MEN’S TENNIS NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE FROM ROTTERDAM TO MEMPHIS WITH A STOP IN BRAZIL

Written by: Staff on 11th February 2015

MEN'S TENNIS NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE FROM ROTTERDAM TO MEMPHIS WITH A STOP IN BRAZIL

epa04613281 Canada's Milos Raonic returns the ball to Russia's Andrey Kuznetsov during their first round match of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands, 10 February 2015. EPA/KOEN SUYK |

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Tidbits , Gossip , Facts ,Updates

* Kohlschreiber out to Pospisil in Rotterdam; another Top Twenty chance gone

* #2 seed Raonic, #8 Simon need three sets to advance

* Benneteau injured against Chardy; will not make Top 25

* Berdych routs Kamke, but still at risk of falling to #8

* Monfils starts campaign to return to Top Twenty by crushing countryman Roger-Vasselin, who remains below #100

* Murray/Peers lose in qualifying but win in main draw, then get walkover into semifinal due to Benneteau’s problems; Bopanna/Nestor win battle of part-Indian teams over Klaasen/Paes; Lindstedt/Matkowski lose again

* Defending Sao Paulo champion Delbonis loses opener to Lucky Loser Bagnis

* #6 seed Giraldo, #7 Verdasco win in straight sets

* Klizan comes back from brink against Bellucci, remains below #35 for the moment

* Qualifier de Bakker edges Monaco; faces another qualifier on way to quarterfinal

* 2014 Rotterdam semifinalist Sijsling loses to Tomic in Memphis, will lose Top Hundred spot

* Lu out to Groth; will fall to around #60

* Qualifier Austin Krajicek edges Kukushkin in two and a half hours for only second ATP win

* Karlovic hits 23 aces in 11 service games to beat Lacko

* Querrey keeps Top Forty hopes alive with three-set upset of #7 seed Becker

TODAY’S MEN’S NEWS

Rotterdam

Milos Raonic sealed his debut with a 19th ace to see off Russian qualifier Alexander Kuznetsov 6-7(5), 6-1, 7-5. The Canadian second seed needed a comeback after losing the opening set to the No. 88 before taking control in the second set and keeping up the pressure in the third to book into the second round.

Canada’s Milos Raonic serves the ball to Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov during their first round match of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands, 10 February 2015. EPA/KOEN SUYK

Raonic said that he needed time to get used to conditions in the centre court, but quickly made the adjustments. “I’ve had a lot of training here but it can be difficult to adapt to playing,” said the 24-year-old ranked sixth on the ATP. “As a qualifier, he already had two matches. I got behind but I’m happy with the way I fought today; for me that is the most important thing. I have a big belief in myself.”

Raonic ended with 46 winners and 31 unforced errors, breaking Kuznetsov four times, including in the penultimate game of the match for a 6-4 lead in the final set. He now stands 8-2 on the season.

Defending champion Tomas Berdych defeated German Tobias Kamke 6-1, 7-5 to start his title defense with 11 aces. French eighth seed Gilles Simon, a two-time semi-finalist, needed a recovery after losing the first set to beat Portugal’s Joao Sousa 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

Jeremy Chardy advanced as Julien Benneteau retired at 3-3 with a leg injury; Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine beat Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-2, 7-6 (9-7). Gael Monfils beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 6-2. Canadian Vasek Pospisil earned a 6-4, 6-2 victory in less than an hour over Philipp Kohlschreiber, as he joined Raonic in making a winning start. Pospisil advanced into a match against either top seed Andy Murray or Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.

Sao Paulo

Argentine lucky loser Facundo Bagnis staged an upset as he knocked out holder Federico Delbonis 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in the first round. The No. 117 produced his jolt in just under two hours, for his first win of the season.

Colombian sixth seed Santiago Giraldo advanced over Kimmer Coppejans 7-5, 7-6(4), saving five of six break points and surviving a 10-ace performance from his opponent. Giraldo next plays Carlos Berlocq, winner over Guido Pella 6-4, 7-6(4). Spain’s seventh seed Fernando Verdasco, a semi-finalist last week on South American clay in Quito, defeated Argentine qualifier Maximo Gonzalez 6-2, 6-3. “I felt better than I thought at the beginning of the match,” said Verdasco. “Making the first break when he served gave me confidence for the whole match. I’m happy and hopefully I’m going to get better and feel better practicing tomorrow.”

