Men Tennis Update – Montpellier,Zagreb, And Vina del Mar Friday, February 8, 2013

Written by: Staff on 7th February 2013

Men Tennis Update - Montpellier,Zagreb, And Vina del Mar Friday, February 8, 2013

epa03545351 Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia throws his racquet to the ground during his match against Nicolas Almagro of Spain, round four of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, on 20 January 2013. EPA/JOE CASTRO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Montpellier

Singles – Second Round: M Llodra def. (2) J Tipsarevic 6-3 7-6(7-4)

Janko Tipsarevic had to pull out of Davis Cup; he probably wasn’t entirely in shape for this. He didn’t have any chance to move in the rankings anyway. But it is another blow to a tournament that had already lost #1 seed Tomas Berdych.

Singles – Second Round: (3) R Gasquet def. G Monfils 6-3 2-6 6-3

Funny how French seeds can win here but no one else can. Although Richard Gasquet can’t move in the rankings.

Singles – Second Round: (4) G Simon def. (Q) Brugues-Davi 7-6(7-5) 6-2

On the other hand, Gilles Simon can climb, if he can make the final. And, of course, he is now the highest seed in his half.

Singles – Second Round: J Hajek def. (7) V Troicki 6-0 4-2, retired (Right Hamstring)

The Serbian Davis Cup team is going to pieces fast. That will leave Viktor Troicki still around #40.

Singles – Second Round: (8) J Benneteau def. V Hanescu 6-4 6-4

That’s five Frenchmen in the quarterfinal. Julien Benneteau hasn’t begun to move yet, but any additional wins should get him started.

Singles – Second Round: S Stakhovsky def. T Ito 6-7(4-7) 6-4 7-6(7-3)

Sergiy Stakhovsky is getting close to a return to the Top Hundred.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (1) Fleming/Marray def. Serra/Simon 6-4 6-1

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Gicquel/Llodra def. (2) Butorac/Hanley 4-6 6-3 10-6

It’s still early, but Butorac/Hanley don’t seem to be living up to their potential this year. Of course, it was a lousy day for seeds….

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Murray/Peers def. (3) Huey/Inglot 6-4 6-2

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Brunstrom/Klaasen def. (4) Delgado/Skupski 6-2 6-3

Zagreb

Singles – Second Round: (1) M Cilic def. G Zemlja 6-2 6-3

Marin Cilic needs two more wins before the points start to count, and he can’t move in the rankings no matter what — but, of course, he likes playing at home.

Singles – Second Round: (4) J Melzer def. (PR) S Devvarman 1-6 7-6(7-5) 6-2

Yes, Jurgen Melzer won, but this shouldn’t have been so hard. He really seems like he’s a mess right now.

Singles – Second Round: R Haase def. (5) M Klizan 6-2 4-6 6-4

Martin Klizan loses his Top Thirty chance; he will likely be #31 or #32.

Singles – Second Round: B Kavcic def. (6) M Baghdatis 3-6 7-6(7-2) 6-4

Marcos Baghdatis had the chance to finish this off in two sets; he served for the match but was broken. And it was downhill from there; he had a foot problem and pulled out of the doubles. So he will remain below #35.

Singles – Second Round: I Dodig def. I Karlovic 7-6(7-2) 6-7(2-7) 6-3

A bit of a changing-of-the-guard moment, perhaps, for Croatia….

Singles – Second Round: L Rosol def. F Cipolla 6-4 2-6 6-3

Very surprising for Lukas Rosol, considering how tired he must be.

Singles – Second Round: (Q) P Petzschner def. (LL) D Marcan 6-3 6-4

Petzschner was supposed to face Andreas Seppi, but Seppi became ill — perhaps Davis Cup Flu? It hardly matters; Seppi was sure to stay at #18.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (2) Knowle/Polasek def. (Alt) Bedene/Pospisil 5-7 6-3 12-10

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Marx/Mergea def. Baghdatis/Youzhny Walkover (Baghdatis – Foot)

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (Alt) Cipolla/Devvarman def. Becker/Rosol 6-2 6-2

Vina del Mar (Wednesday)

Singles – First Round: (5) A Ramos def. R Dutra Silva 6-4 6-1

Albert Ramos had to make a very quick surface shift for this match, plus fly a few time zones east. No signs of problems yet — but he needs two more wins before the points count.

Singles – First Round: (6) P Lorenzi def. (Q) G Naso 6-1 6-4

No signs of Davis Cup fatigue for Lorenzi, obviously.

Singles – First Round: (7) D Gimeno-Traver def. J Sousa 6-4 4-6 6-1

Interesting that Gimeno-Traver is the seed who wasn’t in Davis Cup, yet he is the player who struggled.

Singles – Second Round: (1) R Nadal (WC) def. (Q) F Delbonis 6-3 6-2

Rafael Nadal did look a little rusty here, being broken in his first game, but this wasn’t exactly a tough first match. Nadal — who obviously has lots of slots in his Best 18 — does at least get to count the points, although they aren’t enough to matter for him.

Singles – Second Round: G Rufin def. (2) J Monaco 7-6(7-3) 6-4

Does Juan Monaco perhaps pay the price for being in Davis Cup? He was last year’s champion in Chile. Those points came off last week — it’s why he fell from #12 to #15 — but this means he won’t regain any of the ground.

Singles – Second Round: (8) C Berlocq def. S Giraldo 7-5 4-6 6-4

Carlos Berlocq ended up playing a big Davis Cup match for Argentina, so maybe he was still feeling it.

Doubles – First Round: Kuznetsov/Sa def. (1) Bracciali/Melo 2-6 6-2 10-4

An interesting contest of ex-teammates, this.

Doubles – First Round: Andujar/Riba def. (3) Brown/Kas 6-4 6-4

Christopher Kas actually played singles in Davis Cup; maybe he’s still stiff.

Doubles – First Round: (4) Marach/Zeballos def. Monroe/Stadler 7-6(7-5) 6-4

Doubles – First Round: Lorenzi/Starace def. (WC) Lama/Massu 6-3 7-5

Nicolas Massu lost badly in both singles and doubles. Makes you wonder if he’ll be back next year. Of course, he probably wouldn’t have gotten the wildcards this year except for the fact that Chile really doesn’t have anyone else….

Doubles – First Round: Berlocq/Mayer def. Gimeno-Traver/Ramos 6-2 6-3

Topics: Davis Cup, Janko Tipsarevic, Marin Cilic, Montpellier, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych, Vina del Mar, Zagreb