TODAY’S MEN’S NEWS ******
Rome
Singles – Semifinal: (2) R Federer def. B Paire 7-6(7-5) 6-4
It was a dream run for Benoit Paire, but everyone wakes up eventually. Still, we show him rising all the way to #26; he will assuredly be seeded in Paris. Roger Federer remains #3, and will be #3 no matter what happens in the final, but he’s suddenly looking a lot more lively than at most events this year. And this final is likely to be a big deal for him: Rome is certainly, in terms of prestige, the biggest event he has never won.
Singles – Semifinal: (5) R Nadal def. (6) T Berdych 6-2 6-4
And so here we go: Federer versus Nadal. In a final. Just like old times. But, of course, with the big twist that Nadal is trying to earn the #4 Paris seed. Win the final and it’s his….
Doubles – Semifinal: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. (5) Mirnyi/Tecau 6-4 6-7(2-7) 10-3
Doubles – Semifinal: (6) Bhupathi/Bopanna def. Gonzalez/Lipsky 6-3 7-6(7-3)
Interesting to see Bhupathi/Bopanna do so well in their reunion. Of course, they still have the Bryans to deal with. We haven’t seen an ATP announcement that the Bryans have qualified for the year-end Championships, but they have.
****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******
Men’s Look Forward: Nice, Dusseldorf
This is the week no one cares about.
There are a lot of reasons for that lack of concern. One is the obvious fact that the events this week are 250 pointers. But even 250 pointers can at least play rent-a-player — except this week, when no one wants to be rented. That’s the real reason the events this week are not strong. The seeds for Roland Garros are set. The results this week won’t matter much for future seedings — soon, Roland Garros will dominate. And, of course, no one wants to get too tired preparing for Paris.
It’s sad, in a way, that Dusseldorf got rid of the team concept, because it has so many Germans. They should have been able to clean up. The flip side is, it’s now a normal event, with no freaky point totals and no players dependent on other players’ results. #1 seed Janko Tipsarevic, who is determined to play absolutely everything, is the only Top Ten player. Nicolas Almagro was supposed to be here, but evidently he wised up. That left the #2 seed for Tommy Haas. Juan Monaco is #3, and Philipp Kohlschreiber #4; he has the last bye and is the last Top Ten player. Haas and Kohlschreiber are German, and so presumably commanded high fees, but most of the others in the draw are “play-anything” types: Lukas Rosol is #5, Jarkko Nieminen #6, Viktor Troicki #7, and Nikolay Davydenko #8. Few of the players face obvious threats, although Rosol opens against Daniel Brands, who has been having a fine year.
Nice is a lot like Dusseldorf in terms of strength: a 28-draw with one Top Ten player (#1 seed Tomas Berdych), and a local as the #2 seed (Gilles Simon), and a cutoff for seeding not much above #50. But it may be even weaker overall — the #3 and #4 seeds are Sam Querrey and John Isner, and we know how they feel about clay! Andreas Seppi is #5, Fabio Fognini #6, Marcel Granollers #7, and Denis Istomin (another clay-hater) #8. Granollers has to start against Paul-Henri Mathieu, and Fognini could face wildcard Gael Monfils in the second round, but that’s about it for early marquee matches.
The Rankings
Because the events this week are small, we aren’t going to do much with the rankings. Nice last year was won by Nicolas Almagro. Brian Baker was the out-of-the-blue finalist; his ranking is toast, but of course he has injury protection. Gilles Simon and Nikolay Davydenko were semifinalists.
Dusseldorf was still a team event last year; Serbia won, with Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki doing the work; the Czechs, led by Tomas Berdych, were the finalists. So Tipsarevic’s Top Ten ranking is in danger again, and Troicki may not be Top Fifty much longer. Tipsarevic appears to be the only Top Ten player whose ranking could be affected.
