Content from BOB LARSON’S TENNIS NEWS service
Rafa Still in court in match against Hewitt in progress.
* Haas pulls out; will lose Top Fifteen ranking
* Rain delay can’t keep Garcia-Lopez from topping Monfils
* Janowicz falls to Bautista Agut; Simon loses to Sousa; Pospisil shocked by Bedene
* Querrey headed below #70 after loss to Almagro
* Del Potro to have wrist surgery
Miami
Singles – Second Round (Late Friday): (6) A Murray def. M Ebden 3-6 6-0 6-1
Andy Murray got off to a really slow start — a sign of his lack of a coach, perhaps? At least he managed to pick up his game. He’ll need a lot more that this to avoid falling to #8, though. Matthew Ebden added only a few points, but that may well be enough to take him above #65.
Singles – Second Round: (3) S Wawrinka def. D Gimeno-Traver 6-0 3-6 6-3
Talk about a letdown between the first and second sets! If Stanislas Wawrinka has another one of those, it’s just possible he could lose the #3 ranking to countryman Roger Federer. But it’s not likely; he isn’t defending anything, so his #3 spot is almost secure.
Singles – Second Round: (7) T Berdych def. S Robert 7-6(7-5) 6-1
The only surprise here is that it was as close as it was. Tomas Berdych still looks likely to rise to #6, but he’ll need at least three more wins to go any higher than that.
Singles – Second Round: (10) J Isner def. D Young 6-7(5-7) 6-3 6-4
When Donald Young won the first set of this, we found ourself wondering if we were suffering from hallucinations due to the sleep deprivation of trying to cover this event for thirteen or so hours per day. But reality eventually returned. John Isner hasn’t clinched the #9 ranking yet — he hasn’t even clinched his Top Ten spot — but each win makes it more likely.
Singles – Second Round: (12) M Raonic def. (Q) J Sock 6-4 7-6(7-1)
Much tougher than most of us expected, but this puts Milos Raonic in a very good position — he won’t face a seed, or indeed a Top Fifty player, until the quarterfinal at the earliest. And there is almost no chance that he will fall below his current #12, and a very good chance he could hit the Top Ten — he’s currently #11 in safe points, a mere 15 points behind #10 Richard Gasquet.
Singles – Second Round: (14) F Fognini def. (Q) L Lacko 6-4 6-4
Fabio Fognini hasn’t clinched anything yet, but his Top Fifteen spot looks pretty secure, and this win might be enough to take him to #13.
Singles – Second Round: (18) N Almagro def. S Querrey 6-4 6-4
Nicolas Almagro has been having a lot of trouble in his comeback. And besides, he likes clay, and Sam Querrey likes hardcourts. So this was a very bad loss for Querrey. On top of everything else, he loses fourth round points; it appears he’ll fall below #70.
Singles – Second Round: R Bautista Agut def. (19) J Janowicz 6-4 6-1
Jerzy Janowicz’s serve was way off, and it cost him badly. Luckily for him, he lost his opener last year also, so he’ll stay right around #20. Roberto Bautista Agut is right around #45, but there are a lot of players very close together at about 1000 points, so it’s hard to know just where he will end up.
Singles – Second Round: (22) A Dolgopolov def. J Nieminen 6-4 6-2
The first set of this alone took longer than Jarkko Nieminen’s previous match against Bernard Tomic. And we aren’t talking about the rain delay. Nieminen, who made the third round last year, will fall from #40 to around #45; Dolgopolov defends his points but has yet to move either up or down.
Singles – Second Round: G Garcia-Lopez def. (23) G Monfils 6-2 7-5
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez must have been cursing that mid-match rain delay. Before it started, he was up a set and a break, and dominating. Afterward, he couldn’t hold serve. To be sure, Gael Monfils was having his own problems. Just enough of them that Garcia-Lopez was able to win. Monfils will not rise above his current #24 (although we’d guess he won’t fall, either); Garcia-Lopez is just below the Top Fifty.
Singles – Second Round: E Roger-Vasselin def. (25) M Cilic 6-2 7-6(7-5)
This is one of the weakest results for Marin Cilic this year — and it comes when he was defending quarterfinalist points. That instantly cost him one ranking spot, and it’s likely to be several more.
