TENNIS NEWS – RAFA BEATS VERDASCO AND RESULTS FROM HAMBURG, ATLANTA, GSTAAD, SINGLES & DOUBLES

Tennis Tidbits :

 

* Nadal struggles past Verdasco in Hamburg; no rankings move yet

* Verdasco to remain below Top 40

* Garcia-Lopez retires after three games against newcomer Munar; will remain below Top 25

* No Top Thirty spot for Coric after loss to Bautista Agut

* Paire likely to hit Top Forty after win over Kohlschreiber; German may fall just short

* Klizan remains below Top Thirty after loss to Seppi

* Monaco beats Gulbis but could still fall out of Top Forty

* Different event, same result: Robredo edges Zverev for the second straight week

* In match resumed from Monday, Fognini edges Chardy but remains below Top Thirty; Chardy still below Top Forty

* Rosol still looking for a post-wedding win; falls in two tiebreaks to Bolelli

* Youzhny, who fell out of Top Hundred last week, likely to remain there after winning only three games against Carreno Busta in Gstaad

* Reister, long out with injury, advances when Kavcic injured

* Win for Bellucci might put him at #35, although he’ll probably need more

* Granollers remains in decline, loses three-set match to Haase

* Baghdatis cruises past Krajicek in Atlanta but will probably need more to stay Top Fifty

* Johnson needs three sets to beat Lacko; he too could still lose Top Fifty spot

* One week after strong showing in Bogota, Berrer retires against countryman Becker

* Teenage qualifier Donaldson beats fellow qualifier Devvarman, needs one more win to rise above #150

* Fish plays competitive match against Sela, but loses; will remain below #1000

 

Global NEWS Round Up

 

Hamburg

 

Rafael Nadal began building confidence as he rallied past Fernando Verdasco 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 to open a week of clay in Europe. The Spanish top seed called the win “a very important victory”. Nadal, an early victim at Wimbledon, is playing Hamburg for the first time since beating Roger Federer for the 2008 title on the German dirt. He now stands an imposing 14-2 over Verdasco.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After losing the opening set to the world No. 41, Nadal settled in on his favorite surface, winning all but two of the remaining games to power into the second round. The comeback stated in agony, with Nadal spending 12 minutes on a hold to begin the second set.

 

Two other Spanish seeds joined Nadal in advancing: No. 2 Tommy Robredo, losing finalist at Bastad, beat Alexander Zverev of Germany for the second time in three days, winning 6-7(3) 6-4 6-2 after defeating him in a Swedish semi-final.

 

Third seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain stopped Croatian Borna Coric 6-3, 6-4. Italian fourth seed Andreas Seppi prevailed over Martin Klizan 6-2, 6-4, Argentine sixth seed Juan Monaco overcame Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 and Italian eighth seed Fabio Fognini fought to victory over Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4.

 

Other winners included Simone Bolelli, Bastad winner Benoit Paire and Briton Aljaz Bedene.

 

Gstaad

 

Four seeds progressed into the second round, with No. 6 Joao Sousa of Portugal eliminating the last of the local players as he saw off Henri Laaksonen 6-2, 7-5. Souza took 84 minutes to advances as he beat the Finnish-born number 337, who now stands 1-3 at the home event on clay at more than 1,050 meters of altitude in this alpine farming village.

 

Laaksonen showed minor signs of life as he held a pair of set points in the second set which – had he converted one – could have taken the contest into a deciding third set.

 

Two-time Gstaad champion Thomaz Bellucci, seeded fifth, hit his comfort zone from the start in a 6-2, 6-3 defeat of Belgian number 104 Kimmer Coppejans. Bellucci, who has earned three of his four career titles in Switzerland – he also won Geneva last May – is well accustomed to the mountain conditions.

 

“It’s always difficult to play a first round, I’m a little nervous every time. But I like the conditions here. In Sao Paulo at 700 meters, the air density is nearly as low as here,” said the South American.

 

The last two seeds also advanced, with No. 7 Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta hammering 2013 champion Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-1, 6-2 while eighth seed Santiago Giraldo of Colombia defeated Italian Pablo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-2.

