Daily Men Tennis Update – Belgrade, Estoril, Munich

Written by: Staff on 2nd May 2012

Belgrade

Singles – First Round: L Rosol def. (5) L Kubot 7-5 6-2

Lukasz Kubot just last week returned to the Top Fifty. This doesn’t cost him any points, but it still raises the possibility that he could lose the spot he just gained.

Singles – First Round: B Paire def. (6) F Fognini 6-1 6-4

Fabio Fognini, having just put himself back in the Top Fifty, loses the chance to rise above #45.

Singles – First Round: J Souza def. (7) R Harrison 6-3 6-3

We know Ryan Harrison wants clay practice — but he isn’t getting much this way.

Singles – First Round: (8) G Muller def. L Lacko 6-0 4-6 6-3

Could Lukas Lacko’s strong start to the year have tired him out? Clay is not exactly what one thinks of as a Gilles Muller surface….

Singles – First Round: V Hanescu def. (Q) C Gomez-Herrera 6-2 5-7 6-3

Victor Hanescu has yet to win back-to-back matches this year. Could this be the event where he breaks that streak? The score here isn’t promising, considering that his opponent was playing his first ATP match.

Singles – First Round: (Q) A Veic def. B Kavcic 6-1 6-1

Antonio Veic rises to 2-2 at the ATP level in 2012.

Singles – First Round: G Garcia-Lopez def. I Kunitsyn 7-6(7-4) 6-7(1-7) 6-2

Igor Kunitsyn has only one win in three clay events this year.

Singles – First Round: (Q) A Bedene def. M Klizan 6-4 7-6(8-6)

First win since Vienna 2011 for Aljaz Bedene. Martin Klizan is still looking for his first win since Casablanca 2010.

Singles – First Round: (Q) E Schwank def. D Sela 6-2 7-6(7-2)

Eduardo Schwank already has two ATP wins this year, after scoring just three in all of 2011.

Doubles – First Round: Andujar/Garcia-Lopez def. (WC) Bozoljac/Cacic 2-6 6-2 15-13

Doubles – First Round: Emmrich/Siljestrom def. Seppi/Volandri 3-6 6-4 10-4

Doubles – First Round: Kerr/Sela def. Nalbandian/Schwank walkover (Fatigue)

Hm. Eduardo Schwank’s singles success seems to be costing him in doubles. That may not be a worthwhile trade; his doubles results are a lot better than his singles.

Estoril

Singles – First Round: (7) A Montanes def. M Ebden 6-2 6-3

Albert Montanes seems finally to be getting his clay game back. Whether there is enough time left in the clay season for him to rescue his year remains to be seen. He lost, by his standards, a significant fraction of his points to his troubles earler this year.

Singles – First Round: (8) F Cipolla def. D Junqueira 6-1 6-4

Four straight ATP-level losses for Diego Junqueira. And it’s not the surface; all his main draws have been on clay.

Singles – First Round: R Machado def. (WC) P Sousa 6-7(3-7) 6-1 6-2

That’s one way for Rui Machado to break a slump: Face a wildcard from his own country….

Singles – First Round: B Phau def. F Gil 6-4 6-2

Lucky for the organizers that Rui Machado won; Frederico Gil was their only other real hope.

Singles – First Round: (Q) I Navarro def. D Gimeno-Traver 7-6(7-5) 6-2

Now there is a name we haven’t seen in a while! Ivan Navarro wins his first ATP match since Acapulco 2011, and only his second since Queen’s 2010.

Singles – First Round: (Q) I Cervantes def. I Andreev 6-4 3-6 6-3

Inigo Cervantes we saw as recently as last week — but as a wildcard. Here, obviously, he got in under his own power — and earned his first ATP win.

Singles – First Round: (Q) D Munoz-de la Nava def. (Q) J Marti 7-5 6-3

A big day for qualifiers — three out of four won, and the only one to lose fell to another qualifier. Daniel Munoz-de la Nava earns his first ATP win since Madrid 2010.

Singles – First Round: (WC) J Sousa def. (WC) G Elias 5-7 6-4 6-2

That’s two Portuguese into the second round because of facing Portugese wildcards. Talk about a nice draw for the locals. Or at least for half of them.

Doubles – First Round: Elgin/Istomin def. (2) Butorac/Soares 6-2 6-4

Butorac/Soares have been pretty inconsistent on clay this year, but this is still pretty surprising, because Denis Istomin has been just plain bad.

Doubles – First Round: (3) Hanley/Melo def. Delgado/Skupski 7-6(10) 3-6 10-6 (Match TB)

Doubles – First Round: .Huey/Inglot def. Bolelli/Ramos 6-1 6-3

Munich

Singles – First Round: (6) M Youzhny def. P Petzschner 7-5 7-5

For once, Mikhail Youzhny’s tendency to leave his best results in the small events will benefit him: This week, he gets an extra 250 point tournament, and it moves him close to a return to the Top Thirty.

Singles – First Round: (Q) R Farah def. (7) N Davydenko 6-3 6-2

Two good events in a row for Robert Farah — perhaps the best spell of his career. He leaves Nikolay Davydenko — who was the defending champion, but the points are already off — still stuck below the Top Fifty.

Singles – First Round: (8) M Baghdatis def. T Kamke 6-1 3-6 6-3

No points yet for Marcos Baghdatis; he needs a semifinal.

Singles – First Round: (WC) T Haas def. (WC) M Berrer 6-0 6-2

Michael Berrer now has a three match losing streak going back to Zagreb. And the three losses have been on three different surfaces.

Singles – First Round: (Q) D Brown def. (WC) D Brands 6-4 6-3

Dustin Brown picks up his first ATP win since Munich 2011. Maybe it’s his way of saying that he should have been the one with the wildcard….

Singles – First Round: M Bachinger def. A Falla 7-6(7-3) 6-2

Matthias Bachinger had a five match losing streak entering the clay season. He has now won his opener at his last three events. Guess we know what surface he likes!

Singles – First Round: (Q) M Matosevic def. M Kukushkin 7-5 6-1

This continues to be a pretty good year for Marinko Matosevic; he is 6-5 this year after going 8-17 last year.

Singles – First Round: E Gulbis def. X Malisse 6-4 6-2

Ernests Gulbis picks up only his third win of the year (against seven losses).

Singles – First Round: P Starace def. (Q) D Goffin 6-3 7-6(7-3)

David Goffin’s ranking has been climbing steadily this year, but it appears he’ll have to wait a little longer to hit the Top Hundred.

Singles – First Round: S Stakhovsky def. C Stebe 7-6(7-3) 6-3

Sergiy Stakhovsky had a career 14-20 record on clay coming in, so he’ll take every win he can get on the stuff.

Doubles – First Round: Falla/Giraldo def. Mertinak/Sa 6-4 7-6(7-3)

Topics: Albert Montanes, Belgrade tennis news, Diego Junqueira, Fabio Fognini, Lacko, Lukasz Kubot, Marcos Baghdatis, Mikhail Youzhny, Muller, Polish tennis news, Robert Farah, Ryan Harrison, Tommy Haas