Singles – Second Round: J Sousa def. (26) G Simon 7-6(7-5) 3-6 6-3
On a day when rain messed with the schedule, the last thing they needed was a three hour match — but it’s what they got. Gilles Simon, a quarterfinalist last year, just can’t get on track this year, and will fall another ranking spot or two; at the rate he’s going, he won’t be Top Thirty much longer. But it looks as if Joao Sousa will be hitting the Top Forty.
Singles – Second Round: (Q) A Bedene def. (27) V Pospisil 6-7(5-7) 7-5 6-3
This place has been murder on low seeds — but at least Monfils and Cilic and Simon lost to pretty good players. This is by far the worst of the upsets. Vasek Pospisil wasn’t defending anything that really mattered, but this ends any Top 25 hopes he might have been cherishing.
Singles – Second Round: D Istomin def. (29) D Tursunov 6-7(8-10) 6-0 6-3
Dmitry Tursunov did not actually vanish at the end of the first set, but he might as well have. He had already had six double-faults in the first set, added five more in the second, and kept on counting. It was ugly. And it means will lose his Top Thirty spot. Denis Istomin will rise to probably just above #55.
Singles – Second Round: (LL) B Becker def. (WC) R Harrison 7-5 3-6 7-6(7-2)
Another Top Hundred chance gone for Ryan Harrison.
Singles – Second Round: (LL) D Lajovic def. Y Lu 6-1 6-7(3-7) 6-3
The big news here isn’t the result, it’s the fact that these two actually met. Dusan Lajovic made the main draw when Tommy Haas pulled out. And Haas was defending semifinalist points. That means he’ll fall from #13 to no better than #17.
Yen-Hsun Lu seemed to be very lucky here: His first round opponent retired, and then he was spared having to face a seed. But this loss means that he will lose his Top Fifty spot. And that despite being up against a guy who seemed to think “Match point” was another term for “point I need to lose, because I’m not supposed to be winning.” We lost track of how many match points Lajovic blew on his serve, but they were multiple.
Doubles – First Round: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. Fleming/Hutchins 6-4 6-4
The Bryans are safe at #1 no matter what, but new points are always more valuable than old, so this is a nice start.
Doubles – First Round: (2) Peya/Soares def. Anderson/Bhupathi 6-4 4-6 10-6
Mahesh Bhupathi probably should have stuck with his decision to retire. He came here down to #47, and this obviously isn’t going to help.
Doubles – First Round: (6) Nestor/Zimonjic def. J Murray/Peers 6-4 7-5
Doubles – First Round: (8) Llodra/Mahut def. Fyrstenberg/Matkowski 7-5 4-6 10-8
This draw is full of teams you would really expect to be seeded but who aren’t — such as Fyrstenberg/Matkowski. But their combined ranking is #39, and Llodra/Mahut are #38. No wonder it was close….
Doubles – First Round: Kubot/Lindstedt def. Delbonis/Monaco 6-2 6-1
Kubot/Lindstedt are another team we would have expected would have been seeded — but they’re only a combined #39. Of course, they played like seeds — and, if they keep winning like this, they’ll soon start to get seeding.
Doubles – First Round: F Lopez/Mirnyi def. Huey/Inglot 7-5 7-6(7-2)
Doubles – First Round: Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin def. Rojer/Tecau 3-6 6-3 13-11
Player News
We don’t have absolute confirmation of this, but unless someone is fabricating quotes, it appears real. Juan Martin del Potro has decided that his left wrist needs surgery. He will be out for the rest of the season. This is, of course, his second wrist surgery; the operation he had four years ago was on his right wrist.
