****** EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ******
* Wawrinka shocked by Roger-Vasselin in Basel, will lose at least one Race spot
* Berdych loses ace-fest with Karlovic, still awaits word of London clinch
* Seppi falls to Brands, loses chance to clinch return to Top 25
* Nishikori cruises
* Berlocq quits after two games against Dodig, will remain below Top Forty
* Simon stunned by Falla in Valencia, formally out of Race
* Lopez stays stuck around #30 after quick loss to Benneteau
* Former champion Almagro starts strong against Andujar, keeps faint London hope alive
* Aching Verdasco loses to Przysiezny, will remain below #30
* Youzhny advances when Tomic retires sick; might hit Top Twenty if he can win his next match
* Janowicz progresses in comeback with win over Carreno Busta
* Granollers/Lopez suffer ugly doubles loss but still close in on London qualification
****** TODAY’S MEN’S NEWS ******
Basel
Roger Federer faces Denis Istomin after the Uzbek booked his place in the second round with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) defeat of Argentine Horacio Zeballos. Federer has won all five matches he’s played against Istomin, the last at while nursing a bad back in March at Indian Wells.
Federer is in the chase for one of the four remaining spots at the eight-man World Tour Finals in London starting a week from Monday. After a poor season in which he admitted to mistakes in scheduling and trying to play through injury, the world No. 6 – winner of only one title in 2013 – is on red alert this week at home and next week at the Paris Masters, last tournament of the ATP regular season.
He trails compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka by just 40 ranking points in the race to London, standing provisional eighth to the seventh of US Open semi-finalist Wawrinka, who has never played at the year-ender. But Wawrinka did himself no favors as he bowed out 6-4, 6-3 in his opening match, ending on a double-fault against Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
The “second” Swiss lost in 71 minutes to the number 65 and blamed himself for not controlling his nerves on the home court. “It was a big match for me, playing in front of the Swiss people and I didn’t handle it well,” said Wawrinka. “I have to accept it.
“But I’m still having the best season of my career and I can’t forget that.” His year-end campaign now rests with the Paris Masters. “I will go to Paris early and practice, I need to be ready.”
Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori sent local Marco Chiudinelli6-2, 6-4 Chiudinelli, 32, has played Basel nine times and reached the semi-final four years ago to lose to Federer. Nishikori will bid for the last eight against Ivan Dodig after the Croatian needed just nine minutes on court as Argentine Carlos Berlocq quit injured trailing 2-0.
Marcos Baghdatis lines up against either defending champion Juan Del Potro or Swiss wild card Henri Laaksonen after beating German qualifier Benjamin Becker 7-6(8), 6-1. German Daniel Brands upset Italian seventh seed Andreas Seppi 7-6(3), 6-3.
Valencia
Third seed Nicolas Almagro began the week by winning an all-Spanish final over Pablo Andujar 6-2, 6-3 while fifth seeded Pole Jerzy Janowicz followed suit as he put out Spain’s Pablo Carreno 7-5, 7-6(7). There was an upset loss for French No. 6 Gilles Simon, who was humbled by Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-1, 6-0
Poland’s Michal Przysiezny followed his compatriot’s winning example as he beat Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 7-6(1) and Russian hard man Mikhail Youzhny finished off the season on a low note for Australian tyro Bernard Tomic as the 21-year-old retired for a 3-6, 6-4, 4-1 loss.
