Today’s Men’s News (10/09) – Shanghai

Written by: Staff on 9th October 2012

Today's Men's News (10/09) - Shanghai

epa03412132 Fernando Verdasco of Spain returns the ball to Donald Young of the USA during their second round match at the ATP PTT Thailand Open tennis tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, 27 September 2012. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT |

Shanghai

Singles – First Round: (12) M Raonic def. (Q) M Matosevic 7-6(7-4) 6-3

A nice bounce-back for Milos Raonic after losing the Tokyo final. He defends his points, but needs at least two more wins to climb in the rankings.

Singles – First Round: (13) S Wawrinka def. A Ramos 7-6(7-1) 7-6(7-5)

Albert Ramos last year made the second round as a qualifier, so this is likely to cost him several ranking spots. Stanislas Wawrinka needs one more win to defend his points.

Singles – First Round: (14) K Nishikori def. (WC) D Wu 6-2 6-4

Not even a Chinese crowd can slow down Kei Nishikori, it seems. He wins his sixth straight match — although he needs three more to defend his points.

Singles – First Round: (15) G Simon def. J Melzer 6-4 6-2

Jurgen Melzer will not rise above his current #35 and may fall. Gilles Simon, who is defending third round points, needs at least one more win to keep his current #18 ranking.

Singles – First Round: (Q) Y Lu def. (WC) Z Zhang 6-0 6-2

Lu Yen-Hsun just missed the main draw cutoff. Zhang Ze is a Chinese wildcard. This was pretty open-and-shut.

Singles – First Round: D Istomin def. C Berlocq 4-6 6-2 6-1

This will probably drop Carlos Berlocq out of the Top Fifty, but Denis Istomin is now probably just one win away from the Top Forty.

Singles – First Round: F Mayer def. B Tomic 6-4 6-0

Both these guys had a lot on the line, so one of them had to suffer. Bernard Tomic, who loses third round points, will be around #50; there doesn’t seem much chance that he will earn an Australian Open seed after this. (And, of course, he was talking afterward about how he needs to try harder.) Florian Mayer, who was defending quarterfinalist points, still needs a lot more to stay Top 25, but this should keep him Top Thirty.

Singles – First Round: R Stepanek def. (WC) L Hewitt 7-5 6-1

A lousy day for Australians. This probably means Lleyton Hewitt will remain below #100. He will surely be granted an Australian Open wildcard — which is fortunate for him, because it’s looking as if he may need one.

Singles – First Round: M Baghdatis def. F Fognini 6-2 6-2

This is likely to take Marcos Baghdatis above #35. Fabio Fognini will remain below #40.

Singles – First Round: V Troicki def. M Youzhny 6-3 2-6 6-4

Here we go again; Mikhail Youzhny again can’t play his best at a required event. It looks as if he will stay Top Thirty even so. Victor Troicki may well make the Top Thirty also.

Singles – First Round: F Lopez def. A Falla 6-3 1-6 6-3

Not the best start, given that Feliciano Lopez needs a semifinal to defend his points. At least this will keep him around #35.

Singles – Second Round: F Verdasco def. (7) J Monaco 6-4 6-2

Even with this loss, Juan Monaco’s chances of staying Top Ten look pretty good. But he was only #11 in the Race (see today’s Feature), and this guarantees that he will fall at least one spot. He still has a shot at making it to London — but it seems very unlikely in practice.

Singles – Second Round: (8) J Isner def. K Anderson 7-6(7-3) 6-7(8-10) 7-6(9-7)

If Juan Monaco does lose his #10 ranking, it will very likely be to John Isner. But Isner had to save three match points in this contest; he is bound to be tired.

Singles – Second Round: (10) M Cilic def. M Klizan 7-5 6-1

Marin Klizan won’t make the Top Thirty just yet — but he is only about ten points short. It could well happen later this year.

Doubles – First Round: Anderson/Querrey def. Dolgopolov/Tsonga 6-4 5-7 18-16 (Match TB)

Talk about a marathon day for Kevin Anderson…. At least he came away with one win in his two tries.

Doubles – First Round: Berdych/Zimonjic def. S Gonzalez/Lipsky 6-4 3-6 10-6 (Match TB)

Interesting that Tomas Berdych has now played two straight doubles events with Nenad Zimonjic. This looks pretty serious.