The second round matches are still going on, but fifteen of sixteen first round singles matches are done. We’ll cover the rest tomorrow; there have been too many exhausting matches today.
* Hewitt falls below #45 after loss to Berdych
* Tough day for retirements; Baghdatis, Dodig, Johnson out
* Chardy upset in first match of second round
*** RESULTS
U. S. Open
Singles – First Round: (6) T Berdych def. L Hewitt 6-3 6-4 6-3
This took a lot longer than you would think from the score, but it ended with Lleyton Hewitt eliminated. And he was defending fourth round points. He’ll fall from #41 to probably #47 or #48.
Singles – First Round: (7) G Dimitrov def. R Harrison 6-2 7-6(7-4) 6-2
It will be hard for Grigor Dimitrov to rise above #8 this week, but at least he’s off to a good start.
Singles – First Round: (11) E Gulbis def. K De Schepper 6-1 6-4 6-2
Don’t bet on seeing Kenny de Schepper in many Slams in the next year. This will probably leave him below #100. Ernests Gulbis lost his opener last year, so this moves him a little closer to a Top Ten return.
Singles – First Round: (14) M Cilic def. M Baghdatis 6-3 3-1, retired
Marcos Baghdatis has been playing brilliantly in Challengers. It’s truly too bad that he used up so much energy there and couldn’t do anything here. For Marin Cilic, these are all free points; he’s making a real run at the Top Fifteen, although that is far from settled.
Singles – First Round: (18) K Anderson def. P Cuevas 6-3 6-7(3-7) 4-6 6-2 7-6(7-1)
This was the first match on court 17, but courts were already on their third match by the time Kevin Anderson finally finished this off! Fortunately, he has defended his points, so he will likely stay Top Twenty even if he can’t bounce back from this.
Singles – First Round: (19) F Lopez def. I Dodig 1-6 7-5 2-6 6-4 1-1, retired
Talk about the last thing Ivan Dodig needed! He was barely back from his rib injury, and now he’s out again — although it appears his problem was merely cramps. In singles, that will drop him below #60 — and he has semifinalist points to defend in doubles!
Singles – First Round: T Gabashvili def. (27) S Giraldo 6-3 1-6 7-6(8-6) 6-3
Santiago Giraldo seems to be one of those players who can’t bring his best stuff to the Slams. He will remain stuck below the Top Thirty.
Singles – First Round: (32) J Sousa def. F Dancevic 7-6(8-6) 3-6 6-2 4-6 7-6(7-2)
Joao Sousa has really been struggling, and he was probably lucky to face such a weak opponent. Maybe it will get him un-stuck. He’d best hope so; if he doesn’t win his next match, it’s possible he’ll lose his Top Forty spot.
Singles – First Round: J Janowicz def. D Lajovic 6-3 7-5 5-7 7-5
Jerzy Janowicz lost his opener last year, so this will very likely put him in the Top Forty.
Singles – First Round: M Klizan def. S Darcis 3-6 2-6 7-6(7-5) 7-5 6-4
Steve Darcis is just starting his comeback from a long injury, so this is pretty creditable, really. But it’s no help to his ranking.
Singles – First Round: I Marchenko def. M Chiudinelli 7-6(7-3) 4-6 7-6(15-13) 7-6(7-4)
Here we have match that lasted four sets but felt like it lasted, oh, about nine. And, after all that, both guys remain below #100.
Singles – First Round: A Kudryavtsev def. E Donskoy 2-6 7-6(8-6) 3-6 6-3 6-4
Here again, a match where both guys are below #100 and will almost certainly stay that way. (It is, of course, absolutely certain in Evgeny Donskoy’s case.) These guys may lack skill, but they certainly have heart. Now if only there were a way to show it that didn’t take up so much court time….
Singles – First Round: D Goffin def. N Desein 6-1 6-3 6-3
This probably won’t quite put David Goffin in the Top Fifty, but he is very close.
Singles – First Round: D Thiem def. L Lacko 6-3 6-3 6-2
Dominic Thiem seemed to be in a sort of mini-slump this summer, but maybe this means it’s over. He’s now just below the Top Forty.
