Men Tennis Update – Munich and Oeiras Saturday, May 4, 2013

Written by: on 3rd May 2013
BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament
Men Tennis Update - Munich and Oeiras Saturday, May 4, 2013

epa03614536 Daniel Brands of Germany returns a shot to Marcos Baghdatis of Cypress during their match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA, 07 March 2013. Brands won the match. EPA/PAUL BUCK  |

Munich

 

Singles – Quarterfinal: D Brands def. (1) J Tipsarevic 6-3 4-6 6-4

Growf. All right, Daniel Brands is German. All right, he’s playing very well — at the rate he’s going, he’ll be Top Fifty soon. Still, Janko Tipsarevic needs to be winning these matches! He will, for the moment, stay at #10 — but that could change at Madrid; see the Feature.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (3) T Haas def. (6) F Mayer 6-4 6-1

Tommy Haas defends his points — and leaves Florian Mayer still shy of the Top 25. If Haas can make the final, he’ll rise to #13.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (4) P Kohlschreiber def. V Troicki 6-3 7-6(7-3)

This made it a clean sweep: Every match involving a German was won by a German. Philipp Kohlschreiber has now clinched the #22 ranking, but he came in at #21, and he needs a title to avoid falling.

Singles – Quarterfinal: I Dodig def. (5) A Dolgopolov 6-4 6-4

Funny — Ivan Dodig used to seem like a fastcourt player. He’s certainly doing a fine job of changing that. He leaves Alexandr Dolgopolov still below the Top Twenty.

Doubles – Semifinal: Nieminen/Tursunov def. (3) Knowle/Polasek 6-1 6-4

Oeiras

 

Singles – Quarterfinal: (1) (WC) D Ferrer def. V Hanescu 6-4 7-6(7-2)

David Ferrer still looks a little off, but it appears he’s making progress. It appears this means no Top Fifty spot for Victor Hanescu.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (2) S Wawrinka def. (WC) G Elias 6-4 6-4

Stanislas Wawrinka has defended his points, but he needs a title to rise above #16.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (3) A Seppi def. (8) T Robredo 6-4 6-3

We show Tommy Robredo staying at #38. He still has a shot at a Roland Garros seed, but a win here would have helped a lot. Andreas Seppi is still stuck at #20 in safe points.

Singles – Quarterfinal: (Q) P Carreno-Busta def. (4) F Fognini 3-6 6-4 6-4

This is of course the best result of Pablo Carreno-Busta’s career — he’s increased his point total by half. He leaves Fabio Fognini at #25.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (1) Qureshi/Rojer def. Bopanna/A Ram 4-6 6-3 10-4

When Rohan Bopanna left Aisam Qureshi to play with Mahesh Bhupathi, it seemed as if Bopanna had the better of it. But it’s starting to look as if Qureshi may have the last laugh.

Doubles – Semifinal: (3) Gonzalez/Lipsky def. (2) Marrero/Melo 6-3 1-6 11-9

****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******

 

Men’s Look Forward: Madrid

 

Strangely enough, the Madrid singles main draw was posted before the qualifying draw. We can’t recall the last time that happened.

Maybe they wanted to get it up before anyone else could withdraw.

That’s not to say that the field is bad. It is very good. But it doesn’t have the entire Top Ten. Juan Martin del Potro had to pull out due to illness.

That doesn’t matter much, really. The next two weeks will determine the French Open seeds, Del Potro will be seeded somewhere between #5 and #8 at Roland Garros. It’s the #2 and #4 (and #16, and #32) seeds that we’re most interested in, and those are still not quite settled. But, in all likelihood, #2 and #4 will be settled this week.

In fact, the #4 will almost certainly be decided, because the loser of the Rafael Nadal Sweepstakes was… David Ferrer. With Novak Djokovic the #1 seed, Roger Federer #2, Andy Murray #3 (and in Djokovic’s half), Ferrer #4, and Nadal #5, someone had to draw Nadal in the quarterfinal — and it was Ferrer. Of course, that means that Federer has drawn him for the semifinal, while Djokovic will merely have to deal with Murray.

The other quarterfinals would see Djokovic take on #7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (not a tremendous challenge on clay), Murray confront #6 Tomas Berdych, and Federer play #8 Richard Gasquet.