Verdasco’s next opponent will be Serb Dusan Lajovic, a winner against Pablo Andujar 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Dutch Qualifier Thiemo De Bakker beat Argentine Juan Monaco 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-4, with the winner firing 19 aces. There were wins for Diego Schwartzman, Joao Souza of Brazil and eighth seed Martin Klizan, who put out local hero Thomaz Bellucci 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.

Memphis

Bernard Tomic and Sam Groth sent two Australians into the second round, with Tomic defeating Dutchman Igor Sijsling 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and Groth stopping Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun 6-4, 6-3. American Denis Kudla spoiled an Aussie hat-trick with his defeat of Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3, 6-4. Fifth seed Ivo Karlovic stopped Lukas Lacko 7-6(7), 6-3.

Four Americans advanced, led by sixth seed Steve Johnson, a winner over Serb lucky loser Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 6-3. Sam Querrey put out German seventh seed Benjamin Becker 4-6, 6-2, 6-1; Ryan Harrison beat Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 76(3), 76(1) while Austin Krajicek advanced past Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin 6-2, 6-7(3,) 7-6(8), saving a pair of match points.

Steve Johnson of the US hits a return shot to Filip Krajinovic of Serbia in their first round Memphis Open tennis match at the Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, 10 February 2015. EPA/TANNEN MAURY

THIS 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

NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:

