Men Tennis News Update (05/16/13) – Rome and Rankings

Written by: Staff on 16th May 2013

Men Tennis News Update (05/16/13) - Rome and Rankings

epa03700189 A multi exposure image shows Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic serving the ball to Spaniard Albert Montanes during their second round match of the Italian Open tennis tournament at Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 14 May 2013. EPA/CLAUDIO ONORATI |

Rome

Singles – Third Round: (1) N Djokovic def. A Dolgopolov 6-1 6-4
Still no signs of ankle trouble for Novak Djokovic. He leaves Alexandr Dolgopolov still below the Top Twenty, although it appears Dolgopolov will be one of the Top 24 Roland Garros seeds.

Singles – Third Round: (2) R Federer def. G Simon 6-1 6-2
Roger Federer has a lot more bad days than he used to, but often that means somebody pays at his next event…. In this case, it was Gilles Simon, who loses his chance to rise above #17.

Singles – Third Round: (4) D Ferrer def. P Kohlschreiber walkover (vertigo)
After his heavy schedule in the last few weeks, this must have been good news for David Ferrer. But Philipp Kohlschreiber loses the chance to rise above #19.

Singles – Third Round: (5) R Nadal def. (Q) E Gulbis 1-6 7-5 6-4
Here we go: Ferrer versus Nadal, with the #4 Roland Garros seed potentially on the line. And Nadal looks relatively vulnerable. Ernests Gulbis came very close to winning this, but he remains near the bottom of the Top Forty.

Singles – Third Round: (6) T Berdych def. K Anderson 7-5 6-2
Barring a withdrawal, Kevin Anderson will not be getting a Top 24 Roland Garros seed. But he has shown that he is now a force on clay. That could well translate into a Top Twenty spot later this year.

Singles – Third Round: B Paire def. (7) J del Potro 6-4 7-6(7-3)
It looks as if Benoit Paire wants that French Open seed. He has now earned it — and is one week away from a Top Thirty ranking. Juan Martin del Potro again loses his chance to pass Tomas Berdych and reach #6.

Singles – Third Round: J Janowicz def. (9) R Gasquet 3-6 7-6(7-2) 6-4
And so Richard Gasquet remains the #2 Frenchman; he will remain #9 and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga #8. Jerzy Janowicz is finding it surprisingly hard to move, but this should take him to #23.

Singles – Third Round: M Granollers def. J Chardy 6-4 1-6 7-5
Marcel Granollers is another who keeps his Paris seed hopes alive, if by a pretty thin margin. He needs one more win. The good news is, his opponent is Paire. He leaves Jeremy Chardy at #26.

Doubles – Second Round: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. (WC) Lorenzi/Starace 6-1 6-4

Doubles – Second Round: Berdych/Stepanek def. (4) Qureshi/Rojer 7-5 6-4
Qureshi/Rojer seemed to be off to a pretty good start this year, but now they seem to be fading fast.

Doubles – Second Round: (5) Mirnyi/Tecau def. Rosol/Troicki 7-5 6-1

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

Doubles – Second Round: Marrero/Verdasco def. (7) Peya/Soares 6-3 7-6(7-4)
Peya/Soares rose to #2 in the doubles Race last week, but maybe all those wins took something out of them. They may lose that spot this week.

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Roland Garros Seed Update — Men

You want excitement? Don’t look at the Top Three. We know that Novak Djokovic will be the #1 seed at Roland Garros, that Andy Murray will be #2 (assuming his back recovers, anyway), and Roger Federer #3.

#4? Now that is still interesting. If Rafael Nadal wins Rome, he’s #4. Any other outcome and David Ferrer is #4. Whichever Spaniard is not #4 will be #5.

Tomas Berdych, Juan Martin del Potro, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be #6-#8.

#9-#12 are Richard Gasquet, Janko Tipsarevic, Stanislas Wawrinka, and Marin Cilic. #13-#16 are Nicolas Almagro, Tommy Haas, Kei Nishikori, and probably Milos Raonic.