In the Round of Sixteen, it’s Djokovic versus #15 Stanislas Wawrinka; Tsonga versus #12 Milos Raonic; Murray against #16 Gilles Simon; Berdych versus #9 Janko Tipsarevic; Nadal against his countryman Nicolas Almagro, seeded #11, whom he just beat at Barcelona; Ferrer against #13 Tommy Haas, who will surely be tired after Munich; Gasquet against #10 Marin Cilic; and Federer taking on #14 Kei Nishikori, who has never been fond of clay and who seems even less fond of it than usual this year..

On the whole, a pretty nice draw for defending champion Federer, until he gets to the semifinal and the Nadal/Ferrer winner.

His opener is pretty good, too; he will start against either Bernard Tomic or Radek Stepanek. Djokovic is likely to start against Grigor Dimitrov. Wawrinka’s first test could be from Martin Klizan in round two. Raonic starts against Nikolay Davydenko, then perhaps Fernando Verdasco — if Verdasco can ever rediscover his singles game. Tsonga will probably start against Alexandr Dolgopolov. Murray’s opener will be against Thomaz Bellucci or Florian Mayer. Simon starts against countryman Julien Benneteau, then countryman Jeremy Chardy or Horacio Zeballos. Tipsarevic will have a tough start against Juan Monaco. Berdych seems to be in charge of the Big Power section of the draw; he’ll open against either Jerzy Janowicz or Sam Querrey. Nadal is likely to start against Benoit Paire, who is trying to earn a Paris seed. Almagro will face either Fabio Fognini or Mikhail Youzhny in round two. Haas is supposed to start against Andreas Seppi, the top unseeded player, then Tommy Robredo. Ferrer’s draw is easy. Gasquet will perhaps face Feliciano Lopez, playing his first match back. Cilic could perhaps face John Isner in round two — again, lots of power there. Nishikori, no fan of clay, will open against Jurgen Melzer, then maybe Marcel Granollers. Pretty good upset chances there.

The Rankings

This is it. The one chance for Rafael Nadal to add points prior to Roland Garros. Last year, Nadal went out early at Madrid, complaining about the blue clay the whole time. Roger Federer took advantage of that, becoming the only player in men’s tennis history to win a blue clay event. (He may be the only one who really misses it. But it means his record will stand for a long time….) Tomas Berdych was the finalist. Janko Tipsarevic, whose clay results have not been impressive so far, and Juan Martin del Potro were semifinalists. Novak Djokovic, David Ferrer, Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Fernando Verdasco were quarterfinalists. Nadal lost in the third round; Murray didn’t play.

Which means that Nadal could take the #4 ranking this week — if he can win Madrid and Ferrer loses in the first couple of rounds. Of course, Nadal has to defend Rome after that. But this is the week that will determine whether he has any shot at #4 at all. (He probably doesn’t.)

As for the #2 spot, Andy Murray gets it back unless Roger Federer defends his title and Murray does almost nothing. Not much of a contest there.

For #6 — that is a contest, although del Potro is the leader, so the fate of the #6 ranking rests almost entirely with Tomas Berdych. If Berdych makes the quarterfinal, he stays #6; otherwise, del Potro is #6. (Theoretically, Tsonga also has a shot. Not likely on clay, though.) Tsonga is just about sure to stay #8, and Gasquet looks pretty safe at #9. Tipsarevic is not at all safe at #10; he leads Cilic and Almagro by less than 125 points. So we could well see a new Top Ten player.

Just for the record: Novak Djokovic is entirely safe at #1.

Amazingly, we might not see any new names in the Top Twenty; the Top Twenty in safe points is the same as the list entering Madrid.

Fernando Verdasco will need to defend his quarterfinalist points to stay Top Fifty.

KEYWORDS: Preview Madrid Men

******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********

 

 

Oeiras (250/Clay). Defending Champion: Juan Martin del Potro (at Estoril)

Munich (250/Clay). Defending Champion: Philipp Kohlschreiber

NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:

Madrid (1000/Clay). Defending Champion: Roger Federer

******** STATS AND FACTS ********

 

RANKINGS

 

Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings

As of May 3, 2013

 

