Men’s Pro Tour News – 5/18

Written by: on 18th May 2013
Madrid Open tennis tournament
Men's Pro Tour News - 5/18

epa03689776 German tennis player Tobias Kamke returns the ball to Spain's Nicolas Almagro during their first round match of the Madrid Open tennis tournament at the La Caja Magica tennis center in Madrid, central Spain, 06 May 2013. EPA/JUAN CARLOS HIDALGO  |

TODAY’S MEN’S NEWS ******

 

Rome

 

Singles – Semifinal: (2) R Federer def. B Paire 7-6(7-5) 6-4

It was a dream run for Benoit Paire, but everyone wakes up eventually. Still, we show him rising all the way to #26; he will assuredly be seeded in Paris. Roger Federer remains #3, and will be #3 no matter what happens in the final, but he’s suddenly looking a lot more lively than at most events this year. And this final is likely to be a big deal for him: Rome is certainly, in terms of prestige, the biggest event he has never won.

Singles – Semifinal: (5) R Nadal def. (6) T Berdych 6-2 6-4

And so here we go: Federer versus Nadal. In a final. Just like old times. But, of course, with the big twist that Nadal is trying to earn the #4 Paris seed. Win the final and it’s his….

Doubles – Semifinal: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. (5) Mirnyi/Tecau 6-4 6-7(2-7) 10-3

Doubles – Semifinal: (6) Bhupathi/Bopanna def. Gonzalez/Lipsky 6-3 7-6(7-3)

Interesting to see Bhupathi/Bopanna do so well in their reunion. Of course, they still have the Bryans to deal with. We haven’t seen an ATP announcement that the Bryans have qualified for the year-end Championships, but they have.

****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******

 

Men’s Look Forward: Nice, Dusseldorf

 

This is the week no one cares about.

There are a lot of reasons for that lack of concern. One is the obvious fact that the events this week are 250 pointers. But even 250 pointers can at least play rent-a-player — except this week, when no one wants to be rented. That’s the real reason the events this week are not strong. The seeds for Roland Garros are set. The results this week won’t matter much for future seedings — soon, Roland Garros will dominate. And, of course, no one wants to get too tired preparing for Paris.

It’s sad, in a way, that Dusseldorf got rid of the team concept, because it has so many Germans. They should have been able to clean up. The flip side is, it’s now a normal event, with no freaky point totals and no players dependent on other players’ results. #1 seed Janko Tipsarevic, who is determined to play absolutely everything, is the only Top Ten player. Nicolas Almagro was supposed to be here, but evidently he wised up. That left the #2 seed for Tommy Haas. Juan Monaco is #3, and Philipp Kohlschreiber #4; he has the last bye and is the last Top Ten player. Haas and Kohlschreiber are German, and so presumably commanded high fees, but most of the others in the draw are “play-anything” types: Lukas Rosol is #5, Jarkko Nieminen #6, Viktor Troicki #7, and Nikolay Davydenko #8. Few of the players face obvious threats, although Rosol opens against Daniel Brands, who has been having a fine year.

Nice is a lot like Dusseldorf in terms of strength: a 28-draw with one Top Ten player (#1 seed Tomas Berdych), and a local as the #2 seed (Gilles Simon), and a cutoff for seeding not much above #50. But it may be even weaker overall — the #3 and #4 seeds are Sam Querrey and John Isner, and we know how they feel about clay! Andreas Seppi is #5, Fabio Fognini #6, Marcel Granollers #7, and Denis Istomin (another clay-hater) #8. Granollers has to start against Paul-Henri Mathieu, and Fognini could face wildcard Gael Monfils in the second round, but that’s about it for early marquee matches.

The Rankings

Because the events this week are small, we aren’t going to do much with the rankings. Nice last year was won by Nicolas Almagro. Brian Baker was the out-of-the-blue finalist; his ranking is toast, but of course he has injury protection. Gilles Simon and Nikolay Davydenko were semifinalists.

Dusseldorf was still a team event last year; Serbia won, with Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki doing the work; the Czechs, led by Tomas Berdych, were the finalists. So Tipsarevic’s Top Ten ranking is in danger again, and Troicki may not be Top Fifty much longer. Tipsarevic appears to be the only Top Ten player whose ranking could be affected.

KEYWORDS: Preview Nice Dusseldorf

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

 

THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:

Rome (1000/Clay). Defending Champion: Rafael Nadal

NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:

Nice (250/Clay). Defending Champion: Nicolas Almagro

Dusseldorf. Defending Champion: (No individual champion/Serbia in team competition)

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

 

RANKINGS

 

Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings

As of May 18, 2013

 

Rank &

Prior…Player………..Points

1..(1) Djokovic……….12310

2..(2) Murray………….8750

3..(3) Federer…………8000

4..(4) Ferrer………….6740

5..(5) Nadal…………..6495

6..(6) Berdych…………4700

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.(36) Paire…………..1405

27.(29) Chardy………….1371

28.(26) Dimitrov………..1355

29.(25) Fognini…………1345

30.(28) Mayer…………..1295

**DRAWS

 

Rome — Week of May 13

 

……………..3R……………QF…………SF………F

1 Djokovic…….(1)Djokovic……Djokovic

15 Wawrinka……Dolgopolov

11 Cilic………Anderson

6 Berdych……..(6)Berdych…….Berdych…….Berdych

 

4 Ferrer………(4)Ferrer……..Ferrer

14 Raonic……..Kohlschreiber

10 Tipsarevic….Gulbis(Q)

5 Nadal……….(5)Nadal………Nadal………Nadal….Nadal

 

7 del Potro……(7)del Potro

12 Almagro…….Paire…………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…….Federer..Federer

 

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Djokovic………lost QF (Berdych)

2 Federer

3 Murray………..lost 2R (Granollers)

4 Ferrer………..lost QF (Nadal)

5 Nadal

6 Berdych……….lost SF (Nadal)

7 del Potro……..lost 3R (Paire)

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)

Dusseldorf — Week of May 20

 

1 Tipsarevic

–bye

Qualifier

Qualifier

Goffin

Zemlja

Russel

7 Troicki

 

3 Monaco (WC)

–bye

Soeda

Qualifier

Kamke

Becker (WC)

Tursunov

8 Davydenko

 

5 Rosol

Brands

Hajek

Donskoy

Qualifier

Sijsling

–bye

4 Kohlschreiber

 

6 Nieminen

Lacko

Bautista Agut

Muller

Kavcic

Dodig

–bye

2 Haas (WC)

NICE — Week of May 20

 

1 Berdych

–bye

Hanescu

Ramos

Berlocq

L Mayer

Mathieu

7 Granollers

 

3 Querrey

–bye

Qualifier

Qualifier

Roger-Vasselin (WC)

Falla

Berankis

8 Istomin

 

6 Fognini

Qualifier

Giraldo

Monfils (WC)

Matosevic

Haase

–bye

4 Isner

 

5 Seppi

Lu

Hewitt (WC)

Andujar

Qualifier

Lorenzi

–bye

2 Simon

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

 

SATURDAY

Rome

Singles – Semifinal

(2) R Federer def. B Paire 7-6(7-5) 6-4

(5) R Nadal def. (6) T Berdych 6-2 6-4

Doubles – Semifinal

(1) Bryan/Bryan def. (5) Mirnyi/Tecau 6-4 6-7(2-7) 10-3

(6) Bhupathi/Bopanna def. Gonzalez/Lipsky 6-3 7-6(7-3)

***

Bob LARSON – Publisher

Cort LARSON – Editor

Robert Waltz – Contributor

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