def. Y Lu 5-0, retired

Apparently the ghost of Indian Wells has not yet entirely been laid to rest. Juan Monaco remains close to the Top Twenty, but he probably will need more than this.

Singles – Second Round: (23) M Cilic def. I Kunitsyn 6-3 7-6(7-1)

Now there is a nice thing to see: Finally a win for Marin Cilic. And he wasn’t defending anything, so this helps his point total — although probably not enough to make any difference.

Singles – Second Round: (27) V Troicki def. (Q) G Garcia-Lopez 4-6 6-1 6-4

Viktor Troicki needs one more win to defend his points, but with most of the guys near the bottom of the Top Thirty eliminated, this might be enough to keep him at #27.

Singles – Second Round: (28) K Anderson def. S Querrey 6-3 6-7(3-7) 6-3

Kevin Anderson is defending quarterfinalist points, so needs a lot more to stay Top Thirty. But he might have fallen below #35 had he lost this, so the win helps.

Singles – Second Round: (30) J Benneteau def. B Becker 3-6 6-3 7-6(7-4)

Julien Benneteau goes a round beyond last year. That isn’t quite enough points to put him in the Top Thirty, but he’s close.

Singles – Second Round: (31) A Roddick def. G Muller 6-3 6-2

In his first round match, Gilles Muller had 27 aces. In this match, he had four. That’s probably all we need to tell you…. Andy Roddick didn’t earn any points last year, so this puts him close to a return to the Top Thirty.

Doubles – First Round: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. (WC) Hanley/Tomic 6-3 6-2

The Bryans defend their points. For this week, it won’t matter, but it could be important in future.

Doubles – First Round: (2) Mirnyi/Nestor def. Butorac/Soares 6-3 7-6(7-4)

Unlike the Bryans, Mirnyi/Nestor have not defended their points; they have finalist points on the line, and so have no chance to reach #1 this week. On the other hand, the better they do here, the better their chances come the clay season.

Doubles – First Round: Kubot/Tipsarevic def. (5) Fyrstenberg/Matkowski 6-3 6-2

Singles upsets have been rare around here, but there have been some pretty good surprises in doubles…. This obviously won’t help Fyrstenberg and Matkowski’s Top Ten hopes; they’re right on the boundary right now.

Doubles – First Round: (6) Bhupathi/Bopanna def. Melzer/J Murray 7-5 6-3

Doubles – First Round: S Gonzalez/Lipsky def. Berdych/Dlouhy 7-5 6-1

Maybe this explains why the Czechs never let Berdych/Dlouhy play Davis Cup doubles….

Doubles – Second Round: (3) Llodra/Zimonjic def. Anderson/Raonic 2-1, retired

They promised Anderson suitable rest, but it obviously wasn’t all his team needed. That edges Llodra/Zimonjic a little closer to the Top Four, but they have a long way to go. We currently show the Top Ten as follows:

1..(1) Bryan…………..9210

3..(3) Mirnyi………….8160

3..(3) Nestor………….8160

5..(5) Llodra………….7560

6..(6) Zimonjic………..7440

7..(7) Paes……………5105

8.(10) Matkowski……….4775

8.(10) Fyrstenberg……..4775

10..(8) Lindstedt……….4700

10..(9) Tecau…………..4700

Topics: 10sballs.com, Bernard Tomic, Feliciano Lopez, Gael Monfils, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin Del Potro, Marcos Baghdatis, Mardy Fish, Nicolas Almagro, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Sony Ericsson Tennis Tournaments