* One more win in Montpellier might put Istomin in Top Forty
* Llodra now far below #100 after loss to Gicquel
* Karlovic upsets Brands on a day when no Top Fifty players in action in Zagreb
* Hits 44 aces to equal record for a three-set match
* Slumping Alund surprises Ramos in Vina del Mar
* Gimeno-Traver edges #7 seed Dolgopolov, who remains below #50
* Japanese newcomer Taro Daniel too strong for Bellucci
****** TODAY’S MEN’S NEWS ******
Montpellier
French players won four of five matches on the day as the home indoor event began to gain pace. Unknown Pierre-Hugues Herbert beat Andres Artunedo of Spain 6-4, 6-3 while No. 249 qualifier Albano Olivetti put out compatriot Kenny De Schepper 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 with a 14-ace performance.
Journeyman qualifier Marc Gicquel, 36, reached the second round over fellow French veteran Michael Llodra, 6-4, 7-6(4) and will take on second seed Gilles Simon. It was the first ATP-level win for Gicquel since June, 2010, a three-and-a-half year dry spell. Adrian Mannarino wrapped up the home day on court, beating co-national Vincent Millot 6-4, 6-4 and next faces third seed Jerzy Janowicz.
Denis Istomin, who substituted injured Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka, began with a defeat of Turkey’s Marsel Ilhan 6-4, 7-5. Istomin ranked 43, didn’t face a break point in a winning debut at the venue.
Vina del Mar
Eighth seed Federico Delbonis led a South American sweep into the second round, with the Argentine beat Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-4. Santiago Giraldo of Colombia advanced of Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6- 4, 6-2 while Argentine Martin Alund beat Albert Ramos of Spain 6-3, 6-4.
Japan’s Taro Daniel upset Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-3, Spain’s Pablo Carreno defeated Italian Filippo Volandri 6-0, 3-6, 6-1 while Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi took revenge by defeating Colombian Alejandro Gonzalez 6-2, 6-1.
Zagreb
Ivo Karlovic blasted a record-leveling 44 aces in a three-set match to beat Daniel Brands 6-7(4), 7-5 7-6(3) and begin his campaign at home on a high note. The performance tied that of Australian Mark Philippoussis, set October, 1995, in Kuala Lumpur. Karlovic’s effort was the fourth time since 1991 that a player had hit at least 40 aces in a best-of-three sets match, all coming indoors, and the second time in Zagreb (Goren Ivanisevic, 40 aces in 1997). The previous best for Karlovic was 38 in a three-set match (Basel, 2007).
Serb Davis Cup player Dusan Lajovic set up a second-round clash with top seed Marin Cilic after the No. 101 beat qualifier Pedja Krstin 6-2, 6-3. Second seed and 2012 champion Mikhail Youzhny starts with Bjorn Phau, who put out Croatian Ante Pavic 6-3, 6-4. Lukas Lacko stopped Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-4.
German qualifier Michael Berrer beat teenaged Borna Coric 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, in a match against a player competing in only his second ATP match. “I have to be honest, I underestimated him a little bit,” said the German winner. “He was playing very well and he didn’t make it easy for me. He was really taking my slice out of the game and had an answer for all of my shots. It was more of a physical thing today and I’m really happy that I survived.”
******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********
THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Vina del Mar (250/Clay). Defending Champion: Horacio Zeballos
Montpellier (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Richard Gasquet
Zagreb (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Marin Cilic
NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Rotterdam (500/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Juan Martin del Potro
Memphis (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion (as an ATP 500): Kei Nishikori
Buenos Aires (250/Clay). Defending Champion: David Ferrer
******** STATS AND FACTS ********
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP Rankings As of February 4, 2014
Rank &
Prior
Rank ..Name ….. Points
1..(1) Nadal………….14330
2..(2) Djokovic……….10580
3..(3) Wawrinka………..5710
4..(4) Del Potro……….5370
5..(5) Ferrer………….5280
6..(6) Murray………….4795
7..(7) Berdych…………4540
8..(8) Federer…………4355
