ATP Basel / Valencia and More

Written by: Staff on 24th October 2013

ATP Basel / Valencia and More

epa03913888 France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga returns the ball to Germany's Daniel Brands during their second round match at the Erste Bank Open ATP tennis tournament in Vienna, Austria, 17 October 2013. EPA/HERBERT PFARRHOFER |

****** EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ******

* Isner latest Race elimination

* Dolgopolov to fall to around #50

* Del Potro, Dimitrov, Ferrer, Almagro, Janowicz post straight-sets wins

****** TODAY’S MEN’S NEWS ******

Basel

Singles – Second Round: (1) J del Potro def. M Baghdatis 6-1 6-2

A little closer to #4 for Juan Martin del Potro, although he can’t possibly make it until next week, when both Paris and London come off. Marcos Baghdatis ends the year Top Hundred, but just barely; it’s his worst year in most of a decade. He actually has a better won/lost in doubles than singles!

Singles – Second Round: (8) G Dimitrov def. (WC) A Dolgopolov 6-3 7-6(7-5)

Bad news for Alexandr Dolgopolov, who was defending finalist points and will fall to around #50. Bad news for Roger Federer, too, perhaps — he has to face Grigor Dimitrov next. But good news for Dimitrov, who wins his seventh straight match and has a chance at ending the year in the Top Twenty — although, for the moment, he remains #22.

Singles – Second Round: D Brands def. L Kubot 6-2 6-4

A big opportunity for Daniel Brands — one more win would likely make him Top Fifty, and he faces an unseeded opponent next.

Singles – Second Round: (Q) P Mathieu def. M Llodra 6-4 6-3

One more win and Paul-Henri Mathieu will have defended his points. Which might well let him end the year in the Top Hundred. Too bad he faces the top seed next….

Singles – Second Round: E Roger-Vasselin def. (Q) T Kamke 7-5 6-3

Edouard Roger-Vasselin isn’t ranked high enough to get direct entry into Paris, but a wildcard looks likely — and, on current form, he appears to have a real chance to end the year in the Top Fifty.

Singles – Second Round: V Pospisil def. I Karlovic 6-3 6-4

Unless Ivo Karlovic can do something in Paris qualifying or a Challenger, this means he will end the year around #80. Vasek Pospisil is around #38.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Llodra/Mahut def. Begemann/Emmrich 6-3 7-6(7-5)

Begemann/Emmrich weren’t really alive in the doubles Race — they were more than 1400 points off the pace — but this truly settles things; they have no mathematical hope even for an alternate spot.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Huey/Inglot def. Istomin/Zeballos 6-4 7-6(7-5)

Valencia

Singles – Second Round: (1) D Ferrer def. J Benneteau 6-2 6-1

This is not enough points to be of significance for defending champion David Ferrer, but it leaves Julien Benneteau still stuck a little below #30.

Singles – Second Round: (3) N Almagro def. (Q) M Przysiezny 6-4 7-5

For an indoor event, Nicolas Almagro really seems to like this place a lot. He’s still officially alive in the Race, although in practice he doesn’t have an appreciable chance.

Singles – Second Round: J Chardy def. (4) J Isner 7-6(9-7) 6-3

This formally knocks John Isner out of the Race. It also drops him from #14 to #15. Jeremy Chardy is now just below the Top Thirty. And he might well go higher, because there are no seeds left in the bottom half here.

Singles – Second Round: (5) J Janowicz def. (Q) J Sousa 6-2 7-5

With John Isner out, Jerzy Janowicz has clinched his Top Fifteen spot and is likely to rise to #14. And, with the draw opening up, he could rise as high as #12 if he can keep winning. We’d guess Joao Sousa will eind the year in the Top Fifty, but just barely.

Singles – Second Round: J Nieminen def. (Q) A Falla 6-2 6-3

This clinches a Top Forty spot for Jarkko Nieminen. He will probably rise to at least #39.

Singles – Second Round: M Youzhny def. P Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-3

Typical of Philipp Kohlschreiber lately: He effectively knocks Tommy Haas out of the Race, then goes pretty tamely in his next match. That means no Top Twenty spot for Kohlschreiber — but Mikhail Youzhny is probably in; this takes him ahead of #20 Kevin Anderson.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. S Gonzalez/Lipsky 6-4 7-5

Gonzalez/Lipsky are still formally alive in the London Race. But it looks as if they will need a title in Paris to qualify.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Haas/Sa def. (4) Marrero/Verdasco 6-1 6-3

By the look of things, Fernando Verdasco’s abdominal problem is back. But it shouldn’t matter; he and David Marrero ought to qualify for London.

****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******

Men’s Race Update

It’s like a bright morning after a damp night. Things started out foggy, but the mist is clearing fast.

This is the week when things really get serious in the Race to London. This week’s tournaments are 500 point events, meaning that if a Race contender can win one of these, it will be a huge boost to his chances. Which makes it very strange that Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Milos Raonic didn’t play. Sure, Raonic planned to, then pulled out — but that was foolish scheduling.

Remember that there are only two more weeks in which to qualify, and that the events in these two weeks are worth 1500 points total. Recall that Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Juan Martin del Potro, and Tomas Berdych have qualified — but that Murray won’t play, so the #9 player in the Race will play in London.

