Gstaad
Singles – Semifinal: R Haase def. (5) F Lopez 4-6 6-1 6-4
What is it about Robin Haase and this week? A title last year (at Kitzbuhel, not here), now another final. He still has a lot of defending to do, but at least he has the chance! Feliciano Lopez will be #29 or #30, depending on whether Mikhail Youzhny wins or loses the final.
Singles – Semifinal: (6) M Youzhny def. V Hanescu 6-3 6-3
No doubt a lot of players will be glad to see Mikhail Youzhny back in the Top Thirty (although they may not be as glad that Juan Monaco is out, since that means they might face Monaco early). This takes Youzhny to #30, with Monaco at #31; the Russian will rise to #29 if he can win the title.
Umag
Singles – Semifinal: (5) T Robredo def. (2) A Seppi 6-3 2-6 6-4
When Andreas Seppi finally had to play a full match — he couldn’t manage it. Which means, once again, no Top Twenty spot. The best he can hope for is #23, and that’s if Tommy Robredo loses the final. If Robredo wins, then he is #23 and Seppi stays stuck at #24. If Robredo loses the final, he’s #26.
Singles – Semifinal: (3) F Fognini def. G Monfils 6-0 3-6 7-6(7-3)
Don’t ask us how Fabio Fognini is doing it. This was even crazier than you might think. Fabio Fognini was up 5-0 in the fifth, lost the lead, faced three match points, but still won the match. Thirteen straight wins. His third straight final, and his chance for his third straight title. Win it and he’s Top Fifteen. Even if he loses, it’s likely he’ll be #16.
Doubles – Final: Klizan/Marrero def. (3) Monroe/Stadler 6-1 5-7 10-7
Somehow, we can’t feel very surprised by this. No matter what the seedings say, Klizan/Marrero were the better team. And although Martin Klizan doesn’t have much of a doubles record — it’s his first title, and indeed his first final — David Marrero has been at this for a long time. He picks up career title number eight, and his sixth of the last year and a half; it is his second of 2013 (following Acapulco with Kubot). The only problem is, every one of those eight titles has been on clay. Guess we know what he needs to work on!
Atlanta
Friday
Singles – Quarterfinal: (2) K Anderson def. D Istomin 6-3 3-6 6-3
Kevin Anderson has come far enough that he is starting to add points, but he hasn’t clinched a move yet.
Saturday
Singles – Semifinal: (1) J Isner def. (7) L Hewitt 6-4 4-6 7-6(7-5)
This would have been a lot more interesting if the statistics hadn’t been so predictable. Would you be even slightly surprised to know that the score was 21 aces to John Isner, 12 to Lleyton Hewitt; two breaks each; one more point to Isner (102 to 101)? But Isner’s extra point came at a pretty good time.
Isner is now sure to rise from #22 to #21. But whether he can go higher depends mostly on Kevin Anderson….
Singles – Semifinal: (2) K Anderson def. R Harrison 6-3 7-6(7-3)
This match was, in some ways, even more extreme than the Isner/Hewitt match. Ryan Harrison actually had more break points than Kevin Anderson — but he converted none. Anderson converted one, and had a good tiebreak.
Anderson is now #20 in safe points, right ahead of John Isner — but they are within a hundred points of each other. So the winner will get the #20 ranking. And, one suspects, they will both get a lot of aces….
Doubles – Semifinal: (4) Roger-Vasselin/Sijsling def. Erlich/A Ram 3-6 6-1 10-7
It has turned into quite a summer for Edouard Roger-Vasselin in doubles. Can he pick up his second post-Wimbledon title? It certainly seems within the realm of possibility.
Men’s Look Forward: Washington, Kitzbuhel
One look at the Kitzbuhel draw will give you a pretty good clue that it’s the very end of the clay season. Almost everyone in the field is a clay die-hard, and even by those standards, it’s pretty weak. There isn’t a single Top Twenty player, and the only Top Thirty player (based on the new rankings) is #1 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber. Juan Monaco is #2. Fernando Verdasco’s solid recent results have earned him the #3 spot. Jurgen Melzer, who has been almost invisible lately, is #4 and has the last bye. Carlos Berlocq is #5, with Roberto Bautista Agut #6 and Albert Montanes #7. They were the only Top Fifty players based on last week’s rankings list; #8 Marcel Granollers was ranked #51.
