PRO TOUR NEWS – MEN
* Monfils wins first title since 2011
* Cilic defends at Zagreb
* Fognini cruises to Vina del Mar title
****** TODAY’S MEN’S NEWS ******
Montpellier
Singles – Final: (5) G Monfils def. (1) R Gasquet 6-4 6-4
Gael Monfils really does like playing in France. And indoor hardcourts. This was career final #21. He has won only five of them. Four of the titles (Metz 2009, Montpellier 2010, Stockholm 2011, and now Montpellier 2013) have been on indoor hardcourts, and three (all but Stockholm 2011) have been in France. This marks the first time he has ever won a title twice.
He did it pretty impressively. He had nine aces, and never faced a break point. It will give him a nice rankings boost; #30 coming in, we show him rising to #23. And nothing to defend until after Miami, and nothing important until late May. At this rate, he has a very good shot at the Top Twenty.
Richard Gasquet, last year’s champion, lasted long enough to keep the #9 ranking, but his lead over #10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is now rather thin. He might well lose the spot at Rotterdam.
Doubles – Final: Davydenko/Istomin def. Gicquel/Mahut 6-4 2-6 10-7
The world truly is changing. Nikolay Davydenko — a doubles specialist? Doubles has truly never been his thing. It’s only his second career doubles title, the last coming almost ten years ago (Moscow 2004, with Andreev). Still, he hadn’t won a title of any kind since Munich 2011 (after winning at least one singles title every year for nine years in a row), so it must feel very good indeed!
It is also doubles title #2 for Denis Istomin, but he hasn’t been waiting nearly as long — his other one was at Moscow 2013, with Elgin. His chances for more frankly look a lot better than Davydenko’s….
Zagreb
Singles – Final: (5) M Cilic def. (1) T Haas 6-3 6-4
How much does Marin Cilic love Zagreb? Consider this: This is career title #10 for him. And four of them have been here: 2009, 2010, 2013, and now 2014. He also won Umag 2012, so half his total titles have been in Croatia.
It was perhaps a little closer than the score, but there really wasn’t much doubt about the outcome; Cilic led Tommy Haas in almost every category. Haas broke in the first game of the match, but never again; Cilic broke three times.
The bad news for Cilic, of course, is that he was the defending champion, so this doesn’t really do him any good. #37 he came in, and #37 he remains. Which probably means no seeding in Indian Wells and Miami. He will probably be the most dangerous floater in the draw.
Cilic has now won at least one title per year for seven straight years. The one problem is, they’re all small titles. Unless he can change that, he may have a tricky time going much higher in the time between now and Wimbledon.
Tommy Haas had scored career win #550 to get here, and in one sense, the final didn’t matter — he was going to be #12 either way. But he has 26 events — an incredible load for a top player even if you ignore the fact that he is almost 36 years old. A divisor would put him a lot lower. If he’s going to play all these little events, it’s very disappointing that he isn’t winning more of them….
Doubles – Final: (2) Rojer/Tecau def. Marx/Mertinak 3-6 6-4 10-2
The streak continues. Horia Tecau has real trouble winning big titles (no Slams, and his only Masters was Cincinnati 2012), but he does a great job of winning small ones. This is career win #17, and he has at least one title every year for five years straight. Indeed, he has at least three titles in every year leading up to this one, and this keeps him on track to match that record. Interestingly, Jean-Julien Roger is only the fifth player with whom he has won a title, following Daniell, Lindstedt, Norman, and Mirnyi.
Roger’s totals aren’t as good — this is only his tenth title — but he too has won at least one title for five years straight. (Sounds like he and Tecau are made for each other….) Tecau is the third partner with whom he has won a title, following Butorac and Qureshi.
Vina del Mar
Singles – Final: (1) F Fognini def. L Mayer 6-2 6-4
This frankly looked like a veteran playing a first-time finalist. Fabio Fognini won the first four games before Leonardo Mayer finally managed a hold. Mayer played better after that, but then was broken again in the third game of the second set. And he never even managed a break point against Fognini. It took the Italian only an hour and 23 minutes to win the title.
