NOVAK DJOKOVIC BEATS ANDY MURRAY IN FOUR SETS TO WIN AO2015 & KIM SEARS WEARS A FUNNY SHIRT AND ALL THE TENNIS NEWS AND GOSSIP

MURRAY GETS A BAGEL IN THE FOURTH SET ( TOASTED)

MARTINA HINGIS AND THE AWESOME LEANDER PAES WIN THE MIXED TITLE

 

 

AUSTRALIAN OPEN MENS SINGLES RESULTS & MIXED DUBS RESULTS

 

 

Singles – Final: (1) N Djokovic def. (6) A Murray 7-6(7-5) 6-7(4-7) 6-3 6-0

When it came to interruptions, this match had almost everything. A spectator invaded the court in the second set. Everyone was trying to hear if Andy Murray’s girlfriend Kim Sears would use impolite words again (there is no firm evidence either way, but she did show up in a T-shirt carrying a “parental advisory”). But no amount of silliness could distract Novak Djokovic. Not even a thumb injury that forced him to call the trainer, or several slips, made any difference — Murray said that Djokovic’s falls distracted him, but it didn’t bother Djokovic. Nailbiting as it was, when Djokovic went up a break in third set at 5-3, it felt like he was a sure winner — and, as the score shows, he indeed cruised to victory from there.

Still, even though Andy Murray lost, and lost rather ugly at the end, he did make it to the final — and, in consequence, the Big Four is back. Stan Wawrinka’s brief time as the world’s #4? Over. Kei Nishikori’s attempt to rise above #5? Failed. Murray is back at #4, and the top players in the world are again Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, and Murray.

But with Djokovic the clear and unquestioned #1; Federer is far behind, and Nadal and Murray a distant third and fourth. Given how much Nadal has to defend in the next five months, we may well see Murray pass Nadal this spring (he needs only about 250 more points to catch up). But the odds of either of them passing Federer are poor, and the odds of any of them passing Djokovic almost beyond counting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s five titles in Melbourne for Djokovic, the most in the Open Era. He now has a 3800 point lead on #2 Federer. It really looks as if he’ll be #1 at least until Wimbledon. Or longer, if he keeps playing like this.

 

Mixed Doubles – Final: (7) Hingis/Paes def. (3) Mladenovic/Nestor 6-4 6-3

Add one more strange record to Martina Hingis’s collection of “youngest ever” biography entries: “Youngest ever to go eighteen years between first and last Australian Open titles.” She now has nine titles here — three in singles, four in women’s doubles, and two in mixed. (Even stranger, one is with Mahesh Bhupathi, the other with Leander Paes!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Hingis/Paes did it against the toughest team in mixed doubles, too; Mladenovic/Nestor were #1 in the Mixed rankings, and were the defending champions. For Mladenovic, even with the loss in the final, that lets her stay the best female mixed player in the world, according to our Top Ten:

 

 

1….Mladenovic…….3500

2….Mirza…………2883

3….Srebotnik……..1533

4….Spears………..1467

5….Hradecka………1367

6….Hingis………..1250

6….Zheng…………1250

8….Hlavackova…….1217

9….Peschke……….1200

10….ChanH…………1167

Even more fascinating (and highly unlikely) is the fact that we have a tie for #1 in men’s Mixed rankings:

1….Nestor………..3583

1….Soares………..3583

3….Paes………….1883

4….GonzalezS……..1800

5….Zimonjic………1617

6….Mirnyi………..1600

7….Cermak………..1217

8….Bopanna……….1150

9….Rojer…………1083

10….Qureshi……….1067

This even as Daniel Nestor’s ranking falls in men’s doubles. But Mixed really is different.

Unless you’re named “Martina,” anyway — throw in another record for Hingis, as youngest player to win a Slam after being elected to the Hall of Fame. The competition for the title? None other than Martina Navratilova…. Hingis is still only #6 in women’s mixed rankings, but that’s because she hasn’t played much; she looks likely to go higher. Leander Paes, we note, is up to #3 — and has been #1 in the past. When asked if he and Hingis would team up again, Paes (who has his own collection of Melbourne titles, although of course not in singles) said, “If she lets me.” Hingis said that they would.

Other mixed teams, take warning….

 

 

TODAY’S FEATURE

 

Men’s Look Forward: Montpellier, Zagreb, Quito

 

At times like this, not even appearance fees work.

 

The week after a Slam is generally a tough time for tournaments. When there is also a shift between continents, and the events are 250s, it gets even tougher. Even though we have three tournaments this week, not one of them features a Top Ten player.