Singles – First Round: T Ito def. S Johnson 6-2 3-6 5-7 4-1, retired
What a day for retirements! It’s not often that we see this many at a Slam. Even with the loss, it looks likely that Steve Johnson will hit the Top Fifty, and it is certain that he will move ahead of Donald Young in the American standings, but he loses the chance to clinch that Top Fifty spot. The good news is, his problem was cramps, so he’ll recover quickly. The bad news is, it was only the fourth set when he cramped up, so he has something to work on. And while it was hot, he said himself that he had played in worse conditions.
Singles – Second Round: B Kavcic def. (30) J Chardy 6-2 7-6(8-6) 6-3
This should have been a big chance for Jeremy Chardy to improve his ranking. Instead, it appears he’ll remain right around #35.
Doubles – First Round: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. Mirnyi/Youzhny 6-2 6-3
A first small step for the Bryans toward clinching another year-end #1 ranking. And this was the tougher of their early-round matches, so they should be in good shape for the next several days.
Doubles – First Round: Garcia-Lopez/Oswald def. (5) Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin 4-6 7-6(9-7) 7-6(8-6)
Julien Benneteau lost his singles opener, despite being seeded. Edouard Roger-Vasselin is out of the singles, too. Now this. Makes you wonder if they’re entirely fit. They are now out of the hunt for Top Five spots, although Roger-Vasselin at least looks safe in the Top Ten.
Doubles – First Round: (6) Paes/Stepanek def. Bolelli/Fognini 7-6(7-5) 6-2
A solid start for last year’s champions, but they still need a lot more to stay Top Twenty.
Doubles – First Round: (11) Granollers/M Lopez def. Kyrgios/Tomic 6-7(5-7) 7-5 6-4
Doubles – First Round: (16) Cabal/Farah def. Andujar/Carreno Busta 7-6(11-9) 6-3
Doubles – First Round: Fyrstenberg/Matkowski def. Begemann/Knowle 6-3 6-4
Fyrstenberg and Matkowski haven’t played together much this year, and their rankings are in the pits, but evidently they haven’t lost their skills entirely — this is a pretty good win.
Doubles – First Round: Lu/Vesely def. Ebden/Karlovic 6-7(1-7) 6-4 6-4
Doubles – First Round: Haase/Sijsling def. Elgin/Marx 6-1 6-3
Mixed Doubles – First Round: (1) Mirza/Soares def. T Black/Escobedo 6-2 3-6 10-5
A long day with not much reward for Tornado Alicia Black: Six sets, zero wins.
Mixed Doubles – First Round: Y Chan/Hutchins def. (4) Mladenovic/Nestor 7-6(7-5) 3-6 10-6
For most of a year, Mladenovic/Nestor were clearly the best mixed doubles team in the world, and it still shows in their rankings, as our Feature shows. But suddenly they are losing their grip. Given Daniel Nestor’s tendency to dump partners, it will be interesting to see if he sticks with Kristina Mladenovic next year. If nothing else, this has obviously made a hash of the Mixed rankings — note that the #1 team under Mixed is out in the first round! It almost makes it tempting to rewrite the feature. (No, we didn’t do it.)
Mixed Doubles – First Round: Kudryavtseva/Qureshi def. Rogers/Klahn 7-6(7-1) 6-3
It’s a bit surprising Kudryavtseva/Qureshi weren’t seeded — although the Mixed rankings show that they aren’t an especially strong team. But against such an inexperienced American pair, it hardly mattered.
****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******
Mixed Messages
Yes, folks, it’s time once again to show just how bad a ranking system can be. We’re going to rank players based on past Mixed Doubles results — and then, if the past is any indication, the players are going to prove that that doesn’t mean much.
But there isn’t much we can do. Since, unlike the ATP and WTA, we have not succumbed to the lure of point inflation, we can say that there has not been some strange change in the way players perform, so the ranking system is as (in)accurate as always. Since the ATP’s experience when it went from making a final be worth 70% of a title to making a final worth 60% of a title has shown that this change has simply made the ranking less responsive, we have avoided that change also. So we’re stuck. We could try a radically different ranking system for mixed — say, a divisor, or a quality points system — but this would make it harder to explain what we’re doing. The real problem may be simply that we need to use three years to get enough data to do a proper ranking.