It’s the third title in the past seven months for Fognini, all on clay; he won Stuttgart, Hamburg, and now Vina del Mar. The bad news is, it’s only a 250, and he’s running out of room for those. He rises only from #15 to #14. At least he’s a pretty strong #14.
Leonardo Mayer failed to win his first title, but he did make his first final, and will rise to around #70. He’s 5-2 this year, and his other ATP loss was to Novak Djokovic. This is starting to look like a breakthrough year for him.
Doubles – Final (late Saturday): (3) Marach/Mergea def. (2) Cabal/Farah 6-3 6-4
Oliver Marach is 33. Florin Mergea is 29. And yet, they had their first success together last year playing in Challengers. At the ATP level, they were only 2-2 entering this event. It makes you wonder how they have managed to survive this long… and how they got to be the #3 seeds in an ATP event.
Of course, they’ll be moving higher. Mergea picks up only his second career title (and expects to hit a career high inside the Top Fifty); Marach earns title #13 — but his first in more than two years.
******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********
THIS 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
NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Rio de Janeiro (500/Clay). Defending Champion: New Event
Marseille (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Delray Beach (250/Hard). Defending Champion: Ernests Gulbis
******** STATS AND FACTS ********
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of February 9, 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…………2260
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.(30) Monfils…………1475
24.(23) Gulbis………….1443
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
WINNER: Gael Monfils
………………..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………..lost F (Monfils)
2 Simon………….lost 2R (Gicquel)
3 Janowicz……….lost SF (Gasquet)
4 Tursunov……….lost 2R (Istomin)
5 Monfils………..WON TOURNAMENT
6 Nieminen……….lost SF (Monfils)
7 Roger-Vasselin….lost QF (Janowicz)
8 Benneteau………lost 1R (Davydenko)
Vina del Mar — week of February 3, 2014
WINNER: Fabio Fognini
………………..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……….WON TOURNAMENT
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
WINNER: Marin Cilic
………………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…………lost F (Cilic)
2 Youzhny………lost 2R (Phau)
3 Kohlschreiber…lost QF (Evans)
4 Dodig………..lost QF (Cilic)
5 Cilic………..WON TOURNAMENT
6 Rosol………..lost 1R (Sela)
7 Stepanek……..WITHDREW
8 Sijsling……..lost 2R (Kuznetsov)
Rotterdam — week of February 10, 2014
1 del Potro
Monfils
Mathieu (Q)
Dodig
Gulbis
Istomin
Tursunov
8 Dimitrov
3 Berdych
Seppi
Mahut
Simon
Janowicz
Benneteau
Verdasco
6 Haas
7 Youzhny
Sijsling (WC)
Huta Galung (WC)
Berrer (Q)
Kohlschreiber
Stakhovsky (Q)
de Bakker (WC)
4 Gasquet
5 Tsonga
F Mayer
Cilic
Rosol
Thiem (Q)
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 ********
SUNDAY
Montpellier
Singles – Final
(5) G Monfils def. (1) R Gasquet 6-4 6-4
Doubles – Final
Davydenko/Istomin def. Gicquel/Mahut 6-4 2-6 10-7
Zagreb
Singles – Final
(5) M Cilic def. (1) T Haas 6-3 6-4
Doubles – Final
(2) Rojer/Tecau def. Marx/Mertinak 3-6 6-4 10-2
Vina del Mar
LATE SATURDAY
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
Doubles – Final
(3) Marach/Mergea def. (2) Cabal/Farah 6-3 6-4
SUNDAY
Singles – Final
(1) F Fognini def. L Mayer 6-2 6-4
Topics: 10sballs, Atp, Gael Monfils, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin Del Potro, Marin Cilic, Nicolas Mahut, Novak Djokovic, Richard Gasquet, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Tommy Haas