* Del Potro withdraws from Miami
* Gabashvili hands Granollers another bad loss
* Karlovic keeps Mathieu below #100
* Baghdatis comes from behind to upset Giraldo
Miami
With no seeds in action on the first day of men’s play, the biggest news was probably off-court. Juan Martin del Potro’s wrist is still acting up, and he was forced to pull out — nice news for Rafael Nadal, who was drawn to face him in the quarterfinal. The news came late enough that del Potro is being replaced in the draw by Lucky Loser Benjamin Becker; there is no seed promotion. For del Potro, that ends any hopes he had of returning to the Top Five; he will be #7 or #8, depending on how Andy Murray does.
Singles – First Round: T Gabashvili def. M Granollers 6-4 6-3
There was a time when Marcel Granollers seemed to be getting the hang of hardcourts. Not lately, though! This will leave him still below #35.
Singles – First Round: (Q) T de Bakker def. V Hanescu 6-3 6-2
Thiemo de Bakker came here at #162, almost exactly twice Victor Hanescu’s ranking of #84 — but Hanescu has been going downhill fast this year. So maybe this isn’t a big surprise.
Singles – First Round: A Montanes def. M Przysiezny 5-7 7-6(7-5) 6-3
Officially this is not an upset; Albert Montanes came in at #59 and Michal Przysiezny at #75. But the surface should probably have made Przysiezny more of a favorite. Maybe he’s still hurting. Montanes didn’t even play last year, so this should gain him several ranking spots.
Singles – First Round: M Ebden def. L Kubot 4-6 6-4 6-4
This will probably leave Lukasz Kubot still below #80.
Singles – First Round: A Mannarino def. N Davydenko 6-4 7-5
Russia may be out conquering innocent neighboring peninsula these days, but Nikolay Davydenko isn’t conquering anyone. It appears he’ll stay below #70.
Singles – First Round: J Chardy def. J Monaco 7-5 3-6 7-6(7-5)
Someone really needs to sit Juan Monaco down and tell him, gently, that tennis does not pay by the minute. He would get paid just as much for losing in an hour’s time as he did for losing in this two hour, 38 minute marathon. We don’t know who is playing the longest average match on the ATP this year, but it sure feels like it’s Monaco. And it certainly isn’t doing him any good; he can expect to remain below #40.
Singles – First Round: A Gonzalez def. (Q) M Jaziri 7-6(11-9) 6-1
Now that Alejandro Gonzalez has finally won an ATP match, he seems finally to be showing at the ATP level the same sort of results he had in Challengers. It won’t make much difference for him in the rankings yet, but the year is young….
Singles – First Round: J Benneteau def. (WC) K Edmund 6-7(2-7) 6-3 6-2
This probably won’t quite suffice to return Julien Benneteau to the Top Fifty, but one more win would very likely do it.
Singles – First Round: I Dodig def. (Q) A Golubev 4-6 6-1 6-4
Quite a scare for Ivan Dodig, considering that he was the #2 unseeded player (Granollers was #1). But Dodig defends his points and should stay Top Forty.
Singles – First Round: M Matosevic def. A Falla 1-6 6-4 7-6(8-6)
A very, very small upset; Alejandro Falla was the higher-ranked of these two by four spots. He loses 35 points; he’ll probably be falling below #70.
Singles – First Round: J Vesely def. F Volandri 6-4 7-6(7-1)
No surprise here; Jiri Vesely is the higher-ranked of these two, he has been climbing, and he isn’t a complete clay specialist the way Filippo Volandri is. Volandri is probably just relieved to be able to head to Europe and the clay season.
Singles – First Round: I Karlovic def. (Q) P Mathieu 7-6(7-3) 7-6(7-5)
There were no break points in this match, but Ivo Karlovic hit 21 aces — about a quarter of his points. Tough to win tiebreaks against that. Which means that Paul-Henri Mathieu remains below the Top Hundred. Karlovic is now only a few dozen points from the Top Fifty. Of course, there is the problem that he faces Roger Federer next.
Singles – First Round: R Stepanek def. D Brands 6-3 6-0
Daniel Brands had a great 2013, but he’s going nowhere in 2014; he may not be Top Hundred for much longer, and certainly won’t be getting direct entry into any more Masters events. Radek Stepanek has just about assured his Top Fifty spot.
Singles – First Round: (Q) D Thiem def. L Rosol 7-6(8-6) 6-4
Dominic Thiem just hit the Top Hundred (see the Feature), and he just keeps winning. This will cost Lukas Rosol at least one ranking spot; there is just a chance he’ll lose his Top Forty spot.
Singles – First Round: H Zeballos def. (Q) D Goffin 7-5 6-3
Entries for Miami closed before Horacio Zeballos turned into a pumpkin; he would not have gotten in based on his current ranking. This is a fairly big upset based on current rankings. It’s good timing for Zeballos, though; he needs to do very well very soon if he is to get into Roland Garros directly.
Singles – First Round: (WC) M Baghdatis def. S Giraldo 1-6 6-2 7-5
Marcos Baghdatis is down to #143, and came in showing no signs of breaking that slump; there didn’t seem much point in giving him a wildcard. It looked, in the third set, as if that trend would continue, he was down a break. But Santiago Giraldo just couldn’t finish things off, and will fall below #65 as a result. Baghdatis of course remains far below #100.
****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******
This Week’s Movers — Men
Each week, Daily Tennis will look at the biggest movers of the week, looking at how they did what they did.
Biggest Upward Mover — Most Places Moved (Top 100)
Leader: Dominic Thiem — Moved 15 places, from #101 to #86.
Thiem made the Indian Wells third round as a qualifier.
