Casablanca
Singles – First Round: (Q) L Ouahab def. (6) R Haase 6-3 6-2
This means that three of the four seeds involved in first round matches have lost — and, in this case, to a guy who has been invisible at the ATP level for years.
Singles – First Round: (7) A Ramos def. P Riba 6-2 6-3
This is, frankly, one of those events where so little is likely to happen that we don’t have much choice except to go to our player database and start looking at results and see if they show anything interesting. So: Albert Ramos has now won his opener at six straight events — after losing his opener at five of his six events before that. Talk about blowing hot and cold!
Singles – First Round: J Chardy def. (Q) F Delbonis 6-4 7-5
Jeremy Chardy breaks a three match losing streak.
Singles – First Round: V Hanescu def. M Jaziri 6-2 3-0, retired
This was the first time ever that Malek Jaziri had direct entry into an event — he had either been a wildcard or a qualifier before. A sad way to celebrate his first direct entry.
Singles – First Round: P Mathieu def. (WC) M Ziadi 6-3 6-1
A lucky draw for Paul-Henri Mathieu, but still, the win should take him to #360 or higher.
Singles – First Round: (Q) S Gutierrez-Ferrol def. R Machado 6-2 6-1
Sergio Gutierrez-Ferrol had only 52 points coming in. He has increased his point total by more than half!
Singles – First Round: P Starace def. (Q) R Bautista-Agut 6-4 7-5
Potito Starace’s ranking has been sinking this year, but it looks as if the clay might be reviving him. The drawback is, if he does well here, then he misses Monte Carlo qualifying….
Singles – First Round: M Bachinger def. F Volandri 6-3 3-6 6-3
Bad news for Filippo Volandri, who really can’t afford to lose chances to earn points on clay!
Singles – First Round: F Cipolla def. (WC) Y Idmbarek 6-1 2-6 6-1
This is actually a pretty credible result for Yassine Idmbarek, who came in ranked #1064 with just six points!
Doubles – First Round: Brown/Hanley def. (1) Cermak/Polasek 7-6(7-3) 6-3
Cermak/Polasek like clay, so this is a pretty shocking result.
Doubles – First Round: (4) Bracciali/Fognini def. Mertinak/Sa 3-6 7-6(7-1) 10-4 (Match TB)
Doubles – First Round: Dolgopolov/Jaziri def. Andujar/Garcia-Lopez 7-6(7-5) 7-6(8-6)
Not often that you see a guy retire from singles and then win his doubles match!
Doubles – First Round: Marray/J Murray def. Montanes/Ramos 6-7(3-7) 6-2 10-3 (Match TB)
Houston
Singles – First Round: I Kunitsyn def. X Malisse 6-4 6-2
Better luck next time Xavier Malisse
Singles – First Round: P Lorenzi def. W Odesnik 6-7(3-7) 6-2 6-3
There will be a lot of players cheering this, because it will keep Wayne Odesnik from returning to the Top Hundred.
Singles – First Round: (Q) M Russell def. D Gimeno-Traver 2-6 7-5 6-1
Michael Russell’s assets are speed and stamina, and he certainly showed both here! It’s hard to believe he could make another run at the Top Hundred at his age, but he’s now only about 125 points away.
Singles – First Round: (Q) H Zeballos def. A Ungur 6-3 6-3
Adrian Ungur has been playing pretty well lately, and it put him in the Top Hundred, but Horacio Zeballos — although he has not been playing very well — has the better career results. So maybe this is not a surprise.
Singles – First Round: T Ito def. (Q) G Soeda 6-4 7-5
This is an oddity: Go Soeda, the qualifier, is ranked #77, 21 places ahead of Tatsuma Ito. And he has more experience, too. But maybe the qualifying tired him out.
Singles – First Round: R Sweeting def. (Q) R Mello 6-3 7-6(8-6)
Ryan Sweeting was last year’s champion here, and his ranking really took a hit when those points came off. This will let him start rebuilding at least a little.
