WIMBLEDON GENTLEMEN’S RESULTS, GOSSIP, TENNIS TIDBITS

Unlike most Slams, Wimbledon begins doubles action on the first day. But we were not able to write our doubles previews until after the new rankings came out. So some of the information in the Preview has been rendered obsolete by events (e.g. Pospisil, Mergea, and Sock all won their openers, adding to the points totals shown in the Feature).

 

TIDBITS AND GOSSIP :

 

* Hewitt’s Wimbledon singles career ends with four hour loss to Nieminen; Nieminen should stay Top Hundred, but Hewitt (who loses Wimbledon and Newport points) loses more than half of remaining points, will drop to around #270

* Verdasco also survives monster match; beats Klizan 13-11 in fifth set — but will likely need more to hit Top Forty

* Challenger phenom Chung still can’t figure out ATP events; loses 10-8 in fifth to Herbert

* Add Alexander Zverev to the overtime winners; tops Gabashvili 9-7 in fifth

* Robredo first seed to fall; #19 loses to Millman and can expect to end up below #20

* #28 Cuevas also out; likely to lose Top 25 ranking

* Djokovic cruises past Kohlschreiber to move a little closer to year-end #1; German still stuck below Top Thirty

* Wawrinka wins eighth straight Slam match; knocks Sousa out of Top Fifty

* Kyrgios struggles at end but beats Schwartzman; needs more to stay Top Forty

* Cilic eases into second round; odds of staying Top Ten look very good

* Raonic struggles through, remains far below #7 Ferrer despite Spaniard’s withdrawal

* Isner pounds 38 aces in three set match, wins 93% of first serve points — but needs one more win just to defend his points

* Leonardo Mayer beats Kokkinakis for one of his best career grass wins; needs more to hit Top Twenty

* Florian Mayer’s comeback stalling; wins only seven games against grass-hating Monaco

* Haider-Maurer has dubious distinction of being first to retire at Wimbledon, will fall below #60

* More struggles for Tipsarevic in comeback; loses in straight sets to Granollers

* Opening win for Thiem almost assures that he will stay Top Thirty

* Haas scores first Slam win of year, more than triples point total; will rise from #861 to around #535

* Goffin finds grass no problem against Zeballos; career high possible

* Tomic survives five sets against Struff; Top 25 spot possible

* Close loss to Nishikori will probably drop Bolelli below #60

* Anderson tops Frenchman, but still needs two more wins to defend points

* Gasquet wins easily to defend points; likely but not yet certain to stay Top Twenty

* Estrella Burgos leaves Becker still below Top Fifty

* Five set win over Lacko has Johnson close to Top Fifty

* Delbonis, with only one day to switch from clay to grass, loses tamely to Dimitrov — but Dimitrov is still only #15 in safe points

* Baghdatis recovers from last week’s injury to top Donald Young Jr., it was a four set battle.

* Janowicz’s serve deserts him against Ilhan; loses in four sets

 

WIMBLEDON DAY ONE HIGHLIGHTS : 

 

Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka, the French Open finalist and winner respectively, powered into the Wimbledon second round with minimal trouble on a heat-wave opening day. Djokovic had not played a match in the three weeks since he lost to the Swiss at Roland Garros.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The top-seeded Serb began his title defense by beating German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 while Stan Wawrinka, who played on grass this month at Queen’s, defeated Joao Sousa 6-2, 7-5, 7-6(3). Djokovic is chasing a third trophy, which would equal the number won by his coach Boris Becker.

 

Japan’s fifth seed advanced over Italian Simone Bolelli 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 and Canadian seventh seed Milos Raonic beat Daniel Gimemo-Traver of Spain, 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4).

 

Djokovic won his opening set as Kohlschreiber contributed a double-fault and then drove a backhand into the net to start the momentum rolling for the world number one, who was beaten badly in the French Open final by Stan Wawrinka.

 

“All three sets were decided in the tenth game,” said Djokovic. “After I broke him to win the first set and the second set, it was the same situation. I felt like in the third, as well. That’s where maybe I can have a mental edge over him. He missed a couple shots.