******** STATS AND FACTS ********
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of March 22, 2013
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Nadal………….13140
2..(2) Djokovic……….10855
3..(3) Wawrinka………..5695
4..(5) Federer…………5090
5..(4) Ferrer………….4595
6..(7) Berdych…………4405
7..(8) Del Potro……….4260
8..(6) Murray………….3840
9.(10) Isner…………..2670
10..(9) Gasquet…………2590
11.(12) Raonic………….2575
12.(11) Tsonga………….2570
13.(14) Fognini…………2295
14.(16) Dimitrov………..2130
15.(17) Robredo…………2095
16.(15) Youzhny…………2090
17.(13) Haas……………2075
18.(18) Anderson………..1940
19.(19) Almagro…………1750
20.(20) Janowicz………..1715
21.(21) Nishikori……….1670
22.(22) Gulbis………….1655
23.(23) Dolgopolov………1555
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.(32) Mayer…………..1245
**DRAWS
Miami — week of March 17, 2014
………………..3R
1 Nadal………….
29 Tursunov………Istomin
19 Janowicz………Bautista Agut
14 Fognini……….(14)Fognini
12 Raonic………..(12)Raonic
23 Monfils……….Garcia Lopez
27 Pospisil………Bedene(Q)
[Becker(LL)]……..Becker(LL)
3 Wawrinka……….(3)Wawrinka
25 Cilic…………Roger-Vasselin
22 Dolgopolov…….(22)Dolgopolov
[Lajovic(LL)]…….(LL)Lajovic
10 Isner…………(10)Isner
18 Almagro……….(18)Almagro
26 Simon…………Sousa
7 Berdych………..(7)Berdych
5 Federer………..(5)Federer
28 Verdasco………de Bakker(Q)
17 Anderson………(17)Anderson
9 Gasquet………..(9)Gasquet
15 Dimitrov………(15)Dimitrov
20 Nishikori……..(20)Nishikori
31 Seppi…………(31)Seppi
4 Ferrer…………(4)Ferrer
6 Murray…………(6)Murray
32 Lopez…………(32)Lopez
24 Kohlschreiber….Baghdatis(WC)
11 Tsonga………..(11)Tsonga
16 Robredo……….(16)Robredo
21 Gulbis………..Benneteau
30 Mayer…………(30)Mayer
2 Djokovic……….(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…………WITHDREW (replaced by Lajovic)
14 Fognini
15 Dimitrov
16 Robredo
17 Anderson
18 Almagro
19 Janowicz…….lost 2R (Bautista Agut)
20 Nishikori
21 Gulbis………lost 2R (Benneteau)
22 Dolgopolov
23 Monfils……..lost 2R (Garcia-Lopez)
24 Kohlschreiber..lost 2R (Baghdatis)
25 Cilic……….lost 2R (Roger-Vasselin)
26 Simon……….lost 2R (Sousa)
27 Pospisil…….lost 2R (Bedene)
28 Verdasco…….lost 2R (de Bakker)
29 Tursunov…….lost 2R (Istomin)
30 Mayer
31 Seppi
32 Lopez
******** SCORES ********
SATURDAY
Miami
Singles – Second Round
(3) S Wawrinka def. D Gimeno-Traver 6-0 3-6 6-3
(7) T Berdych def. S Robert 7-6(7-5) 6-1
(10) J Isner def. D Young 6-7(5-7) 6-3 6-4
(12) M Raonic def. (Q) J Sock 6-4 7-6(7-1)
(14) F Fognini def. (Q) L Lacko 6-4 6-4
(18) N Almagro def. S Querrey 6-4 6-4
R Bautista Agut def. (19) J Janowicz 6-4 6-1
(22) A Dolgopolov def. J Nieminen 6-4 6-2
G Garcia-Lopez def. (23) G Monfils 6-2 7-5
E Roger-Vasselin def. (25) M Cilic 6-2 7-6(7-5)
J Sousa def. (26) G Simon 7-6(7-5) 3-6 6-3
(Q) A Bedene def. (27) V Pospisil 6-7(5-7) 7-5 6-3
D Istomin def. (29) D Tursunov 6-7(8-10) 6-0 6-3
(LL) B Becker def. (WC) R Harrison 7-5 3-6 7-6(7-2)
(LL) D Lajovic def. Y Lu 6-1 6-7(3-7) 6-3
Doubles – First Round
(1) Bryan/Bryan def. Fleming/Hutchins 6-4 6-4
(2) Peya/Soares def. Anderson/Bhupathi 6-4 4-6 10-6
(6) Nestor/Zimonjic def. J Murray/Peers 6-4 7-5
(8) Llodra/Mahut def. Fyrstenberg/Matkowski 7-5 4-6 10-8
Kubot/Lindstedt def. Delbonis/Monaco 6-2 6-1
F Lopez/Mirnyi def. Huey/Inglot 7-5 7-6(7-2)
Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin def. Rojer/Tecau 3-6 6-3 13-11
Topics: 10sballs, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, Bob Bryan, Donald Young, Gael Monfils, John Isner, Matthew Ebden, Miami, Mike Bryan, milos raonic, Rafael Nadal, Sam Querrey, Sony Open, Sports, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych
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