Still, the seeds can’t just expect to coast. Verdasco might have to open against Thomaz Bellucci. Berlocq starts against Daniel Brands. And Montanes might face suddenly-hot Victor Hanescu in round two. So there might be some interesting matches.
Washington is a 500 point event, but even it is weaker than one might hope — only one Top Ten player, and he’s in on a wildcard! Juan Martin del Potro is the top seed in a 48-draw field (16 seeds, all with byes). Still, it’s not too bad below that. Kei Nishikori is the #2 seed, with Tommy Haas #3 and Milos Raonic #4, so there are four of the Top Fifteen. Gilles Simon is #5, Sam Querrey #6, Kevin Anderson #7, and John Isner #8; we’ll probably see a lot of big-serving quarterfinals. Rounding out the seeds are #9 Alexandr Dolgopolov, #10 Feliciano Lopez, #11 Grigor Dimitrov, #12 Julien Benneteau, #13 Ivan Dodig, #14 Bernard Tomic, #15 Nikolay Davydenko, and #16 Marcos Baghdatis (who hasn’t played much lately, although that may be more his dislike of clay than anything else).
Not all of the seeds will be challenged in the early going, but Benneteau will have to open against Michael Llodra or Mardy Fish, Lopez is likely to face Radek Stepanek, and Isner may well face Gael Monfils.
The Rankings
It’s interesting that Juan Martin del Potro decided to play this week, because he in a way has the most on the line from last year’s Olympics. No, he didn’t win the Olympics, but he did medal — and that’s a more important result to him than to any of the medalists. Andy Murray of course was the gold medalist. Roger Federer was the silver medalist, with del Potro taking bronze. Novak Djokovic was the other semifinalist. Quarterfinalists were John Isner, Kei Nishikori, Nicolas Almagro, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. At Washington, the title went to Alexandr Dolgopolov, over Tommy Haas; Mardy Fish and Sam Querrey were semifinalists.
It all adds up to very little movement at the top. None at all, in fact. Djokovic is secure at #1. Murray’s lead over #3 David Ferrer is big enough that he’ll keep #2, although the gap will narrow. Nadal, Federer, Berdych, Del Potro, Tsonga, Gasquet, Wawrinka — they will stay #4 to #10, in that order. We could see movement in the #11-#13 range — probably will, in fact. But not big moves. The big moves will almost all be below #20.
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of July 27, 2013
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Djokovic……….12310
2..(2) Murray………….9360
3..(3) Ferrer………….7120
4..(4) Nadal…………..6860
5..(5) Federer…………5875
6..(6) Berdych…………4865
7..(7) Del Potro……….4500
8..(8) Tsonga………….3480
9..(9) Gasquet…………3045
10.(10) Wawrinka………..2915
11.(11) Nishikori……….2495
12.(12) Haas……………2395
13.(13) Raonic………….2225
14.(14) Almagro…………2135
15.(15) Cilic…………..2075
16.(19) Fognini…………2075
17.(16) Simon…………..2055
18.(17) Janowicz………..2029
19.(18) Tipsarevic………2025
20.(21) Anderson………..1740
21.(22) Isner…………..1670
22.(20) Querrey…………1570
23.(24) Seppi…………..1550
24.(25) Dolgopolov………1500
25.(23) Kohlschreiber……1490
26.(28) Robredo…………1470
27.(26) Chardy………….1406
28.(27) Paire…………..1405
29.(29) Lopez…………..1390
30.(33) Youzhny…………1295
DRAWS
Atlanta — Week of July 22
…………..QF………….SF………..F
1 Isner…….(1)Isner…….Isner……..Isner
