PRO TOUR NEWS – MEN
* All-French final in Montpellier
* Cilic back in Zagreb final; will face Haas
* Mayer in first career final; to face Fognini
Montpellier
Singles – Semifinal: (1) R Gasquet def. (3) J Janowicz 7-6(8-6) 7-6(7-4)
The difference here was probably the second serves. Jerzy Janowicz won only 56% of his second serve points; Richard Gasquet won 70%. And so Gasquet is back in the final. He will stay at #9; Janowicz will stay at #21. It’s almost as if this match didn’t happen….
Singles – Semifinal: (5) G Monfils def. (6) J Nieminen 6-2 3-6 6-1
Even though this went three sets, Gael Monfils was in pretty complete charge; he hit 15 aces, and finished in an hour and 18 minutes. That will take him to probably #24; Jarkko Nieminen will keep the #36 ranking he came in with.
Doubles – Semifinal: Davydenko/Istomin def. (2) Junaid/Qureshi 3-6 6-3 10-7
Junaid/Qureshi may have been the #2 seeds here, but their combined ranking is #105. This was the sort of doubles draw where anything could happen. And did.
Zagreb
Singles – Semifinal: (1) T Haas def. (LL) D Evans 5-7 6-4 6-3
Daniel Evans had several set points in the first set before he finally finished it off, and although he won the set, it was downhill from there. Definitely something to talk over with his coach…. He still produced the best ATP result of his career. And scared Tommy Haas, although it hardly matters; Haas is stuck at #12 this week.
Singles – Semifinal: (5) M Cilic def. (Q) B Phau 6-3 6-4
A pretty routine win for Marin Cilic, who now is just a little below the Top Forty in safe points — and who, of course, gets to go for yet another title here. It wasn’t bad for Bjorn Phau, either — not only did he earn his first semifinal in almost five years, he also earned a special exempt spot at Memphis — although that is a lot of time zones away….
Doubles – Semifinal: Marx/Mertinak def. (4) Draganja/Pavic 6-3 6-4
Vina del Mar
Singles – Semifinal: (1) F Fognini def. (3) N Almagro 6-4 1-6 7-6(7-5)
Fabio Fognini really, really seems to like making life tough for himself (including being broken as he served for the match), but somehow he keeps on coming through. This gives him the #14 ranking; Nicolas Almagro will have to settle for #16. Which still isn’t bad for his first tournament of the year….
Singles – Semifinal: L Mayer def. S Giraldo 7-6(7-2) 6-3
Three or four years ago, Leonardo Mayer seemed to be a young man who was going places. He came within a hair of reaching the Top Fifty. Then… the usual mix of injuries, opponents learning his game, and whatever it is that happens to promising young players. But he seems finally to be getting back into things. He won a fairly big Challenger in November. He made the second round at the Australian Open. Now this. And it’s all free points. #91 coming in, he’ll rise about twenty places. Oh — and he’s in his first career singles final.
Men’s Look Forward: Rotterdam, Memphis, Buenos Aires
“What is wrong with this picture?”
You could be forgiven for thinking that upon looking at the draw at Rotterdam. The event, one of the toughest 500 point tournaments of the year, is headlined by Andy Murray, the only one of the “Big Four” present — but he isn’t the #1 seed.
And that, at least according to the ATP rankings, is as it should be. Because Murray, who is in the draw on a wildcard, is currently ranked behind Juan Martin del Potro. The Argentine will make his return from wrist problems as the #1 seed, with Murray #2. Tomas Berdych is the #3 seed and in del Potro’s half; Richard Gasquet — who must be dragging after playing the Australian Open, Davis Cup, and Montpellier — is #4 and in Murray’s half. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is the #5 seed and in Murray’s quarter, meaning that we have five of the Top Ten here. Tommy Haas, another guy who has been pretty busy lately, is #6 and in Berdych’s quarter. Mikhail Youzhny, who was sick last week, is the #7 seed and in Gasquet’s quarter; the #8 seed, in del Potro’s quarter, is Grigor Dimitrov.
Few of the seeds can expect an easy time. Del Potro has to return to action against Gael Monfils, with Ivan Dodig likely to follow. Dimitrov starts against Dmitry Tursunov, then maybe Ernests Gulbis. Berdych starts against Andreas Seppi, who isn’t playing well this year, but then might face Gilles Simon. Haas starts against Fernando Verdasco, then maybe Jerzy Janowicz. Youzhny got off easy — his section has two wildcards and a qualifier — but Gasquet is likely to face Philipp Kohlschreiber in round two. Tsonga opens against Florian Mayer, then maybe Marin Cilic. Murray is relatively lucky, but even he has to start against Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who has been playing well lately, then maybe Jarkko Nieminen.
