Men’s Update & Results. Next Week Preview
Men's Update & Results. Next Week Preview
****** TODAY’S MEN’S NEWS ******
Bangkok
Singles – Final: (3) M Raonic def. (1) T Berdych 7-6(7-4) 6-3
Is it possible that Tomas Berdych will end the year in the Top Five but without winning a title? It’s starting to look as if his seven year streak of winning at least one title each year might end. He is the only Top Ten player who hasn’t won something in 2013.
Nonetheless, he has returned to #5. And he has a good chance to end the year there.
Milos Raonic picks up his second title of the year, and fifth of his career. It is only his second away from San Jose (the other being Chennai 2012); four of his five career titles have been on indoor hard, and all have been 250 point events. Still, he has two titles this year, just as he did last year. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help his ranking; he remains #11, with a lot to defend in the coming week. But it could be big in the Race. He came in at #11 in that also, and a weak #11, more than 400 points behind #10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and 750 behind #8 Stanislas Wawrinka. This cuts those gaps substantially, and obviously the remaining surfaces are mostly to his liking. A week ago, we’d have said he had almost no chance for London. As it is, he has a long way to go; we doubt he will qualify unless Andy Murray pulls out. But this puts him in serious contention. He’s probably the last guy of whom that can be said.
Doubles – Final: (3) J Murray/Peers def. (4) Bednarek/Brunstrom 6-3 3-6 10-6
This is turning into a genuine breakthrough year for John Peers. The 25-year-old now has three doubles titles — all this year, and all with Jamie Murray: Gstaad, Houston, and Bangkok. An interesting list of surfaces, that. Peers is getting close to the Top Thirty.
Murray will be right behind him. For him, it’s career title #10. And it’s the first time since 2007 that he has won three titles in one year.
Tomasz Bednarek, at 31, earned his third career final — but he is still without a title. He has two finals in the last year. This takes him to around #50. After a long, tough career, he is starting to be a regular at the ATP level. But there isn’t much sign that he can do more than he has done.
Kuala Lumpur
Singles – Final: J Sousa def. (5) J Benneteau 2-6 7-5 6-4
Lack of experience in finals, it would seem, is better than futility of experience.
Joao Sousa had never played a final before. Until last week, he had never even been in a semifinal. He did have a couple of Challenger titles, but other than that, his best result of the last year was a third round at the U. S. Open. This month has been a true, complete, unanticipated breakthrough. Which will of course show up in his ranking. He came here at #77. That’s up from #89 entering St. Petersburg, and #95 prior to the U. S. Open. He’ll leave here around #50 — a career high.
He is the first Portuguese man ever to win an ATP title.
Julien Benneteau is now 0-9 in career finals. He’s made at least one final for six years in a row (and two in 2008, 2012, and 2013). Will he ever break through? At 31, it’s getting harder to imagine. At least he defended his points from last year. That will leave him probably #32 — one spot higher than he was coming in.
Doubles – Final: Butorac/Klaasen def. Cuevas/Zeballos 6-2 6-4
Apparently Raven Klaasen is a top doubles player only when he plays with a partner whose surname starts with “B.” Klaasen has three career doubles titles — all this year, and all with a partner with a “B” name. He won Metz and Nice with Brunstrom, and now Kuala Lumpur with Butorac. At age thirty, he’s finally making a living at this game.
Eric Butorac isn’t going to worry too much about naming. He’s just glad to have a title. It’s #14 of his career, but his first this year. His ranking had fallen to #52. This will get him back into the Top Fifty. He has now won at least one title for seven straight years.
