Monte Carlo (4/19/12) Men’s Update

Written by: Staff on 19th April 2012

Monte Carlo

Singles – Second Round: (1) N Djokovic def. A Seppi 6-1 6-4 Andreas Seppi loses his Top Forty chance. Novak Djokovic adds a little insurance in the contest for #1 — not that it’s any contest right at the moment.

Singles – Second Round: (2) R Nadal def. J Nieminen 6-4 6-3 Rafael Nadal, as reported earlier in World News, is worried about his knee — but, of course, the best way to avoid making it worse is to finish quickly! One more win would let him stay ahead of Roger Federer in the contest for #2 — and he faces a qualifier next. He leaves Jarkko Nieminen still a little below #45.

Singles – Second Round: T Bellucci def. (5) D Ferrer 6-3 6-2 this probably will get the prize for biggest upset of the event. It’s as if the fates are doing their best for Novak Djokovic: His draw just opened up substantially, plus Rafael Nadal is hurting. The loss means that David Ferrer has no chance to return to #5 at this time, and probably not this spring. He might even lose the #6 spot to Tomas Berdych. Thomaz Bellucci is now very close to returning to the Top Forty.

Singles – Second Round: (6) T Berdych def. M Cilic 7-6(7-3) 6-1 the good news for Marin Cilic is that he seems to be making steady progress. The bad news is, he remains below #20.

Singles – Second Round: (7) J Tipsarevic def. A Montanes 6-2 6-3 Janko Tipsarevic is effectively certain to be #8 when this is over, and he has no chance of going higher this week, but he might have a shot at #7 this clay season, and the better he does here, the better his shot.

Singles – Second Round: (8) N Almagro def. (WC) P Starace 7-6(7-3) 6-1 It’s going to be very hard for Nicolas Almagro to move here — he needs a title to climb above his current #12.

Singles – Second Round: (9) G Simon def. (Q) F Gil 6-3 6-0 this, for practical purposes, clinches Gilles Simon’s Top Fifteen spot. He will probably rise to #14. Singles – Second Round: (12) K Nishikori def. (WC) P Mathieu 6-4 6-2 Clay points are always nice for Kei Nishikori, but it will be tough for him to rise here; he needs a semifinal.

Singles – Second Round: J Benneteau def. (15) J Melzer 6-4 6-3 this was a battle for a Top Thirty spot. Jurgen Melzer, who was defending points, had to win to stay in; Julien Benneteau, who wasn’t, had to win to assure that he would move up. With this, Benneteau is likely to rise from #31 to #27, but Melzer, #29 coming in, will fall to no better than #34. Assuming we did everything right on this very complicated week, anyway.

Singles – Second Round: (16) A Dolgopolov def. B Tomic 6-2 5-7 6-1 this doesn’t quite guarantee that Alexandr Dolgopolov will return to the Top Twenty, but it is likely. Bernard Tomic will remain around #35.

Singles – Second Round: (Q) M Kukushkin def. F Volandri 7-6(10-8) 2-6 6-2 two good wins in a row for Mikhail Kukushkin — and no funny explanations this time; he beat a clay expert on clay. Certainly a promising result.

Singles – Second Round: S Wawrinka def. P Andujar 7-5 6-3 Pablo Andujar’s winning streak ends at five, leaving him still just a little above #40. This appears to clinch a Top 25 spot for Stanislas Wawrinka.

Singles – Second Round: R Haase def. F Fognini 6-4 6-4 only one of these guys could make the Top Fifty this week, and it looks as if it will be Robin Haase.

Doubles – First Round: Cabal/Schwank def. Benneteau/Tsonga
6-7(3-7) 7-6(7-3) 10-4 (Match TB)

Doubles – First Round: (Alt) Cilic/Melo def. (Alt) Roger-Vasselin/Simon 7-6(7-5) 6-4

Doubles – Second Round: (3) Llodra/Zimonjic def. Marrero/Verdasco 7-6(7-2) 3-6 11-9 (Match TB) Not exactly the most promising score for Llodra/Zimonjic, but on the other hand, every other seeded team in action lost:

Doubles – Second Round: Troicki/Wawrinka def. (6) Bhupathi/Bopanna 6-4 6-4 Bhupathi/Bopanna continue to be extremely inconsistent. It will be fascinating to see what happens with them next year — or, indeed, once they fall out of the Race.

Doubles – Second Round: Granollers/M Lopez def. (7) Lindstedt/Tecau 7-5 6-3

Doubles – Second Round: Marach/Peya def. (8) Cermak/Polasek 7-6(7-4) 6-3

Topics: Monte Carlo