Frenchman Julien Benneteau added another Spanish loser to the day’s list as he beat Feliciano Lopez with the loss of just four games while Kuala Lumpur champion Joao Sousa heaped misery on the host nation with his 6-3, 7-5 win over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********
THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Valencia (500/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: David Ferrer
Basel (500/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Juan Martin del Potro
NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Paris (1000/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: David Ferrer
******** STATS AND FACTS ********
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of October 22, 2013
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Nadal………….11520
2..(2) Djokovic……….11120
3..(3) Ferrer………….6450
4..(4) Murray………….6295
5..(5) Del Potro……….4910
6..(7) Berdych…………4180
7..(6) Federer…………3990
8..(8) Wawrinka………..3240
9..(9) Tsonga………….3235
10.(10) Gasquet…………3130
11.(11) Raonic………….2860
12.(12) Haas……………2425
13.(13) Almagro…………2200
14.(15) Janowicz………..2105
15.(14) Isner…………..2070
16.(16) Simon…………..2060
17.(17) Fognini…………1965
18.(18) Nishikori……….1915
19.(19) Robredo…………1830
20.(20) Anderson………..1730
21.(21) Youzhny…………1690
22.(22) Dimitrov………..1500
23.(24) Kohlschreiber……1445
24.(25) Gulbis………….1431
25.(27) Seppi…………..1395
26.(26) Paire…………..1380
27.(23) Melzer………….1325
28.(28) Tipsarevic………1310
29.(30) Lopez…………..1275
30.(31) Monfils…………1230
**DRAWS
Basel — Week of October 22
1 del Potro
Laaksonen (WC)
Becker (Q)
Baghdatis
Mathieu (Q)
Kudla (Q)
Llodra
5 Gasquet
4 Wawrinka
Roger-Vasselin
Hanescu
Kamke (Q)
Gimeno-Traver
Kubot
Brands
7 Seppi
8 Dimitrov
Stepanek
Dolgopolov (WC)
de Schepper
Istomin
Zeballos
Mannarino
3 Federer
6 Nishikori
Chiudinelli (WC)
Berlocq
Dodig
V Pospisil
Haase
Karlovic
2 Berdych
Valencia — Week of October 22
1 Ferrer
Monfils
F Lopez
Benneteau
Garcia-Lopez
Qualifier
Qualifier
5 Janowicz
3 Almagro
Andujar
Verdasco (WC)
Qualifier
Tipsarevic
Granollers
Klizan
7 Fognini
8 Anderson
Bautista Agut
Montanes
Tursunov
F Mayer
Chardy
Gulbis
4 Isner
6 Simon
Qualifier
Nieminen
Paire
Youzhny
Tomic
Kohlschreiber
2 Haas
******** SCORES ********
MONDAY
Basel
Singles – First Round
I Karlovic (CRO) d [2] T Berdych (CZE) 46 76(4) 76(2) – saved 1 M.P.
E Roger-Vasselin (FRA) d [4] S Wawrinka (SUI) 64 63
[6] K Nishikori (JPN) d [WC] M Chiudinelli (SUI) 62 64
D Brands (GER) d [7] A Seppi (ITA) 76(3) 63
M Baghdatis (CYP) d [Q] B Becker (GER) 76(8) 61
D Istomin (UZB) d H Zeballos (ARG) 75 76(3)
I Dodig (CRO) d C Berlocq (ARG) 20 ret. (right foot)
Doubles – First Round
L Dlouhy (CZE) / P Hanley (AUS) d [WC] S Ehrat (SUI) / H Laaksonen (SUI) 63 76(6)
M Llodra (FRA) / N Mahut (FRA) d J Cabal (COL) / R Farah (COL) 61 63
D Istomin (UZB) / H Zeballos (ARG) d D Nestor (CAN) / V Pospisil (CAN) 62 76(4)
Valencia
Singles – First Round
[3] N Almagro (ESP) d P Andujar (ESP) 62 63
[5] J Janowicz (POL) d [Q] P Carreno Busta (ESP) 75 76(7)
[Q] A Falla (COL) d [6] G Simon (FRA) 61 60
J Benneteau (FRA) d F Lopez (ESP) 63 61
[Q] J Sousa (POR) d [WC] G Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 63 75
[Q] M Przysiezny (POL) d [WC] F Verdasco (ESP) 63 76(1)
M Youzhny (RUS) d B Tomic (AUS) 36 64 41 ret. (illness)
Doubles – First Round
J Nieminen (FIN) / D Tursunov (RUS) d [3] M Granollers (ESP) / M Lopez (ESP) 62 36 10-6
T Haas (GER) / A Sa (BRA) d [WC] R Bautista Agut (ESP) / P Carreno Busta (ESP) 75 61
Topics: 10sballs, Atp, Fernando Verdasco, Gilles Simon, Jerzy Janowicz, Juan Martin Del Potro, Nicolas Almagro, Pablo Andujar, Pablo Carreno, Roger Federer, Sports, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Tennis News