Today’s Men’s News (06/13) – Halle & Queen’s Club

Written by: Staff on 13th June 2012

Today's Men's News (06/13) - Halle & Queen's Club

Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic celebrates after winning 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 |

Halle

Singles – Second Round: (3) T Berdych def. V Troicki 6-3 6-2

A big blow to Viktor Troicki’s seeding chances. He still has a shot, but it looks likely that he will need a withdrawal or two. Tomas Berdych is of course assured a seed, and the Wimbledon formula should promote him. He has a chance to rise as high as #5. Of course, what he wants is #4 — and that is out of reach.

Singles – Second Round: M Youzhny def. (4) A Dolgopolov 6-4 3-6 6-3

This was a contest where the incentives were rather unbalanced. Mikhail Youzhny was trying to clinch his Wimbledon seed (which, with Troicki out, now looks pretty secure); Dolgopolov was just trying to assure himself a Top Twenty spot.

Singles – Second Round: (5) M Raonic def. (Q) Z Zhang 6-1 6-1

If Dolgopolov fails to hold his Top Twenty spot, it will likely be because Milos Raonic passes him. But Raonic needs a final.

Singles – Second Round: R Stepanek def. C Stebe 6-4 6-4

It appears Radek Stepanek needs a title to rise above #25 in the rankings — but a final might make him a Top 24 Wimbledon seed.

Doubles – First Round: (2) Cermak/Knowle def. Berlocq/Seppi 7-6(8-6) 6-7(5-7) 10-3 (Match TB)

Doubles – First Round: (4) Granollers/Nadal def. Mertinak/Troicki 5-7 6-2 10-8 (Match TB)

Now this raises interesting questions: What happens if Rafael Nadal wants to play doubles at the Olympics? Who gets booted?

Doubles – First Round: Huey/Lipsky def. Kas/Kohlschreiber 3-6 6-3 10-6 (Match TB)

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (1) Qureshi/Rojer def. Brunstrom/Marx 7-6(9-7) 6-7(1-7) 10-7 (Match TB)

Queen’s

Singles – First Round: T Ito def. P Lorenzi 7-6(8-6) 4-6 6-2

This match was suspended after two sets on Tuesday. That always leaves the question of how much the winner will have left….

Singles – Second Round: N Mahut def. (1) A Murray 6-3 6-7(4-7) 7-6(7-1)

Andy Murray looked a little off throughout this match, and he looked way off in that final tiebreak. It won’t matter in the rankings; he’s #4, and will be the #4 Wimbledon seed. But…

Singles – Second Round: (2) J Tsonga def. J Baker (WC) 6-3 6-2

…Andy Murray is now only about 1750 points ahead of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Which may sound like a lot, but Murray is 2400 points behind Roger Federer. And we’re now playing on surfaces Tsonga likes a lot. If Murray can’t shake his slump, Tsonga just might have a shot at the Top Four.

Singles – Second Round: (3) J Tipsarevic def. (LL) R Sweeting 6-1 7-6(7-2)

Nothing Janko Tipsarevic can do here is going to make any difference — he will be ranked #8, and will be the #8 Wimbledon seed. Which still is a pretty dramatic improvement from last year….

Singles – Second Round: S Bolelli def. (4) G Simon 4-6 6-3 7-6(7-2)

Gilles Simon needed a final to rise in the rankings here, so that perhaps wasn’t likely. But our rough cut says that a semifinal would have earned him the #12 Wimbledon seed. So this was a tough loss.

Singles – Second Round: (5) F Lopez def. S Darcis 6-3 3-6 7-5

This doesn’t help Feliciano Lopez’s ranking; he probably won’t rise above #17 this week. But he is improving his Wimbledon seeding; he can expect to be in the Top Sixteen.

Singles – Second Round: (6) M Cilic def. M Ebden 6-2 6-1

It appears two more wins might make Marin Cilic the #24 Wimbledon seed.

Singles – Second Round: E Roger-Vasselin def. (7) A Roddick 6-4 4-6 7-5

Andy Roddick has been talking about retirement. The talk may get a little more explicit after this, given how much Roddick likes grass. This might well cost him his Wimbledon seed. Too bad, because the seeding formula would have promoted him at least a little.

Singles – Second Round: (8) J Benneteau def. T Ito 5-7 6-4 7-5

Julien Benneteau needs a semifinal to count toward his ranking — but he also needs matches, and he’s certainly getting those. Lucky for him, perhaps, that Ito was playing his second match of the day.

Singles – Second Round: (9) K Anderson def. S Stakhovsky 7-6(7-5) 2-6 3-4, retired (side muscle strain)

The grass season was not when Sergiy Stakhovsky wanted to have physical problems; he likes fast courts too much.

Singles – Second Round: (10) D Nalbandian def. (Q) R Bemelmans 6-4 6-2

David Nalbandian is now certain to stay Top Forty, although he needs a semifinal to improve above his current #39.

Singles – Second Round: L Rosol def. (11) M Baghdatis 6-3 4-6 6-4

Marcos Baghdatis was defending points, so he will fall to around #45.

Singles – Second Round: S Querrey def. (12) D Istomin 7-6(7-4) 6-3

Denis Istomin loses his Top Forty shot; we’d guess he’ll be #41.

Singles – Second Round: X Malisse def. (13) A Bogomolov Jr. 6-3 4-6 6-0

Right back into his slump goes Alex Bogomolov. Which means that he will stay below #45.

Singles – Second Round: G Dimitrov def. (14) G Muller 7-6(7-1) 6-4

This appears to mean no Top Fifty place for Gilles Muller.

Singles – Second Round: Y Lu def. (16) I Karlovic 6-7(3-7) 7-6(8-6) 7-6(9-7)

Ivo Karlovic hit 35 aces in this match. Since the match lasted 170 minutes, that means about one every five minutes — including time on the sidelines. But Yen-Hsun Lu was equally effective on serve, even if he didn’t hit many aces. There were no breaks in the match, and Lu did just well enough in the tiebreaks.

Interesting to note that, after a first round in which eight out of eight seeds won, we lost more than half in the second round!

Doubles – First Round: (WC) Hewitt/Roddick def. Lu/Querrey 7-6(7-5) 7-6(7-3)

Doubles – First Round: Baghdatis/J Murray def. Bolelli/Muller 7-6(7-5) 6-4

Doubles – First Round: Erlich/A Ram def. Cilic/Zovko 6-2 7-6(7-5)

Doubles – First Round: Karlovic/Moser def. (WC) J Delgado/Skupski 3-6 7-6(8-6) 10-4 (Match TB)

Doubles – First Round: Malisse/Norman def. Marrero/Ramirez Hidalgo 6-1 6-2

Doubles – First Round: Darcis/Rochus def. Roger-Vasselin/Simon 7-5 6-4

Doubles – First Round: Bogomolov/Cerretani def. Elgin/Istomin 3-6 7-6(7-4) 10-6 (Match TB)