* Muller costs Bautista Agut his Top Fifteen chance
* No Top Fifteen spot for Monfils after marathon loss to Janowicz
* Lopez survives when Mannarino retires
* Giraldo loses another Top Thirty chance
Singles – First Round: (1) N Djokovic def. A Kuznetsov 6-0 6-1 6-4
Novak Djokovic’s #1 ranking is in no danger this week, but he helps his odds of staying on top later in the spring.
Singles – First Round: (4) S Wawrinka def. M Copil 7-6(7-4) 7-6(7-4) 6-3
In contrast to the preceding, this is pretty scary, even if Stan Wawrinka managed to win. He is still only #10 in safe points, and needs more than 400 additional points to go any higher, and Grigor Dimitrov is breathing down his neck.
Singles – First Round: (5) K Nishikori def. I Dodig 4-6 7-5 6-2 7-6(7-0)
Kei Nishikori takes another small step toward a career-high #4 ranking. The leading threat to him isn’t even current #4 Wawrinka; it’s Milos Raonic.
Singles – First Round: (8) M Raonic def. D Young 6-4 7-6(7-3) 6-3
This lets Milos Raonic defend his points; he’s at #5 in safe points, although his lead on Andy Murray is relatively small. Raonic has a shot to go even higher — although he would need at least a semifinal to catch Nishikori and have a chance for #4. Donald Young, who made the third round last year, may fall below #60.
Singles – First Round: (9) D Ferrer def. S Stakhovsky 5-7 6-3 6-4 6-2
David Ferrer is still defending points, but with a 400 point lead on Wawrinka, he has a real shot at rising to #9 even if this is as far as he gets.
Singles – First Round: (12) F Lopez def. A Mannarino 4-6 4-6 7-6(6-3) 4-0, retired
A lucky, lucky result for Feliciano Lopez, obviously, but it isn’t enough to affect his ranking. It does cost Adrian Mannarino; #36 coming in, he defended his points, but will fall to no better than #38.
Singles – First Round: G Muller def. (13) R Bautista Agut 7-6(7-5) 1-6 7-5 6-1
The last twelve months really have been amazing for Gilles Muller, who now looks set to enter the Top Forty. Roberto Bautista Agut loses fourth round points, but he is certain to stay Top Twenty and might even keep the #16 ranking.
Singles – First Round: J Janowicz def. (17) G Monfils 6-4 1-6 6-7(3-7) 6-3 6-3
Jerzy Janowicz mostly managed to stay calm in this match, and he was rewarded. Or, at least, he wasn’t punished. Except for a weak second set, this was quite a fine match, but Janowicz so far has merely defended his points from last year and is still around #45. Gael Monfils, who made the third round last year, will fall at least one spot below his current #19, and we’d guess it will be no more than that.
Singles – First Round: (18) G Simon def. M Granollers 7-6(7-5) 6-2 6-4
What was loss for Monfils is gain for Gilles Simon; his Top Twenty spot is now safe, and he is likely to rise from #20 to #19. Marcel Granollers remains below the Top Fifty.
Singles – First Round: (19) J Isner def. A Haider-Maurer 6-4 7-6(7-4) 4-6 6-4
This assures that John Isner will be returning to the Top Twenty — he is up to #18 in safe points.
Singles – First Round: S Johnson def. (30) S Giraldo 6-3 6-4 6-2
Once again Santiago Giraldo falls short of the Top Thirty; he’ll be no better than #31. Steve Johnson’s results here have restarted the game of musical chairs for the status of American #2; he’s up to at least #35 in safe points, and Sam Querrey is only #40; Jack Sock is #49.
Singles – First Round: (31) F Verdasco def. G Soeda 6-3 6-3 7-6(7-3)
One more win would probably put Fernando Verdasco back in the Top Thirty.
Singles – First Round: B Becker def. L Hewitt 2-6 1-6 6-3 6-4 6-2
This is not an upset; Benjamin Becker is now a Top Forty player, and Lleyton Hewitt isn’t even Top Fifty. The fact that Hewitt couldn’t finish this off makes us wonder if he’ll be around for Australian Open #20 next year — or, at least, if he’ll be able to get direct entry.
Singles – First Round: J Nieminen def. M Bachinger 7-6(7-4) 7-5 7-5
Unlike Hewitt, Jarkko Nieminen actually seems to be getting back up to speed. Both literally and metaphorically.
Singles – First Round: V Pospisil def. P Lorenzi 6-7(3-7) 7-6(7-4) 6-3 6-4
Vasek Pospisil so far has merely been defending points, but we’d guess that will suffice to keep him Top Sixty.
