NOVAK DJOKOVIC , KEI NISHIKORI , STAN WAWRINKA , AND MILOS RAONIC ALL WIN IN AUSTRALIA

Written by: Staff on 22nd January 2015

NOVAK DJOKOVIC , KEI NISHIKORI , STAN WAWRINKA , AND MILOS RAONIC ALL WIN IN AUSTRALIA

epa04570001 Japan's Kei Nishikori plays Spain's Nicolas Almagro in their first round match at at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 20 January 2015. EPA/JULIAN SMITH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Men’s Tennis from down under Scores / results/ news / rankings

TIDBITS

* 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

Australian Open

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.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action against Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia in their second round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 22 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/Filip Singer

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.

Milos Raonic of Canada in action against Donald Young of the US in the second round of the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 22 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/Made Nagi

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.

Jerzy Janowicz of Poland reacts after beating Gael Monfils of France in their second round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, 22 January 2015. EPA/JULIAN SMITH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

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.

Lleyton Hewitt of Australia reacts after losing against Benjamin Becker of Germany in their second round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 22 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/Filip Singer

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

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

TODAY’S FEATURE

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.

STATS AND FACTS

RANKINGS

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

DRAWS

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)

SCORES

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

Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:

Facebook:

Twitter:

10sBalls_com says:

January 22, 2015 at 3:56 pm

-@DjokerNole, @keinishikori, @stanwawrinka, & @milosraonic ALL WIN IN AUSTRALIA- http://t.co/Mp5o9ucLRC #AusOpen #tennis #ATP #AO2015