Men Tennis Update – Australian Open 01-15-13

Written by: Staff on 14th January 2013

Men Tennis Update - Australian Open 01-15-13

epa03534807 Novak Djokovic of Serbia tosses the ball as he serves in the first round match against Paul-Henri Mathieu of France, during the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 14 January 2013. EPA/MARK DADSWELL AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Singles – First Round: (1) N Djokovic def. P Mathieu 6-2 6-4 7-5

Fifteen straight wins here for Novak Djokovic. He hasn’t clinched #1, but it’s looking like a good bet.

Singles – First Round: (4) D Ferrer def. O Rochus 6-3 6-4 6-2

Six straight for David Ferrer, who has all but clinched the #4 ranking. Bad news for Olivier Rochus, though, since this was his only real chance to get back into the Top Hundred before he is forced to start playing qualifying.

Singles – First Round: (5) T Berdych def. M Russell 6-3 7-5 6-3

Tomas Berdych is now only about a thousand points behind Rafael Nadal in the contest for the #5 ranking. Hard to believe, but if Berdych can make the final, then Nadal will fall all the way to #6!

Singles – First Round: (8) J Tipsarevic def. L Hewitt 7-6(7-4) 7-5 6-3

Lleyton Hewitt loses fourth round points — and his Top Hundred ranking.

Singles – First Round: (10) N Almagro def. S Johnson 7-5 6-7(4-7) 6-2 6-7(8-10) 6-2

A tough start, considering that Nicolas Almagro needs two more wins to defend his points and his #11 ranking.

Singles – First Round: A Kuznetsov def. (11) J Monaco 7-6(7-3) 6-1 6-1

Juan Monaco was our only seed to lose on day one — not surprising, since he had a hand injury last week, and was hobbling here. He lost his opener last year also, so this doesn’t cost him any points — but he loses his shot at the Top Ten.

Singles – First Round: (15) S Wawrinka def. C Stebe 6-2 6-4 6-3

Stanislas Wawrinka needs only one more win to defend his points — but three more to have any chance to move in the rankings.

Singles – First Round: (16) K Nishikori def. V Hanescu 6-7(5-7) 6-3 6-1 6-3

Kei Nishikori came here with a bad leg, and they still put him out first. It seems like nasty scheduling, but he survived. He’ll need more than this to stay Top Twenty, though.

Singles – First Round: (20) S Querrey def. D Munoz-De La Nava 6-7(2-7) 6-4 6-2 6-4

Sam Querrey defends his points. It’s just possible that one more win would put him in the Top Twenty, although we’d guess he’ll need two.

Singles – First Round: (22) F Verdasco def. D Goffin 6-3 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-4

Fernando Verdasco is already adding points, but needs two more wins to climb. David Goffin will remain near the bottom of the Top Fifty.

Singles – First Round: (23) M Youzhny def. M Ebden 4-6 6-7(0-7) 6-2 7-6(7-4) 6-3

Mikhail Youzhny also adds points but gains no ground.

Singles – First Round: (24) J Janowicz def. S Bolelli 7-5 6-4 6-3

A nice easy first Melbourne win for Jerzy Janowicz — but he doesn’t add any ground, either.

Singles – First Round: (26) J Melzer def. M Kukushkin 6-1 6-1 6-2

Mikhail Kukushkin came here with 180 points to defend, and his ranking was already below #100. He’s going to fall hard; don’t expect to see him with direct entry to many more events this year.

Singles – First Round: (28) M Baghdatis def. A Ramos 6-7(0-7) 7-6(7-4) 6-4 3-6 6-3

Marcos Baghdatis defends his points and leave Albert Ramos still below the Top Fifty.

Singles – First Round: (31) R Stepanek def. V Troicki 5-7 4-6 6-3 6-3 7-5

Radek Stepanek must be healthy if he survived this! Viktor Troicki will drop at least one more spot; he may end up below #40.

