Today’s Men’s News (4/19) – Monte Carlo

Written by: Staff on 18th April 2013

Today's Men's News (4/19) - Monte Carlo

epa03666775 Rafael Nadal of Spain returns the ball to Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany during their third round match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 18 April 2013. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER |

Monte Carlo

Singles – Third Round: (1) N Djokovic def. (14) J Monaco 4-6 6-2 6-2

Once again Novak Djokovic started slowly but found a way to come through. Impressive, in an ugly sort of way — he still isn’t moving right. Juan Monaco will not rise above his current #20.

Singles – Third Round: (13) S Wawrinka def. (2) A Murray 6-1 6-2

Clay just isn’t Andy Murray’s thing. This is actually worse than his result from last year. He can forget about getting to #1 any time soon.

Indeed, he can forget about #2 for the time being. Murray will fall to #3. Roger Federer, thanks to his countryman Stanislas Wawrinka, will regain the #2 ranking. Of course, he still has Madrid to defend…. Wawrinka is still at #17, but if he can win his next match, he’ll be Top Fifteen.

Singles – Third Round: (3) R Nadal def. (16) P Kohlschreiber 6-2 6-4

There of course isn’t much to say about this, except that Rafael Nadal is on course for title #9 here. Philipp Kohlschreiber loses his chance to return to the Top Twenty.

Singles – Third Round: F Fognini def. (4) T Berdych 6-4 6-2

This, on the other hand, is big news, because it eliminates Tomas Berdych’s chance at #5 — and, indeed, raised the possibility that he could fall to #7 behind Juan Martin del Potro. It also clinched a Top Thirty spot for Fabio Fognini; he will be at least #28.

Singles – Third Round: J Nieminen def. (5) (WC) J Del Potro 6-4 4-6 7-6(7-4)

And so Berdych won’t have to worry about del Potro after all. Jarkko Nieminen missed a match point at 4-5 in the third set, but broke for a 6-4 lead in the deciding tiebreak and closed out a two hour, 38 minute victory victory as del Potro hit a forehand wide. Del Potro will be #7; Nieminen is up to #44.

Singles – Third Round: (6) J Tsonga def. J Melzer 6-3 6-0

Jurgen Melzer will probably be #35. If he doesn’t get a Roland Garros seed, this might be a match to remember; if you’re going to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, clay is the place.

Singles – Third Round: (7) R Gasquet def. (9) M Cilic 7-5 6-4

Marin Cilic loses his (very faint) chance to make the Top Ten; he will almost certainly stay #11. Richard Gasquet still has a shot at #8, but he needs a final.

Singles – Third Round: G Dimitrov def. F Mayer 6-2 6-4

Florian Mayer loses his Top 25 chance; it looks as if he will be #29. Behind Grigor Dimitrov, who should rise to at least #28. At the rate he’s going, he should be Top 25 by year-end.

Doubles – Second Round: (4) Qureshi/Rojer def. Fleming/Marray 6-4 6-1

Doubles – Second Round: (5) Mirnyi/Tecau def. Dodig/Stepanek 6-2 6-2

Clearly Radek Stepanek still needs more time to get over his long layoff.

Doubles – Second Round: Melzer/Paes def. (6) Bhupathi/Bopanna 6-2 6-3

All Bhupathi versus Paes matches are interesting, but this is particularly interesting because Leander Paes doesn’t normally play with Jurgen Melzer. The oddity is that Mahesh Bhupathi went back to Rohan Bopanna, given how little success they had last year.

Doubles – Second Round: Benneteau/Zimonjic def. (7) Peya/Soares 7-6(9-7) 6-4

After a tough 2012, Nenad Zimonjic seems to be genuinely recharged this year. Maybe he just needed some rest. OK, a lot of rest….

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Raonic/Tomic def. (3) Lindstedt/Nestor 7-6(9-7) 6-3