Men Tennis Update – Montpellier,Zagreb, And Vina del Mar Saturday, February 9, 2013

Written by: Staff on 8th February 2013

Men Tennis Update - Montpellier,Zagreb, And Vina del Mar Saturday, February 9, 2013

epa03541977 Julien Benneteau of France in action during his match against Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, in round three of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 18 January 2013. EPA/DAVID CROSLING AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Montpellier

Singles – Quarterfinal: (3) R Gasquet def. (6) J Benneteau 6-1 4-6 6-1

Julien Benneteau will not be rising; odds are that he will stay #38. Richard Gasquet won’t rise, either, but this makes his grip on the #10 ranking a little stronger.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (8) B Paire def. (4) G Simon 7-5 7-6(7-4)

Benoit Paire continues to be utterly unpredictable. He is now one win away from the Top Forty; he costs Gilles Simon the chance to rise above #14.

Singles – Quarterfinal: M Llodra def. J Hajek 7-6(7-3) 6-1

And so we have three Frenchmen in the semifinal. Michael Llodra is getting close to a return to the Top Fifty.

Singles – Quarterfinal: J Nieminen def. S Stakhovsky 4-6 6-3 7-6(7-2)

Jarkko Nieminen is our one remaining non-French player. He will also be one of the most tired players here. That doesn’t sound too promising, but he’s already put himself back above #60. Excluding the Helsinki Challenger, it is only his second semifinal in the last twelve months.

Doubles – Semifinal: Brunstrom/Klaasen def. (1) Fleming/Marray 6-6(7-9) 7-6(7-3) 12-10

Zagreb

Singles – Quarterfinal: (1) M Cilic def. B Kavcic 6-3 7-6(7-5)

From now on, the points count from Marin Cilic. His #12 ranking is now absolutely certain. But he remains more than 300 points below #11.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (3) M Youzhny def. I Dodig 6-3 6-2

Mikhail Youzhny is now right on the cusp of the Top Thirty; make the final and he is in.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (4) J Melzer def. L Rosol 6-4 6-4

With this, Jurgen Melzer finally starts to move — perhaps as high as #27. Is he finally coming out of his slump? It’s never easy to tell, with him.

Singles – Quarterfinal: R Haase def. (Q) P Petzschner 6-4 3-6 6-0

Had Philipp Petzschner won this, he would have had to face is long-time doubles partner Melzer. He would also have been close to a return to the Top Hundred. Not now, though.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Dodig/Pavic def. (4) Melzer/Petzschner 7-6(7-5) 7-5

This result seems so unlikely that we can’t help but wonder if Philipp Petzschner didn’t hurt himself a little in that last set of singles.

Doubles – Semifinal: (2) Knowle/Polasek def. (Alt) Cipolla/Devvarman 6-2 6-2

Vina del Mar (Thursday)

Singles – Second Round: (3) J Chardy def. (WC) C Garin 4-6 6-3 6-2

One more win would put Jeremy Chardy at #25, but that appears to be as far as he will go this week.

Singles – Second Round: H Zeballos def. (4) P Andujar 6-3 6-3

Pablo Andujar will not rise above his current #45.

Singles – Second Round: (5) A Ramos def. F Volandri 6-7(5-7) 6-3 7-5

Albert Ramos hasn’t added to his point total yet, but a semifinal would take him to around #48.

Singles – Second Round: (6) P Lorenzi def. T Robredo 6-4 6-4

Tommy Robredo’s push for the Top Hundred again stalls.

Singles – Second Round: (7) D Gimeno-Traver def. A Montanes 6-4 6-4

Albert Montanes came in at #101, but we’re guessing he is going to remain below #100. At this rate, he may have a hard time getting into Roland Garros.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Berlocq/Mayer def. (4) Marach/Zeballos 6-2 6-4

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Kuznetsov/Sa def. Ramirez Hidalgo/Robredo 6-3 6-2

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Lorenzi/Starace def. Andujar/Riba 6-4 6-3

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Monaco/Nadal def. Rufin/Volandri 6-2 7-6(7-4)

Everyone is of course watching all of Rafael Nadal’s matches, including the doubles, but this one is surprising only for how close it was — the opposition wasn’t much.

©Daily tennis news wire

Topics: Fed Cup, Julien Benneteau, Michael Llodra, Montpellier, Richard Gasquet, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Vina del Mar, Zagreb