Men Tennis Update – Memphis,Marseille, and Buenos Aires Sunday, February 24, 2013

Written by: Staff on 23rd February 2013

Men Tennis Update - Memphis,Marseille, and Buenos Aires Sunday, February 24, 2013

epa03596255 Marin Cilic of Croatia hits a return shot to Kei Nishikori of Japan during their quarter-finals match in the US National Indoor Tennis Championships at the Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee, USA 22 February 2013. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

Memphis

Full Friday Results:

Singles – Quarterfinal: (5) K Nishikori def. (1) M Cilic 6-4 6-2

It really does look as if Marin Cilic’s marathon of the night before cost him. He loses his faint Top Ten chance. But Kei Nishikori will return to the Top Twenty.

Singles – Quarterfinal: M Matosevic def. (7) A Dolgopolov 6-7(6-8) 6-2 6-4

What a place for upsets! Alexandr Dolgopolov was the last seed standing except for Kei Nishikori. Now he is out, meaning that he won’t be returning to the Top Twenty. But Marinko Matosevic is up around #40.

Singles – Quarterfinal: D Istomin def. (LL) M Russell 6-4 7-6(7-5)

After a big fall last week, Denis Istomin has now regained all the points he lost, plus a few; he is getting close to the Top Fifty again.

Singles – Quarterfinal:F Lopez def. (WC) J Sock 6-4 6-3

Pretty good for Feliciano Lopez, considering that it’s his first event back; this should put him back in the Top Forty.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. Gonzalez/Lipsky 7-5 6-4

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (WC) Blake/Sock def. Cilic/Sa 5-7 7-6(7-5) 10-2

Saturday – So Far:

Singles – Semifinal: (5) K Nishikori def. M Matosevic 6-4, retired

A sad result — Marinko Matosevic was up to #40, but he has a final to defend in the coming week; if he can’t recover fast, he’ll be falling back to the #50 range. But Kei Nishikori is up to #18, and he’s the favorite in the final, and he’s much more rested than his opponent. A title could take him as high as #16.

Singles – Semifinal: F Lopez def. D Istomin 6-2 3-6 6-3

So far, obviously, Feliciano Lopez’s wrist is holding up! He’s up to around #35; a title would make him Top Thirty.

Doubles – Semifinal: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. (4) Peya/Soares 6-3 7-6(7-3)

Doubles – Semifinal: (WC) Blake/Sock def. (3) Kubot/Nestor 2-6 6-4 12-10

Kubot/Nestor quickly built a multi-minibreak lead in the match tiebreak here, and somehow couldn’t get past eight points. Then, when Blake/Sock had a match point on their serve at 9-8, the Americans blew it, too. It was as if neither team wanted to win. Not the best way to go into a final against the Bryans….

Marseille

Singles – Semifinal: (1) T Berdych def. (Q) D Tursunov 6-2 6-1

Not much to say about this — it was a short day in Marseille. At least Dmitry Tursunov is back in the Top Hundred. Tomas Berdych won’t move in the rankings, but he slightly strengthens his grip on the #6 ranking.

Singles – Semifinal: (3) J Tsonga def. (6) G Simon 6-2 6-2

Guess we still know who is the top Frenchman…. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is finally earning points, but won’t rise above #8 this week; the main effect of this is to leave Gilles Simon still stuck at #13.

Doubles – Semifinal: (1) Qureshi/Rojer def. Mahut/Roger-Vasselin 6-3 6-1

Buenos Aires

Singles – Semifinal: (1) D Ferrer def. T Robredo 6-3 6-2

David Ferrer faces an interesting conundrum: The more energy he uses up here, where he can’t earn any points, the less he has left for Acapulco and Indian Wells, where the points will count. The obvious solution: Win fast. So far, so good….

Singles – Semifinal: (3) S Wawrinka def. (2) N Almagro 6-3 7-5

Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka may both be Swiss, but you’d never know it from their results. Wawrinka really does prefer clay to faster surfaces. This could take him as high as #16. But Nicolas Almagro will fall from #11 to #12.

Doubles – Semifinal: Bolelli/Fognini def. (3) Marach/Zeballos 7-6(7-2) 7-6(7-2)

Doubles – Semifinal: Monroe/Stadler def. Bedene/Kuznetsov 6-4 6-4

Did you know that Nicolas Monroe and Simon Stadler are both in the doubles Top Hundred? We sure didn’t. To be sure, a lot of that is simple endurance; Monroe (ranked #84) has 31 events; Stadler (#89) has 33. In other words, they’re playing a lot of Challengers. This should at least let them get into some better events.

©Daily tennis news wire

Topics: Bueno Aires, Dmitry Tursunov, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic, Marseille, Memphis, men tennis update, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News