Rank &

Prior…Player………..Points

1..(1) Djokovic……….12900

2..(2) Federer…………8670

3..(3) Murray………….8570

4..(4) Ferrer………….6920

5..(5) Nadal…………..5985

6..(6) Berdych…………4760

7..(7) Del Potro……….4680

8..(8) Tsonga………….3875

9..(9) Gasquet…………3260

10.(10) Tipsarevic………3000

11.(11) Cilic…………..2615

11.(12) Almagro…………2615

13.(13) Raonic………….2225

14.(14) Haas……………2215

15.(15) Nishikori……….2090

16.(16) Wawrinka………..2005

17.(17) Simon…………..1940

18.(19) Querrey…………1870

19.(20) Monaco………….1785

20.(18) Seppi…………..1735

21.(22) Isner…………..1690

22.(21) Kohlschreiber……1620

23.(23) Dolgopolov………1590

24.(24) Janowicz………..1404

25.(25) Fognini…………1345

26.(26) Chardy………….1331

27.(27) Mayer…………..1305

28.(28) Anderson………..1295

29.(29) Dimitrov………..1272

30.(30) Klizan………….1240

**DRAWS

 

Munich — Week of April 29

 

………………QF………………SF

1 Tipsarevic……(1)Tipsarevic

8 Melzer……….Brands…………..Brands

4 Kohlschreiber…(4)Kohlschreiber….Kohlschreiber

7 Youzhny………Troicki

 

6 Mayer………..(6)Mayer

3 Haas…………(3)Haas………….Haas

5 Dolgopolov……(5)Dolgopolov

2 Cilic………..Dodig……………Dodig

 

STATUS OF SEEDS

1 Tipsarevic……lost QF (Brands)

2 Cilic………..lost 2R (Dodig)

3 Haas

4 Kohlschreiber

5 Dolgopolov……lost QF (Dodig)

6 Mayer………..lost QF (Haas)

7 Youzhny………lost 1R (Stepanek)

8 Melzer……….lost 1R (Monfils)

Oeiras — Week of April 29

 

……………QF

1 Ferrer (WC)..(1)Ferrer(WC)….Ferrer

6 Paire……..Hanescu

3 Seppi……..(3)Seppi………Seppi

8 Robredo……(8)Robredo

 

5 Benneteau….Carreno-Busta….Carreno-Busta

4 Fognini……(4)Fognini

7 Zeballos…..Elias(WC)

2 Wawrinka…..(2)Wawrinka……Wawrinka

 

STATUS OF SEEDS

1 Ferrer (WC)

2 Wawrinka

3 Seppi

4 Fognini……lost QF (Carreno-Busta)

5 Benneteau….lost 1R (Carreno-Busta)

6 Paire……..lost 2R (Hanescu)

7 Zeballos…..lost 1R (Elias)

8 Robredo……lost QF (Seppi)

Madrid — Week of May 6

 

1 Djokovic

–bye

Dimitrov

Marti (WC)

Qualifier

Klizan

Copil (WC)

15 Wawrinka

 

12 Raonic

Davydenko

Goffin

Verdasco

Qualifier

Dolgopolov

–bye

7 Tsonga

 

3 Murray

–bye

Bellucci

Mayer

Chardy

Zeballos

Benneteau

16 Simon

 

9 Tipsarevic

Monaco

Anderson

Qualifier

Janowicz

Querrey

–bye

6 Berdych

 

5 Nadal

–bye

Qualifier

Paire

Fognini

Youzhny

Qualifier

11 Almagro

 

13 Haas

Seppi

Baghdatis

Robredo (WC)

Qualifier

Istomin

–bye

4 Ferrer

 

8 Gasquet

–bye

Lopez

Gimeno-Traver

Isner

Qualifier

Andujar (EWC)

10 Cilic

 

14 Nishikori

Melzer

Troicki

Granollers

Tomic

Stepanek

–bye

2 Federer

******** SCORES ********

 

FRIDAY

Munich

Singles – Quarterfinal

D Brands def. (1) J Tipsarevic 6-3 4-6 6-4

(3) T Haas def. (6) F Mayer 6-4 6-1

(4) P Kohlschreiber def. V Troicki 6-3 7-6(7-3)

I Dodig def. (5) A Dolgopolov 6-4 6-4

Doubles – Semifinal

Nieminen/Tursunov def. (3) Knowle/Polasek 6-1 6-4

Oeiras

Singles – Quarterfinal

(1) (WC) D Ferrer def. V Hanescu 6-4 7-6(7-2)

(2) S Wawrinka def. (WC) G Elias 6-4 6-4

(3) A Seppi def. (8) T Robredo 6-4 6-3

(Q) P Carreno-Busta def. (4) F Fognini 3-6 6-4 6-4

Doubles – Quarterfinal

(1) Qureshi/Rojer def. Bopanna/A Ram 4-6 6-3 10-4

Doubles – Semifinal

(3) Gonzalez/Lipsky def. (2) Marrero/Melo 6-3 1-6 11-9

©Daily tennis news wire

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