Madrid
Singles – Semifinal: (5) R Nadal def. (WC) P Andujar 6-0 6-4
This surely will not surprise you…. But suddenly it is looking as if Rafael Nadal might be able to earn the #4 Roland Garros seed after all; see the Feature.
Singles – Semifinal: (15) S Wawrinka def. (6) T Berdych 6-3 4-6 6-4
At least one news report stated that Rafael Nadal was in his seventh straight Madrid final. In fact, neither of last year’s finalists is back this year. But Tomas Berdych came a lot closer to returning than did Roger Federer. He kept Stanislas Wawrinka out there for almost two hours. In the late match. Even if Wawrinka didn’t have problems with finals, he might be in trouble. As it is, the final looks like a walk in the park for Rafael Nadal. Still, Wawrinka is up all the way to #10; Janko Tipsarevic will fall to #11. We’d say Wawrinka has clinched a Top Twelve Roland Garros seed. Tomas Berdych stays at #6 — but he loses points; his odds of threatening the Top Five are now much worse.
Doubles – Semifinal: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. Chardy/Kubot 6-3 6-7(1-7) 10-4
Pretty soon the ATP will declare the Bryans to have qualified for the year-end championships. Because they’re going.
Doubles – Semifinal: (7) Peya/Soares def. Marrero/Verdasco 7-5 7-5
The Bryans are the best team of the year so far, but Peya/Soares are making a fair case for being the best clay team.
****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******
Men’s Look Forward: Rome
Get ready for Nadal versus Ferrer, Round Two.
Or Round Four, really, since they’ve slugged it out, in one form or another, at Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, and now Rome. At least this one will be decisive: One or the other will be the #4 Roland Garros seed when this is over. And, this time, David Ferrer has the advantage. He doesn’t need to beat Nadal, he just needs to defend his points.
Of course, that still poses a problem, because he was a semifinalist, and he and Nadal — for the second straight week — are in the same quarter. The whole draw Rome feels a lot like Madrid, although it does have Juan Martin del Potro in the field. Novak Djokovic is again #1 and Roger Federer #2 even though Federer has now fallen to #3 in the rankings. Andy Murray is the #3 seed and in Federer’s half. Ferrer is #4, and is to face #5 Nadal in the quarterfinal. Djokovic’s quarterfinal opponent is #6 Tomas Berdych, Murray would face #7 del Potro, and Federer has drawn #8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
In the Round of Sixteen, it would be Djokovic against #15 Stanislas Wawrinka (another rerun of the Madrid draw, although Djokovic didn’t last long enough for them to meet), Berdych versus #11 Marin Cilic, Ferrer taking on #14 Milos Raonic, Nadal against #10 Janko Tipsarevic, del Potro versus #12 Nicolas Almagro, Murray trying to see whether he or #16 Kei Nishikori hates clay more, Tsonga facing #9 Richard Gasquet, and Federer versus #13 Tommy Haas.
It probably won’t surprise you that Bernard Tomic isn’t here. But that still leaves a lot of strong unseeded players. Djokovic may open against Martin Klizan. Wawrinka could face Alexandr Dolgopolov in round two. That Cilic/Berdych section is full of big servers; Cilic could face Kevin Anderson in round two, and Berdych might face John Isner. Ferrer might open against countryman Fernando Verdasco. Raonic’s first opponent is Philipp Kohlschrieber. Tipsarevic is luck this time; he is likely to face countryman Viktor Troicki. Nadal will open against an Italian, either Fabio Fognini or Andreas Seppi (a tough opening round, that). Almagro’s path runs through Julien Benneteau, then Juan Monaco or Benoit Paire. Nishikori might face Jeremy Chardy in round two. Murray will open against Marcel Granollers or Nikolay Davydenko. Tsonga might start against Jerzy Janowicz. Gasquet’s first opponent is Sam Querrey, which isn’t so bad on clay, but then comes Grigor Dimitrov. Haas has to face Mikhail Youzhny, then probably Gilles Simon, the top unseeded player. And Federer is staring at a meeting with Radek Stepanek, just as in Madrid.
The Rankings
This is a clay event, so you can probably guess who won it last year: Rafael Nadal was the 2012 champion. He beat Novak Djokovic in the final. Roger Federer and David Ferrer were semifinalists; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Andreas Seppi, Richard Gasquet, and Tomas Berdych made the quarterfinal. Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, and Stanislas Wawrinka lost in the Round of Sixteen. Janko Tipsarevic, who just lost his #10 spot, lost his opener.
There won’t be any contest for #1, of course. Novak Djokovic has that locked up. The #2 Roland Garros seed that Andy Murray so obviously doesn’t deserve will nonetheless presumably be his; he is too far ahead for Roger Federer to catch him. (We can’t help but wonder if this isn’t why the Paris organizers decided against promoting Rafael Nadal. Promoting Nadal ahead of David Ferrer is rather unfair. They should move him ahead of Murray, letting the top four seeds be Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, and Ferrer….) We do have a contest for #4 — and the divide between #4 and #5 is probably the most important of all. Rafael Nadal can still make it to #4 if he wins both Madrid and Rome and Ferrer falls by the Rome quarterfinal — and, of course, Ferrer and Nadal are in the same quarter, so Ferrer will fall by the quarterfinal if Nadal wins. Ferrer and Nadal (and Federer) are sure to stay Top Five. Tomas Berdych and Juan Martin del Potro are slugging it out for #6, not that that matters. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga hasn’t officially clinched #8, but it’s the way to bet. Gasquet is probably safe at #9. That leaves Stanislas Wawrinka and Janko Tipsarevic the primary contenders for #10. Tipsarevic has the advantage this time of having nothing to defend, and of being rested; he has the disadvantage of being in crummy form.