 

German Julien Reister reached the second round 4-6, 6-2, when Slvenian Blaz Kavcic had to retire with a right quad injury which will require a scan.

 

Stephane Robert, of France beat Brazilian Joao Souza 6-1, 6-4; unseeded Dutchman Robin Haase (2013 finalist) put out 2011 titleholder Marcel Granollers 1-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4. Marsel Ilhan of Turkey eliminated Russian Andrey Kuznetsov 6-1, 6-2.

 

Atlanta

 

Mardy Fish came and left in short order as the former champion was knocked out in the first round as the medical victim played his first singles match in two years. Fish, who has suffered with a heart scare over the past few seasons and has all but retired, lost 6-4, 6-4, to Dudi Sela.

 

The result was far from unexpected for the one-time No. 7, playing for the first time since making an attempt last March at Indian Wells. Fish is on the way to retirement, playing Cincinnati before hanging it all up at the US Open.

 

“The conditions were tough, but I’ve played on that court before so it wasn’t that big of a deal,” said Fish. “It felt like a good match-up and I felt like I could win, even though I didn’t play a lot this year. “It’ll be good to go [into the US Open] and have a last run like Pete [Sampras] did. He was just able to play freely after announcing his retirement and that’s what I’m hoping for.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three seeds advanced into the second round. No. 5 Marcos Baghdatis beat qualifier Austin Krajicek 6-4, 6-0, sixth seed Steve Johnson fired 15 aces to put out Slovak Lukas Lacko 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-2 and German eighth seed Benjamin Becker defeated compatriot Michael Berrer 7-5 through retirement.

 

Australian Sam Groth stopped teenaged wild card Frances Tiafoe 7-6(3), 6-4. and Denis Kudla beat Ryan Harrison 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).

 

 

THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:

Hamburg (500/Clay). Defending Champion: Leonardo Mayer

Gstaad (250/Clay). Defending Champion: Pablo Andujar

Atlanta (250/Hard). Defending Champion: John Isner

 

NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:

Washington (500/Hard). Defending Champion: Milos Raonic

Kitzbuhel (250/Clay). Defending Champion: David Goffin

 

Great to see some of the doubles this week. Sock and Pospisil lose, Artiom Sitak and ‘Booty’ win and Donald Young Jr . & Chris Eubanks win. Biggest Dubs news but no surprise that Danny Nestor is Looking For another New Partner. …. He wears them out, down and uses them up. What a shame that he is so difficult to partner with. Dubs is a great game. But you are team mates. Danny is competitive within the partnership. …. 10sBalls_com  [ editors Note ]

 

 

RANKINGS

 

Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings

As of July 28, 2015

 

Rank &

Prior…Player………..Points

1..(1) Djokovic……….13845

2..(2) Federer…………9665

3..(3) Murray………….7840

4..(4) Wawrinka………..5790

5..(5) Nishikori……….5525

6..(6) Berdych…………5140

7..(7) Ferrer………….4325

8..(9) Cilic…………..3495

9..(8) Raonic………….3400

10.(10) Nadal…………..3000

11.(11) Simon…………..2765

12.(12) Tsonga………….2475

13.(13) Gasquet…………2150

14.(15) Anderson………..2090

15.(16) Dimitrov………..1970

16.(14) Goffin………….1940

17.(17) Monfils…………1930

18.(18) Lopez…………..1800

19.(19) Isner…………..1685

20.(20) Troicki…………1629

21.(21) Robredo…………1540

22.(22) Karlovic………..1495

23.(23) Bautista Agut……1475

24.(25) Tomic…………..1400

25.(26) Seppi…………..1355

26.(24) Thiem…………..1335

27.(27) Mannarino……….1210

27.(28) Garcia-Lopez…….1210

29.(30) Querrey…………1140

30.(31) Cuevas………….1125

 

DRAWS

 

Hamburg — Week of July 27

 

1 Nadal (WC)

5 Cuevas

4 Seppi

7 Garcia-Lopez

 

8 Fognini

3 Bautista Agut

6 Monaco

2 Robredo

 

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Nadal (WC)