8 Donskoy…..Blake
3 Dodig…….(3)Dodig
7 Hewitt……(7)Hewitt……Hewitt
6 Fish……..Giraldo
4 Sijsling….R.Harrison…..Harrison
5 Lu……….Istomin
2 Anderson….(2)Anderson….Anderson…..Anderson
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Isner
2 Anderson
3 Dodig…….lost QF (Hewitt)
4 Sijsling….lost 2R (Harrison)
5 Lu……….lost 2R (Istomin)
6 Fish……..lost 1R (Russell)
7 Hewitt……lost SF (Isner)
8 Donskoy…..lost 2R (Blake)
Gstaad — Week of July 22
…………….QF…………..SF……..F
1 Federer (WC)..Brands
8 Bautista Agut.Hanescu………Hanescu
4 Monaco……..(4)Monaco
6 Youzhny…….(6)Youzhny……Youzhny…Youzhny
7 Rosol………Granollers
3 Tipsarevic….Haase………..Haase…..Haase
5 F Lopez…….(5)Lopez……..Lopez
2 Wawrinka……(2)Wawrinka
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Federer (WC)….lost 2R (Brands)
2 Wawrinka……..lost QF (Lopez)
3 Tipsarevic……lost 2R (Haase)
4 Monaco……….lost QF (Youzhny)
5 F Lopez………lost SF (Haase)
6 Youzhny
7 Rosol………..lost 1R (Granollers)
8 Bautista Agut…lost 2R (Hanescu)
Umag — Week of July 22
……………QF…………SF……..F
1 Gasquet……Montanes
7 F Mayer……Monfils…….Monfils
3 Fognini……(3)Fognini….Fognini…Fognini
6 Klizan…….(6)Klizan
5 Robredo……(5)Robredo….Robredo…Robredo
4 Dolgopolov…Bedene
8 Berlocq……Zeballos
2 Seppi……..(2)Seppi……Seppi
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Gasquet……lost 2R (Montanes)
2 Seppi……..lost SF (Robredo)
3 Fognini
4 Dolgopolov…lost 2R (Bedene)
5 Robredo
6 Klizan…….lost QF (Fognini)
7 F Mayer……lost 1R (Kavcic)
8 Berlocq……lost 2R (Zeballos)
Washington — Week of July 29
1 del Potro (WC)
–bye
Hewitt
R Harrison
Goffin
Lu
–bye
14 Tomic
12 Benneteau
–bye
Llodra
Fish
Duckworth (WC)
Qualifier
–bye
7 Anderson
3 Haas
–bye
Zemlja
Qualifier
Berankis
Kamke
–bye
13 Dodig
11 Dimitrov
–bye
Malisse
Ram
Istomin
Giraldo
–bye
6 Querrey
5 Simon
–bye
Qualifier
Tursunov
Stepanek
Johnson (WC)
–bye
10 F Lopez
15 Davydenko
–bye
Blake
Matosevic
Kudla (WC)
Qualifier
–bye
4 Raonic
8 Isner
–bye
Bogomolov
Monfils
Qualifier
Qualifier
–bye
9 Dolgopolov
16 Baghdatis
–bye
Lacko
Falla
Sock (WC)
Sijsling
–bye
2 Nishikori
Kitzbuhel — Week of July 29
1 Kohlschreiber
–bye
de Schepper
L Mayer
Qualifier
Zeballos
Pavic (WC)
8 Granollers
3 Verdasco
–bye
Bellucci
Garcia-Lopez
Rufin
Haase
Brands
5 Berlocq
7 Montanes
Ungur
Bedene
Hanescu
And. Kuznetsov
Thiem (WC)
–bye
4 Melzer
6 Bautista Agut
Qualifier
Qualifier
Gimeno-Traver
Haider-Maurer (WC)
Qualifier
–bye
2 Monaco
FRIDAY
Atlanta (full results)
Singles – Quarterfinal
(1) J Isner def. J Blake 7-6(7-1) 7-6(7-5)
(2) K Anderson def. D Istomin 6-3 3-6 6-3
(7) L Hewitt def. (3) I Dodig 1-6 6-3 6-0
R Harrison def. S Giraldo 6-3 3-6 7-6(7-2)
Doubles – Quarterfinal
(4) E Roger-Vasselin/I Sijsling def. Berankis/Giraldo 7-5 7-6(7-5)
SATURDAY
Atlanta (so far)
Singles – Semifinal
(1) J Isner def. (7) L Hewitt 6-4 4-6 7-6(7-5)
(2) K Anderson def. R Harrison 6-3 7-6(7-3)
Doubles – Semifinal
(4) Roger-Vasselin/Sijsling def. Erlich/A Ram 3-6 6-1 10-7
Gstaad
Singles – Semifinal
R Haase def. (5) F Lopez 4-6 6-1 6-4
(6) M Youzhny def. V Hanescu 6-3 6-3
Umag
Singles – Semifinal
(5) T Robredo def. (2) A Seppi 6-3 2-6 6-4
(3) F Fognini def. G Monfils 6-0 3-6 7-6(7-3)
Doubles – Final
Klizan/Marrero def. (3) Monroe/Stadler 6-1 5-7 10-7
RT @GillesSimonNews: Men’s tennis results http://t.co/mQIgO8bhEA