#17-#24 will likely be Gilles Simon, Juan Monaco, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Sam Querrey, John Isner, Andreas Seppi, Alexander Dolgopolov, and Jerzy Janowicz. Rounding out the seeds are Kevin Anderson, Jeremy Chardy, Grigor Dimitrov, Fabio Fognini, Florian Mayer, Mikhail Youzhny, Benoit Paire, and one other, Julien Benneteau or possibly Marcel Granollers.

Alternates are Benneteau or Granollers, Martin Klizan, Lukas Rosol, Jurgen Melzer, and Tommy Robredo.

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RANKINGS

Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of May 16, 2013

Rank & Prior...Player...........Points 1..(1) Djokovic..........12310 2..(2) Murray.............8750 3..(3) Federer............7580 4..(4) Ferrer.............6740 5..(5) Nadal..............6075 6..(6) Berdych............4520 7..(7) Del Potro..........4320 8..(8) Tsonga.............3795 9..(9) Gasquet............3090 10.(11) Tipsarevic.........2640 11.(10) Wawrinka...........2630 12.(13) Cilic..............2570 13.(12) Almagro............2490 14.(14) Haas...............2340 15.(15) Nishikori..........2315 16.(16) Raonic.............2225 17.(17) Simon..............1940 18.(18) Monaco.............1750 19.(22) Kohlschreiber......1750 20.(19) Querrey............1730 21.(20) Isner..............1690 22.(21) Seppi..............1530 23.(24) Janowicz...........1518 24.(23) Dolgopolov.........1500 25.(27) Anderson...........1420 26.(29) Chardy.............1371 27.(26) Dimitrov...........1355 28.(25) Fognini............1345 29.(28) Mayer..............1295 30.(30) Youzhny............1265

**DRAWS

Rome — Week of May 13

.................3R...............4R 1 Djokovic.......(1)Djokovic......Djokovic 15 Wawrinka......Dolgopolov 11 Cilic.........Anderson 6 Berdych........(6)Berdych.......Berdych

4 Ferrer.........(4)Ferrer........Ferrer 14 Raonic........Kohlschreiber 10 Tipsarevic....Gulbis(Q) 5 Nadal..........(5)Nadal.........Nadal 7 del Potro......(7)del Potro 12 Almagro.......Paire............Paire 16 Nishikori.....Chardy 3 Murray.........Granollers.......Granollers 8 Tsonga.........Janowicz.........Janowicz 9 Gasquet........(9)Gasquet 13 Haas..........Simon 2 Federer........(2)Federer.......Federer

STATUS OF SEEDS: 1 Djokovic 2 Federer 3 Murray...........lost 2R (Granollers) 4 Ferrer 5 Nadal 6 Berdych 7 del Potro 8 Tsonga...........lost 2R (Janowicz) 9 Gasquet..........lost 3R (Janowicz) 10 Tipsarevic......WITHDREW (replaced by Rosol) 11 Cilic...........lost 2R (Anderson) 12 Almagro.........lost 1R (Benneteau) 13 Haas............lost 1R (Youzhny) 14 Raonic..........lost 1R (Kohlschreiber) 15 Wawrinka........WITHDREW from 2R 16 Nishikori.......lost 2R (Chardy)

SCORES

THURSDAY

Rome Singles - Third Round (1) N Djokovic def. A Dolgopolov 6-1 6-4 (2) R Federer def. G Simon 6-1 6-2 (4) D Ferrer def. P Kohlschreiber walkover (Vertigo) (5) R Nadal def. (Q) E Gulbis 1-6 7-5 6-4 (6) T Berdych def. K Anderson 7-5 6-2 B Paire def. (7) J Del Potro 6-4 7-6(7-3) J Janowicz def. (9) R Gasquet 3-6 7-6(7-2) 6-4 M Granollers def. J Chardy 6-4 1-6 7-5 Doubles - Second Round (1) Bryan/Bryan def. (WC) Lorenzi/Starace 6-1 6-4 Berdych/Stepanek def. (4) Qureshi/Rojer 7-5 6-4 (5) Mirnyi/Tecau def. (Alt) Rosol/Troicki 7-5 6-1 (6) Bhupathi/Bopanna def. Inglot/Marray 6-2 6-3 Marrero/Verdasco def. (7) Peya/Soares 6-3 7-6(7-4)