 

The strongest of the three events is probably Montpellier, which has the advantage of being in France. That let it get two of the three Top Twenty players in action this week: Gael Monfils is the #1 seed and Gilles Simon is #2. Philipp Kohlschreiber, who plays everything, is #3, and Richard Gasquet is #4 and has the last bye. That’s not a bad start to a draw — and the locals will surely like the fact that three of the top four seeds are French — but it gets much weaker below that; there are only two other Top Fifty players: #5 seed Jerzy Janowicz and #7 Joao Sousa (who was below the Top Fifty prior to Melbourne). #6 seed Denis Istomin was Top Fifty entering the Australian Open, but no longer. Jan-Lennard Struff is the #8 seed, and everyone else is below the Top Sixty. That leaves only a handful of interesting unseeded players. Struff opens against Jarkko Nieminen, but Nieminin seems just about spent. Gasquet might open against mildly promising Lucas Pouille, who is in on a wildcard. And Janowicz opens against upset artist Dustin Brown, then maybe Benoit Paire, who will be trying for yet another comeback.

 

Zagreb is lucky that Ivo Karlovic was willing to be the #1 seed; he’s the only Top Thirty player in the draw. And yet, there are a lot of fast-rising players in the field. Adrian Mannarino, who just hit the Top Forty, is #2. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez has the #3 seed. Gilles Muller, who has been hitting career highs almost every week lately, is #4. Andreas Seppi, who took Roger Federer out of the Australian Open, is #5. Mikhail Youzhny is one of the few seeds here who is in really bad form; even though he’s seeded #6, he just fell out of the Top Fifty. That means he’s ranked well behind #7 Viktor Troicki, who — just as we said two weeks ago — won’t be playing qualifying for a while! The #8 seed is Marcel Granollers. And there are plenty of interesting unseeded players. Karlovic might open against Marcos Baghdatis. Youzhny’s second round could be against Borna Coric. And Granollers opens against Jurgen Melzer, then probably Ivan Dodig.

 

Quito, which is new this year, is the overall weakest of the three tournaments, but ironically it landed the week’s only Top Fifteen player: Feliciano Lopez is the #1 seed. The rest of the field, though, is mostly clay experts and Latin Americans (two categories that largely overlap, of course). Santiago Giraldo is #2, with Fernando Verdasco #3. Martin Klizan is #4; maybe the softer court will help his fragile body. Paolo Lorenzi is #5, Thomaz Bellucci #6, Dusan Lajovic #7, and Victor Estrella Burgos #8; the only halfway-noteworthy unseeded player is Albert Montanes, who could face Giraldo in the second round but who is in terrible form even on clay (and worse anywhere else — he has been skipping ATP hardcourt events to play clay Challengers).

 

The Rankings

 

Because the schedule has been rearranged to move Davis Cup, this week’s events, instead of being messed up by calendar shift, align with last year; coming off are Montpellier, Zagreb, and Vina del Mar 2014. The title at Montpellier last year went to Gael Monfils, over Richard Gasquet, with Jerzy Janowicz and Jarkko Nieminen the semifinalists (note that they’re all back this year — a rare thing at 250 point events!). Fabio Fognini, who isn’t playing this week (after all, he just won the Australian Open doubles) took the Vina del Mar title last year, over Leonardo Mayer (not back); the semifinalists were Nicolas Almagro (not back) and Santiago Giraldo. Marin Cilic, who is still unable to play this year, won Zagreb 2014, over Tommy Haas (obviously not back either); the semifinalists were Daniel Evans (who only got in as a Lucky Loser last year and who couldn’t get direct entry this year either) and Bjorn Phau (which means we’re four for four in the not-back department).

 

Note that the only Top Ten player with anything to defend is Marin Cilic. And Feliciano Lopez is still far below the #10 mark. So the only move in the Top Ten will be that Cilic will fall from #8 to #9, behind Stan Wawrinka. In the Top Fifteen, it’s just possible that Lopez could read #13, but he has to win Quito.

 

Gael Monfils risks losing his Top Twenty spot, and Richard Gasquet is at slight risk of falling out of the Top Thirty. Fabio Fognini, who lost his Top Twenty spot in Melbourne, might fall another spot or two, but fortunately for him there is a big gap between his current #22 and #23 Kohlschreiber. We’d guess Leonardo Mayer will slip to around #28. Tommy Haas appears bound out of the Top Hundred.

 

Daniel Evans, #319 entering the Australian Open, will lose about 60% of his points; we haven’t a clue where that will put him, but it will be below #500.