Singles – First Round: G Garcia-Lopez def. A Gonzalez 6-1 6-3 6-3
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez is starting to add points, and while he hasn’t moved much yet, we’d say this assures his Top Forty spot.
Doubles – First Round: (2) Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin def. Lee/Zhang 6-1 6-4
Julien Benneteau is now within 400 points of Nenad Zimonjic in the contest for the #3 ranking (or, as one might put it, the #1-ranking-for-those-not-named-Bryan).
Doubles – First Round: (5) Peya/Soares def. Troicki/Youzhny 6-1 6-4
With Granollers/Lopez out, Peya/Soares have a very good chance to rise in the Top Ten — one more win would move them into a tie with Marc Lopez for #9. We currently show the Top Ten as follows:
1..(1) Bryan………….12650
1..(1) Bryan………….12650
3..(3) Zimonjic………..5640
4..(4) Nestor………….5480
5..(5) Benneteau……….5260
6..(6) Roger-Vasselin…..4960
7..(7) Melo……………4940
8..(8) Granollers………4750
9..(9) Lopez…………..4570
10.(10) Peya……………4480
10.(10) Soares………….4480
Doubles – First Round: (6) Rojer/Tecau def. Berankis/Haider-Maurer 6-4 6-2
One more win would just about guarantee Top Fifteen spots for Rojer/Tecau.
Doubles – First Round: (7) Bopanna/Nestor def. Baghdatis/Matosevic 7-6(7-2) 7-5
Like Benneteau, Daniel Nestor is also in the hunt for the #3 spot; two more wins might do it for him. He and Rohan Bopanna have now won five straight.
Doubles – First Round: (9) Lindstedt/Matkowski def. Jaziri/Shamasdin 6-4 6-4
A fair start for Robert Lindstedt, but he still needs a thousand-odd additional points to stay Top Twenty.
Doubles – First Round: (11) Cabal/Farah def. M Pavic/Sa 3-6 6-3 6-2
Doubles – First Round: (12) Butorac/Groth def. Lorenzi/Seppi 6-3 7-6(7-5)
Eric Butorac too remains in danger of losing his Top Twenty spot.
Doubles – First Round: F Lopez/Mirnyi def. Duckworth/Saville 7-6(7-1) 6-7(5-7) 6-2
Doubles – First Round: Golubev/Istomin def. Kokkinakis/Kyrgios 6-3 2-6 6-2
Doubles – First Round: Schwartzman/Zeballos def. Bhupathi/Melzer 6-4 6-3
Doubles – First Round: Herbert/Mahut def. Klizan/Oswald 7-6(8-6) 7-6(7-2)
Interesting that Martin Klizan played after bailing on the singles the day before. That was perhaps fortunate for Nicolas Mahut, given that he has semifinal points to defend. Given the score, he might have been in trouble against healthier opponents.
Doubles – First Round: Chardy/Kubot def. Bracciali/Huta Galung 6-3 6-4
Defending champion Lukasz Kubot is still alive, but it’s hard to believe he has any shot at staying Top Twenty while playing with Jeremy Chardy; his only hope is to defend the title, and Chardy doesn’t have much doubles history.
Doubles – First Round: Andujar/Brown def. Karlovic/Nieminen 6-4 3-6 7-6(7-5)
Doubles – First Round: Bolelli/Fognini def. Johnson/Querrey 5-7 6-4 6-3
Fabio Fognini can’t do anything right in singles these days, but at least his doubles results are all right.
Doubles – First Round: Berlocq/L Mayer def. Brunstrom/Monroe 6-4 6-4
Doubles – First Round: Marach/Venus def. Gojowyczk/Rosol 6-3 7-6(7-4)
Doubles – First Round: Giraldo/Sousa def. Fyrstenberg/S Gonzalez 6-4 6-4
Mixed Messages
Mixed doubles draws are always interesting, just to see who will turn up. It’s mostly doubles specialists, of course — of the sixteen seeded players in the Melbourne mixed draw, all eight men play doubles only, and five of the women (the three seeded women who still play singles are Andrea Hlavackova, Kristina Mladenovic, and Yaroslava Shvedova, none of whom is in the Top Fifty). But there are a few interesting singles players in the draw (Casey Dellacqua, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Elina Svitolina, Jarmila Gajdosova, Ivan Dodig, Pablo Cuevas, Pablo Andujar) and some notable doubles players who aren’t (including the top players in regular doubles, the Bryans and Errani/Vinci). And then there are the pairings. For instance, Martina Hingis, who once won this event with Mahesh Bhupathi, is now playing with Leander Paes. Let’s hope she doesn’t develop multiple personality disorder….
