Today’s Men’s News (10/21)

Written by: Staff on 21st October 2012

Today's Men's News (10/21)

epa03441265 Andreas Seppi of Italy returns to Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil during their final match at the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament in Moscow, Russia, 21 October 2012. Seppi won the final in 2-1 sets. EPA/SERGEI ILNITSKY |

Moscow

Singles – Final: (2) A Seppi def. (4) T Bellucci 3-6 7-6(7-3) 6-3

This possibly should have been over earlier. Andreas Seppi had fourteen break points, and converted only four. Thomaz Bellucci had only three — but he converted all of them. The result was two hours and twelve nailbiting minutes.

In the end, though, Seppi added more evidence of his all-surface skills. It is his third career title, all in the last year and a half, and they’re on three different surfaces: He won Eastbourne 2011 on grass, Belgrade 2012 on clay, and now this. His reward is a nice rankings move; we show him rising from #25 to #22.

Seppi had a special reason to be happy about this. “It is very special to win this title as I remember Yevgeny winning so many times here and he was my idol growing up. I saw him a few times this week but I was too shy to ask him anything. It has been a great season for me.”

Let’s hope Yevgeny Kafelnikov will give him a call to congratulate him….

Thomaz Bellucci would have been Top Thirty had he won this. As it is, it appears he will have to settle for #34. Still, that’s a nice improvement from the #41 ranking he had coming in — and from the below-top-fifty ranking he had at mid-year.

Stockholm

Singles – Final: (2) T Berdych def. (1) J Tsonga 4-6 6-4 6-4

Two and a half hours, thirty games, just five breaks. Each player won 97 points. In other words, this was a close match.

And a pretty big win for Tomas Berdych. It’s not just that he picks up his first title since Montpellier (which was also on an indoor court). Nor is it just that he came back from down 4-6 2-4. Bigger, in the long term, is the fact that he came in #6 in the ATP Race, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga #8. Berdych stays #6 — but this lets him build his lead over both Tsonga and Juan Martin del Potro. He isn’t clinched yet, quite, but his odds look very, very good. He’s certainly thinking about it: “London is always a goal every season. You have to play well the whole year to qualify. It will be special for me, if I make it for the third year in a row.”

As a side effect, Berdych remains #6 in the rankings, with Tsonga still at #7 — and in danger of falling after Paris.

With Seppi and Berdych both winning, it was obviously a good week to be a #2 seed.

Doubles – Final: (3) Melo/Soares def. (1) Lindstedt/Zimonjic 6-7(4-7) 7-5 10-6 (Match TB)

Looks like it’s back to the drawing board in Nenad Zimonjic’s search for a permanent partner. Losing indoors to Melo/Soares is not a very good sign. Zimonjic has managed two titles this year (Rotterdam with Llodra and St. Petersburg with Rajeev Ram), but overall, his record has been pretty poor.

For Bruno Soares, this is his fourth title of 2012; he won Sao Paulo with Butorac, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo with Peya, and now this. A pretty impressive mix. Especially since Melo hadn’t won a title since he and Soares won Costa do Sauipe in 2011.

Vienna

Singles – Final: (1) J del Potro def. (Q) G Zemlja 7-5 6-3

In one sense, this doesn’t matter much. Juan Martin del Potro is almost certainly going to London, and these points make very little difference. But it’s the psychology of the thing. He picks up his third title of the year. They’re all small, but it’s the most he has earned since 2009 when he won the U. S. Open. He remains #8 in the rankings, but he looks like he could do genuine damage in London.

It’s surprising to realize that Grega Zemlja turned 26 a month ago. He feels like a newcomer. But that’s because he never hit the Top Hundred until this year. Since then, he has been zooming. He came here at #70. And this, his first career final, takes him close to #50. It will be interesting to see how he does next year, given that he won’t have to play qualifying any more.

Doubles – Final: Begemann/Emmrich def. (2) Knowle/Polasek 6-4 3-6 10-4 (Match TB)

You know something strange is going on when someone wins a title and you don’t even know who he is.

So: Andre Begemann is 28, and has never played an ATP singles match. He came here ranked #89 in doubles, but had never won an ATP doubles match either. Now he has a title! And he’ll be hitting a career high.

The two winners have a long history. Begemann explained, “We have known each other for more than ten years now and are good friends. We even lived together a few years ago. We went different ways at some point but got back together this summer when we played club matches. We decided to play together on the tour too. We got off a great start and this title is unbelievable for us.”

This isn’t quite as big for 27-year-old Martin Emmrich; he had a another final earlier this year, which obviously means he had some match wins, but he picks up his first title.

Given that lack of ATP history, we can’t tell you much more about them — except that they’re thrilled. Emmrich said, “This is the big highlight of my career so far and I think it’s the same for Andre. Winning an ATP World Tour event beating many higher ranked teams as the big outsider feels a bit unreal right now. The trophy shows me that we really did it and it feels great.”Â

Valencia

Singles – First Round: (7) M Cilic def. M Klizan 1-6 6-0 6-3

We didn’t actually check whether Martin Klizan still had a chance for London coming into this match; probably not. We’re now certain that he doesn’t. But he will likely stay around #30.

Doubles – First Round: Gonzalez/Lipsky def. Isner/Querrey 7-5 6-1

A few years back, Isner/Querrey actually contended for a London spot. But they haven’t played much doubles lately. Perhaps it’s showing.