So, anyway, the system we continue to use is to award 1000 points for a mixed title, 700 for a final, 450 for a semifinal, 250 for a quarterfinal, and 150 for a Round of Sixteen (if earned in the last twelve months. Rounds of Sixteen more than a year old do not count). Results in the last year count 100%, results between one and two years old are reduced by a third, and results more than two years old are reduced by two-thirds.
It turns out that, under that system, there are fifty women with mixed doubles rankings (meaning that we treat a woman with no ranking as #51). The list:
1….Mladenovic…….3283
2….Hradecka………1983
3….Mirza…………1983
4….Peschke……….1567
5….Zheng…………1400
6….Hlavackova…….1383
7….Raymond……….1350
8….Huber…………1317
9….Gajdosova……..1283
10….Srebotnik……..1267
11….Groenefeld…….1150
12….Vesnina……….1083
13….Goerges……….1033
14….Spears………..1000
14….Stosur………..1000
16….ChanH………….950
17….Dushevina………750
17….Shvedova……….750
19….Medina Garrigues..700
20….Makarova……….667
21….Barty………….617
22….Babos………….600
23….Rodionova, An…..567
24….Black………….450
25….Llagostera Vives..417
26….Cornet…………400
27….Jans-Ignacik……383
28….Petrova………..333
29….Mattek-Sands……333
29….Oudin………….333
31….Rosolska……….300
32….Kops-Jones……..300
33….Broady…………250
33….Dellacqua………250
33….Hantuchova……..250
33….Hingis…………250
33….Parra Santonja….250
38….Grandin………..250
38….Hsieh………….250
40….Dulko………….233
41….Bencic…………150
41….ChanY………….150
41….Date-Krumm……..150
41….Husarova……….150
41….Kalashnikova……150
41….Lim……………150
41….Svitolina………150
48….Vinci………….150
48….Voskoboeva……..150
50….Falconi…………83
50….Govortsova………83
50….Kudryavtseva…….83
50….Zahlavova Strycov..83
On the men’s side, there are 51 ranked players (so unranked players are treated as #52). That list is as follows:
1….Nestor………..3367
2….Soares………..2867
3….Mirnyi………..1933
4….Cermak………..1833
5….Zimonjic………1767
6….Tecau…………1500
7….Matkowski……..1417
8….Rojer…………1317
9….GonzalezS……..1183
10….Paes………….1183
11….Bopanna……….1150
12….Ebden…………1117
13….Qureshi……….1083
14….Bhupathi……….800
15….Peers………….617
16….Butorac………..600
17….Melo…………..550
18….Fleming………..483
19….BryanB…………467
20….Lipsky…………450
21….BryanM…………417
22….Sock…………..333
23….Cabal………….317
23….Marrero………..317
23….Polasek………..317
26….Istomin………..300
26….Mertinak……….300
28….Fyrstenberg…….300
28….Inglot…………300
28….Peya…………..300
31….Bracciali………300
32….Elgin………….250
32….Emmrich………..250
32….Eysseric……….250
32….MurrayJ………..250
32….Skupsky………..250
37….Schwank………..233
38….MartinD………..167
39….Hanley…………167
40….Chardy…………150
40….Farah………….150
40….Guccione……….150
40….Huey…………..150
40….Klaasen………..150
40….Klizan…………150
40….Lindstedt………150
40….Mergea…………150
40….Roger-Vasselin….150
49….Johnson…………83
49….Marach………….83
49….Petzschner………83
And so, with those numbers in hand, we rank the 32 teams in the U. S. Open draw, breaking ties based on the woman’s ranking:
(Note that, in this case, the tiebreak based on women’s ranking does come into play in the order of the seeds — it decides which team is #6 and which #7 — but it does not affect the seeding tiers.)