But fun as gossip may be, numbers are easier to verify. And so, yes, it’s time to look at our Mixed Doubles rankings. To give you the standard review: 1000 points for a Slam winner, 700 for a finalist, 450 for a semifinalist, 250 for a quarterfinalist, 150 for Round of Sixteen; nothing else counts. Points are retained for three years, discounted by a third after one year and by two-thirds after two; rounds of sixteen drop after one year.
It turns out that we now have only 49 women with Mixed ranking; the number has been falling. That means a female player with no Mixed ranking will be assigned a ranking of #50. The ranked women are as follows:
1….Mladenovic…….3133
2….Mirza…………2900
3….Hradecka………1600
4….Peschke……….1500
5….Spears………..1467
6….Zheng…………1400
7….Srebotnik……..1367
8….Gajdosova……..1200
8….Hlavackova…….1200
8….Raymond……….1200
11….Groenefeld…….1150
12….Huber…………1083
13….Goerges……….1033
14….Chan, H……….1017
15….Stosur………..1000
16….Vesnina………..850
17….Dushevina………750
17….Shvedova……….750
19….Barty………….717
20….Black………….700
20….Medina Garrigues..700
22….Rodionova, An…..633
23….Babos………….600
24….Chan, Y………..450
24….Townsend……….450
26….Dellacqua………400
27….Jans-Ignacik……383
28….Petrova………..333
28….Llagostera Vives..333
28….Makarova……….333
28….Mattek-Sands……333
32….Rosolska……….300
33….Broady…………250
33….Cornet…………250
33….Hantuchova……..250
33….Hingis…………250
33….Parra Santonja….250
33….Grandin………..250
33….Hsieh………….250
40….Kudryavtseva……233
41….Bencic…………150
41….Kalashnikova……150
41….Kops-Jones……..150
41….Lim……………150
41….McHale…………150
41….Oudin………….150
41….Svitolina………150
41….Vinci………….150
41….Voskoboeva……..150
On the men’s side, we have 48 ranked players — also a slight decline. The list:
1….Soares………..3300
2….Nestor………..3217
3….Mirnyi………..1750
4….GonzalezS……..1650
5….Zimonjic………1617
6….Tecau…………1500
7….Cermak………..1450
8….Bopanna……….1400
9….Matkowski……..1267
10….Qureshi……….1233
11….Paes………….1200
12….Ebden…………1117
13….Rojer…………1083
14….Bhupathi……….800
15….Peers………….717
16….Butorac………..600
17….Melo…………..467
17….BryanB…………467
19….Hutchins……….450
19….Lipsky…………450
19….Peya…………..450
19….Young………….450
23….BryanM…………417
24….MurrayJ………..400
24….Fleming………..400
26….Cabal………….317
27….Istomin………..300
27….Farah………….300
27….Fyrstenberg…….300
27….Inglot…………300
27….Klaasen………..300
27….Bracciali………300
33….Elgin………….250
33….Eysseric……….250
33….Skupsky………..250
36….Emmrich………..167
36….Marrero………..167
36….Polasek………..167
36….Hanley…………167
40….Chardy…………150
40….Guccione……….150
40….Klizan…………150
40….Kozlov…………150
40….Mergea…………150
40….RamR…………..150
40….Mertinak……….150
47….Marach………….83
47….MartinD…………83
Having figured all that out, we proceed to calculate our seeds. For this, we combine the man’s and the women’s mixed rankings and seed accordingly. When two teams’ totals match, we break the tie based on the woman’s mixed rankings.