 

US Open champion Marin Cilic, the No. 9, Beat Hiroki Moriya 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(4); South African 14th seed x Kevin Anderson overcame Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-2, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. No. 16 David Goffin defeated Horacio Zeballos 7-6(4), 6-1, 6-1. Australian Nick Kyrgios got an obscenity warning in his defeat of Diego Schwartzmann 6-0, 6-2, 7-6(6), while Leonardo Mayer put out Aussie teenager Thanasi Kokkinakis 7-6 (9-7), 7-6(3), 6-4.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

American John Isner defeated Japan’s Go Soeda 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-4; Austrian Dominic Thiem went through over Dudi Sela 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. German Tommy

 

Haas, 37, reached the second round over Dusan Lajovic 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to become the oldest Wimbledon winner since Jimmy Connors in 1991..2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt bowed out of his last Wimbledon with absolutely no regrets after going down to the wire in a 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, 11-9 first-round defeat by fellow veteran Jarkko Nieminen.

 

DOUBLES TROUBLES :

 

Preview Wimbledon Doubles

 

Now would be a brilliant time for the Bryans to try a last stand.

 

Oh, the world’s #1 doubles team is not in danger of losing the top spots now; they have a lead of 3000 safe points on #3 Marcelo Melo. But if they do badly this fortnight, there is a real chance they could lose their top spots later this summer. It would be a good time to start adding insurance.

 

At least their draw is pretty good. For starters, they open against a pair of Lucky Losers. And two biggest threats to them are in the other half: #2 Dodig/Melo obviously have to be there, but #3 Pospisil/Sock, who beat the Bryans in last year’s final, are also in the bottom half. The Bryans are supposed to face #4 Rojer/Tecau in the semifinal, which just isn’t as big a challenge — Rojer/Tecau are great in small events, but they really struggle in the big ones.

 

It really is a bottom-heavy draw; not only are last year’s Wimbledon champs Pospisil/Sock and this year’s Roland Garros champions Dodig/Melo in the bottom half, so are this year’s Australian Open champions Bolelli/Fognini; they’re seeded #5, and are in the same quarter as Dodig/Melo. The #6 seeds are Granollers and Marc Lopez; they’re in the same quarter as the Bryans — but they prefer other surfaces. #7 seeds Matkowski/Zimonjic are in the Rojer/Tecau quarter; #8 seeds Peya/Soares are drawn to face Pospisil/Sock.

 

In the Round of Sixteen, the Bryans would face #14 Klaasen/Ram — a tough grass pairing, to be sure. Granollers/Lopez have drawn #9 Bopanna/Mergea. Rojer/Tecau are up against #15 Draganja/Kontinen, who seem to have cooled off since the start of the year. Matkowski/Zimonjic are up against #10 Herbert/Mahut; given how well the Frenchmen have been doing this year, and how much Mahut likes grass, that could be trouble.

 

Leander Paes won’t reach 101 doubles partners this week; he’s back with Daniel Nestor. They’re the #11 seeds, and they are supposed to face Peya/Soares in the third round. Nestor/Paes clearly like the surface better; whether that’s enough to make up for their recent decline in fortune is harder to tell. Pospisil/Sock are supposed to face #13 Jamie Murray/Peers, who presumably like grass fairly well. Bolelli/Fognini are up against #12 Cuevas/Marrero, for whom the surface isn’t nearly as good. Dodig/Melo are drawn against #16 Cabal/Farah.

 

Cabal/Farah may have to watch out, because they open against Nottingham champions Guccione/Sa. Cuevas/Marrero start against the tough team of Huey/Lipsky, then perhaps Erlich/Petzschner — two one-strong players who are now struggling. Pospisil/Sock play their second round against Butorac/Fleming, which has the interesting effect of raising the possibility that Butorac/Fleming could face Murray/Peers in the third round. A lot of history there for Jamie Murray…. Speaking of British players, Matkowski/Zimonjic open against Skupski/Skupski, then potentially Inglot/Roger-Vasselin — a team with one British grass expert and one former Slam winner, so they could be tough. Herbert/Mahut might face the interesting team of Muller/Qureshi in the second round. Draganja/Kontinen have a really fascinating draw: first Hewitt/Kokkinakis (with Lleyton Hewitt very possibly playing the very last Wimbledon match of his career there), then either Bhupathi/Tipsarevic (yes, Bhupathi is still playing, if not very often) or slumping Lindstedt/Melzer. That’s one that interests us a lot. Granollers/Lopez play their second round against Kubot/Mirnyi, who both have Slam titles. Bopanna/Mergea could face Stepanek/Youzhny in round two. And the Bryans might face countrymen Johnson/Querrey in the second round.

