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