Daily Men and Women Tennis Update – Rome

Written by: Staff on 18th May 2012

Daily Men and Women Tennis Update - Rome

epa03222382 Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic serves the ball to Juan Monaco of Argentina during their third round match at the Italian Open tennis tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 17 May 2012. EPA/ETTORE FERRARI |

Rome

Singles – Third Round: (1) N Djokovic def. (14) J Monaco 4-6 6-2 6-3

Novak Djokovic destroyed a racquet at the end of the first set, and went down early in the second — and then the light switch turned on, and that was that. Juan Monaco will not rise above his current #15, meaning no Top Twelve seed in Paris.

Singles – Third Round: (2) R Nadal def. M Granollers 6-1 6-1

Clearly Rafael Nadal isn’t going to concede the #2 Paris seed without a fight! Still, Marcel Granollers did well enough that it appears he will have a Top 24 seed.

Singles – Third Round: (3) R Federer def. J Ferrero 6-2 5-7 6-1

This makes us wonder a little how much longer Roger Federer will keep going all-out here. After all, he doesn’t want to be too tired for Roland Garros. But, for now, he is still going — and has won seven straight matches, and continues to improve on his chances to make it back to #1 this year. He leaves Juan Carlos Ferrero around #45.

Singles – Third Round: (16) R Gasquet def. (4) A Murray 6-7(1-7) 6-3 6-2

Andy Murray really seems to be falling behind the Top three. He’s more than 1500 points behind Rafael Nadal, more than 2000 behind Roger Federer, about 4000 behind Novak Djokovic. Of course, clay isn’t his surface, but he may have trouble keeping the year-end #4 if this keeps up.

Singles – Third Round: (5) J Tsonga def. (10) J del Potro 6-4 6-1

Given the surface, we’d consider this a modest surprise. Maybe Juan Martin del Potro got nervous about earning the #8 spot. If we did everything right, this means that Janko Tipsarevic will be seeded #8 at Roland Garros and del Potro #9.

Singles – Third Round: (6) D Ferrer def. (11) G Simon 6-0 7-6(7-5)

There goes Gilles Simon’s chance for the Top Ten. At least he’ll be the #12 Roland Garros seed.

Singles – Third Round: (7) T Berdych def. (12) N Almagro 7-6(7-3) 6-3

Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer are still slugging it out for #6 — not that the difference between #6 and #7 makes much difference. On the other hand, the difference between #12 and #13 is pretty significant, and this loss leaves Nicolas Almagro on the wrong side of that divide. He’ll need someone, presumably Mardy Fish, to pull out if he is to earn the #12 Paris seed.

Singles – Third Round: A Seppi def. S Wawrinka 6-7(1-7) 7-6(9-7) 7-6(8-6)

Andreas Seppi faced half a dozen match points in this three hour twenty minute marathon, then finally had his own chance — and Stanislas Wawrinka helped out by netting the ball. That means that Wawrinka will lose his Top Twenty spot (it appears it will go to Gasquet), but Seppi is up to #25 and on the brink of a Top 24 seed in Paris.

Doubles – Second Round (1) Mirnyi/Nestor def. (WC) Naso/Volandri 6-3 3-6 10-7 (Match TB)

Mirnyi/Nestor make it just a little harder for the Bryans to catch them in Paris, but this probably won’t make much difference.

Doubles – Second Round Kubot/Tipsarevic def. (5) Paes/Stepanek 6-2 7-5

One of the more disappointing results for Paes/Stepanek this year. They may start feeling some pressure on their #1 Race spot soon.

Doubles – Second Round (6) Fyrstenberg/Matkowski def. Melzer/Petzschner 6-3 3-6 10-6 (Match TB)

With a title at Madrid and now this, this is turning into quite a month of May for the Polish team.

Doubles – Second Round (7) Bhupathi/Bopanna def. Bracciali/Seppi 6-2 6-1

Doubles – Second Round Granollers/M Lopez def. (8) Peya/Qureshi 7-5 7-6(7-2)

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Rome

Singles – Third Round: (2) Maria Sharapova def. (13) Ana Ivanovic 7-6(7-4) 6-3

Barring a withdrawal, this means no Top Twelve seed for Ana Ivanovic. She will be ranked #13.

Singles – Third Round: (4) Petra Kvitova def. Sorana Cirstea 6-2 5-7 6-2

No Top Forty spot for Sorana Cirstea this week. Petra Kvitova is just starting to add points, but that’s still fairly big news — she hasn’t added many lately.

Singles – Third Round: (WC) Venus Williams def. (5) Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-3

It really does seem as if Venus Williams is finally back to being Venus. She needs one more win to make it back to the Top Fifty.

In an interesting coincidence, Venus and sister Serena were playing at the same time. This win by Venus opened a door for Serena….

Singles – Third Round: (9) Serena Williams def. Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3 6-1

And this result means that Serena has taken advantage of the opportunity Venus gave her. Serena passes Samantha Stosur to take the #5 ranking; Stosur will fall to #6. Serena remains unbeaten on clay this year, but sadly cannot rise above #5 this week. One of the Top Four will clearly be very unhappy to see Serena in her quarter in Paris…. Anabel Medina Garrigues will fall short of the Top Thirty, but at least she lasted long enough to earn a Roland Garros seed.

Singles – Third Round: (8) Li Na def. Chanelle Scheepers 7-6(7-3) 6-2

This definitely keeps things interesting in the contest for the #8 Roland Garros seed. Li Na is now just a handful of points behind Caroline Wozniacki. Win her next match and Li will be #8; otherwise, it’s Wozniacki.

Singles – Third Round: (12) Angelique Kerber def. Julia Goerges 6-4 6-1

Julia Goerges won’t make the Top 25 just yet, but Angelique Kerber is now within 200 points of the Top Ten.

Singles – Third Round: Flavia Pennetta def. Petra Cetkovska 6-0 6-1

This should put Flavia Pennetta back in the Top Twenty. Petra Cetkovska ends up just below #25.

Doubles – Second Round: Pennetta/Schiavone def. (2) Peschke/Srebotnik 6-2 6-4

More evidence of how messed up Katarina Srebotnik is. And she shows little evidence of coming out of it.

Doubles – Second Round: (3) Errani/Vinci def. Dulko/Suarez 6-3 6-4

Errani/Vinci just keep cruising on. It will be interesting to see if Dulko/Suarez get seeds at Roland Garros — we can’t really make predictions about that, since we don’t know which teams will enter.

Doubles – Second Round: Hampton/Tatishvili def. (6) Goerges/King 6-3 7-6(7-3)

Doubles – Second Round: Cibulkova/Husarova def. (7) Grandin/Uhlirova 6-3 6-2

If Cibulkova/Husarova are trying to make a case for an Olympic spot, they’re doing a very good job of it — they’re now the Slovak #2 and #3, behind Hantuchova, and they’re climbing.

Doubles – Second Round: Makarova/Vesnina def. Craybas/Stephens 6-4 6-2

It seems pretty safe to say that Makarova/Vesnina, at least, will be seeded in Paris….

Doubles – Second Round: Chuang/Dushevina def. (WC) Camerin/Knapp 3-6 6-1 10-5 (Match TB)