Men Tennis News Update – Australian Open

Written by: Staff on 19th January 2013

Men Tennis News Update - Australian Open

epa03543984 Swiss Roger Federer hits a backhand during his 3rd round match against Bernard Tomic of Australia at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 19 January 2013. EPA/Mast Irham |

Australian Open

Singles – Third Round: (2) R Federer def. B Tomic 6-4 7-6(7-5) 6-1

Not much to say about this except “Routine,” but it means no return to the Top Forty for Bernard Tomic.

Singles – Third Round: (3) A Murray def. (Q) R Berankis 6-3 6-4 7-5

All routine for Andy Murray, too. But there was some excitement on this day:

Singles – Third Round: J Chardy def. (6) J Del Potro 6-3 6-3 6-7(3-7) 3-6 6-3

Juan Martin del Potro becomes the first of the Top Ten to be eliminated. He will almost certainly stay #7, but he can’t go higher. That just about assures Tomas Berdych the #6 spot.

Singles – Third Round: (7) J Tsonga def. B Kavcic 6-2 6-1 6-4

But here we are back to the routine stuff. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is far from clinching the #8 spot, but Janko Tipsarevic now needs a semifinal to pass him.

Singles – Third Round: (9) R Gasquet def. I Dodig 4-6 6-3 7-6(7-2) 6-0

Richard Gasquet hasn’t clinched the #10 spot, either, but this means that Nicolas Almagro needs a semifinal to pass him, and almost anyone else needs a final. A pretty decent spot to be in.

Singles – Third Round: (21) A Seppi def. (12) M Cilic 6-7(2-7) 6-3 2-6 6-4 6-2

Andreas Seppi is the only one of the bottom 16 seeds still active. His reward is a Top Twenty spot. Marin Cilic will probably be #13 or #14.

Singles – Third Round: (13) M Raonic def. (17) P Kohlschreiber 7-6(7-4) 6-3 6-4

Philipp Kohlschreiber will not rise above #19.

Singles – Third Round: (14) G Simon def. G Monfils 6-4 6-4 4-6 1-6 8-6

This was pretty astounding. Gilles Simon had a knee problem in the third set, and lost some of his defense. In the fifth, he seemed to be having an arm problem. But Gael Monfils, by the fifth set, was gasping between points. By the end, both were firing some really spectacular change-ups — lobs, drop shots, angles, slices. But Monfils was missing more and more. The last game was mostly about Monfils errors. No one seemed to know how Simon won this, but he did. He looked exhausted afterward, not even happy. At least he is close to clinching his Top Fifteen ranking.

Doubles – Second Round: Baghdatis/Dimitrov def. (4) Mirnyi/Tecau 3-6 6-3 6-2

This doesn’t hurt Horia Tecau much; he had defended his points, and may be able to stay at #8. Certainly he’ll be Top Ten. But Max Mirnyi was defending semifinalist points. He may actually rise, due to the drop by Paes/Stepanek, but he’s pretty far off the pace of the top players.

Doubles – Second Round: (5) Bhupathi/Nestor def. Hanescu/Klizan 6-1 7-6(10-8)

One .more win would likely put Mahesh Bhupathi back in the Top Ten. Daniel Nestor has a good shot at #4.

Doubles – Second Round: Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin def. (7) Lindstedt/Zimonjic 6-3 6-7(5-7) 7-6(7-5)

Robert Lindstedt will stay stuck at about #9. Nenad Zimonjic will remain below the Top Twenty. We currently show the Top Ten as follows:

1..(1) BryanM………….8600

2..(2) BryanB………….8530

3..(6) LopezM………….6970

4..(5) Nestor………….6540

5..(7) Mirnyi………….6100

6.(10) Granollers………5960

7..(3) Paes……………5435

8..(8) Tecau…………..5370

8..(9) Lindstedt……….5370

10..(4) Stepanek………..5305

Doubles – Second Round: Bellucci/Paire def. (9) Peya/Soares 3-6 6-4 6-3

Bruno Soares was defending quarterfinalist points, so this is likely to knock him out of the Top Twenty.

Doubles – Second Round: (11) Marrero/Verdasco def. Bednarek/Janowicz 6-1 6-2

Doubles – Second Round: Bolelli/Fognini def. (12) Bopanna/R Ram 6-2 7-6(7-3)

Rohan Bopanna loses his chance to make the Top Ten; the best he can hope for is to stay #12. The good news is, he is far enough ahead of #13 that he isn’t likely to fall much if at all.

Doubles – Second Round: Haase/Sijsling def. (16) Marray/Sa 6-4 7-6(7-5)

What a day for seeded doubles teams! Seven pairs in action, and only two survived. Jonathan Marray will remain around the #16 ranking he came in with.

Doubles – Second Round: Anderson/Erlich def. Barton/Millman 6-1 6-7(5-7) 6-3

Mixed Doubles – First Round: (2) Vesnina/Paes def. Arvidsson/Qureshi 6-7(6-8) 6-4 10-7 (Match TB)

Amazing how tough this was, considering that Mixed rankings would make Vesnina/Paes the top seeds.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: (7) Hlavackova/Bracciali def. Dellacqua/Smith 7-6(7-3) 7-6(7-4)

Mixed seedings would have demoted Hlavackova/Bracciali, so perhaps the closeness of this match is less surprising.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Gajdosova/Ebden def. Lisicki/Nielsen 7-6(8-6) 6-3

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Hsieh/Bopanna def. Barty/Sock 6-3 6-3

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Shvedova/Istomin def King/Melo 2-6 6-4 10-7 (Match TB)

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Spears/Lipski def. Kops-Jones/Huey 6-3 3-6 10-7 (Match TB)

This seemed to be the day for women’s doubles pairs to face each other in mixed, with Shvedova facing King and Spears facing Kops-Jones. Odd that both ended in 10-7 tiebreaks.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Andy Murray, Australian Open 2013, Chardy, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis News