Men’s Tennis News

Written by: Staff on 18th September 2013

Men's Tennis News

epa03868974 Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic in action against Canadian player Vasek Pospisil during the Davis Cup World Group semi-final between Serbia and Canada in Belgrade, Serbia, 15 September 2013. EPA/SRDJAN SUKI |

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

* Tough day for Davis Cup players in St. Petersburg as Tipsarevic, Verdasco upset

* Tsonga makes strong return in Metz; Paire upset

TODAY’S MEN’S NEWS

St. Petersburg

Singles – First Round: R Bautista Agut def. (3) J Tipsarevic 7-6(7-4) 6-3

Davis Cup after-effects, perhaps. Janko Tipsarevic probably didn’t have much left in the tank. Fortunately, he wasn’t defending anything, but this means he will not rise above his current #23.

Singles – First Round: S Stakhovsky def. (5) F Verdasco 6-3 6-4

This isn’t just Davis Cup after-effects, it’s turnabout: Put Sergiy Stakhovsky on a fast court and he can contend with the Spanish…. This leaves Fernando Verdasco still below #30.

Singles – First Round: (6) E Gulbis def. (WC) M Elgin 6-0 6-1

No points yet for Ernests Gulbis, but the next win counts, and he’s obviously looking very solid.

Singles – First Round: (7) L Rosol def. R Berankis 6-4 7-6(7-4)

Lukas Rosol was an afterthought for the Czechs in Davis Cup, but he needs only one more win to start earning points here.

Singles – First Round: M Przysiezny def. A Ramos 3-6 6-4 6-3

Too bad Michal Przysiezny couldn’t do this in Davis Cup. If he had, Poland would have come through.

Singles – First Round: J Sousa def. P Lorenzi 6-3 6-4

A very, very minor upset, but Paolo Lorenzi is Italian. The surface probably didn’t help.

Singles – First Round: (Q) K Kravchuk def. H Zeballos 7-6(7-5) 6-3

Horacio Zeballos hardly played in Davis Cup, but he still suffers the jinx.

Second Round: G Garcia-Lopez def. (2) M Youzhny 6-4 4-6 6-3

Mikhail Youzhny was defending semifinalist points. It doesn’t appear he’ll fall, but he certainly won’t rise in the rankings.

Second Round: (8) D Istomin def. A Golubev 4-6 6-3 6-4

No points yet for Istomin, but he faces Garcia-Lopez next, and if he wins that, he’ll likely rise to around #45.

Doubles – First Round: Inglot/Istomin def. (2) Mirnyi/Tecau 6-4 7-5

Mirnyi/Tecau really are struggling. They’re only #11 in the Race. Makes you wonder how long they’ll keep trying.

Doubles – First Round: (4) Cermak/Polasek def. Fognini/Lorenzi 7-5 7-6(8-6)

Doubles – First Round: Groth/Guccione def. (Alt) Marfinsky/Strelkov 6-3 6-2

Metz

Singles – First Round: B Becker (5) B Paire 6-3 7-5

Not a huge surprise on a fast court, but it means Benoit Paire won’t rise above his current #28.

Singles – First Round: N Mahut def. L Mayer 7-6(7-2) 6-4

Leondardo Mayer is really having a tough month — first he struggled in Davis Cup, then he came here for this.

Singles – First Round: C Berlocq def. J Vesely 6-3 6-4

This was a battle of Davis Cup bench-sitters, so perhaps it doesn’t tell us much.

Singles – First Round: A Olivetti def. M Zverev 7-5 7-6(7-3)

A pretty big upset; Albano Olivetti is ranked more than a hundred spots below Mischa Zverev. But he would have had crowd support, and if there is anything Zverev is not, it’s consistent.

Singles – Second Round: (1) J Tsonga def. E Roger-Vasselin 6-3 6-4

No evidence of rust in this match for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. But he needs three more wins to defend his points.

Singles – Second Round: (6) S Querrey def. P Mathieu 6-2, retired (right leg)

Well, that’s one way for Sam Querrey to earn results in Europe…. He needs two more wins to earn any points, however.

Singles – Second Round: T Kamke def. M Fucsovics 1-6 6-3 6-2

Strange that Marton Fucsovics could beat Jeremy Chardy — in France, no less! — and lose to Tobias Kamke. But just getting this far should be a nice rankings boost, given that he’s #239.

Doubles – First Round: (2) Knowle/Melo def. (WC) Chardy/Gicquel 6-4 6-3

Doubles – First Round: Brunstrom/Klaasen def. (3) J Murray/Peers 6-4 7-6(7-2)

Doubles – First Round: (4) Begemann/Emmrich def. Bednarek/Marach 7-6(7-3) 6-4

Doubles – First Round: (PR) Erlich/A Ram def. (WC) Herbert/Olivetti 4-6 6-4 10-4

TODAY’S FEATURE

This Week’s Movers — Men

Each week, Daily Tennis will look at the biggest movers of the week, looking at how they did what they did.

Biggest Upward Mover — Most Places Moved (Top 100)

Leader: Aijaz Bedene — Moved 21 places, from #107 to #86.

Bedene won the Banja Luka challenger.

Runner-Up: Radek Stepanek — Moved 10 places, from #61 to #51

Stepanek won a live Davis Cup semifinal match.

Biggest Percentage Mover — Cut Ranking By Highest Percent (Top 100)

Leader: Bedene, cut ranking 20%

Runner-Up: Roger Federer — Moved 1 places, 17%, from #6 to #5

This shows the problem with awarding points for Davis Cup. The Czech Republic made the final last year and this, and did it via the efforts of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek both years — but not by the same route. Last year, Berdych won two semifinal matches. This year, because Stepanek won a Davis Cup match, Berdych had to earn only one singles point. So, even though the Czechs collectively defended, Berdych did not have the opportunity to defend his points. He lost not only the chance to play a second live match, but also the bonus that comes from playing large numbers of live matches. And so he slipped behind Federer.

