Today’s Men’s News (4/11) – Casablanca/Houston

Written by: Staff on 11th April 2013

Sony Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, Florida

Today's Men's News (4/11) - Casablanca/Houston

epa03639649 Kevin Anderson of South Africa returns the ball to Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia during their third round match at the Sony Open tennis tournament in Miami, Florida, USA, 24 March 2013. The tournament runs through 31 March. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER |

Casablanca

Singles – Second Round: (2) K Anderson def. (Q) P Carreno-Busta 6-3 6-3

One more win and Kevin Anderson will start moving in the rankings. Too bad clay is a tough surface for him — this looks like a solid start, but keep in mind that his opponent is ranked #293.

Singles – Second Round: (3) M Klizan def. (Q) F Volandri 6-4 7-6(7-5)

Martin Klizan is now just below the Top Thirty; one more win would put him in.

Singles – Second Round: (7) R Haase def. K de Schepper 6-2 6-7(2-7) 6-3

It’s going to be touch and go for Kenny de Schepper and the Top Hundred.

Singles – Second Round: (8) G Zemlja def. (Q) H Laaksonen 7-6(7-5) 6-1

Henri Laaksonen faced a local wildcard in his first round match. At least he got in a first ATP win before reality showed its ugly head.

Doubles – Quarterfinal (1) Knowle/Polasek def. Paire/Wawrinka 6-0 4-6 10-4

Doubles – Quarterfinal Klizan/Zelenay def. (3) Cermak/Mertinak 3-6 7-5 10-3

Doubles – Quarterfinal Bedene/Bednarek def. (4) Bracciali/Starace 6-3 7-5

Doubles – Quarterfinal Brown/Kas def. Kavcic/Zemlja 6-3 6-2 .

Houston

As it turned out, there were no matches at Houston on Wednesday other than those we covered already. The entire evening was washed out. So we ended up with a very busy Thursday….

Singles – Second Round: (1) N Almagro def. G Monfils 2-6 6-0 6-3

This was a day of very long matches, but Nicolas Almagro got out of there in about an hour and a half — and there are no Top Fifty players left in his half.

Singles – Second Round: R Berankis def. (2) T Haas 6-3 6-3

Not a very good start to the clay season for Tommy Haas, but maybe he wants to get off to Europe…. He loses his chance to rise above #14.

Singles – Second Round: (5) J Isner def. (WC) J Sock 7-5 6-7(3-7) 7-6(7-3)

John Isner has finalist points to defend. He did not need a two and a half hour match….

Singles – Second Round: R Ramirez Hidalgo def. (6) F Verdasco 6-3 6-2

Fernando Verdasco just can’t seem to get back into playing form. There is a fair chance this will cost him his Top Thirty spot.

Singles – Second Round: (7) P Lorenzi def. F Cipolla 7-6(7-4) 6-1

Paolo Lorenzi is up to about #60.

Singles – Second Round: (WC) R Williams def. (LL) I Karlovic 6-4 6-7(5-7) 7-6(7-3)

Ivo Karlovic is in the draw because Sam Querrey pulled out (talk about replacing a big guy with a bigger). But that was good news for Rhyne Williams, because Karlovic is sinking fast. Querrey will stay around #20.

Singles – Second Round: (Q) R Ginepri def. M Alund 6-2 4-6 6-4

Given how well Martin Alund is playing this year, this is a pretty good win for Robby Ginepri. He adds about a third to his point total.

Doubles – First Round: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. Marach/Sa 6-0 6-1

The Bryans were supposed to play Wednesday. Clearly they didn’t want to waste any time in getting back on schedule. Particularly since they still had a second match to play.

Doubles – First Round: (WC) Johnson/Sock def. (2) S Gonzalez/Lipsky 6-1 7-6(7-5)

This was the last match of the first round — and started a trend that makes this place look very nice indeed for the Bryans.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. Marx/Mergea 7-5 6-2

At least the Bryans had to work this time. But they still finished in less than an hour.

Doubles – Quarterfinal: Brunstrom/Levine def. (3) Huey/Inglot 6-4 7-5

Doubles – Quarterfinal: J Murray/Peers def. (4) Butorac/Erlich 6-4 6-2

Eric Butorac has had much better luck than Jamie Murray since their split. This must have felt nice for Murray. And for the Bryans, who are now the only seeds left in the field.