The tiebreak doesn’t often come into play. It certainly did this year — it decided who was seeded #1 and #2. It also split a tie between #3 and #4, and another between #6 and #7. Those differences don’t really matter — but there was also a tie at #8/#9, and that one settled who earned the #8 seed and who was unseeded. We can’t ever recall so many important instances where the tiebreak settled the seeding. Here is the full list of the top eight seeds under Mixed, as well as their rankings and the rankings of the other teams:
Mixed
Seed….Team……………..Rank
1….Mladenovic/Nestor……….3…Actual seed: #3
2….Mirza/Soares……………3…Actual seed: #1
3….Hradecka/Tecau………….9
4….Spears/Gonzalez, S………9
5….Peschke/Matkowski………13…Actual seed: #8
6….Gajdosova/Bhupathi……..22
7….Shvedova/Zimonjic………22…Actual seed: #6
8….Srebotnik/Melo…………24…Actual seed: #2
-….Groenefeld/Rojer……….24
-….Hlavackova/Peya………..27…Actual seed: #4
-….Chan, H/Murray…………38
-….Babos/Butorac………….39
-….Dellacqua/Peers………..41
-….Hingis/Paes……………44…Actual seed: #7
-….Black/Cabal……………46…Actual seed: #5
-….Rodionova, An/Farah…….49
-….Kudryavtseva/Qureshi……50
-….Rodionova, Ar/Mirnyi……53
-….Raymond/Lindstedt………57
-….Zahlavova Strycova/Bopan..58
-….Kops-Jones/Lipsky………60
-….Svitolina/Klaasen………68
-….Medina Garrigues/Andujar..69
-….Parra Santonja/Marrero….69
-….Chan, Y/Draganja……….73
-….Hsieh/Cuevas…………..82
-….Klepac/Guccione………..90
-….Krajicek/Mergea………..90
-….Chang/Zhang……………99
-….Gavrilova/Saville………99
-….Jovanovic/Thompson……..99
-….Jurak/Dodig……………99
Note that not one team has the same seeding under both systems (although Peschke/Matkowski and Shvedova/Zimonjic are in the same tier, and Mirza/Soares are effectively in the same tier). Only five teams are seeded under both systems; that’s about typical. If we want a full list of the changes, seeding based on Mixed rankings would produce the following changes:
PROMOTED TWO SEEDING TIERS BY MIXED RANKINGS:
Mladenovic/Nestor (from #3 to #1)
Hradecka/Tecau (from unseeded to #3)
Spears/Gonzalez (from unseeded to #4)
PROMOTED ONE SEEDING TIER:
Gajdosova/Bhupathi (from unseeded to #6)
SEEDING TIER UNCHANGED:
Peschke/Matkowski (from #8 to #5)
Shvedova/Zimonjic (from #7 to #6)
DEMOTED ONE SEEDING TIER:
Mirza/Soares (from #1 to #2)
Black/Cabal (from #5 to unseeded)
Hingis/Paes (from #7 to unseeded)
DEMOTED TWO SEEDING TIERS:
Srebotnik/Melo (from #2 to #8)
Hlavackova/Peya (from #4 to unseeded)
In recent years, Mixed seeding haven’t done much better than ordinary seedings, probably because older results seem to mean less. We’ll see about this year.
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of January 22, 1015
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Djokovic……….11135
2..(2) Federer…………9245
3..(3) Nadal…………..5475
4..(5) Nishikori……….4935
5..(8) Raonic………….4575
6..(6) Murray………….4405
7..(9) Cilic…………..4105
8..(7) Berdych…………4030
9.(10) Ferrer………….3875
10..(4) Wawrinka………..3460
11.(11) Dimitrov………..3375
12.(12) Tsonga………….2560
13.(13) Gulbis………….2420
14.(14) Lopez…………..2130
15.(15) Anderson………..2035
16.(16) Bautista Agut……1975
17.(17) Robredo…………1845
18.(21) Isner…………..1765
19.(20) Simon…………..1730
20.(19) Monfils…………1725
21.(22) Goffin………….1664
22.(18) Fognini…………1620
23.(24) Kohlschreiber……1460
24.(23) Dolgopolov………1420
25.(27) Karlovic………..1400
26.(26) MayerL………….1389
27.(25) Benneteau……….1355
28.(28) Gasquet…………1350
29.(30) Rosol…………..1245
30.(29) Cuevas………….1217
Australian Open — Week of January 19