Singles – First Round: (32) J Benneteau def. G Dimitrov 6-4 6-2 6-2

It’s as if his big week at the start of the year has cost Grigor Dimitrov all his game; he was hurt last week, and this week, he is the first man out of the tournament. That appears to mean no Top Forty spot. Julien Benneteau needs one more win to stay above #40 himself.

Singles – First Round: T Ito def. J Millman 6-4 6-4 3-6 0-6 7-5

John Millman won his opener at his two previous events this year, which seems promising, but he will remain below #150 for now.

Singles – First Round: R Bautista Agut def. F Fognini 6-0 2-6 6-4 3-6 6-1

It almost seems as if the players who are hurting are having the longest matches. Bautista Agut, Stepanek, Nishikori….

Singles – First Round: R Harrison def. S Giraldo 2-6 6-4 7-5 6-4

After four Australian Open visits, Ryan Harrison finally scores his first win.

Singles – First Round: E Donskoy def. A Ungur 6-4 6-4 6-2

Hard to believe Evgeny Donskoy earned direct entry — this is his first ATP win since St. Petersburg 2010!

Singles – First Round: S Devvarman def. B Phau 6-3 6-2 6-3

Somdev Devvarman has now won his opener at both his events this year. Clearly promising, and since he had nothing to defend, it will give him a real rankings boost — he almost doubles his points.

Singles – First Round: E Roger-Vasselin def. R Bemelmans 6-3 6-7(5-7) 2-6 7-5 11-9

Ruben Bemelmans earns the official “Toughest Loss of the Year So Far” award. Not only was he the first player to lose a more-than-twelve-games-in-the-fifth-set match, he also remains stuck below #100.

Singles – First Round: F Lopez def. A Brugues-Davi 6-3 6-2 6-4

Feliciano Lopez needs two more wins to defend his points, but this should keep him Top Fifty.

Singles – First Round: K Anderson def. P Lorenzi 3-6 7-6(7-3) 6-3 6-4

Two more wins would probably put Kevin Anderson in the Top Thirty.

Singles – First Round: G Rufin def. J Reister 4-6 7-6(7-4) 6-1 6-2

That’s the first ATP win for Rufin since Wimbledon.

Singles – First Round: X Malisse def. P Andujar 6-3 6-1 6-2

Pablo Andujar loses another Top Forty chance; we’d guess he will fall a spot or two.

Singles – First Round: (LL) T Smyczek def. I Karlovic 6-4 7-6(7-5) 7-5

It appears Ivo Karlovic will remain below #100.

Singles – First Round: B Baker def. A Bogomolov Jr. 7-6(7-4) 6-3 6-7(0-7) 3-6 6-2

Alex Bogomolov definitely remains below #100.

Singles – First Round: L Lacko def. G Muller 6-2 6-4 7-6(7-3)

Lukas Lacko made the third round as a qualifier last year, so had he lost this, he would have been out of the Top Fifty. As it is, he will be right around that mark.

Singles – First Round: D Gimeno-Traver def. L Kubot 6-7(4-7) 6-4 6-0 4-6 6-4

Daniel Gimeno-Traver scores his first ATP win since St. Petersburg.

Singles – First Round: C Berlocq def. M Authom 1-6 7-6(7-5) 7-6(7-4) 6-2

Maxime Authom is now 0-2 at the ATP level. Still, qualifying points matter for a guy ranked #156….

Singles – First Round: T Kamke def. F Cipolla 6-1 6-4 6-1

Flavio Cipolla remains winless in 2013.

Topics: Australian Open, Australian tennis news, David Ferrer, Kei Nishikori, Lleyton Hewitt, Nicolas Almagro, Novak Djokovic, Sam Querrey, Sports, Tennis News, Tipsarevic, Tomas Berdych

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dusanVemic says:

January 14, 2013 at 2:40 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: Men Tennis Update – Australian Open 01-15-13:http://t.co/4mDXrzXT #Ausopen @australianopen