Gasquet, Wawrinka, and Tipsarevic should certainly be among the top 12 Paris seeds. Next in line currently is Nicolas Almagro, but Marin Cilic could be a threat, and Tommy Haas also has a chance. The two who don’t make it to #12 will be in the Top Sixteen, and we’d guess the next guys down (Nishikori and Raonic) are also in; there is a big gap from #16 to #17.
#17 to #24 will probably go to Simon, Monaco, Querrey, Isner, Kohlschreiber, Seppi, and two others, maybe Dolgopolov and Janowicz. Rounding out the seeds are likely to be Fognini, Dimitrov, Mayer, Anderson, Chardy, Youzhny, maybe Klizan, and one other, with the one other very much up in the air; it’s currently Benneteau, but Rosol, Robredo, Melzer, Paire, Granollers, and Baghdatis are all candidates (although Baghdatis isn’t much of one given his clay results).
KEYWORDS: Preview Rome Men
******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********
THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Madrid (1000/Clay). Defending Champion: Roger Federer
NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Rome (1000/Clay). Defending Champion: Rafael Nadal
******** STATS AND FACTS ********
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of May 11, 2013
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Djokovic……….12730
2..(3) Murray………….8750
3..(2) Federer…………7760
4..(4) Ferrer………….6920
5..(5) Nadal…………..6495
6..(6) Berdych…………4520
7..(7) Del Potro……….4320
8..(8) Tsonga………….3965
9..(9) Gasquet…………3180
10.(15) Wawrinka………..2675
11.(10) Tipsarevic………2650
12.(12) Almagro…………2570
13.(11) Cilic…………..2535
14.(13) Haas……………2420
15.(16) Nishikori……….2270
16.(14) Raonic………….2225
17.(17) Simon…………..1940
18.(19) Monaco………….1830
19.(18) Querrey…………1790
20.(21) Isner…………..1725
21.(20) Seppi…………..1700
22.(22) Kohlschreiber……1690
23.(23) Dolgopolov………1420
24.(24) Janowicz………..1418
25.(25) Fognini…………1345
26.(28) Dimitrov………..1342
27.(26) Mayer…………..1340
28.(27) Anderson………..1340
29.(29) Chardy………….1291
30.(31) Youzhny…………1265
**DRAWS
Madrid — Week of May 6
…………..3R……………..QF………….SF……….F
1 Djokovic….Dimitrov
15 Wawrinka…(15)Wawrinka…….Wawrinka…….Wawrinka….Wawrinka
12 Raonic…..Verdasco
7 Tsonga……(7)Tsonga……….Tsonga
3 Murray……(3)Murray……….Murray
16 Simon……(16)Simon
9 Tipsarevic..Anderson
6 Berdych…..(6)Berdych………Berdych……..Berdych
5 Nadal…….(5)Nadal………..Nadal……….Nadal…….Nadal
11 Almagro….Youzhny
13 Haas…….(13)Haas
4 Ferrer……(4)Ferrer……….Ferrer
8 Gasquet…..Gimeno-Traver
10 Cilic……Andujar(WC)……..Andujar…….Andujar
14 Nishikori..(14)Nishikori……Nishikori
2 Federer…..(2)Federer
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Djokovic…….lost 2R (Dimitrov)
2 Federer……..lost 3R (Nishiori)
3 Murray………lost QF (Berdych)
4 Ferrer………lost QF (Nadal)
5 Nadal
6 Berdych……..lost SF (Wawrinka)
7 Tsonga………lost QF (Wawrinka)
8 Gasquet……..lost 2R (Gimeno-Traver)
9 Tipsarevic…..lost 1R (Monaco)
10 Cilic………lost 1R (Andujar)
11 Almagro…….lost 2R (Youzhny)
12 Raonic……..lost 2R (Verdasco)
13 Haas……….lost 3R (Ferrer)
14 Nishikori…..lost QF (Andujar)
15 Wawrinka
16 Simon………lost 3R (Murray)
Rome — Week of May 13
1 Djokovic
–bye
Qualifier
Klizan
Viola (WC)
Dolgopolov
Qualifier
15 Wawrinka
11 Cilic
Qualifier
Anderson
Melzer
Istomin
Isner
–bye
6 Berdych
4 Ferrer
–bye
Zeballos
Verdasco
Ramos
Qualifier
Kohlschreiber
14 Raonic
10 Tipsarevic
Troicki
Nieminen
Qualifier
Fognini
Seppi
–bye
5 Nadal
7 del Potro
–bye
Qualifier
Malisse
Monaco
Paire
Benneteau
12 Almagro
16 Nishikori
Lorenzi (WC)
Chardy
F Lopez
Granollers
Davydenko
–bye
3 Murray
8 Tsonga
–bye
Qualifier
Janowicz
Baghdatis
Dimitrov
Querrey
9 Gasquet
13 Haas
Youzhny
Volandri
Simon
Stepanek
Starace (WC)
–bye
2 Federer
******** SCORES ********
SATURDAY
Madrid
Singles – Semifinal
(5) R Nadal def. (WC) P Andujar 6-0 6-4
(15) S Wawrinka def. (6) T Berdych 6-3 4-6 6-4
Doubles – Semifinal
(1) Bryan/Bryan def. Chardy/Kubot 6-3 6-7(1-7) 10-4
(7) Peya/Soares def. Marrero/Verdasco 7-5 7-5
©Daily tennis news wire
Topics: Madrid Open, men tennis news, Rafael Nadal, Roland Garros, Sports, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych