Today’s Men’s News – Rome (05/16)

Written by: Staff on 16th May 2012

Today's Men's News - Rome (05/16)

Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in action during his men's singles fourth round match against Nicolas Almagro of Spain at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 22 January 2012. EPA/MAST IRHAM |

Rome

Singles – Second Round: (2) R Nadal def. F Mayer 6-1 7-5

This will drop Florian Mayer well below #30. This probably means no Roland Garros seed; he’s going to be a spot or two below the cutoff. For Rafael Nadal, this keeps alive his hopes for a return to #2. But the news wasn’t all good:

Singles – Second Round: (3) R Federer def. C Berlocq 6-3 6-4

A fairly big win for Roger Federer, because it means that Rafael Nadal now needs a Rome final to have any chance at the #2 Roland Garros seed. Carlos Berlocq loses his rather faint seeding chance.

Singles – Second Round: (7) T Berdych def. L Kubot 6-4 6-1

Tomas Berdych moves back in front of David Ferrer in the contest for #6 — but they are still very close to tied, and the one who lasts longer will get it.

Singles – Second Round: S Wawrinka def. (8) J Tipsarevic 6-3 6-1

Janko Tipsarevic still has a small lead in the contest for #8, but he is giving Juan Martin del Potro an opening.

Singles – Second Round: A Seppi def. (9) J Isner 2-6 7-6(7-5) 7-5

If we have all our eighteenth event scores right, this is going to cost John Isner his Top Ten spot and his position as the #1 American. Mardy Fish will regain at least the latter distinction and possibly the former as well. Andreas Seppi is now up to about #27, so his Roland Garros seed is secure.

Singles – Second Round: (10) J del Potro def. M Youzhny 6-4 6-2

Juan Martin del Potro stays in the hunt for the #8 Paris seed, although he will need more than this; see the Feature. Mikhail Youzhny looks good for a seed, but it will be below #24.

Singles – Second Round: (11) G Simon def. (Q) G Garcia-Lopez 6-4 2-6 6-4

If Gilles Simon can win two more matches, he might hit the Top Ten. But he has no real shot at the #8 Roland Garros seed, so it probably doesn’t matter much in practice.

Singles – Second Round: (12) N Almagro def. (Q) S Querrey 7-5 6-2

Nicolas Almagro keeps alive his hopes for the #12 Roland Garros seed, but he’s more than 300 points behind Gilles Simon. He will probably have to hope that Mardy Fish pulls out.

Singles – Second Round: (14) J Monaco def. R Stepanek 6-4 6-2

This means Radek Stepanek will be ranked no higher than #25 — meaning he’ll need a withdrawal to earn a Top 24 Paris seed.

Singles – Second Round: (16) R Gasquet def. (WC) P Lorenzi 6-3 6-2

Richard Gasquet keeps alive his hopes for a return to the Top Twenty, but he needs more than this; a Top 16 Paris seed appears almost impossible.

Singles – Second Round: M Granollers def. (WC) F Fognini 6-3 6-4

Marcel Granollers will almost certainly be a Top 24 Paris seed after this.

Doubles – Second Round: (2) Bryan/Bryan def. S Gonzalez/Kas 6-3 6-2

The Bryans aren’t going to regain the #1 rankings this week, but the points they earn here could prove important at Roland Garros, where Mirnyi/Nestor have the title to defend.

Doubles – Second Round: (4) Lindstedt/Tecau def. Cabal/Schwank 6-4 6-3