……………….2R
1 Djokovic………(1)Djokovic
31 Verdasco……..(31)Verdasco
19 Isner………..(19)Isner
13 Bautista Agut…Muller
12 Lopez………..(12)Lopez
17 Monfils………Janowicz
25 Benneteau…….Becker
8 Raonic………..(8)Raonic
4 Wawrinka………(4)Wawrinka
27 Cuevas……….Nieminen
21 Dolgopolov……Pospisil
16 Fognini………Garcia-Lopez
9 Ferrer………..(9)Ferrer
18 Simon………..(18)Simon
30 Giraldo………Johnson
5 Nishikori……..(5)Nishikori
7 Berdych……….(7)Berdych
26 L Mayer………Troicki
22 Kohlschreiber…Tomic
11 Gulbis……….Groth
14 Anderson……..(14)Anderson
24 Gasquet………(24)Gasquet
28 Rosol………..Sela
3 Nadal…………(3)Nadal
6 Murray………..(6)Murray
32 Klizan……….Sousa
20 Goffin……….Baghdatis
10 Dimitrov……..(10)Dimitrov
15 Robredo………Jaziri
23 Karlovic……..Kyrgios
29 Chardy……….Seppi
2 Federer……….(2)Federer
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Djokovic
2 Federer
3 Nadal
4 Wawrinka
5 Nishikori
6 Murray
7 Berdych
8 Raonic
9 Ferrer
10 Dimitrov
11 Gulbis………..lost 1R (Kokkinakis)
12 Lopez
13 Bautista Agut….lost 2R (Muller)
14 Anderson
15 Robredo……….lost 1R (Roger-Vasselin)
16 Fognini……….lost 1R (A. Gonzalez)
17 Monfils……….lost 2R (Lopez)
18 Simon
19 Isner
20 Goffin………..lost 2R (Baghdatis)
21 Dolgopolov…….lost 1R (Lorenzi)
22 Kohlschreiber….lost 2R (Tomic)
23 Karlovic………lost 2R (Kyrgios)
24 Gasquet
25 Benneteau……..lost 1R (Becker)
26 L Mayer……….lost 2R (Troicki)
27 Cuevas………..lost 1R (Bachinger)
28 Rosol…………lost 2R (Sela)
29 Chardy………..lost 2R (Seppi)
30 Giraldo
31 Verdasco
32 Klizan………..lost 2R (Sousa)
THURSDAY
Australian Open
Singles – First Round
(1) N Djokovic def. A Kuznetsov 6-0 6-1 6-4
(4) S Wawrinka def. M Copil 7-6(7-4) 7-6(7-4) 6-3
(5) K Nishikori def. I Dodig 4-6 7-5 6-2 7-6(7-0)
(8) M Raonic def. D Young 6-4 7-6(7-3) 6-3
(9) D Ferrer def. S Stakhovsky 5-7 6-3 6-4 6-2
(12) F Lopez def. A Mannarino 4-6 4-6 7-6(6-3) 4-0, retired
G Muller def. (13) R Bautista Agut 7-6(7-5) 1-6 7-5 6-1
J Janowicz def. (17) G Monfils 6-4 1-6 6-7(3-7) 6-3 6-3
(18) G Simon def. M Granollers 7-6(7-5) 6-2 6-4
(19) J Isner def. A Haider-Maurer 6-4 7-6(7-4) 4-6 6-4
S Johnson def. (30) S Giraldo 6-3 6-4 6-2
(31) F Verdasco def. G Soeda 6-3 6-3 7-6(7-3)
B Becker def. L Hewitt 2-6 1-6 6-3 6-4 6-2
J Nieminen def. M Bachinger 7-6(7-4) 7-5 7-5
V Pospisil def. P Lorenzi 6-7(3-7) 7-6(7-4) 6-3 6-4
G Garcia-Lopez def. A Gonzalez 6-1 6-3 6-3
Doubles – First Round
(2) Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin def. Lee/Zhang 6-1 6-4
(5) Peya/Soares def. Troicki/Youzhny 6-1 6-4
(6) Rojer/Tecau def. Berankis/Haider-Maurer 6-4 6-2
(7) Bopanna/Nestor def. Baghdatis/Matosevic 7-6(7-2) 7-5
(9) Lindstedt/Matkowski def. Jaziri/Shamasdin 6-4 6-4
(11) Cabal/Farah def. M Pavic/Sa 3-6 6-3 6-2
(12) Butorac/Groth def. Lorenzi/Seppi 6-3 7-6(7-5)
F Lopez/Mirnyi def. Duckworth/Saville 7-6(7-1) 6-7(5-7) 6-2
Golubev/Istomin def. Kokkinakis/Kyrgios 6-3 2-6 6-2
Schwartzman/Zeballos def. Bhupathi/Melzer 6-4 6-3
Herbert/Mahut def. Klizan/Oswald 7-6(8-6) 7-6(7-2)
Chardy/Kubot def. Bracciali/Huta Galung 6-3 6-4
Andujar/Brown def. Karlovic/Nieminen 6-4 3-6 7-6(7-5)
Bolelli/Fognini def. Johnson/Querrey 5-7 6-4 6-3
Berlocq/L Mayer def. Brunstrom/Monroe 6-4 6-4
Marach/Venus def. Gojowyczk/Rosol 6-3 7-6(7-4)
Giraldo/Sousa def. Fyrstenberg/S Gonzalez 6-4 6-4
***
Content via bob Larson tennis news service.
Topics: Atp, AusOpen, Kei Nishikori, Melbourne, milos raonic, Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis Results
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