******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********
THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Kuala Lumpur (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Juan Monaco
Bangkok (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Richard Gasquet
NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Beijing (500/Hard). Defending Champion: Novak Djokovic
Tokyo (500/Hard). Defending Champion: Kei Nishikori
******** STATS AND FACTS ********
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of September 29, 2013
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Djokovic……….11120
2..(2) Nadal………….10860
3..(3) Murray………….7075
4..(4) Ferrer………….6710
5..(6) Berdych…………4520
6..(5) Federer…………4515
7..(7) Del Potro……….4425
8..(8) Tsonga………….3325
9.(10) Wawrinka………..3150
10..(9) Gasquet…………3005
11.(11) Raonic………….2815
12.(13) Haas……………2265
13.(12) Nishikori……….2250
14.(14) Simon…………..2095
15.(15) Janowicz………..2085
16.(16) Isner…………..2025
17.(17) Almagro…………1940
18.(18) Robredo…………1855
19.(19) Fognini…………1840
20.(20) Youzhny…………1780
21.(21) Anderson………..1775
22.(22) Seppi…………..1555
23.(23) Tipsarevic………1480
24.(25) Lopez…………..1455
25.(24) Kohlschreiber……1445
26.(26) Melzer………….1425
27.(27) Gulbis………….1386
28.(28) Paire…………..1380
29.(29) Dimitrov………..1375
30.(31) Querrey…………1265
* Benneteau returns to Kuala Lumpur final, will face first-time finalist Sousa
* Berdych regains #5 ranking, will face Raonic in Bangkok
****** TODAY’S MEN’S NEWS ******
Bangkok
Singles – Semifinal: (1) T Berdych def. (4) G Simon 6-7(5-7) 6-2 7-5
The good news for Tomas Berdych: He’ll get to go for his first title of 2013 on Sunday. And he finished strong, saving three break points as he served out the match. The bad news? This took him almost three hours, so he’ll be very tired. But even if he loses, he earned enough points here to pass Roger Federer and regain the #5 ranking. He leaves Gilles Simon at #14.
Singles – Semifinal: (3) M Raonic def. (2) R Gasquet 3-6 7-5 6-4
At least the final will be a fairly level playing field: Both players are going to be very weary. Milos Raonic at least saved himself a little effort by hitting 23 aces. The loss means that Richard Gasquet, last year’s champion, will fall from #9 to #10. He will probably have to do well in Shanghai or Paris if he wants to qualify for London. Of course, the same could be said of Raonic, who will be #11 win or lose the final.
Doubles – Semifinal: (4) Bednarek/Brunstrom def. Kas/Marach 6-3 6-3
Kuala Lumpur
Singles – Semifinal: (5) J Benneteau def. (2) S Wawrinka 6-4 6-3
Stanislas Wawrinka decided to add events so as to try to qualify for London. This was exactly what he didn’t need: He tired himself out here without adding any points. Still, because of Richard Gasquet’s result in Bangkok, he will rise to #9.
Julien Benneteau is back in the final, which means he will actually rise from #33 to #32. And he gets to try for another title. He has lost all his career finals until now. But maybe he will be lucky in his opponent….
Singles – Semifinal: J Sousa def. (4) J Melzer 6-4 3-6 6-4
Watching Jurgen Melzer collapse is no great surprise. Especially since he would have been Top 25 had he won this. Still, what a month for Joao Sousa! His first semifinal last week, now his first-ever final. And he’ll be reaching a career high. It will be fascinating to see how he deals with it.
Doubles – Semifinal: Butorac/Klaasen def. R Ram/Tecau 6-3 6-2
****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******
Men’s Look Forward: Beijing, Tokyo
At this time of year, the ATP has a pretty predictable routine: Pick a continent. Schedule a week of 250 point events. Then a week of 500 point events. Then a Masters. Starting in two weeks, the continent will be Europe. But, for now, it’s Asia — and this week brings the biggest Asian events other than Shanghai.
That scheduling is perhaps not the best for these events. We have only five weeks left in the season, with a maximum of 3250 points available. But no one can possibly earn that much; it means winning five events in five weeks! No top player will even play all those events. And everyone wants to play Shanghai and Paris. Based on history, if someone wanted to play a 500 point event, we’d have expected him to play Valencia or Basel rather than here.
All we can say is, the logic was wrong. Eight of the Top Ten are in action this week (the only ones missing are Andy Murray and Roger Federer) — and six of them are in Beijing. (Interestingly, there is only one other Top Fifteen player. By the looks of things, Beijing went all-out to recruit Top Ten players, and didn’t worry too much about players below that.) Defending champion Novak Djokovic is the #1 seed. Rafael Nadal, who is looking to pass him, is #2. David Ferrer is #3 and in Djokovic’s half; Tomas Berdych is #4. The other Top Ten players are #5 Richard Gasquet and #6 Stanislas Wawrinka. Rounding out the seeds are #7 Tommy Haas and #8 John Isner.