Starting this week, Richard Gasquet was #9, with 3120 points. Subtract 1500 from that, and a player must have at least 1630 points to be in contention (since Gasquet will earn 10 for showing up at Paris). That turned out to be twenty players:

1. Nadal: 11670

2. Djokovic: 9610

3. Murray: 5805

4. Ferrer: 5050

5. Del Potro: 4420

6. Berdych: 3800

7. Wawrinka: 3150

8. Federer: 3145

9. Gasquet: 3120

10. Tsonga: 3055

11. Raonic: 2770

12. Haas: 2425

13. Almagro: 2110

14. Isner: 2060

15. Fognini: 1920

16. Robredo: 1810

17. Nishikori: 1795

18. Simon: 1700

19. Youzhny: 1680

20. Anderson: 1640

Anderson, Isner, Nishikori, and Simon have already lost; they’re out. Robredo didn’t play this week; he’s out. Every other player is still in it. In theory, at least. We have three spots open, and five serious contenders, Wawrinka, Federer, Gasquet, Tsonga, and Raonic.

It was a little harder for Gasquet to add points than the players ahead of him, Wawrinka and Federer. Gasquet had 180 points in his last countable optional event. Wawrinka had 90. Federer could take anything — the 45 points for his first round win have already put him ahead of Wawrinka. It’s irrelevant for Tsonga and Raonic, since they aren’t playing this week, and of course Wawrinka and Gasquet lost and didn’t add anything. Tommy Haas has 90 points in his last optional, but his loss at Valencia pretty well took care of him — he needs a Paris title.

In practical terms, Raonic is probably out of it too. His failure to play this week means that he will need at least a final at Paris to have a shot. So it’s really Federer, Wawrinka, Gasquet, and Tsonga fighting over three spots. Federer now feels like a good bet. Wawrinka at least will be rested for Paris. Gasquet… had to decide how much energy to expend this week. Obviously he ended up not expending much. The surface at Paris isn’t as good for him as for Tsonga, so his loss this week might still cost him even though he needed a final to add points.

In the doubles, the Bryans and Peya/Soares are officially in. You can count on Dodig/Melo and Granollers/Lopez, too. As far as the rest, the #8 team coming in was Fyrstenberg/Matkowski, at 2685 points. There were 13 teams within 1500 points of them…But several of those teams aren’t playing this week, and some (notably Mirnyi/Tecau, #9 in the Race) have already lost. And #8 Fyrstenberg/Matkowski came in more than 300 points behind #7 Paes/Stepanek. It isn’t clinched yet, but we’d say that seven teams will almost certainly qualify: The Bryans, Peya/Soares, Dodig/Melo, Granollers/Lopez, Marrero/Verdasco, Qureshi/Rojer, and Paes/Stepanek. The last spot will probably go to Fyrstenberg/Matkowski or Murray/Peers. That’s not official; it’s just that the latter two are the only teams within reasonable reach and playing well.

KEYWORDS: ATP Race Men

******** 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 24, 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……….4955

6..(7) Berdych…………4180

7..(6) Federer…………4035

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………..2150

15.(14) Isner…………..2070

16.(16) Simon…………..2060

17.(17) Fognini…………2010

18.(18) Nishikori……….1915

19.(19) Robredo…………1830

20.(21) Youzhny…………1735

21.(20) Anderson………..1730

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

……………QF

1 del Potro….(1)del Potro

5 Gasquet……Mathieu(Q)

4 Wawrinka…..Roger-Vasselin

7 Seppi……..Brands

8 Dimitrov…..(8)Dimitrov

3 Federer……(3)Federer

6 Nishikori….Dodig

2 Berdych……Pospisil

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 del Potro

2 Berdych…….lost 1R (Karlovic)

3 Federer

4 Wawrinka……lost 1R (Roger-Vasselin)

5 Gasquet…….lost 1R (Llodra)

6 Nishikori…..lost 2R (Dodig)

7 Seppi………lost 1R (Brands)

8 Dimitrov

Valencia — Week of October 22

…………..QF

1 Ferrer……(1)Ferrer

5 Janowicz….(5)Janowicz

3 Almagro…..(3)Almagro

7 Fognini…..(7)Fognini

8 Anderson….Tursunov

4 Isner…….Chardy

6 Simon…….Nieminen

2 Haas……..Youzhny

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Ferrer

2 Haas…….lost 1R (Kohlschreiber)

3 Almagro

4 Isner……lost 2R (Chardy)

5 Janowicz

6 Simon……lost 1R (Falla)

7 Fognini

8 Anderson…lost 1R (Bautista Agut)

******** SCORES ********

THURSDAY

Basel

Singles – Second Round

(1) J del Potro def. M Baghdatis 6-1 6-2

(8) G Dimitrov def. (WC) A Dolgopolov 6-3 7-6(7-5)

D Brands def. L Kubot 6-2 6-4

(Q) P Mathieu def. M Llodra 6-4 6-3

E Roger-Vasselin def. (Q) T Kamke 7-5 6-3

V Pospisil def. I Karlovic 6-3 6-4

Doubles – Quarterfinal

Llodra/Mahut def. Begemann/Emmrich 6-3 7-6(7-5)

Huey/Inglot def. Istomin/Zeballos 6-4 7-6(7-5)

Valencia

Singles – Second Round

(1) D Ferrer def. J Benneteau 6-2 6-1

(3) N Almagro def. (Q) M Przysiezny 6-4 7-5

J Chardy def. (4) J Isner 7-6(9-7) 6-3

(5) J Janowicz def. (Q) J Sousa 6-2 7-5

J Nieminen def. (Q) A Falla 6-2 6-3

M Youzhny def. P Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-3

Doubles – Quarterfinal

(1) Bryan/Bryan def. S Gonzalez/Lipsky 6-4 7-5

Haas/Sa def. (4) Marrero/Verdasco 6-1 6-3

Topics: 10sballs, Atp, Bob Bryan, Daniel Brands, David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco, GRIGOR DIMITROV, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin Del Potro, Mike Bryan, Nicolas Almagro, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News

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