9.(10) Tsonga………….2885
10..(9) Gasquet…………2845
11.(11) Raonic………….2690
12.(12) Haas……………2435
13.(13) Isner…………..2320
14.(14) Youzhny…………2100
15.(15) Fognini…………2100
16.(17) Nishikori……….1965
17.(16) Robredo…………1960
18.(18) Almagro…………1930
19.(19) Dimitrov………..1810
20.(20) Simon…………..1700
21.(21) Janowicz………..1615
22.(22) Anderson………..1580
23.(23) Gulbis………….1443
24.(25) Pospisil………..1359
25.(26) Lopez…………..1355
26.(27) Kohlschreiber……1330
27.(28) Tursunov………..1314
28.(24) Paire…………..1275
29.(29) Mayer…………..1245
30.(30) Monfils…………1245
**DRAWS
Montpellier — week of February 3, 2014
1 Gasquet
–bye
Mathieu (WC)
Mahut
de Schepper
Qualifier
Davydenko
8 Benneteau
3 Janowicz
–bye
Bautista Agut
Mannarino
Gabashvili
Brown
Przysiezny
7 Roger-Vasselin
5 Monfils
Kubot
Kamke
Sousa
Istomin
Qualifier
–bye
4 Tursunov
6 Nieminen
Nedovyesov
Herbert (WC)
Qualifier
Llodra
Qualifier
–bye
2 Simon
Vina del Mar — week of February 3, 2014
1 Fognini
–bye
Bedene
Robert
Volandri
Carreno Busta
Garin (WC)
5 Chardy
3 Almagro
–bye
Qualifier
Ramos
Qualifier
Qualifier
Cuevas (PR)
8 Delbonis
7 Garcia-Lopez
Reister
Lorenzi
A Gonzalez
Giraldo
Qualifier
–bye
4 Granollers
6 Dolgopolov (WC)
Gimeno-Traver
Zeballos
Lama (WC)
Haider-Maurer
L Mayer
–bye
2 Robredo
Zagreb — week of February 3, 2014
1 Haas
–bye
Huta Galung
Becker
Qualifier
Stakhovsky
Kavcic
8 Sijsling
3 Kohlschreiber
–bye
Golubev
Hanescu
Qualifier
Coric (WC)
Hajek
7 Stepanek
5 Cilic
M Delic (WC)
Lajovic
Qualifier
Brands
Karlovic
–bye
4 Dodig
6 Rosol
Sela
Lacko
Struff
Qualifier
A Pavic (WC)
–bye
2 Youzhny
******** SCORES ********
TUESDAY
Montpellier
Singles – First Round
[Q] A Olivetti (FRA) d K De Schepper (FRA) 46 76(2) 64
A Mannarino (FRA) d [LL] V Millot (FRA) 64 64
D Istomin (UZB) d [Q] M Ilhan (TUR) 64 75
[WC] P Herbert (FRA) d [Q] A Artunedo Martinavarr (ESP) 64 63
[Q] M Gicquel (FRA) d M Llodra (FRA) 64 76(4)
Doubles – First Round
[2] R Junaid (AUS) / A Qureshi (PAK) d D Brown (GER) / A Krajicek (USA) 67(14) 76(5) 10-7
[3] P Hanley (AUS) / J Marray (GBR) d T Gabashvili (RUS) / J Sousa (POR) 75 60
H Kontinen (FIN) / J Nieminen (FIN) d [WC] D Descloix (FRA) / G Monfils (FRA) w/o (Monfils – back)
N Davydenko (RUS) / D Istomin (UZB) d O Nedovyesov (KAZ) / M Przysiezny (POL) 46 64 10-4
[WC] G Rufin (FRA) / G Simon (FRA) d G Kretschmer (GER) / A Satschko (GER) 61 46 13-11
Vina del Mar
Singles – First Round
Federico Delbonis (8), Argentina, def. Pablo Cuevas, Uruquay, 6-3, 6-4.
Paolo Lorenzi, Italy, def. Alejandro Gonzalez, Colombia, 6-2, 6-1.
Aljaz Bedene, Slovinia, def. Stephane Robert, France, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Pablo Carreno Busta, Spain, def. Filippo Volandri, Italy, 6-0, 3-6, 6-1.
Martin Alund, Argentina, def. Albert Ramos, Spain, 6-3, 6-4.
Santiago Giraldo, Colombia, def. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, Spain, 6-4, 6-2.
Taro Daniel, Japan, def. Thomaz Bellucci, Brazil, 6-3, 6-3.
Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Spain, def. Alexandr Dolgopolov (6), Ukraine, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-5.
Doubles – First Round
Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez (1), Spain, def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain, and Philipp Oswald, Austria, 6-1, 6-3.
Jeremy Chardy, France, and Lukas Dlouhy, Czech Republic, def. Pablo Cuevas, Uruguay, and Horacio Zeballos, Argentina, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Christian Garin and Nicolas Jarry, Chile, def. Christoper Kas, Germany, and Andre Sa, Brazil, 6-2, 6-4.
Zagreb
Singles – First Round
[Q] M Berrer (GER) d [WC] B Coric (CRO) 64 36 64
D Lajovic (SRB) d [Q] P Krstin (SRB) 62 63
I Karlovic (CRO) d D Brands (GER) 67(4) 75 76(3)
L Lacko (SVK) d J Struff (GER) 64 64
[Q] B Phau (GER) d [WC] A Pavic (CRO) 63 64
Doubles – First Round
[3] J Brunstrom (SWE) / J Knowle (AUT) d [WC] D Marcan (CRO) / N Mektic (CRO) 62 76(3)
[4] M Draganja (CRO) / M Pavic (CRO) d J Huta Galung (NED) / F Moser (GER) 64 64
J Erlich (ISR) / L Rosol (CZE) d T Bednarek (POL) / M Kowalczyk (POL) 61 64
M Demoliner (BRA) / P Raja (IND) d F Cermak (CZE) / M Elgin (RUS) 63 64
**
Topics: 10sballs, Albert Ramos, Alejandro Gonzalez, Daniel Brands, Gilles Simon, Ivo Karlovic, Juan Martin Del Potro, Kenny De Schepper, Marin Cilic, Mark Philippoussis, Richard Gasquet, Sports, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Tennis News