1..Mladenovic/Nestor…………2….Actual Seed: 4
2..Mirza/Soares……………..5….Actual Seed: 1
3..Hradecka/Tecau……………8….Actual Seed: 5
4..Peschke/Matkowski………..11
5..Goerges/Zimonjic…………18….Actual Seed: 7
6..Groenefeld/Rojer…………19
7..H Chan/Mirnyi……………19
8..Srebotnik/Bopanna………..21….Actual Seed: 6
…..Spears/S Gonzalez………23
…..Hlavackova/Peya………..34….Actual Seed: 2
…..C Black/Paes…………..34….Actual Seed: 3
…..Barty/Peers……………36
…..Babos/Butorac………….38
…..Kops-Jones/Cabal……….55….Actual Seed: 8
…..Parra Santonja/Marrero….56
…..Medina Garrigues/Klaasen..59
…..An. Rodionova/Farah…….63
…..Kudryavtseva/Qureshi……63
…..Dellacqua/J Murray……..65
…..Cornet/Huey……………66
…..Hingis/Lindstedt……….73
…..Oudin/R Ram……………81
…..Svitolina/Mergea……….81
…..Y Chan/Hutchins………..93
…..T Black/Escobedo………103
…..Cako/Kielbowicz……….103
…..Davis/Monroe………….103
…..Krajicek/Draganja……..103
…..McHale/Kozlov…………103
…..Muhammad/Fritz………..103
…..Rogers/Klahn………….103
…..Townsend/Young………..103
Pretty typical. Only five teams (Mladenovic/Nestor, Mirza/Soares, Hradecka/Tecau, Goerges/Zimonjic, and Srebotnik/Bopanna) are seeded under both systems. Only two teams (Goerges/Zimonjic and Srebotnik/Bopanna) are seeded in the same tier under both systems (although Mirza/Soares are seeded for the final in both). No team has the same seed in both systems.
If we do our usual catalog of changes to the seeding tiers, they are as follows:
PROMOTED TWO SEEDING TIERS:
Mladenovic/Nestor (from #4 to #1)
Peschke/Matkowski (from unseeded to #4)
PROMOTED ONE SEEDING TIER:
Hradecka/Tecau (from #5 to #3)
Groenefeld/Rojer (from unseeded to #6)
H Chan/Mirnyi (from unseeded to #7)
SEEDING TIER UNCHANGED:
Goerges/Zimonjic (from #7 to #5)
Srebotnik/Bopanna (from #6 to #8)
DEMOTED ONE SEEDING TIER:
Mirza/Soares (from #1 to #2)
Kops-Jones/Cabal (from #8 to unseeded)
DEMOTED TWO SEEDING TIERS
Black/Paes (from #3 to unseeded)
DEMOTED THREE SEEDING TIERS
Hlavackova/Peya (from #2 to unseeded)
This time, this doesn’t feel all that convincing. It makes sense to up-seed Mladenovic/Nestor, the dominant Mixed team of the last year and a bit. But Cara Black is demoted mostly because she took time off. The others… we don’t have a feel for. Which, of course, is why we play the tournament….
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of August 27, 2014
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Djokovic……….11615
2..(2) Nadal…………..8670
3..(3) Federer…………7355
4..(4) Wawrinka………..5310
5..(5) Ferrer………….4450
6..(6) Raonic………….4090
7..(7) Berdych…………3925
8..(8) Dimitrov………..3575
9.(10) Tsonga………….2965
10..(9) Murray………….2835
11.(11) Nishikori……….2715
12.(12) Gulbis………….2615
13.(13) Del Potro……….2365
14.(16) Cilic…………..1890
15.(15) Isner…………..1880
16.(17) Fognini…………1870
17.(19) Bautista Agut……1800
18.(20) Anderson………..1795
19.(21) Lopez…………..1725
20.(14) Gasquet…………1685
21.(22) Dolgopolov………1535
22.(24) Monfils…………1530