Although the field isn’t as strong in mid-range players as in the Top Ten, most of the seeds will face significant challenges. Djokovic will likely face Fernando Verdasco in round two. Wawrinka opens against Andreas Seppi, then Mikhail Youzhny or Sam Querrey. Ferrer opens against Vasek Pospisil, then perhaps Julien Benneteau. Gasquet starts against Florian Mayer, then probably Bernard Tomic. Isner’s second round opponent is expected to be Grigor Dimitrov. Berdych might face Nikolay Davydenko in that round. In one of the oldest matches on the ATP this year, Haas will start against wildcard Lleyton Hewitt, with the winner facing Fabio Fognini or Tommy Robredo. And Nadal may well face Philipp Kohlschreiber in round two.
Tokyo is much weaker than Beijing, but it isn’t bad. Juan Martin del Potro is the #1 seed, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga #2, Milos Raonic #3, Kei Nishikori #4, Gilles Simon #5, and Nicolas Almagro #6. Kevin Anderson returns to action as the #7 seed, with Janko Tipsarevic #8. And many of these seeds, too, could be tested. Del Potro opens against Marcos Baghdatis. Tipsarevic could face Alexandr Dolgopolov in round two. Nishikori opens against Jurgen Melzer, then probably Feliciano Lopez. Almagro has a good draw, but Anderson is likely to face Dmitry Tursunov in the second round. Raonic’s second round opponent could be Jeremy Chardy. Simon opens against Marcel Granollers, then Juan Monaco or Jarkko Nieminen. And Tsonga has to open against Gael Monfils, then probably Ivan Dodig.
The Rankings
This might be the week Novak Djokovic loses the #1 ranking. He is the defending champion at Beijing, meaning that he can only lose points. The finalist last year was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whose #8 ranking is at risk. The semifinalists were both surprises: Florian Mayer (whose Top Fifty ranking is in danger) and Feliciano Lopez.
The title at Tokyo went to Kei Nishikori, which obviously made the locals happy. Milos Raonic was the finalist, so he isn’t going to have any Top Ten chances this week. Semifinalists were Andy Murray and Marcos Baghdatis — another guy likely to lose his Top Fifty spot.
Djokovic comes in with a lead of 260 points on Nadal. He has no spare points. Nadal has an open spot for a 500 point event. The strange effect of that is that, just by playing, Nadal will subtract a penalty event and get to add points. In practical terms, what this means is that Djokovic has to defend Beijing and he has to have someone beat Nadal before the final. If Djokovic fails to defend, or if Nadal makes the final, Nadal is #1.
David Ferrer’s failure last week proves costly this week. Had Ferrer made the final at Kuala Lumpur, he would have had a good shot at the #3 ranking this week. As it is, Andy Murray will stay #3 and Ferrer #4 unless Ferrer wins Beijing.
Below that, things are pretty wild. Berdych comes in at #5, barely ahead of #6 Federer (but with a chance to pad the lead), with del Potro another hundred points back. So Berdych and del Potro both have chances for #5, with Federer at risk of falling to #7.
We know that Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, Ferrer, Berdych, Federer, and del Potro will be the top seven in some order. But Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could easily lose his #8 ranking to Wawrinka or Gasquet. With Raonic having so much to defend, there is no real chance of there being a new Top Ten player. Haas might pass Raonic to reach #11.
Nishikori could fall to around #20 with a poor result. If he does, Isner or Almagro or Robredo or Fognini might take his Top Fifteen spot; Isner has the inside track.
Lopez might fall to not much above #30.