Doubles – First Round: (1) Bogomolov/Lipsky def. Marx/Zovko 7-6(8-6) 6-0
Doubles – First Round: Karlovic/Moser def. Berlocq/Junquiera 6-3 6-3
OFFICIAL ATP WORLD TOUR SINGLES RANKINGS as of April 8, 2012
1..Djokovic, Novak…………..SRB..12670
2..Nadal, Rafael…………….ESP…9935
3..Federer, Roger……………SUI…9035
4..Murray, Andy……………..GBR…8040
5..Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried……….FRA…4735
6..Ferrer, David…………….ESP…4700
7..Berdych, Tomas……………CZE…3810
8..Tipsarevic, Janko…………SRB…2820
9..Fish, Mardy………………USA…2725
10..Isner, John………………USA…2710
11..Del Potro, Juan Martin…….ARG…2700
12..Almagro, Nicolas………….ESP…2265
13..Simon, Gilles…………….FRA…2050
14..Monfils, Gael…………….FRA…2015
15..Lopez, Feliciano………….ESP…1855
16..Monaco, Juan……………..ARG…1810
17..Gasquet, Richard………….FRA…1640
18..Nishikori, Kei……………JPN…1625
19..Verdasco, Fernando………..ESP…1565
20..Mayer, Florian……………GER…1540
21..Melzer, Jurgen……………AUT…1507
22..Dolgopolov, Alexandr………UKR…1495
23..Cilic, Marin……………..CRO…1445
24..Stepanek, Radek…………..CZE…1385
25..Raonic, Milos…………….CAN…1380
26..Granollers, Marcel………..ESP…1315
27..Troicki, Viktor…………..SRB…1295
28..Wawrinka, Stanislas……….SUI…1290
29..Roddick, Andy…………….USA…1245
30..Soderling, Robin………….SWE…1210
31..Benneteau, Julien…………FRA…1195
32..Chela, Juan Ignacio……….ARG…1175
33..Anderson, Kevin…………..RSA…1170
34..Kohlschreiber, Philipp…….GER…1155
35..Youzhny, Mikhail………….RUS…1140
36..Tomic, Bernard……………AUS…1116
37..Berlocq, Carlos…………..ARG…1051
38..Davydenko, Nikolay………..RUS…1045
39..Baghdatis, Marcos…………CYP…1025
40..Bogomolov Jr., Alex……….RUS…1021
41..Ljubicic, Ivan……………CRO…1010
42..Istomin, Denis……………UZB….982
43..Seppi, Andreas……………ITA….980
44..Bellucci, Thomaz………….BRA….975
45..Young, Donald…………….USA….972
46..Nieminen, Jarkko………….FIN….968
47..Llodra, Michael…………..FRA….965
48..Ferrero, Juan Carlos………ESP….960
49..Nalbandian, David…………ARG….905
50..Kubot, Lukasz…………….POL….872
OFFICIAL ATP WORLD TOUR DOUBLES RANKINGS as of April 8, 2012
1..Bryan, Bob……………….USA…9480
1..Bryan, Mike………………USA…9480
3..Mirnyi, Max………………BLR…8670
3..Nestor, Daniel……………CAN…8670
5..Llodra, Michael…………..FRA…7560
6..Zimonjic, Nenad…………..SRB…7440
7..Paes, Leander…………….IND…6015
8..Bopanna, Rohan……………IND…4790
9..Fyrstenberg, Mariusz………POL…4765
9..Matkowski, Marcin…………POL…4765
11..Lindstedt, Robert…………SWE…4590
12..Tecau, Horia……………..ROU…4590
13..Qureshi, Aisam-Ul-Haq……..PAK…4270
14..Stepanek, Radek…………..CZE…3995
15..Bhupathi, Mahesh………….IND…3770
16..Petzschner, Philipp……….GER…3569
17..Melzer, Jurgen……………AUT…3275
18..Peya, Alexander…………..AUT…3120
19..Kas, Christopher………….GER…2910
20..Cermak, Frantisek…………CZE…2900
Houston
Singles – First Round: I Kunitsyn def. X Malisse 6-4 6-2
Xavier Malisse’s career seemed to be over a couple of years back, and he managed to revive it, but this time, it really is starting to feel as if it’s done….
Singles – First Round: P Lorenzi def. W Odesnik 6-7(3-7) 6-2 6-3
There will be a lot of players cheering this, because it will keep Wayne Odesnik from returning to the Top Hundred.
Singles – First Round: (Q) M Russell def. D Gimeno-Traver 2-6 7-5 6-1
Michael Russell’s assets are speed and stamina, and he certainly showed both here! It’s hard to believe he could make another run at the Top Hundred at his age, but he’s now only about 125 points away.
Singles – First Round: (Q) H Zeballos def. A Ungur 6-3 6-3
Adrian Ungur has been playing pretty well lately, and it put him in the Top Hundred, but Horacio Zeballos — although he has not been playing very well — has the better career results. So maybe this is not a surprise.
Singles – First Round: T Ito def. (Q) G Soeda 6-4 7-5
This is an oddity: Go Soeda, the qualifier, is ranked #77, 21 places ahead of Tatsuma Ito. And he has more experience, too. But maybe the qualifying tired him out.
Singles – First Round: R Sweeting def. (Q) R Mello 6-3 7-6(8-6)
Ryan Sweeting was last year’s champion here, and his ranking really took a hit when those points came off. This will let him start rebuilding at least a little.
Doubles – First Round: (1) Bogomolov/Lipsky def. Marx/Zovko 7-6(8-6) 6-0
Doubles – First Round: Karlovic/Moser def. Berlocq/Junquiera 6-3 6-3
Topics: 10sballs.com, Casablanca tennis news, Delbonis, Haase, Hanescu, Houston tennis news, Jeremy Chardy, Kunitsyn, Malek Jaziri, Ouahab, Ramos, Riba, Sports, Tennis News, Xavier Malisse