23.(18) Robredo…………1510
24.(25) Kohlschreiber……1370
25.(26) MayerL………….1354
26.(27) Rosol…………..1290
27.(29) Almagro…………1240
28.(31) Simon…………..1225
29.(28) Benneteau……….1205
30.(33) Garcia-Lopez…….1203
DRAWS
U. S. Open — Week of August 24, 2014
1 Djokovic
28 Garcia-Lopez
22 Kohlschreiber
13 Isner
9 Tsonga
24 Benneteau
31 Verdasco
8 Murray
3 Wawrinka
30 Chardy
21 Youzhny
16 Robredo
10 Nishikori
23 L Mayer
29 Rosol
5 Raonic
6 Berdych
27 Giraldo
19 Lopez
11 Gulbis
14 Cilic
18 Anderson
26 Simon
4 Ferrer
7 Dimitrov
32 Sousa
20 Monfils
12 Gasquet
15 Fognini
17 Bautista Agut
25 Karlovic
2 Federer
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Djokovic
2 Federer
3 Wawrinka
4 Ferrer
5 Raonic
6 Berdych
7 Dimitrov
8 Murray
9 Tsonga
10 Nishikori
11 Gulbis
12 Gasquet
13 Isner
14 Cilic
15 Fognini
16 Robredo
17 Bautista Agut
18 Anderson
19 Lopez
20 Monfils
21 Youzhny………lost 1R (Kyrgios)
22 Kohlschreiber
23 L Mayer
24 Benneteau…….lost 1R (Paire)
25 Karlovic
26 Simon
27 Giraldo………lost 1R (Gabashvili)
28 Garcia-Lopez
29 Rosol………..lost 1R (Coric)
30 Chardy……….lost 2R (Kavcic)
31 Verdasco
32 Sousa
******** SCORES ********
WEDNESDAY
U. S. Open
Singles – First Round
(6) T Berdych def. L Hewitt 6-3 6-4 6-3
(7) G Dimitrov def. R Harrison 6-2 7-6(7-4) 6-2
(11) E Gulbis def. K De Schepper 6-1 6-4 6-2
(14) M Cilic def. M Baghdatis 6-3 3-1, retired
(18) K Anderson def. P Cuevas 6-3 6-7(3-7) 4-6 6-2 7-6(7-1)
(19) F Lopez def. I Dodig 1-6 7-5 2-6 6-4 1-1, retired
T Gabashvili def. (27) S Giraldo 6-3 1-6 7-6(8-6) 6-3
(32) J Sousa def. F Dancevic 7-6(8-6) 3-6 6-2 4-6 7-6(7-2)
J Janowicz def. D Lajovic 6-3 7-5 5-7 7-5
M Klizan def. S Darcis 3-6 2-6 7-6(7-5) 7-5 6-4
I Marchenko def. M Chiudinelli 7-6(7-3) 4-6 7-6(15-13) 7-6(7-4)
A Kudryavtsev def. E Donskoy 2-6 7-6(8-6) 3-6 6-3 6-4
D Goffin def. N Desein 6-1 6-3 6-3
D Thiem def. L Lacko 6-3 6-3 6-2
T Ito def. S Johnson 6-2 3-6 5-7 4-1, retired
Singles – Second Round
B Kavcic def. (30) J Chardy 6-2 7-6(8-6) 6-3
Doubles – First Round
(1) Bryan/Bryan def. Mirnyi/Youzhny 6-2 6-3
Garcia-Lopez/Oswald def. (5) Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin 4-6 7-6(9-7) 7-6(8-6)
(6) Paes/Stepanek def. Bolelli/Fognini 7-6(7-5) 6-2
(11) Granollers/M Lopez def. Kyrgios/Tomic 6-7(5-7) 7-5 6-4
(16) Cabal/Farah def. Andujar/Carreno Busta 7-6(11-9) 6-3
Fyrstenberg/Matkowski def. Begemann/Knowle 6-3 6-4
Lu/Vesely def. Ebden/Karlovic 6-7(1-7) 6-4 6-4
Haase/Sijsling def. Elgin/Marx 6-1 6-3
Lindstedt/Melzer def. Delbonis/Falla 6-3 6-4
Mixed Doubles – First Round
(1) Mirza/Soares def. T Black/Escobedo 6-2 3-6 10-5
Y Chan/Hutchins def. (4) Mladenovic/Nestor 7-6(7-5) 3-6 10-6
Kudryavtseva/Qureshi def. Rogers/Klahn 7-6(7-1) 6-3
Topics: Bryan Brothers, Max Mirnyi, Tennis, tennis dubs, US Open
THE BRYAN BROTHERS BEAT MIRNYI &YOUZNY WIN 100 th. MATCH @ U.S.OPEN & RESULTS- http://t.co/s1aysGkEhu @Bryanbrothers #tennis #USOpen