Men Tennis Update – Olympics and Rankings

Written by: Staff on 1st August 2012

Men Tennis Update - Olympics and Rankings

epa03331761 Roger Federer of Switzerland serves to Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan during the London 2012 Olympic Games Tennis competition in Wimbledon, Greater London, Britain, 01 August 2012. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Olympics

Singles – Third Round: (1) R Federer def. D Istomin 7-5 6-3

This took a while, but that was mostly due to rain delays. This doesn’t really change the ranking situation, but it certainly keeps the pressure on Novak Djokovic. It leaves Denis Istomin just a little shy of the Top Thirty. He will be one of several who will be struggling to earn a U. S. Open seed over the next few weeks.

Singles – Third Round: (2) N Djokovic def. L Hewitt 4-6 7-5 6-1

When this started, Lleyton Hewitt was hitting fine angles and really making Novak Djokovic work. But Djokovic kept fighting until he had things under control. The contest for #1 is now as simple as it gets: Between Federer and Djokovic, whichever one lasts longer gets it, with ties to Federer.

Singles – Third Round: (3) A Murray def. M Baghdatis 4-6 6-1 6-4

Had Marcos Baghdatis managed to hang on in this match, he would have risen to around #40, but as it is, he’ll have to settle for around #45.

Singles – Third Round: (15) K Nishikori def. (4) D Ferrer 6-0 3-6 6-4

The day’s rains meant that this match started late, and it lasted long. At 5-4 in the third set, they concluded that it was too dark to see — and moved it onto Centre Court. One game later, it was over. Talk about a tough time for a court change! David Ferrer is still #5 in safe points, but this gives Jo-Wilfried Tsonga a real chance to move up. Kei Nishikori is still at #16,

Singles – Third Round: (5) J Tsonga def. F Lopez 7-6(7-5) 6-4

A nice win for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, particularly given how tired he must be. Feliciano Lopez will remain near the bottom of the Top Thirty.

Singles – Third Round: (10) J Isner def. (7) J Tipsarevic 7-5 7-6(16-14)

This definitely makes life more interesting at the bottom of the Top Ten. It opens up the possibility that Janko Tipsarevic could lose the #8 ranking if Juan Martin del Potro takes a medal — and it keeps alive John Isner’s Top Ten hopes. Unfortunately for Isner, he needs to beat Roger Federer for that to happen.

Singles – Third Round: (9) J del Potro def. (12) G Simon 6-1 4-6 6-3

Gilles Simon was just about certain to stay #13 whatever happened here. This doesn’t change that.

Singles – Third Round: (10) N Almagro def. S Darcis 7-5 6-3

Amazing to see Nicolas Almagro do this well on grass, but his draw has been nice — so far. He’s now very close to catching up with John Isner.

Doubles – Second Round: (2) Llodra/Tsonga def. Paes/Vardhan 7-6(7-3) 4-6 6-3

And so the absurd saga that is India’s doubles bid is just about over. They still have mixed; the Paes/Mirza match was postponed. But, after all the maneuvering, neither Indian men’s team went anywhere.

Doubles – Second Round: Melo/Soares def. (5) Berdych/Stepanek 1-6 6-4 24-22

This required two days to complete, and gives us another Olympic record: Longest doubles match in terms of number of games, and longest third set of doubles in terms of games.

Only on grass….

Doubles – Second Round: Erlich/A Ram def. (6) Federer/Wawrinka 1-6 7-6(7-5) 6-3

There goes our medal defense. The grass surely helped Roger Federer, but it probably hurt Stanislas Wawrinka. Too bad Federer couldn’t lure Martina Hingis into the mixed…. On the other hand, he can probably use the rest as he tries to defend the #1 ranking.

Doubles – Second Round: Cilic/Dodig def. Brunstrom/Lindstedt 6-3 6-2

Mixed Doubles – First Round: (1) Azarenka/Mirnyi def. Kerber/Petzschner 6-2 6-2

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Stosur/Hewitt def. (4) A Radwanska/Matkowski 6-3 6-3

Memo to the organizers: Seeding mixed doubles, or even ordinary doubles, based on singles rankings is silly, even if it worked in the case of Azarenka/Mirnyi.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: (3) Raymond/M. Bryan def. Errani/Seppi 7-5 6-3

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Dulko/del Potro def. Vesnina/Youzhny 6-3 7-5

That pretty clearly justifies putting Juan Martin del Potro on the Argentine mixed squad! It does raise the interesting question of why Russia has so many good female doubles players but can’t seem to scrape up a good man.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Vinci/Bracciali def. Arvidsson/Lindstedt 6-3 4-6 10-8 (Match TB)

We can’t help but point out that the Italian team that was entered based on doubles rankings (Vinci/Bracciali) won, while the team which got in for singles (Errani/Seppi) lost.

Washington

Later

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Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings

As of August 1, 2012

Rank &

Prior…Player………..Points

1..(1) Federer………..11210

2..(2) Djokovic……….11135

3..(3) Nadal…………..8905

4..(4) Murray………….7505

5..(5) Ferrer………….5455