KEYWORDS: Preview Beijing Tokyo
******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********
THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Kuala Lumpur (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Juan Monaco
Bangkok (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Richard Gasquet
NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Beijing (500/Hard). Defending Champion: Novak Djokovic
Tokyo (500/Hard). Defending Champion: Kei Nishikori
******** STATS AND FACTS ********
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of September 28, 2013
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Djokovic……….11120
2..(2) Nadal………….10860
3..(3) Murray………….7075
4..(4) Ferrer………….6710
5..(6) Berdych…………4520
6..(5) Federer…………4515
7..(7) Del Potro……….4425
8..(8) Tsonga………….3325
9.(10) Wawrinka………..3150
10..(9) Gasquet…………3005
11.(11) Raonic………….2715
12.(13) Haas……………2265
13.(12) Nishikori……….2250
14.(14) Simon…………..2095
15.(15) Janowicz………..2085
16.(16) Isner…………..2025
17.(17) Almagro…………1940
18.(18) Robredo…………1855
19.(19) Fognini…………1840
20.(20) Youzhny…………1780
21.(21) Anderson………..1775
22.(22) Seppi…………..1555
23.(23) Tipsarevic………1480
24.(25) Lopez…………..1455
25.(24) Kohlschreiber……1445
26.(26) Melzer………….1425
27.(27) Gulbis………….1386
28.(28) Paire…………..1380
29.(29) Dimitrov………..1375
30.(31) Querrey…………1265
**DRAWS
Bangkok — Week of September 22
………….QF………..SF……….F
1 Berdych….(1)Berdych…Berdych…..Berdych
8 Rosol……Lu
4 Simon……(4)Simon…..Simon
7 Nieminen…Sijsling
6 Lopez,,,,,,(6)Lopez
3 Raonic…..(3)Raonic….Raonic……Raonic
5 Youzhny….(5)Youzhny
2 Gasquet….(2)Gasquet…Gasquet
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Berdych
2 Gasquet….lost SF (Raonic)
3 Raonic
4 Simon……lost SF (Berdych)
5 Youzhny….lost Q (Gasquet)
6 Lopez……lost QF (Raonic)
7 Nieminen…lost 1R (Sijsling)
8 Rosol……lost 2R (Lu)
Kuala Lumpur — Week of September 22
…………..QF…………SF………F
1 Ferrer……(1)Ferrer
8 Davydenko…Sousa………Sousa……Sousa
4 Melzer……(4)Melzer…..Melzer
7 Pospisil….Delbonis
5 Benneteau…(5)Benneteau..Benneteau..Benneteau
3 Almagro…..Mannarino
6 Tursunov….(6)Tursunov
2 Wawrinka….(2)Wawrinka…Wawrinka
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Ferrer…….lost QF (Sousa)
2 Wawrinka…..lost SF (Benneteau)
3 Almagro……lost 2R (Mannarino)
4 Melzer…….lost SF (Sousa)
5 Benneteau
6 Tursunov…..lost QF (Wawrinka)
7 Pospisil…..lost 2R (Delbonis)
8 Davydenko….lost 1R (Cuevas)
Beijing — Week of September 29
1 Djokovic
Rosol
Verdasco
Qualifier
Querrey
Youzhny
Seppi
6 Wawrinka
3 Ferrer
Pospisil
Matosevic
Benneteau
Tomic
Zhang (WC)
F Mayer
5 Gasquet
8 Isner
Wu (WC)
Dimitrov
Qualifier
Qualifier
Davydenko
Andujar
4 Berdych
7 Haas
Hewitt (WC)
Fognini
Robredo
Montanes
Kohlschreiner
Qualifier
2 Nadal
Tokyo — Week of September 29
1 del Potro
Baghdatis
Berlocq
Cuevas (PR)
Dolgopolov
Brands
Hanescu
8 Tipsarevic
4 Nishikori
Melzer
Lopez
Ito (WC)
Qualifier
Zeballos
Qualifier
6 Almagro
7 Anderson
Qualifier
Qualifier
Tursunov
Llodra
Chardy
Soeda (WC)
3 Raonic
5 Simon
Granollers
Nieminen
Monaco
Sugita (WC)
Dodig
Monfils
2 Tsonga
******** SCORES ********
FRIDAY
Bangkok
Singles – Semifinal
(1) T Berdych def. (4) G Simon 6-7(5-7) 6-2 7-5
(3) M Raonic def. (2) R Gasquet 3-6 7-5 6-4
Doubles – Semifinal
(4) Bednarek/Brunstrom def. Kas/Marach 6-3 6-3
Kuala Lumpur
Singles – Semifinal
(5) J Benneteau def. (2) S Wawrinka 6-4 6-3
J Sousa def. (4) J Melzer 6-4 3-6 6-4
Doubles – Semifinal
Butorac/Klaasen def. R Ram/Tecau 6-3 6-2
©Daily tennis news wire
Topics: Bangkok, Gilles Simon, Kuala Lumpur, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych
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