Cincinnati
Philipp Kohlschreiber will face Roger Federer for the eighth time and will be seeking his first win in that series after defeating former Cincinnati Masters finalist Mardy Fish 7-5, 6-2. The No. 26 German will serve as Federer’s first opponent on hardcourt since last March after the 32-year-old had to skip last week’s Montreal event with back pain which bothered him last month on clay in Europe. “My passion is sky high. If the passion doesn’t overweigh all the rest, the end is extremely near,” said the Swiss defending champion. “You might be doing it for the wrong reasons. But I love what I’m doing.”
Federer owns five Cincinnati titles on the fast hardcourts of the Midwest venue which perfectly suit his game. Bit with the Swiss falling behind his elite rivals with a No. 5 ranking. a repeat title for the 17-time grand slam winner appears almost obligatory if he is to keep pace.
Novak Djokovic leads the field as the Serb recovers from a semi-final hammering in Canada at the hands of Rafael Nadal, now the man of the moment with eight titles this season from ten events.
Wimbledon champion Andy Murray is seeded second, with the two-time champion Scot trying to focus on his duties this week as his first career title defense at a major approaches in New York in just under a fortnight. “It’s going to be a new experience for me, though,” he said on Monday. “I’ve never defended a grand slam title before, and hopefully I’ll deal with that OK.”
There was more bad luck in North America for Nicolas Almagro as the Spanish 13th seed went down in a second consecutive Masters opening match, losing 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 to the 19 aces of Grigor Dimitrov. Czech Radek Stepanek beat last month’s clay hero Fabio Fognini, seeded 14th, 6-2, 6-4 while Serb Janko Tipsarevic defeated Californian Sam Querrey 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4. Argentine Juan Monaco extended the loss streak of Austrian Juergen Melzer 6-3, 6-2; Spaniard Marcel Granollers got a win over Czech Lukas Rosol 5-7, 6-4, 6-0.
THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Cincinnati (1000/Hard). Defending Champion: Roger Federer
NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Winston-Salem (250/Hard). Defending Champion: John Isner
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of August 12, 2013
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Djokovic……….10810
2..(2) Murray………….8530
3..(3) Nadal…………..7870
4..(4) Ferrer………….7130
5..(6) Berdych…………4785
6..(5) Federer…………4525
7..(7) Del Potro……….4390
8..(8) Tsonga………….3470
9.(11) Gasquet…………2625
10..(9) Wawrinka………..2575
11.(10) Raonic………….2475
12.(12) Nishikori……….2405
13.(14) Janowicz………..2126
14.(15) Almagro…………2110
15.(13) Haas……………2105
16.(17) Simon…………..2040
17.(16) Fognini…………2015
18.(18) Cilic…………..1805
19.(19) Anderson………..1740
20.(20) Tipsarevic………1685
21.(22) Isner…………..1595
22.(21) Seppi…………..1550
23.(23) Robredo…………1540
24.(26) Kohlschreiber……1445
25.(25) Youzhny…………1440
26.(24) Paire…………..1415
27.(27) Lopez…………..1355
28.(29) Dimitrov………..1330
29.(28) Querrey…………1310
30.(31) Verdasco………..1270
DRAWS
Cincinnati — Week of August 12
1 Djokovic
–bye
Monaco
Melzer
Goffin (Q)
McDonald (Q)
Pospisil (SE)
16 Simon
12 Raonic
Sock (WC)
Tipsarevic
Querrey
F Mayer
Isner
–bye
8 Gasquet
3 Ferrer
–bye
R Harrison (WC)
Dolgopolov
Tursunov (Q)
Klizan
Blake (WC)
16 Janowicz
10 Nishikori
Lopez
Chardy
Mannarino (Q)
Paire
Davydenko
–bye
7 del Potro
5 Federer
–bye
Kohlschreiber
Fish
Granollers
Rosol
Anderson
11 Haas
13 Almagro
Dimitrov
B Baker (WC)
Istomin
Andujar (Q)
Becker (Q)
–bye
4 Nadal
5 Berdych
–bye
Roger-Vasselin (Q)
Nieminen
Robredo
Bellucci
Seppi
9 Wawrinka
14 Fognini
Stepanek
Benneteau
Baghdatis
Gulbis
Youzhny
–bye
2 Murray
MONDAY
Cincinatti
Singles – First Round
G Dimitrov (BUL) d [13] N Almagro (ESP) 76(3) 64
R Stepanek (CZE) d [14] F Fognini (ITA) 62 64
[WC] J Blake (USA) d [16] J Janowicz (POL) 61 75
J Monaco (ARG) d J Melzer (AUT) 63 62
[Q] D Goffin (BEL) d [Q] M McDonald (USA) 61 61
J Tipsarevic (SRB) d S Querrey (USA) 67(5) 63 64
[Q] D Tursunov (RUS) d M Klizan (SVK) 46 76(6) 64
J Chardy (FRA) d [Q] A Mannarino (FRA) 64 63
P Kohlschreiber (GER) d M Fish (USA) 75 62
M Granollers (ESP) d L Rosol (CZE) 57 64 60
[WC] B Baker (USA) d D Istomin (UZB) 75 63
Doubles – First Round
A Seppi (ITA) / M Youzhny (RUS) d B Paire (FRA) / S Wawrinka (SUI) 62 64
[PR] M Fish (USA) / J Melzer (AUT) d J Nieminen (FIN) / G Simon (FRA) 64 36 14-12