2 Robredo

3 Bautista Agut

4 Seppi

5 Cuevas

6 Monaco

7 Garcia-Lopez…..lost 1R (Munar)

8 Fognini

 

Gstaad — Week of July 27

 

1 Goffin

6 Sousa

4 Andujar

5 Bellucci

 

7 Carreno Busta

3 Thiem

8 Giraldo

2 Lopez

 

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Goffin

2 Lopez

3 Thiem

4 Andujar

5 Bellucci

6 Sousa

7 Carreno Busta

8 Giraldo

 

Atlanta – Week of July 27

 

1 Isner

6 Johnson

3 Sock

8 Becker

 

7 Muller

4 Mannarino

5 Baghdatis

2 Pospisil

 

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 Isner

2 Pospisil

3 Sock

4 Mannarino

5 Baghdatis

6 Johnson

7 Muller

8 Becker

 

******** SCORES ********

 

TUESDAY

 

Hamburg

Singles – First Round

[1] [WC] R. Nadal (ESP) d F. Verdasco (ESP) 36 61 61

[2] T. Robredo (ESP) d [WC] A. Zverev (GER) 67(3) 64 62

[3] R. Bautista Agut (ESP) d B. Coric (CRO) 63 64

[4] A. Seppi (ITA) d M. Klizan (SVK) 62 64

[6] J. Monaco (ARG) d E. Gulbis (LAT) 63 67(5) 63

[WC] J. Munar (ESP) d [7] G. Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 12 ret. (hamstring injury)

[8] F. Fognini (ITA) d J. Chardy (FRA) 63 67(5) 64

S. Bolelli (ITA) d L. Rosol (CZE) 76(3) 76(6)

A. Bedene (GBR) d D. Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 64 61

B. Paire (FRA) d P. Kohlschreiber (GER) 63 36 61

 

Gstaad

Singles – First Round

[5] T. Bellucci (BRA) d K. Coppejans (BEL) 62 63

[6] J. Sousa (POR) d [WC] H. Laaksonen (SUI) 62 75

[7] P. Carreno Busta (ESP) d M. Youzhny (RUS) 61 62

[8] S. Giraldo (COL) d P. Lorenzi (ITA) 63 62

[PR] S. Robert (FRA) d J. Souza (BRA) 61 64

R. Haase (NED) d M. Granollers (ESP) 16 76(1) 64

M. Ilhan (TUR) d A. Kuznetsov (RUS) 61 62

[Q] J. Reister (GER) d B. Kavcic (SLO) 46 20 ret. (right leg injury)

Doubles – First Round

[1] M. Granollers (ESP) / M. Lopez (ESP) d [WC] A. Bossel (SUI) / M. Chiudinelli (SUI) 63 62

A. Bury (BLR) / D. Istomin (UZB) d [2] M. Fyrstenberg (POL) / S. Gonzalez (MEX) 63 76(5)

F. Delbonis (ARG) / P. Lorenzi (ITA) d P. Carreno Busta (ESP) / A. Molteni (ARG) 63 67(7) 10-6

 

Atlanta

Singles – First Round

[5] M. Baghdatis (CYP) d [Q] A. Krajicek (USA) 64 60

[6] S. Johnson (USA) d L. Lacko (SVK) 61 67(3) 62

[8] B. Becker (GER) d M. Berrer (GER) 75 00 ret. (illness)

[Q] D. Kudla (USA) d [WC] R. Harrison (USA) 36 64 76(5)

D. Sela (ISR) d [PR] M. Fish (USA) 64 64

[Q] J. Donaldson (USA) d [Q] S. Devvarman (IND) 61 36 64

S. Groth (AUS) d [WC] F. Tiafoe (USA) 76(3) 64

Doubles – First Round

C. Fleming (GBR) / G. Muller (LUX) d [2] V. Pospisil (CAN) / J. Sock (USA) 64 46 10-6

[3] E. Butorac (USA) / A. Sitak (NZL) d M. Ebden (AUS) / A. Mannarino (FRA) 62 60

[WC] C. Eubanks (USA) / D. Young (USA) d [4] M. Pavic (CRO) / M. Venus (NZL) 62 36 10-5

 

 

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