Daily Tennis News Update – Rome (05/20/12)

Written by: Staff on 19th May 2012

Daily Tennis News Update - Rome (05/20/12) |

Rome

Singles – Semifinal: (2) Maria Sharapova def. (12) Angelique Kerber 6-3 6-4

This doesn’t mean much for Maria Sharapova in the short term; she remains #2. And yet, if we look at the Top Ten in clay points earned over the last year, it’s a fascinating list:

1. Li: 2990

2. Sharapova: 2240

3. SWilliams: 1865

4. Azarenka: 1645

5. Schiavone: 1463

6. Errani: 1230

7. Bartoli: 1022

8. Radwanska: 931

9. Medina Garrigues: 915

10. Vinci: 902

Sharapova is now within a thousand points of Victoria Azarenka in the rankings, and she is healthy and Azarenka is hurting. Sharapova, based on current clay form, really and truly looks like the favorite to win Roland Garros (yes, we’re as shocked as you are!), and if she does, she will not only complete the career Grand Slam but very possibly take over the #1 ranking.

Who would have guessed it thirteen months ago?

For that matter, who would have guessed where Angelique Kerber would be? We’ve been saying she wouldn’t hit the Top Ten. Well, our numbers show her “merely” tied with Vera Zvonareva, but she will win the tiebreak. So she should be #10 next week — another career high, of course.

Incidentally, Kerber was supposed to play Brussels. She was supposed to be the #3 seed. But she pulled out citing a back injury. One suspects she is just tired, but it’s a chance for yet another career high gone.

Singles – Semifinal: (8) Li Na def. (9) Serena Williams walkover (back)

Serena may yet go undefeated on clay this year, but she won’t win every event she entered. Perhaps she realized that she couldn’t get to #4 and decided to rest up for Paris. She had a very long run, after all. For Li Na, this is close to ideal — she gets finalist points without too much additional effort. She also rises to #7, passing Marion Bartoli.

Doubles – Semifinal:

Huber/Raymond don’t like clay much, but it is amazing how well Errani/Vinci have played this clay season. They won Madrid, and now this. If their nerves don’t get to them, we’d consider them the Roland Garros favorites.

Doubles – Semifinal: Makarova/Vesnina def. Hampton/Tatishvili 6-3 6-3

Back-to-back finals for Makarova/Vesnina — and both against Errani/Vinci. Now they just have to win one!

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Rome

Singles – Semifinal: (1) N Djokovic def. (3) R Federer 6-2 7-6(7-4)
Last year, Roger Federer was probably the biggest threat to Novak Djokovic, even though it didn’t show in the rankings. But, in this match, Federer played like someone who had had a very long two weeks. He went down a break early in the first set, then another. The second was closer, but obviously he didn’t do anything in the tiebreak.
And that means that Federer will leave his fate in Djokovic’s hands. If Djokovic wins the final, then Federer will be #2 next week and will earn the #2 Paris seed. But, of course, Djokovic will be facing Rafael Nadal….

Singles – Semifinal: (2) R Nadal def. (6) D Ferrer 7-6(8-6) 6-0
As the first set of this reached the hour and a half mark, we found ourselves wondering if this match would set some sort of modern-day record for length. Then, at 6-6 in the tiebreak, it all collapsed for David Ferrer. The second set took only about a third as long as the first. Ferrer will keep the #6 ranking, for now, but you wonder what he did to himself here. The win for Rafael Nadal means that he will regain the #2 ranking if he can win the final.

Doubles – Semifinal: Kubot/Tipsarevic def. (4) Lindstedt/Tecau 6-2 6-3
The top seeds truly have been jinxed here. Still, this is pretty surprising for Lukasz Kubot — he hasn’t shown this sort of doubles form in a couple of years.

Doubles – Semifinal: Granollers/M Lopez def. (7) Bhupathi/Bopanna 6-4 6-1
This, on the other hand, is no surprise. Granollers and Lopez are pretty good doubles players anyway, and once you throw in the clay, we’d consider this the expected result.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Federer, Ferrer, Li N, Lopez, Maria Sharapova, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Rome Tennis news, Serena Williams