Rio de Janeiro (500/Clay). Defending Champion: Rafael Nadal

Marseille (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Ernests Gulbis

Delray Beach (250/Hard). Defending Champion: Marin Cilic

RANKINGS

Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings

As of February 10, 2015

Rank &

Prior…Player………..Points

1..(1) Djokovic……….13045

2..(2) Federer…………9205

3..(3) Nadal…………..5745

4..(4) Murray………….5435

5..(5) Nishikori……….5045

6..(6) Raonic………….4845

7..(7) Berdych…………4250

8..(8) Wawrinka………..4050

9..(9) Ferrer………….3865

10.(10) Cilic…………..3690

11.(11) Dimitrov………..3465

12.(12) Tsonga………….2495

13.(13) Gulbis………….2330

14.(14) Lopez…………..2325

15.(15) Anderson………..2125

16.(16) Bautista Agut……1975

17.(17) Robredo…………1800

18.(18) Isner…………..1765

19.(19) Simon…………..1755

20.(20) Goffin………….1659

21.(21) Monfils…………1590

22.(22) Kohlschreiber……1460

23.(23) Dolgopolov………1420

24.(24) Gasquet…………1410

25.(27) Garcia-Lopez…….1360

26.(28) Benneteau……….1355

27.(26) Fognini…………1320

28.(25) Karlovic………..1295

29.(29) Rosol…………..1245

30.(31) Verdasco………..1225

DRAWS

Rotterdam — Week of February 9

1 Murray

8 Simon

3 Berdych

7 Bautista Agut

5 Dimitrov

4 Wawrinka

6 Gulbis

2 Raonic

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Murray

2 Raonic

3 Berdych

4 Wawrinka

5 Dimitrov

6 Gulbis………lost 1R (Thiem)

7 Bautista Agut

8 Simon

Memphis — Week of February 9

1 Nishikori

5 Karlovic

3 Isner

7 Becker

8 Mannarino

4 Dolgopolov

6 Johnson

2 Anderson (WC)

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Nishikori

2 Anderson (WC)

3 Isner

4 Dolgopolov

5 Karlovic

6 Johnson

7 Becker……..lost 1R (Querrey)

8 Mannarino…..lost 1R (Young)

Sao Paulo — Week of February 9

1 Lopez

7 Verdasco

4 L Mayer

8 Klizan

6 Giraldo

3 Fognini

5 Cuevas

2 Robredo

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Lopez……..WITHDREW

2 Robredo

3 Fognini

4 L Mayer

5 Cuevas

6 Giraldo

7 Verdasco

8 Klizan

* SCORES Singles and Doubles

TUESDAY

Rotterdam

Singles – First Round

[2] M. Raonic (CAN) d [Q] A. Kuznetsov (RUS) 67(5) 61 75

[3] T. Berdych (CZE) d [LL] T. Kamke (GER) 61 75

[8] G. Simon (FRA) d J. Sousa (POR) 57 63 62

V. Pospisil (CAN) d P. Kohlschreiber (GER) 64 62

J. Chardy (FRA) d J. Benneteau (FRA) 33 ret. (lower body injury)

G. Monfils (FRA) d [Q] E. Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 63 62

S. Stakhovsky (UKR) d M. Granollers (ESP) 62 76(7)

Doubles – Quarter-Finals

[LL] J Murray (GBR) / J Peers (AUS) d [1] J Benneteau (FRA) / E Roger-Vasselin (FRA) w/o (Benneteau – lower body injury)Doubles – First Round

[3] J Rojer (NED) / H Tecau (ROU) d R Lindstedt (SWE) / M Matkowski (POL) 62 75

[4] R Bopanna (IND) / D Nestor (CAN) d R Klaasen (RSA) / L Paes (IND) 62 63

[LL] J Murray (GBR) / J Peers (AUS) d R Bautista Agut (ESP) / J Sousa (POR) 63 64

[WC] A Begemann (GER) / R Haase (NED) d L Rosol (CZE) / D Thiem (AUT) 76(8) 64

Memphis

Singles – First Round

[5] I. Karlovic (CRO) d L. Lacko (SVK) 76(7) 63

[6] S. Johnson (USA) d [LL] F. Krajinovic (SRB) 63 63

S. Querrey (USA) d [7] B. Becker (GER) 46 62 61

[Q] R. Harrison (USA) d M. Jaziri (TUN) 76(3) 76(1)

[Q] A. Krajicek (USA) d M. Kukushkin (KAZ) 62 67(3) 76(8) – saved 2 M.P.

[Q] D. Kudla (USA) d [Q] T. Kokkinakis (AUS) 63 64

B. Tomic (AUS) d I. Sijsling (NED) 46 63 62

S. Groth (AUS) d Y. Lu (TPE) 64 63

Doubles – First Round

[1] I Dodig (CRO) / M Mirnyi (BLR) d J Brunstrom (SWE) / N Monroe (USA) 75 76(7)

[3] E Butorac (USA) / R Ram (USA) d [WC] M Mmoh (USA) / F Tiafoe (USA) 62 64

B Becker (GER) / D Meffert (GER) d T Gabashvili (RUS) / B Tomic (AUS) w/o (Gabashvili – shoulder injury)

R Harrison (USA) / A Krajicek (USA) d D Brown (GER) / M Matosevic (AUS) 63 62

Sao Paulo

Singles – First Round

[6] S. Giraldo (COL) d [WC] K. Coppejans (BEL) 75 76(4)

[7] F. Verdasco (ESP) d [Q] M. Gonzalez (ARG) 62 63

[8] M. Klizan (SVK) d T. Bellucci (BRA) 57 63 75 – saved 2 M.P.

[Q] T. de Bakker (NED) d J. Monaco (ARG) 67(5) 76(4) 64

D. Lajovic (SRB) d P. Andujar (ESP) 36 63 62

[WC] J. Souza (BRA) d P. Carreno Busta (ESP) 62 76(6)

C. Berlocq (ARG) d [Q] G. Pella (ARG) 64 76(4)

D. Schwartzman (ARG) d P. Lorenzi (ITA) 75 64

[LL] F. Bagnis (ARG) d F. Delbonis (ARG) 63 26 64

Doubles – First Round

[3] J Knowle (AUT) / M Melo (BRA) d N Almagro (ESP) / F Fognini (ITA) 46 63 10-5

Content via Bob Larson tennis news service.

Topics: Abn Amro World Tennis Tournament, Atp, Memphis Open, Richard Krajicek, Rotterdam, Sao Paulo, Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

February 11, 2015 at 9:25 am

MEN’S #TENNIS NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE FROM #ROTTERDAM TO #MEMPHIS WITH A STOP IN BRAZIL http://t.co/pTMQmdv7Gt #abnamrowtt
markalannixon says:

February 11, 2015 at 10:27 am

Mens tennis news and highlights from around the globe from Rotterdam to Memphis with a stop in Brazil – http://t.co/jzsESXXfx8