 

The Rankings

 

This may not be a very exciting week at the top of the rankings. The Bryans were last year’s finalists, but they’re safe at #1, and Marcelo Melo is safe at #3, as our estimated “zero round” rankings show:

 

1..(1) Bryan………….10360

1..(1) Bryan………….10360

3..(3) Melo……………7360

4..(4) Dodig…………..7090

5..(7) Tecau…………..5140

5..(8) Rojer…………..5140

7..(9) Fognini…………4655

8.(10) Bolelli…………4340

9..(5) Pospisil………..4165

10.(15) Mergea………….4160

The semifinalists last year were Llodra/Mahut and Paes/Stepanek. It doesn’t really matter to Michael Llodra, but Nicolas Mahut is barely Top Twenty and likely to fall out (especially since he loses a few points from Newport also), and Paes, who comes in at #24, is in danger of falling out of the Top Thirty. As for Stepanek, he’s at #76, and has more than 70% of his points on the line, so he could effectively vanish. Which makes it especially tough that he is not seeded….

 

We repeat, the Bryans are safe at co-#1, and Marcelo Melo is secure at #3. Ivan Dodig isn’t quite guaranteed to stay #4, but the only players who can catch him are Rojer/Tecau, and only with a title, and only if Dodig/Melo lose their opener, so in practice, Dodig is clinched. That means that our first real contest is for #5. Tecau and Rojer lead that contest by a substantial margin; Fognini is 500 points back, meaning that Bolelli/Fognini need a semifinal to have a shot. Anyone else needs at least a final.

 

As far as the Top Ten is concerned, the Bryans, Melo, Dodig, Tecau, and Rojer are clinched, and Fognini nearly so. But Pospisil, #5 coming in, is in danger of falling out, and Sock, #6 coming in, is below the Top Fifteen in safe points. That means we have a wide-open contest for the last three Top Ten spots. From Bolelli, #8 in safe points, to Zimonjic, #13, is just 270 points, so Bolelli, Pospisil, Mergea, Marc Lopez, Granollers, and Zimonjic are all contenders, with Soares, Matkowski, Sock, Peya, Bopanna, and maybe others within striking distance, though they’ll need something big. If all you care about is rankings movement, we actually have more excitement in the doubles Top Ten than in the singles.

 

 

RANKINGS

 

Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings

As of June 29, 2015

 

Rank &

Prior…Player………..Points

1..(1) Djokovic……….11890

2..(2) Federer…………8475

3..(3) Murray………….7100

4..(5) Nishikori……….5525

5..(4) Wawrinka………..5475

6..(6) Berdych…………4970

7..(7) Ferrer………….4445

8..(8) Raonic………….3765

9..(9) Cilic…………..3225

10.(10) Nadal…………..2965

11.(12) Tsonga………….2395

12.(13) Simon…………..2355

13.(15) Goffin………….2010

14.(14) Anderson………..1955

15.(11) Dimitrov………..1925

16.(18) Monfils…………1850

17.(17) Isner…………..1845

18.(16) Lopez…………..1765

19.(20) Gasquet…………1610

20.(19) Robredo…………1540

21.(24) Troicki…………1504

22.(21) Mayer…………..1470

23.(26) Tomic…………..1355

24.(22) Bautista Agut……1305

25.(23) Cuevas………….1297

26.(25) Karlovic………..1280

26.(27) Seppi…………..1280

28.(30) Thiem…………..1270

29.(35) Monaco………….1215

30.(32) Garcia-Lopez…….1210

 

DRAWS

 

Wimbledon — Week of June 29

 

1 Djokovic

27 Tomic

24 L Mayer

14 Anderson

 

9 Cilic

17 Isner

28 Cuevas

5 Nishikori

 

4 Wawrinka

32 Thiem

19 Robredo

16 Goffin

 

11 Dimitrov

21 Gasquet

26 Kyrgios

7 Raonic

 

Vanni (LL)

30 Fognini

22 Troicki

10 Nadal

 

13 Tsonga

23 Karlovic

25 Seppi

3 Murray

 

6 Berdych

29 Garcia-Lopez

18 Monfils

12 Simon

 

15 Lopez

20 Bautista Agut

31 Sock

2 Federer

 

