Men Tennis Update – Memphis,Marseille, and Buenos Aires Friday, February 22, 2013

Written by: Staff on 21st February 2013

Men Tennis Update - Memphis,Marseille, and Buenos Aires Friday, February 22, 2013

epa03592762 Tommy Haas of Germany hits a return shot to Evgeny Donskoy of Russia in their first round match in the US National Indoor Tennis Championships at the Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, 20 February 2013. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

Memphis

Full Wednesday Results:

Singles – First Round: (WC) J Sock def. (2) M Raonic 6-3 5-7 7-5

Last year, after winning San Jose for the second time, Milos Raonic backed it up with a Memphis final. This year, he won San Jose for the third time — but maybe closing out the tournament was too much for him. The loss of his finalist points will drop Raonic from #14 to no better than #16. Which probably means that John Isner will return to the Top Fifteen.

Singles – First Round: (6) T Haas def. E Donskoy 7-6(8-6) 6-4

Tommy Haas will start counting points with his next win, but we’d guess he’ll need a final to climb above #18.

Singles – First Round: (7) A Dolgopolov def. B Phau 6-3 6-4

No move yet for Alexandr Dolgopolov, but one more win would leave him just below the Top Twenty; two more might well make him #20.

Singles – First Round: (Q) D Young def. X Malisse 5-1, retired (back)

Xavier Malisse will probably remain just above #50.

Singles – First Round: M Matosevic def. G Soeda 7-6(8-6) 6-4

Go Soeda remains stalled below #70.

Singles – First Round: L Hewitt def. Y Lu 2-6 7-6(7-3) 6-4

An official upset — Lleyton Hewitt is still below #100, although one more win might put him back in.

Doubles – First Round: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. Farah/Haas 6-1 6-1

Doubles – First Round: (3) Kubot/Nestor def. (Alt) Levinsky/Lu 6-4 6-1

Doubles – First Round: (4) Peya/Soares def. (WC) Harrison/Harrison 6-2 6-4

Thursday So Far:

Singles – Second Round: (1) M Cilic def. I Sijsling 7-6(7-2) 3-6 7-6(9-7)

Marin Cilic really struggled here, and Igor Sijsling had a match point on his own serve in the third set tiebreak, which he blew. Cilic won the next point also to reach 6-6. They swapped minibreaks for 7-7. Then Cilic got another minibreak and served it out. But he really seemed to tire himself out in this match.

Singles – Second Round: (5) K Nishikori def. (Q) D Young 6-3 6-3

Last year at this time, Kei Nishikori tried playing clay, without the best results. This seems to be working better; one more win would likely put him in the Top Twenty.

Singles – Second Round: (7) A Dolgopolov def. (Q) R Williams 6-4 4-6 6-4

One more win would probably return Alexandr Dolgopolov to the Top Twenty also.

Singles – Second Round: M Russell (LL) def. L Kubot 6-2 6-4

This ought to take Michael Russell above #80.

Singles – Second Round: D Istomin def. L Hewitt 6-1 6-2

It turns out that Lleyton Hewitt has enough open slots that just making the second round here will probably let him reach the Top Hundred. But not with much margin to spare.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (3) Kubot/Nestor def. Melzer/Petzschner 6-4 7-5

Talk about a tough event for Jurgen Melzer — out early in singles, and losing in doubles to a team of players who, while very good, were new.

Marseille

Singles – Second Round: (2) J del Potro def. M Llodra 3-6 7-6(7-4) 7-5

This was a rematch of last year’s final, with the same result as last year. But, of course, the fact that it happened so much earlier in the event this year is very bad news for Michael Llodra. He’ll fall to around #70.

Singles – Second Round: (Q) D Tursunov def. (4) J Tipsarevic 7-6(7-4) 6-2

Does anyone pay appearance fees for Janko Tipsarevic? He is Top Ten (and will keep the #9 ranking despite this). But he plays everything, and always has. And often produces pretty bad results, and always has. Here, he is out to a player ranked more than a hundred places below him. These things always make you wonder about motivation. Tursunov is still below #100, although he is going to move up a bit.

Singles – Second Round: (6) G Simon def. R Bautista-Agut 6-3 6-1

Gilles Simon needs a title here to move in the rankings, but he’s looking like that just might be possible.

Singles – Second Round: (7) J Janowicz def. J Benneteau 7-6(7-0) 6-3

By the time this result came down, Julien Benneteau’s Top Thirty place was assured. But he loses the chance to go above #30.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (2) Bopanna/Fleming def. Cerretani/Shamasdin 6-3 6-7(2-7) 10-7

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Mahut/Roger-Vasselin def. Murray/Peers 6-4 3-6 12-10

Buenos Aires

Singles – Second Round: (1) D Ferrer def. D Nalbandian 2-6 6-4 6-0

This was depressingly like two matches in one — one where David Nalbandian was good, one where he wasn’t. The loss means that he will give back about half of what he gained from last week’s final.

Singles – Second Round: (2) N Almagro def. A Kuznetsov 7-6(7-5) 6-2

Nicolas Almagro needs at least a final to keep the #11 ranking, so he is half way there.

Singles – Second Round: (3) S Wawrinka de. D Gimeno-Traver 6-1 6-4

Stanislas Wawrinka breezed to a 5-0 lead in this match in sixteen minutes, then found things getting a little tricky. But not too tricky. And, from now on, any points he earns will count.

Singles – Second Round: (6) F Fognini def. (LL) M Trungelliti 7-5 6-2

No injured opponents for Marco Trungelliti this time, so he didn’t have much chance. One more win would put Fabio Fognini in the Top Forty.

Singles – Second Round: (8) A Ramos def. L Mayer 6-3 7-6(7-3)

It doesn’t appear this will put Albert Ramos back in the Top Fifty, but he’s getting closer.

Singles – Second Round: (Q) J Reister def. A Bedene 6-1 1-6 6-2

This match was so lopsided in its parts that it took less than an hour and a half. But we don’t know why it swung so wildly.

Singles – Second Round: (WC) F Delbonis def. A Montanes 6-1 6-4

Strange… Albert Montanes did the hard work of beating Pablo Andujar, but then suffered this.

Singles – Second Round: T Robredo def. (WC) D Schwartzman 6-3 6-1

The points aren’t much, but these days, Tommy Robredo will take it. It’s the first time he has won back-to-back matches since Bastad 2012.

Doubles – First Round: Bollelli/Fognini def. (WC) Olivo/Trungelliti 6-4 6-4

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Monroe/Stadler def. (4) Brown/Kas 7-6(7-4) 6-4