Biggest Loser — Most Places Lost (Top 100)

Loser: Andrey Kuznetsov — Dropped 15 places, from #83 to #98

Kuznetsov last year won the Trnava Challenger.

Biggest Percentage Loser — Worst Percentage Increase in Ranking (Top 100)

Loser: Victor Hanescu, ranking increased 11 places, 21%, from #52 to #63.

Last year at this time, Hanescu was winning the Szczecin Challenger.

Ranking Notes

Davis Cup weeks are usually pretty quiet, and this week was no exception; the only players to rise as much as 15% were Bedene (20%), Federer (17%), and Stepanek (16%). Hanescu (21%), Berdych (20%, to #6), and Kuznetsov (18%) were the only players to fall as much as 12%.

Our Personal Picks for “Best Mover of the Week”

These are subjective picks!

It gets tempting to hand the award to Federer, just to show the problems with awarding points for Davis Cup, but we’ll go with Bedene as the biggest mover.

THIS WEEK IN TENNIS

THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:

Metz (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

St. Petersburg (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Martin Klizan

NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:

Kuala Lumpur (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Juan Monaco

Bangkok (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Richard Gasquet

STATS AND FACTS

RANKINGS

Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings

As of September 18, 2013

Rank &

Prior…Player………..Points

1..(1) Djokovic……….11120

2..(2) Nadal………….10860

3..(3) Murray………….7075

4..(4) Ferrer………….6710

5..(5) Federer…………4515

6..(6) Berdych…………4460

7..(7) Del Potro……….4425

8..(8) Tsonga………….3265

9..(9) Gasquet…………3165

10.(10) Wawrinka………..3150

11.(11) Raonic………….2610

12.(12) Nishikori……….2325

13.(13) Haas……………2265

14.(14) Janowicz………..2110

15.(15) Isner…………..2025

16.(16) Simon…………..1950

17.(18) Almagro…………1940

18.(19) Robredo…………1855

19.(17) Fognini…………1840

20.(20) Youzhny…………1780

21.(21) Anderson………..1775

22.(22) Seppi…………..1555

23.(23) Tipsarevic………1525

24.(24) Cilic…………..1445

25.(25) Kohlschreiber……1445

26.(26) Lopez…………..1435

27.(27) Melzer………….1425

28.(28) Paire…………..1380

29.(29) Dimitrov………..1375

30.(30) Monaco………….1275

DRAWS

Metz — Week of September 15

……………….QF

1 Tsonga………..(1)Tsonga

7 Chardy………..Kamke

4 Kohlschreiber

8 F Mayer

5 Paire

3 Seppi

6 Querrey………(6)Querrey

2 Simon (WC)

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Tsonga

2 Simon (WC)

3 Seppi

4 Kohlschreiber

5 Paire……….lost 1R (Becker)

6 Querrey

7 Chardy………lost 1R (Fucsovics)

8 F Mayer

St. Petersburg — Week of September 15

1 Fognini

7 Rosol

3 Tipsarevic

6 Gulbis

5 Verdasco

4 Tursunov

8 Istomin…..(8)Istomin

2 Youzhny…..Garcia-Lopez

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Fognini

2 Youzhny…..lost 2R (Garcia-Lopez)

3 Tipsarevic..lost 1R (Bautista Agut)

4 Tursunov

5 Verdasco….lost 1R (Stakhovsky)

6 Gulbis

7 Rosol

8 Istomin

SCORES

WEDNESDAY

St. Petersburg

Singles – First Round

R Bautista Agut def. (3) J Tipsarevic 7-6(7-4) 6-3

S Stakhovsky def. (5) F Verdasco 6-3 6-4

(6) E Gulbis def. (WC) M Elgin 6-0 6-1

(7) L Rosol def. R Berankis 6-4 7-6(7-4)

M Przysiezny def. A Ramos 3-6 6-4 6-3

J Sousa def. P Lorenzi 6-3 6-4

(Q) K Kravchuk def. H Zeballos 7-6(7-5) 6-3

Second Round

G Garcia-Lopez def. (2) M Youzhny 6-4 4-6 6-3

(8) D Istomin def. A Golubev 4-6 6-3 6-4

Doubles – First Round

Inglot/Istomin def. (2) Mirnyi/Tecau 6-4 7-5

(4) Cermak/Polasek def. Fognini/Lorenzi 7-5 7-6(8-6)

Groth/Guccione def. (Alt) Marfinsky/Strelkov 6-3 6-2

Metz

Singles – First Round

B Becker def. (5) B Paire 6-3 7-5

C Berlocq def. J Vesely 6-3 6-4

(WC) A Olivetti def. (Q) M Zverev 7-5 7-6(7-3)

N Mahut def. L Mayer 7-6(7-2) 6-4

Singles – Second Round

(1) J Tsonga def. E Roger-Vasselin 6-3 6-4

(6) S Querrey def. (WC) P Mathieu 6-2 retired (Right Leg)

T Kamke def. (Q) M Fucsovics 1-6 6-3 6-2

Doubles – First Round

(2) Knowle/Melo def. (WC) Chardy/Gicquel 6-4 6-3

Brunstrom/Klaasen def. (3) J Murray/Peers 6-4 7-6(7-2)

(4) Begemann/Emmrich def. Bednarek/Marach 7-6(7-3) 6-4

(PR) Erlich/A Ram def. (WC) Herbert/Olivetti 4-6 6-4 10-4

Topics: 10sballs, Atp, Davis Cup, Janko Tipsarevic, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Sports, Tennis

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