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Djokovic

2 Federer

3 Murray

4 Wawrinka

5 Nishikori

6 Berdych

7 Raonic

8 Ferrer………….WITHDREW (replaced by Vanni)

9 Cilic

10 Nadal

11 Dimitrov

12 Simon

13 Tsonga

14 Anderson

15 Lopez

16 Goffin

17 Isner

18 Monfils

19 Robredo……….lost 1R (Millman)

20 Bautista Agut

21 Gasquet

22 Troicki

23 Karlovic

24 L Mayer

25 Seppi

26 Kyrgios

27 Tomic

28 Cuevas……….lost 1R (Kudla)

29 Garcia-Lopez

30 Fognini

31 Sock

32 Thiem

 

SCORES

 

MONDAY

 

Wimbledon

Singles First Round

Nick Kyrgios (26), Australia, def. Diego Schwartzman, Argentina, 6-0, 6-2, 7-6 (6).

Marin Cilic (9), Croatia, def. Hiroki Moriya, Japan, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (4).

Ricardas Berankis, Lithuania, def. Andreas Haider-Maurer, Austria, 6-2, 5-2, retired.

Marcel Granollers, Spain, def. Janko Tipsarevic, Serbia, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

Dominic Thiem (32), Austria, def. Dudi Sela, Israel, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

David Goffin (16), Belgium, def. Horacio Zeballos, Argentina, 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-1.

Liam Broady, Britain, def. Marinko Matosevic, Australia, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.

Leonardo Mayer (24), Argentina, def. Thanasi Kokkinakis, Australia, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3), 6-4.

John Isner (17), United States, def. Go Soeda, Japan, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4.

Novak Djokovic (1), Serbia, def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

Juan Monaco, Argentina, def. Florian Mayer, Germany, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

Fernando Verdasco, Spain, def. Martin Klizan, Slovakia, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 13-11.

Matthew Ebden, Australia, def. Blaz Rola, Slovenia, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.

Tommy Haas, Germany, def. Dusan Lajovic, Serbia, 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

Jarkko Nieminen, Finland, def. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, 11-9.

Bernard Tomic (27), Australia, def. Jan-Lennard Struff, Germany, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Milos Raonic (7), Canada, def. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Spain, 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4).

Victor Estrella Burgos, Dominican Republic, def. Benjamin Becker, Germany, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

Kenny de Schepper, France, def. John-Patrick Smith, Australia, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-4.

Richard Gasquet (21), France, def. Luke Saville, Australia, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

Steve Johnson, United States, def. Lukas Lacko, Slovakia, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Santiago Giraldo, Colombia, def. Joao Souza, Brazil, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

Kei Nishikori (5), Japan, def. Simone Bolelli, Italy, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Kevin Anderson (14), South Africa, def. Lucas Pouille, France, 6-2, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.

John Millman, Australia, def. Tommy Robredo (19), Spain, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

Stan Wawrinka (4), Switzerland, def. Joao Sousa, Portugal, 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 (3).

Pierre-Hugues Herbert, France, def. Chung Hyeon, South Korea, 1-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, 10-8.

Denis Kudla, United States, def. Pablo Cuevas (28), Uruguay, 6-7 (4), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

Grigor Dimitrov (11), Bulgaria, def. Federico Delbonis, Argentina, 6-3, 6-0, 6-4.

Marcos Baghdatis, Cyprus, def. Donald Young, United States, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.

Alexander Zverev, Germany, def. Teymuraz Gabashvili, Russia, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, 3-6, 9-7.

Marsel Ilhan, Turkey, def. Jerzy Janowicz, Poland, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3.

 

Doubles First Round

Vasek Pospisil, Canada, and Jack Sock (3), United States, def. Sam Groth, Australia, and Sergiy Stakhovsky, Ukraine, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-1.

Jonathan Erlich, Israel, and Philipp Petzschner, Germany, def. Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Spain, and Andreas Seppi, Italy, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

Rohan Bopanna, India, and Florin Mergea (9), Romania, def. Tim Smyczek, United States, and Jiri Vesely, Czech Republic, 6-3, 7-6 (1), 6-1.

 

 

Content Via Bob LARSON tennis

Topics: Atp World Tour, Bryan Brothers, Grass tennis, Kevin Anderson, Marin Cilic, milos raonic, Novak Djokovic, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Simone Bolelli, Stan Wawrinka, tennis doubles, Tennis Results, Tommy Haas, Wimbledon 2015

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