Men Tennis Update – Nice, Dusseldorf, Roland Garros

Written by: Staff on 22nd May 2012

Men Tennis Update - Nice, Dusseldorf, Roland Garros

epa03218961 Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic returns to Colombian Santiago Giraldo during their match at the Italian Open Tennis Tournament (ATP World Tour), at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 14 May 2012. EPA/CLAUDIO ONORATI |

Nice

Singles – First Round: (5) B Tomic def. L Lacko 6-2 6-3

Bernard Tomic’s strong results this year have finally filled up his slots for optional events; this is not enough to count for him. Indeed, he needs a final to budge his ranking. But that’s a positive thing, really.

Singles – First Round: J Ferrero def. (6) R Haase 4-6 7-6(8-6) 7-6(8-6)

After a tremendous struggle to get to the third set tiebreak, Juan Carlos Ferrero earned a minibreak on Robin Haase’s first service point — but let Haase get back on serve later in the tiebreak. Ferrero had the first match point, but couldn’t convert. He finally earned another minibreak on the thirteenth point, and this time finished it off. It’s a pretty minor upset — Ferrero came in ranked just five places behind Haase — but it means that Haase will remain stuck around #40.

Singles – First Round: (7) D Istomin def. A Falla 7-6(7-3) 1-6 6-1

A nice result for Denis Istomin, given his horrid clay struggles this year. It’s not enough points to count, but the next win would count.

Singles – First Round: S Darcis def. (8) F Fognini 7-6(7-3) 7-5

After all this waiting around, even losing may have felt good to Fabio Fognini. But it means he will stay stuck around #45.

Singles – First Round: X Malisse def. Y Lu 7-5 6-4

This had started two days ago, but nothing much changed over the two days’ worth of delay….

Singles – First Round: N Davydenko def. M Ebden 6-3 6-3

This won’t put Nikolay Davydenko back in the Top Fifty, but he had been struggling so much that he can use any wins he can get.

Singles – First Round: (Q) B Baker def. S Stakhovsky 6-7(2-7) 6-4 7-5

Even granting Sergiy Stakhovsky’s dislike of clay, this is pretty shocking — Brian Baker picks up his first ATP win since Queen’s 2007! He had lost nine straight since then.

Singles – First Round: M Kukushkin def. (Q) S Querrey 6-2 7-5

Sam Querrey is one of this week’s Movers (see the Feature), but because he’s having to play qualifying for everything, he’s playing a lot of matches for not a lot of points. It may be catching up with him.

Singles – First Round: F Volandri def. O Rochus 4-6 7-6(7-2) 6-2

Filippo Volandri has not been having a good clay season, so this is a welcome win. Next up is Tomic, which will be a truly dramatic contrast….

Singles – First Round: E Roger-Vasselin def. (WC) B Paire 6-4 7-6(7-2)

Benoit Paire is just off the best result of his life, which is probably why he got this wildcard, but it looks like reality is back….

Singles – First Round: (Q) T Bellucci def. D Young 6-7(5-7) 6-0 6-3

There is a substantial chance that this will cost Donald Young his Top Fifty ranking.

Singles – First Round: (Q) G Dimitrov def. D Sela 7-5 6-1

Dudi Sela just fell badly in the rankings (see the Feature); at this rate, he may not be Top Hundred much longer. Of course, getting away from clay will probably help….

Doubles – First Round: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. Ebden/Tomic 6-2 6-2

Nothing the Bryans can do here will get them back to #1, but a nice efficient start has to feel good….

Doubles – First Round: (3) Qureshi/Rojer def. Cerretani/Sa 7-5 6-2

Doubles – First Round: (4) Cabal/S Gonzalez def. Huey/Moser 6-4 3-6 10-6 (Match TB)

Doubles – First Round: Bracciali/J Murray def. Erlich/A Ram 7-5 2-6 12-10 (Match TB)

Doubles – First Round: Lipsky/R Ram def. Elgin/Istomin 6-3 6-4

Doubles – First Round: Marach/Polasek def. (WC) Mahut/Roger-Vasselin 7-5 6-3

Dusseldorf

It’s only day three, so things still aren’t officially over in either the Red or the Blue group — but if you want to bet on somebody, bet on Serbia in the Blue Group. They’ve already won two ties. Easily. Janko Tipsarevic put them up 1-0 on Russia by beating struggling Alex Bogomolov 6-1 6-3, then Viktor Troicki clinched by beating Dmitry Tursunov 6-3 6-2. At least Tursunov survived a singles match.

The one bit of bad news for Serbia is that they still have to face the German hosts, and Germany is looking solid as well. Not that they faced much opposition. They’re up 1-0 on Croatia after Florian Mayer beat Ivan Dodig 6-1 6-1.

The Americans aren’t going anywhere. Tomas Berdych started the rout with a 6-1 6-2 win over Andy Roddick. Then Radek Stepanek matched that with a 6-2 6-1 win over James Blake. So the Americans are 0-2 — and eliminated.

That means that the Red Group will come down to the Argentines and the Czechs. Argentina is up 1-0 on Japan after Leonardo Mayer beat Tatsuma Ito 6-4 6-4.

Roland Garros

Here they come. Or, rather, here they go. The withdrawals are underway.

First there was Mardy Fish. No big surprise there; he had said all along that he was iffy. It probably means that he will be out of the Top Ten for keeps. But it got worse: Kei Nishikori is now out, too.

Topics: Bernard Tomic, Denis Istomin, Dusseldorf tennis news, French Open, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Mardy Fish kei Nishikori, NIce tennis news, Nikolay Davydenko, Roland Garros tennis news, Xavier Malisse