The last year has brought a lot of changes to Memphis. The good news is, it still has a tournament. But it has moved in the calendar, and it has downgraded from a 500 point event to a 250. Even when it was a 500, it was a weak 500. Now, it is almost unbelievably weak. There are no Top Ten players. They managed to get Kei Nishikori in on a wildcard; he is the #1 seed and the only Top Twenty player. #2 Feliciano Lopez is the only other Top Thirty player. #3 seed Lleyton Hewitt is the only other player in the Top Fifty. Yen-Hsun Lu is #4, Marinko Matosevic #5 (you’d think this was an Australian event… they even gave a wildcard to Nick Kyrgios, and the other wildcard went to former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis). Sam Querrey is the #6 seed and the top American in the draw; Michal Przysiezny is #7, and Mikhail Kukushkin is #8. There are no obvious unseeded threats, although the second round could feature Lopez versus Ivo Karlovic in a monster-serving contest.
It’s perhaps indicative of how well David Ferrer did at the start of last year that he is 7-3 this year yet has been falling in the rankings. He’ll be trying to turn that around at Buenos Aires, where he is the top seed and defending champion. It’s certainly a nice field for the attempt; he is the only Top Ten player, and the next-highest player to commit, #2 seed Fabio Fognini, has been playing an incredibly punishing schedule. #3 seed Tommy Robredo is in Fognini’s half; #4 Nicolas Almagro is in Ferrer’s. Interestingly, the top four seeds do not have byes, even though this is a 250 point event.
Marcel Granollers is #5, Robin Haase #6, and we finally have an Argentine in #7 seed Juan Monaco. Jeremy Chardy is #8. The rest of the field, naturally, is full of clay freaks; among the more dangerous may be Joao Sousa and Carlos Berlocq, who face off in the first round to face Haase, and Alexandr Dolgopolov, who could face Chardy in round two.
The Rankings
We’re seeing a bit of a schedule change this year. Last year at this time, we had .Rotterdam, alongside the now-defunct San Jose tournament and the rescheduled Sao Paulo event. Juan Martin del Potro won Rotterdam last year — a major part of the big rankings run he has made since then — with Julien Benneteau the finalist and Gilles Simon and Grigor Dimitrov semifinalists. (Roger Federer, we note, lost in the quarterfinal to Benneteau.) The title at San Jose went to Milos Raonic, over Tommy Haas; Sam Querrey and John Isner were semifinalists. Rafael Nadal really got his comeback in gear by winning Sao Paulo, over David Nalbandian; the semifinalists were Martin Alund (who has turned into a pumpkin since, and will be falling very hard) and Simone Bolelli (who hasn’t done any better). You’d almost think Sao Paulo was jinxed….
It won’t matter at the top; Nadal will stay at #1, Novak Djokovic #2, and Stanislas Wawrinka #3. But Juan Martin del Potro has 500 points to defend, and less than a hundred point lead over Ferrer. Ferrer too has points to defend, but not as many. Andy Murray is about 500 points behind that, and has nothing to defend and lots of room to add points.. Which means that any of those three could end up #4. Tomas Berdych can’t go that high, but he could certainly make a run at #6. Roger Federer will remain #8.
At the low end of the Top Ten, Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga can’t rise above #9, but they could swap the #9 and #10 spots. With #11 Milos Raonic losing points, it doesn’t appear we’ll have any new faces in the Top Ten.
Julien Benneteau is in danger of losing his Top Fifty ranking; Gilles Simon or Grigor Dimitrov could easily fall out of the Top Twenty.
******** 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
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of February 7, 2013
Rank &
Prior…Player………..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..(9) Gasquet…………2950
10.(10) Tsonga………….2885
11.(11) Raonic………….2690
12.(12) Haas……………2495
13.(13) Isner…………..2320
14.(15) Fognini…………2160
15.(14) Youzhny…………2100
16.(18) Almagro…………2020
17.(17) Nishikori……….1965
18.(16) Robredo…………1960
19.(19) Dimitrov………..1810
20.(20) Simon…………..1700
21.(21) Janowicz………..1660
22.(22) Anderson………..1580
23.(23) Gulbis………….1443