Runner-Up: Julien Benneteau — Moved 13 places, from #65 to #52
Benneteau reached the Indian Wells quarterfinal before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic. One of those he beat along the way, incidentally, was Thiem.
Biggest Percentage Mover — Cut Ranking By Highest Percent (Top 100)
Leader: Roger Federer — Moved 3 places, 38%, from #8 to #5
Federer made the Indian Wells final, winning ten straight matches before losing a nailbiter to Novak Djokovic.
Runner-Up: Alexandr Dolgopolov — Moved 8 places, 26%, from #31 to #23
An Indian Wells semifinal let Dolgopolov keep up his steady rise in the rankings.
Biggest Loser — Most Places Lost (Top 100)
Loser: Adrian Mannarino — Dropped 14 places, from #66 to #80
Mannarino lost his opener at Indian Wells this year, and he was defending some Challenger points.
Biggest Percentage Loser — Worst Percentage Increase in Ranking (Top 100)
Loser: Tomas Berdych, ranking increased 2 places, 40%, from #5 to #7.
Berdych, a semifinalist at Indian Wells last year, this year lost his opener.
Ranking Notes
Even we can’t complain about the rankings moves this week. Federer, up 38%. Dolgopolov, 26%. John Isner, up 23% and back in the Top Ten. Benneteau, up 20%. Lukas Rosol, up 19%, to #38 — although that’s not the result of Indian Wells as much as the Irving $125K Challenger, which he won. Thiem was next, with a rise of just less than 15%. We might also note Steve Johnson, since he came very close to the Top Hundred. He lost the Irving final to Rosol, and rose 15%, from #119 to #101. Had he beaten Rosol, he would have been Top Hundred.
On the down side, Berdych fell 40%. Long-injured Jurgen Melzer lost his Top Fifty spot, falling 34% (to #51; he’ll be outside the Top Sixty after Miami). Mannarino fell 21%. Gilles Simon lost 17%, to #27. No one else fell as much as 15%.
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of March 19, 2013
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Nadal………….13140
2..(2) Djokovic……….10820
3..(3) Wawrinka………..5660
4..(5) Federer…………5055
5..(4) Ferrer………….4560
6..(7) Berdych…………4370
7..(8) Del Potro……….4260
8..(6) Murray………….3805
9.(10) Isner…………..2635
10..(9) Gasquet…………2555
11.(12) Raonic………….2540
12.(11) Tsonga………….2535
13.(14) Fognini…………2260
14.(16) Dimitrov………..2095
15.(15) Youzhny…………2090
16.(13) Haas……………2085
17.(17) Robredo…………2060
18.(18) Anderson………..1905
19.(19) Almagro…………1715
19.(20) Janowicz………..1715
21.(22) Gulbis………….1655
22.(21) Nishikori……….1635
23.(23) Dolgopolov………1520
24.(24) Monfils…………1510
24.(25) Kohlschreiber……1510
26.(28) Pospisil………..1333
27.(26) Cilic…………..1330
28.(27) Simon…………..1315
29.(29) Verdasco………..1270
30.(31) Paire…………..1220
**DRAWS
Miami — week of March 17, 2014
1 Nadal
29 Tursunov
19 Janowicz
14 Fognini
12 Raonic
23 Monfils
27 Pospisil
[Becker(LL)]
3 Wawrinka
25 Cilic
22 Dolgopolov
13 Haas
10 Isner
18 Almagro
26 Simon
7 Berdych
5 Federer
28 Verdasco
17 Anderson
9 Gasquet
15 Dimitrov
20 Nishikori
31 Seppi
4 Ferrer
6 Murray
32 Lopez
24 Kohlschreiber
11 Tsonga
16 Robredo
21 Gulbis
30 Mayer
2 Djokovic
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Nadal
2 Djokovic
3 Wawrinka
4 Ferrer
5 Federer
6 Murray
7 Berdych
8 del Potro………WITHDREW (replaced by Becker)
9 Gasquet
10 Isner
11 Tsonga
12 Raonic
13 Haas
14 Fognini
15 Dimitrov
16 Robredo
17 Anderson
18 Almagro
19 Janowicz
20 Nishikori
21 Gulbis
22 Dolgopolov
23 Monfils
24 Kohlschreiber
25 Cilic
26 Simon
27 Pospisil
28 Verdasco
29 Tursunov
30 Mayer
31 Seppi
32 Lopez
******** SCORES ********
WEDNESDAY
Miami
Singles – First Round
T Gabashvili def. M Granollers 6-4 6-3
(Q) T de Bakker def. V Hanescu 6-3 6-2
A Montanes def. M Przysiezny 5-7 7-6(7-5) 6-3
M Ebden def. L Kubot 4-6 6-4 6-4
A Mannarino def. N Davydenko 6-4 7-5
J Chardy def. J Monaco 7-5 3-6 7-6(7-5)
A Gonzalez def. (Q) M Jaziri 7-6(11-9) 6-1
J Benneteau def. (WC) K Edmund 6-7(2-7) 6-3 6-2
I Dodig def. (Q) A Golubev 4-6 6-1 6-4
M Matosevic def. A Falla 1-6 6-4 7-6(8-6)
J Vesely def. F Volandri 6-4 7-6(7-1)
I Karlovic def. (Q) P Mathieu 7-6(7-3) 7-6(7-5)
R Stepanek def. D Brands 6-3 6-0
(Q) D Thiem def. L Rosol 7-6(8-6) 6-4
H Zeballos def. (Q) D Goffin 7-5 6-3
(WC) M Baghdatis def. S Giraldo 1-6 6-2 7-5
Topics: 10sballs, Atp World Tour, Miami, Results, Sony Open, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News
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