Men Tennis News Update – US Open

Written by: Staff on 30th August 2012

Men Tennis News Update - US Open

epa03374598 Andy Murray of Great Britain hits a return to Ivan Dodig of Croatia during their match on the third day of the 2012 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 29 August 2012. EPA/PETER FOLEY |

U. S. Open

It’s turning into a wild week for retirements of former top players. First Kim Clijsters, now Andy Roddick. The one-time New York champion on Thursday announced that this will be his last event.

LATE WEDNESDAY

Singles – Second Round: (3) A Murray def. I Dodig 6-2 6-1 6-3

Not much to say about this; it was as routine as the score, but it moves Murray only very slightly closer to the #3 ranking.

THURSDAY

Singles – Second Round: (1) R Federer def. B Phau 6-2 6-3 6-2

This frankly took longer than we expected, despite the decisive scoreline, but the result is to give Roger Federer a little more cushion over Novak Djokovic in the contest for #1.

Singles – Second Round: M Klizan def. (5) J Tsonga 6-4 1-6 6-1 6-3

Martin Klizan has been having a quietly solid year — this result takes him to around #45 — but this is ridiculous. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga — who admitted afterward that he had no idea what went wrong — will not rise above #6 (which all but guarantees that David Ferrer will stay #5), and there is a certain chance that Tomas Berdych might pass him.

Singles – Second Round: (6) T Berdych def. J Zopp 6-1 6-4 6-2

Berdych moves closer to passing Tsonga. But he needs a semifinal to do it.

Singles – Second Round: (11) N Almagro def. P Petzschner 6-3 5-7 5-7 6-4 6-4

Every point here is a plus for Nicolas Almagro. The flip side is, he needs two more wins to have any chance of rising above #12, and he’ll surely be tired after this!

Singles – Second Round: (12) M Cilic def. D Brands 6-3 6-2 5-7 4-6 7-5

Amazing how many seeds are struggling against players who shouldn’t be able to threaten them. And, after all that, Marin Cilic merely defends his points; he needs at least two more wins to rise above his current #13.

Singles – Second Round: (15) M Raonic def. P Mathieu 7-5 6-4 7-6(7-4)

Milos Raonic takes another step toward the Top Fifteen, although he will likely need at least one more win to asure it.

Singles – Second Round: (16) G Simon def. J Wang 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-4

Gilles Simon is good at making life ridiculously tough for himself. Not the best news when he still needs one more win to defend his points.

Singles – Second Round: (17) K Nishikori def. T Smyczek 6-2 6-2 6-4

Kei Nishikori has a real shot at the Top Fifteen this week, although this alone won’t do it.

Singles – Second Round: (23) M Fish def. N Davydenko 4-6 6-7(4-7) 6-2 6-1 6-2

Only the new-model Mardy Fish could have pulled this off…. He still needs one more win to defend his points, but this means that he will remain close to the Top 25. Nikolay Davydenko, who was defending third round points, will probably stay Top Fifty, but by the thinnest of margins.

Singles – Second Round: J Blake def. (24) M Granollers 6-1 6-4 6-2

Could Andy Roddick’s retirement be inspiring other older Americans like Mardy Fish and James Blake? Based on the day’s scores, it would seem so. Marcel Granollers loses the chance to clinch his Top 25 spot; Blake may finally make it back to the Top Hundred.

Singles – Second Round: (25) F Verdasco def. A Ramos 7-6(7-4) 5-7 7-6(7-5) 6-4

Albert Ramos should stay Top Fifty, but this means he won’t climb much.

Singles – Second Round: (27) S Querrey def. R Ramirez Hidalgo 6-3 6-4 6-3

Pretty close to inevitable on hardcourt. This moves Sam Querrey to within about a hundred points of the Top 25. Given Andy Roddick’s news, that’s important for American tennis….

Singles – Second Round: (30) F Lopez def. P Andujar 6-4 6-1 6-7(5-7) 3-6 7-5

These two came into this match right next to each other in safe points, but the gap is going to be widening. Pablo Andujar definitely will not make the Top Thirty; Feliciano Lopez might if he can win his next match.

Singles – Second Round: (32) J Chardy def. M Ebden 6-4 6-2 6-2

One more win would just about guarantee Jeremy Chardy a place in the Top Thirty. And his next opponent is unseeded.

Singles – Second Round: J Sock def. F Cipolla 6-2 6-2 6-4

Jack Sock is looking more and more like the next coming of Ryan Harrison, at least, and maybe more.

Doubles – First Round: (3) Lindstedt/Tecau def. Bracciali/Zeballos 7-6(7-4) 6-4

Lindstedt/Tecau aren’t going to threaten the Top Four this week, but this gives them a real chance to cement their positions as the #3 team in the world. We currently show the Top Ten as follows:

1..(1) Mirnyi………….9260

1..(1) Nestor………….9260

3..(3) Bryan…………..8110

5..(5) Lindstedt……….6240

5..(5) Tecau…………..6240

7..(9) Paes……………5425

8.(10) LopezM………….4950

9..(7) Fyrstenberg……..4815

10..(8) Matkowski……….4680

Doubles – First Round: (9) Qureshi/Rojer def. Kukushkin/Lu walkover

Mikhail Kukushkin had problems in singles, so this is no big surprise — but it’s rather tough for Qureshi/Rojer, who now need another win to earn any points.

Doubles – First Round: (10) Melzer/Petzschner def. Fisher/Kerr 6-3 6-4

Last year’s champions start strong, but they’re still more than a thousand points below the Top Twenty.

Doubles – First Round: (12) Dodig/Melo def. Cabal/Farah 6-3 6-4

Dodig/Melo are turning into a team you really don’t want to see in your part of the draw! They aren’t winning a lot of events, but they’re posting a lot of good wins.

Doubles – First Round: Berlocq/L Mayer def. Dlouhy/Dolgopolov 6-3 7-6(7-4)

It really feels as if Lukas Dlouhy’s career is over, even if he hasn’t realized it yet.

Doubles – First Round: Delgado/Skupski def. Brunstrom/Cerretani 4-6 6-4 6-3

Doubles – First Round: Levine/Matosevic def. Buchanan/Klahn 6-2 6-4

Doubles – First Round: Andujar/Garcia-Lopez def. Knowles/Malisse 1-6 6-4 6-3

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Oudin/Sock def. (5) Srebotnik/Zimonjic 4-6 6-3 15-13 (Match TB)

An upset no matter how you slice it — but arguably less of one under Mixed rankings. Mixed would have promoted Srebotnik/Zimonjic to the #2 seeds — but would have promoted Oudin/Sock to the #5 seeds! Which isn’t such a big upset in our book.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: (7) Hradecka/Cermak def. Goerges/Nestor 3-6 6-3 10-6 (Match TB)

A worse result that the preceding for Mixed rankings, which would have demoted Hradecka/Cermak to unseeded, slightly behind Goerges/Nestor (also unseeded).

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Hlavackova/Bhupathi def. Crawford/Krueger 6-2 6-4

We’ve no idea if Crawford/Krueger have ever even played a real Mixed match before; no surprise that they were beaten by a veteran team.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Lepchenko/Young def. Uhlirova/Marray 6-1 6-3

Topics: American tennis news, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Kim Clijsters, men tennis news, Roger Federer, US Open 2012