 

 

 

THIS WEEK IN TENNIS

 

THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:

Montpellier (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Gael Monfils

Zagreb (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Marin Cilic

Quito (250/Clay). Defending Champion: New Event

 

NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:

Rotterdam (500/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Tomas Berdych

Memphis (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Kei Nishikori

Sao Paulo (250/Clay). Defending Champion: Federico Delbonis

 

 

STATS AND FACTS

 

RANKINGS

 

Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings

As of February 1, 2015

 

 

Rank &

Prior…Player………..Points

1..(1) Djokovic……….13045

2..(2) Federer…………9245

3..(3) Nadal…………..5745

4..(6) Murray………….5515

5..(5) Nishikori……….5205

6..(8) Raonic………….4845

7..(7) Berdych…………4660

8..(9) Cilic…………..4105

9..(4) Wawrinka………..4090

10.(10) Ferrer………….3965

11.(11) Dimitrov………..3465

12.(12) Tsonga………….2560

13.(13) Gulbis………….2420

14.(14) Lopez…………..2220

15.(15) Anderson………..2125

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

 

WINNER: Novak Djokovic

 

 

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Djokovic……….WON TOURNAMENT

2 Federer………..lost 2R (Seppi)

3 Nadal………….lost QF (Berdych)

4 Wawrinka……….lost SF (Djokovic)

5 Nishikori………lost QF (Wawrinka)

6 Murray…………lost F (Djokovic)

7 Berdych………..lost SF (Murray)

8 Raonic…………lost QF (Djokovic)

9 Ferrer…………lost 4R (Nishikori)

10 Dimitrov………lost 4R (Murray)

11 Gulbis………..lost 1R (Kokkinakis)

12 Lopez…………lost 4R (Raonic)

13 Bautista Agut….lost 2R (Muller)

14 Anderson………lost 4R (Nadal)

15 Robredo……….lost 1R (Roger-Vasselin)

16 Fognini……….lost 1R (A. Gonzalez)

17 Monfils……….lost 2R (Lopez)

18 Simon…………lost 3R (Ferrer)

19 Isner…………lost 3R (Muller)

20 Goffin………..lost 2R (Baghdatis)

21 Dolgopolov…….lost 1R (Lorenzi)

22 Kohlschreiber….lost 2R (Tomic)

23 Karlovic………lost 2R (Kyrgios)

24 Gasquet……….lost 3R (Anderson)

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……….lost 2R (Johnson)

31 Verdasco………lost 3R (Djokovic)

32 Klizan………..lost 2R (Sousa)

 

Montpellier — Week of February 2

 

 

1 Monfils

–bye

de Schepper

Ilhan

Qualifier

Ito

Nieminen

8 Struff

 

4 Gasquet

–bye

Pouille (WC)

Kudryavtsev

Sela

Qualifier

Jaziri

6 Istomin

 

7 Sousa

Lokoli (WC)

Kamke

Millot (WC)

Qualifier

Mathieu

–bye

3 Kohlschreiber

 

5 Janowicz

Brown

Qualifier

Paire

Roger-Vasselin

A Beck

–bye

2 Simon

 

Zagreb — Week of February 2

 

 

1 Karlovic

–bye

Androic (WC)

Baghdatis

Coric

Stakhovsky

Kavcic

6 Youzhny

 

3 Garcia-Lopez

–bye

Dzumhur

Qualifier

Soeda

Qualifier

Qualifier

7 Troicki

 

5 Seppi

Haase

Veic (WC)

Ward

Berankis

Lacko

–bye

4 Muller

 

8 Granollers

Melzer

M Delic (WC)

Dodig

Sijsling

Qualifier

–bye

2 Mannarino

 

Quito — Week of February 2

 

 

1 Lopez

–bye

Bagnis

A Gonzalez

Escobar (WC)

Qualifier

Vanni

7 Lajovic

 

3 Verdasco

–bye

Haider-Maurer

Qualifier

Souza

Falla

Menendez-Macieras

5 Lorenzi

 

8 Estrella Burgos

Qualifier

Qualifier

Donskoy

Fucsovics (WC)

Gimeno-Traver

–bye

4 Klizan

 

6 Bellucci

G Lapentti (WC)

Zeballos

Krajicek

Arguello

Montanes

–bye

2 Giraldo

 

CONTENT VIA BOB LARSON TENNIS NEWS SERVICE.

Topics: Andy Murray, AO2015, Australian Open, Kim Sears, Leander Paes, Martina Hingis, Melbourne, Novak Djokovic, Tennis News

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