24.(30) Monfils…………1375
25.(25) Pospisil………..1359
26.(26) Lopez…………..1355
27.(27) Kohlschreiber……1330
28.(28) Tursunov………..1314
29.(24) Paire…………..1275
30.(29) Mayer…………..1245
**DRAWS
Montpellier — week of February 3, 2014
………………..QF……………..SF……….F
1 Gasquet………..(1)Gasquet………Gasquet…..Gasquet
8 Benneteau………Olivetti(Q)
3 Janowicz……….(3)Janowicz……..Janowicz
7 Roger-Vasselin….(7)Roger-Vasselin
5 Monfils………..(5)Monfils………Monfils…..Monfils
4 Tursunov……….Istomin
6 Nieminen……….(6)Nieminen……..Nieminen
2 Simon………….Gicquel(Q)
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Gasquet
2 Simon………….lost 2R (Gicquel)
3 Janowicz……….lost SF (Gasquet)
4 Tursunov……….lost 2R (Istomin)
5 Monfils
6 Nieminen……….lost SF (Monfils)
7 Roger-Vasselin….lost QF (Janowicz)
8 Benneteau………lost 1R (Davydenko)
Vina del Mar — week of February 3, 2014
………………..QF…………….SF………F
1 Fognini………..(1)Fognini……..Fognini….Fognini
5 Chardy…………(5)Chardy
3 Almagro………..(3)Almagro……..Almagro
8 Delbonis……….Daniel(Q)
7 Garcia-Lopez……(7)Garcia-Lopez
4 Granollers……..Giraldo………..Giraldo
6 Dolgopolov (WC)…Gimeno-Traver
2 Robredo………..L.Mayer………..Mayer……Mayer
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Fognini
2 Robredo……….lost 2R (L. Mayer)
3 Almagro……….lost SF (Fognini)
4 Granollers…….lost 2R (Giraldo)
5 Chardy………..lost SF (Fognini)
6 Dolgopolov (WC)..lost 1R (Gimeno-Traver)
7 Garcia-Lopez…..lost QF (Giraldo)
8 Delbonis………lost 2R (Daniel)
Zagreb — week of February 3, 2014
………………QF……………..SF………F
1 Haas…………(1)Haas…………(1)Haas….Haas
8 Sijsling……..(Q)And.Kuznetsov
3 Kohlschreiber…(3)Kohlschreiber
[(LL)Evans]…….Evans(LL)……….Evans
5 Cilic………..(5)Cilic………..Cilic……Cilic
4 Dodig………..(4)Dodig
6 Rosol………..Sela
2 Youzhny………Phau(Q)…………Phau
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Haas
2 Youzhny………lost 2R (Phau)
3 Kohlschreiber…lost QF (Evans)
4 Dodig………..lost QF (Cilic)
5 Cilic
6 Rosol………..lost 1R (Sela)
7 Stepanek……..WITHDREW
8 Sijsling……..lost 2R (Kuznetsov)
Rotterdam — week of February 10, 2014
1 del Potro
Monfils
Qualifier
Dodig
Gulbis
Istomin
Tursunov
8 Dimitrov
3 Berdych
Seppi
Mahut
Simon
Janowicz
Benneteau
Verdasco
6 Haas
7 Youzhny
Sijsling (WC)
Huta Galung (WC)
Qualifier
Kohlschreiber
Qualifier
de Bakker (WC)
4 Gasquet
5 Tsonga
F Mayer
Cilic
Rosol
Qualifier
Nieminen
Roger-Vasselin
2 Murray (WC)
Memphis — week of February 10, 2014
1 Nishikori (WC)
–bye
Lacko
Becker
Phau (SE)
Harrison
Bogomolov
6 Querrey
3 Hewitt
–bye
Baghdatis (WC)
Qualifier
Kyrgios (WC)
Smyczek
Russell
7 Przysiezny
8 Kukushkin
Gabashvili
Qualifier
Qualifier
Qualifier
Young
–bye
4 Lu
5 Matosevic
Vesely
Sock
Mannarino
Ebden
Karlovic
–bye
2 F Lopez
Buenos Aires — week of February 10, 2014
1 Ferrer (WC)
Qualifier
Montanes
Giraldo
Qualifier
Volandri
Ramos
7 Monaco
4 Almagro
Zeballos
Qualifier
Gimeno-Traver
Dolgopolov
Cuevas (PR)
A Gonzalez
8 Chardy
6 Haase
Qualifier
Sousa
Berlocq
Garcia-Lopez
Pella (WC)
Carreno Busta
3 Robredo
5 Granollers
Bedene
Delbonis
Andujar
Aguello (WC)
L Mayer
Reister
2 Fognini
******** SCORES ********
SATURDAY
Montpellier
Singles – Semifinal
(1) R Gasquet def. (3) J Janowicz 7-6(8-6) 7-6(7-4)
(5) G Monfils def. (6) J Nieminen 6-2 3-6 6-1
Doubles – Semifinal
Davydenko/Istomin def. (2) Junaid/Qureshi 3-6 6-3 10-7
Zagreb
Singles – Semifinal
(1) T Haas def. (LL) D Evans 5-7 6-4 6-3
(5) M Cilic def. (Q) B Phau 6-3 6-4
Doubles – Semifinal
Marx/Mertinak def. (4) Draganja/Pavic 6-3 6-4
Vina del Mar
LATE FRIDAY
Singles – Quarterfinal
(1) F Fognini def. (5) J Chardy 6-4 3-6 6-2
(3) N Almagro def. (Q) T Daniel 6-2 7-5
S Giraldo def. (7) G Garcia-Lopez 3-6 6-4 6-2
L Mayer def. D Gimeno-Traver 3-6 7-5 6-3
Doubles – Semifinal
(3) Marach/Mergea def. (1) M Lopez/Granollers 6-7(2-7) 6-1 10-7
(2) Cabal/Farah def. Chardy/Dlouhy 6-2 6-2
SATURDAY (so far)
Singles – Semifinal
(1) F Fognini def. (3) N Almagro 6-4 1-6 7-6(7-5)
L Mayer def. S Giraldo 7-6(7-2) 6-3
Topics: 10sballs, Andy Murray, Atp, Daniel Evans, Fernando Verdasco, Gael Monfils, GRIGOR DIMITROV, Jarkko Nieminen, Jerzy Janowicz, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin Del Potro, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic, milos raonic, Nicolas Almagro, Richard Gasquet, Rotterdam, Sam Querrey, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych, Tommy Haas