Men Tennis News Update – Australian Open (01-21-13)

Written by: Staff on 20th January 2013

Men Tennis News Update - Australian Open (01-21-13)

epa03546287 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland (L) congratulates Novak Djokovic of Serbia after their 4th round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 21 January 2013. Djokovic won in five sets. EPA/Dennis Sabangan |

Australian Open

Singles – Fourth Round: (1) N Djokovic def. (15) S Wawrinka 1-6 7-5 6-4 6-7(5-7) 12-10

In the first set of this, Novak Djokovic looked pretty ordinary. He was slipping around a lot, too. He went down 1-6 2-5 — but then Stanislas Wawrinka made a couple of bad errors. Perhaps helped by a new pair of shoes, Djokovic seemed to get into it. By the fourth set, they seemed to be aiming more for the Kia logo than for each other — both of them knocked pieces off of it, forcing occasional delays. The fifth set was a true battle, with Wawrinka serving second, so that Djokovic found himself with multiple match points in game #22 — one of them on an extremely lucky net cord. Wawrinka played a great match, but finally Djokovic made a winning passing shot. Wawrinka looked exhausted and devastated; he will remain stuck at #17.

Singles – Fourth Round: (4) D Ferrer def. (16) K Nishikori 6-2 6-1 6-4

Everything stays routine for #4 seed David Ferrer, who is now closer to #3 Andy Murray than to #5 Rafael Nadal.

Singles – Fourth Round: (5) T Berdych def. K Anderson 6-3 6-2 7-6(15-13)

Tomas Berdych is now within 750 points of Nadal and the #5 ranking. Which means he needs a final. Kevin Anderson will be around #27.

Singles – Fourth Round: (10) N Almagro def. (8) J Tipsarevic 6-2 5-1, retired (jarred heel)

Janko Tipsarevic plays a schedule that would leave any other player in a frazzle. And he had been on court for a long time this week. So maybe we should say that he frazzed out. He loses his chance to rise above #9. Nicolas Almagro is still at #11, but could hit the Top Ten if he can somehow beat Ferrer in the next round.

Doubles – Third Round: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. Chardy/Kubot 6-7(4-7) 6-4 6-3

The Bryans need two more wins to defend their points, but only one to clinch the top spots.

Doubles – Third Round: (3) Granollers/M Lopez def. Butorac/Hanley 6-2 7-5

Even though the Bryans are in a very good rankings position, Marc Lopez remains in the hunt for #1. And although that is pretty unlikely, it is not at all unlikely that he will rise to #3. Marcel Granollers will rise to at least #6; very likely he will be #5.

Doubles – Third Round: Bellucci/Paire def. (6) Qureshi/Rojer 6-7(5-7) 6-3 7-6(7-5)

This eliminates Qureshi and Rojer from the contest for the Top Ten. The contest for the #10 spot is between Mahesh Bhupathi and Radek Stepanek. We currently show the Top Ten as follows:

1..(1) BryanM………….8780

2..(2) BryanB………….8710

3..(6) LopezM………….7150

4..(5) Nestor………….6540

5.(10) Granollers………6140

6..(7) Mirnyi………….6100

7..(3) Paes……………5435

8..(8) Tecau…………..5370

8..(9) Lindstedt……….5370

10..(4) Stepanek………..5305

Doubles – Third Round: Bracciali/Dlouhy def. Stakhovsky/Youzhny 7-6(7-3) 1-6 7-6(7-4)

Mixed Doubles – First Round: (4) Huber/Mirnyi def. Black/Hanley 6-3 6-2

An interesting contest of very ex-doubles partners. Cara Black seems to be back in women’s doubles, but perhaps not yet in Mixed. This goes pretty strongly against the Mixed rankings, which would have promoted Black/Hanley to the #5 seeds and dropped Huber/Mirnyi to #8.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: (5) Petrova/Bhupathi def. Rodionova/Rojer 6-4 6-2

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Hantuchova/Fognini def. Grandin/R Ram 6-2 6-3

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Hradecka/Cermak def. Mattek-Sands/Tecau 4-6 7-6(7-5) 10-8 (Match TB)

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Llagostera Vives/Marrero def. Martinez Sanchez/Cabal 6-4 6-3

Another contest of ex-partners, but Nuria Llagostera Vives did a better job of snagging a partner here.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Peschke/Matkowski def. Uhlirova/Sa 6-3 7-5

This, at least, accords with the Mixed rankings, which would have promoted Peschke/Matkowski to the #7 seeds.

Topics: almagro, Bob Bryan, Bryan Bryan, David Ferrer, Janko Tipsarevic, Kei Nishikori, Novak Djokovic, Sports, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych, Wawrinka