Men Tennis News – Australian Open (01-23-13)

Written by: Staff on 22nd January 2013

Men Tennis News - Australian Open (01-23-13)

epa03549883 Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates a point during his quarter final match against Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 22 January 2013. EPA/Scott Barbour Pool |

Australian Open

Singles – Quarterfinal: (1) N Djokovic def. (5) T Berdych 6-1 4-6 6-1 6-4

In the second set of this, Tomas Berdych was really taking it to Novak Djokovic, coming to net and forcing the action. And it worked. And then — he turned back into Tomas Berdych, a guy who just doesn’t threaten the top players very often. And it will show in his ranking; he remains stuck at #6. The win earns Novak Djokovic enough points that he is sure to remain #1 no matter what happens from now on.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (4) D Ferrer def. (10) N Almagro 4-6 4-6 7-5 7-6(7-4) 6-2

Even David Ferrer confessed that he didn’t know how he won this. We’d argue for sheer guts. All right, he faces Djokovic next, so this is probably the end of the line — but we’d say he has truly earned his #4 ranking now. He leaves Nicolas Almagro still at #11; Richard Gasquet will keep the #10 spot. Which means in all likelihood that the Australian Open will have made only one change in the Top Ten, with Ferrer and Rafael Nadal swapping the #4 and #5 spots.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (3) Granollers/M Lopez def. Bellucci/Paire 6-3 6-1

We’re starting to believe that maybe Marc Lopez really deserves the #3 ranking. He’s getting to be a surprisingly strong #3. Marcel Granollers is still at #5, but will be #4 if the Spaniards win their semifinal. We currently show the Top Ten as follows:

1..(1) BryanM………….8780

2..(2) BryanB………….8710

3..(6) LopezM………….7510

4..(5) Nestor………….6540

5.(10) Granollers………6500

6..(7) Mirnyi………….6100

7..(3) Paes……………5435

8..(8) Tecau…………..5370

8..(9) Lindstedt……….5370

10..(4) Stepanek………..5305

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Haase/Sijsling def. (11) Marrero/Verdasco 6-4 7-6(7-3)

This appears to mean no Top Twenty spots for Marrero/Verdasco.

Mixed Doubles – Second Round: Gajdosova/Ebden def. (2) Vesnina/Paes 6-3 6-2

This is an even bigger upset under Mixed rankings than regular rankings, since Mixed would have made Vesnina/Paes the top seeds. But there seems to be something a little bit off about Paes right now.

Mixed Doubles – Second Round: Llagostera Vives/Marrero def. (4) Huber/Mirnyi 6-2 5-7 10-4 (Match TB)

This, by contrast, accords with Mixed rankings, since the Mixed would have demoted Huber/Mirnyi to the #7 seeds.

Mixed Doubles – Second Round: (5) Petrova/Bhupathi def. Srebotnik/Zimonjic 3-6 6-2 10-5 (Match TB)

But here again the Mixed seeds were wrong, since they would have demoted Petrova/Bhupathi and promoted Srebotnik/Zimonjic. It hasn’t been a good Australian Open for mixed rankings. Of course, if we look at the men’s and women’s doubles, it hasn’t been a good Australian Open for the regular rankings either.

Mixed Doubles – Second Round: Shvedova/Istomin def. Yan/S Gonzalez 6-2 6-1

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: almagro, Australian Open, David Ferrer, Novak Djokovic, Sports, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych