Men & Women Tennis Update – Thursday, April 4, 2013

Written by: Staff on 3rd April 2013

Men & Women Tennis Update - Thursday, April 4, 2013

epa03520775 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark returns during her first round match against Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, 31 December 2012. EPA/DAN PELED AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

This Week’s Movers — Men

Each week, Daily Tennis will look at the biggest movers of the week, looking at how they did what they did.

Biggest Upward Mover — Most Places Moved (Top 100)

Leader: Santiago Giraldo — Moved 13 places, from #90 to #77.

Giraldo made the second round at Miami. But what really helped him was winning the Pereira $50K Challenger.

Runner-Up: Albert Ramos — Moved 10 places, from #61 to #51

Ramos made the Miami Round of Sixteen.

Biggest Percentage Mover — Cut Ranking By Highest Percent (Top 100)

Leader: Andy Murray — Moved 1 place, 33%, from #3 to #2

Murray won Miami to return to his career high.

Runner-Up: Tommy Haas — Moved 4 places, 22%, from #18 to #14

Haas’s shock Miami semifinal made him the oldest player in the Top Fifteen.

Biggest Loser — Most Places Lost (Top 100)

Loser: David Goffin — Dropped 17 places, from #47 to #64

Goffin actually did better at Miami 2013 than Miami 2012, but he had other points to defend….

Biggest Percentage Loser — Worst Percentage Increase in Ranking (Top 100)

Loser: Roger Federer, ranking increased 1 place, 50%, from #2 to #3.

Federer’s decision not to play Miami proved very costly.

Ranking Notes

Same old, same old. Nothing moves the rankings much these days. Only three players gained as much as 20%: Murray (33%), Haas (22%), and David Ferrer (20%, from #5 to #4). Ramos was fourth, with a 17% improvement. We had more big downward moves: Federer (50%), Goffin (36%), Juan Monaco (36%, to #19), Mardy Fish (27%, to #42), and Rafael Nadal (25%, from #4 to #5). Oddly enough, no one else fell more than 13%. Perhaps more revealing is the fact that three of the five biggest losers (Federer, Nadal, and Fish) didn’t play. Monaco, a semifinalist last year, lost early this year, and Goffin was a special case.

Our Personal Picks for “Best Mover of the Week”

Charleston

Singles – Second Round: (2/WC) Caroline Wozniacki def. Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-1 6-1

Caroline Wozniacki has a chance to regain the #9 ranking from Samantha Stosur this week, but she needs at least three more wins…

Singles – Second Round: (3) Samantha Stosur def. Marina Erakovic 6-1 6-2

…and Stosur, who has a surprising liking for clay, doesn’t seem to be interested in losing the spot.

Singles – Second Round: (5) Venus WIlliams def. Monica Puig 6-2 5-7 6-3

When Venus Williams struggled in the second set, we wondered if the problems she had suffered at Miami were back. But she roared through the first three games of the third, and that was enough to win. She needs one more win to defend her points, however, and if she doesn’t get it, she might fall below #25.

Singles – Second Round: (6) Lucie Safarova def. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 7-5 6-1

Lucie Safarova has finalist points to defend, so she is still around #25 in safe points.

Singles – Second Round: (9) Jelena Jankovic def. (Q) Caroline Garcia 5-7 7-6(12-10) 6-3

The first two sets of this took two hours, and it seemed as if we might be on track for a near-record contest. Then Jelena Jankovic cranked things up.

Singles – Second Round: (10) Julia Goerges def. Olga Govortsova 6-2 0-6 6-3

One more win would guarantee that Julia Goerges stays Top Thirty.

Singles – Second Round: Mallory Burdette def. (15) Sabine Lisicki 3-6 7-6(7-5) 7-5

Sabine Lisicki’s endless struggles continue; this will drop her below #45.

Singles – Second Round: Eugenie Bouchard def. (16) Laura Robson 6-4 3-6 6-1

The bad news is, clay still isn’t a British surface. The good news is, it appears Laura Robson will be hitting the Top Forty even so, and she is Britain’s #1.

Singles – Second Round: Andrea Petkovic def. Vania King 7-5 6-4

This ought to be enough points to take Andrea Petkovic above #130.

Singles – Second Round: Madison Keys def. Grace Min 6-4 6-3

Madison Keys will rise to around #70.

Doubles – First Round: (1) Hlavackova/Huber def. Erakovic/Pegula 6-0 6-4

Doubles – First Round: (3) King/Raymond def. Lepchenko/Minella 6-1 6-2

Interesting that Lisa Raymond didn’t stick with Laura Robson after their big result last week. On the other hand, these days, she seems to be winning with everyone.

Doubles – First Round: (4) Goerges/Shvedova def. Groenefeld/Husarova 3-6 7-6(8-6) 12-10

Doubles – First Round: Barty/Rodionova def. Grandin/Uhlirova 6-2 6-3

It’s hard to predict where Ashleigh Barty’s singles career will end up; we just don’t have enough data. But her doubles career seems very promising indeed.

Monterrey

Singles – Second Round: (5) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Tereza Mrdeza 6-1 6-1

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was the first player into the second round, but it’s not enough points to make any difference.

Singles – Second Round: (7) Urszula Radwanska def. Donna Vekic 6-4 6-1

It’s going to be very hard for Urszula Radwanska to rise here; she has too many medium results. She may have one of the biggest gaps between her big event and small event results of any player on the circuit.

Singles – Second Round: (8) Ayumi Morita def. Galina Voskoboeva 6-4 7-6(7-3)

One more win and Ayumi Morita will be Top Forty.

Doubles – First Round: Dabrowski/Kudryavtseva def. Rottmann/Wienerova 6-0 6-3

Topics: Albert Ramos, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Andy Murray, Caroline Wozniacki, Charleston, men tennis news, Miami, Monterrey, Santiago Giraldo, Silvia Soler Espinosa, Sport, Tennis, Tennis News, Tereza Mrdeza, women tennis news