KEYWORDS: Preview Nice Dusseldorf
******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********
THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Rome (1000/Clay). Defending Champion: Rafael Nadal
NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Nice (250/Clay). Defending Champion: Nicolas Almagro
Dusseldorf. Defending Champion: (No individual champion/Serbia in team competition)
******** STATS AND FACTS ********
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of May 18, 2013
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Djokovic……….12310
2..(2) Murray………….8750
3..(3) Federer…………8000
4..(4) Ferrer………….6740
5..(5) Nadal…………..6495
6..(6) Berdych…………4700
7..(7) Del Potro……….4320
8..(8) Tsonga………….3795
9..(9) Gasquet…………3090
10.(11) Tipsarevic………2640
11.(10) Wawrinka………..2630
12.(13) Cilic…………..2570
13.(12) Almagro…………2490
14.(14) Haas……………2340
15.(15) Nishikori……….2315
16.(16) Raonic………….2225
17.(17) Simon…………..1940
18.(18) Monaco………….1750
19.(22) Kohlschreiber……1750
20.(19) Querrey…………1730
21.(20) Isner…………..1690
22.(21) Seppi…………..1530
23.(24) Janowicz………..1518
24.(23) Dolgopolov………1500
25.(27) Anderson………..1420
26.(36) Paire…………..1405
27.(29) Chardy………….1371
28.(26) Dimitrov………..1355
29.(25) Fognini…………1345
30.(28) Mayer…………..1295
**DRAWS
Rome — Week of May 13
……………..3R……………QF…………SF………F
1 Djokovic…….(1)Djokovic……Djokovic
15 Wawrinka……Dolgopolov
11 Cilic………Anderson
6 Berdych……..(6)Berdych…….Berdych…….Berdych
4 Ferrer………(4)Ferrer……..Ferrer
14 Raonic……..Kohlschreiber
10 Tipsarevic….Gulbis(Q)
5 Nadal……….(5)Nadal………Nadal………Nadal….Nadal
7 del Potro……(7)del Potro
12 Almagro…….Paire…………Paire………Paire
16 Nishikori…..Chardy
3 Murray………Granollers…….Granollers
8 Tsonga………Janowicz………Janowicz
9 Gasquet……..(9)Gasquet
13 Haas……….Simon
2 Federer……..(2)Federer…….Federer…….Federer..Federer
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Djokovic………lost QF (Berdych)
2 Federer
3 Murray………..lost 2R (Granollers)
4 Ferrer………..lost QF (Nadal)
5 Nadal
6 Berdych……….lost SF (Nadal)
7 del Potro……..lost 3R (Paire)
8 Tsonga………..lost 2R (Janowicz)
9 Gasquet……….lost 3R (Janowicz)
10 Tipsarevic……WITHDREW (replaced by Rosol)
11 Cilic………..lost 2R (Anderson)
12 Almagro………lost 1R (Benneteau)
13 Haas…………lost 1R (Youzhny)
14 Raonic……….lost 1R (Kohlschreiber)
15 Wawrinka……..WITHDREW from 2R
16 Nishikori…….lost 2R (Chardy)
Dusseldorf — Week of May 20
1 Tipsarevic
–bye
Qualifier
Qualifier
Goffin
Zemlja
Russel
7 Troicki
3 Monaco (WC)
–bye
Soeda
Qualifier
Kamke
Becker (WC)
Tursunov
8 Davydenko
5 Rosol
Brands
Hajek
Donskoy
Qualifier
Sijsling
–bye
4 Kohlschreiber
6 Nieminen
Lacko
Bautista Agut
Muller
Kavcic
Dodig
–bye
2 Haas (WC)
NICE — Week of May 20
1 Berdych
–bye
Hanescu
Ramos
Berlocq
L Mayer
Mathieu
7 Granollers
3 Querrey
–bye
Qualifier
Qualifier
Roger-Vasselin (WC)
Falla
Berankis
8 Istomin
6 Fognini
Qualifier
Giraldo
Monfils (WC)
Matosevic
Haase
–bye
4 Isner
5 Seppi
Lu
Hewitt (WC)
Andujar
Qualifier
Lorenzi
–bye
2 Simon
******** SCORES ********
SATURDAY
Rome
Singles – Semifinal
(2) R Federer def. B Paire 7-6(7-5) 6-4
(5) R Nadal def. (6) T Berdych 6-2 6-4
Doubles – Semifinal
(1) Bryan/Bryan def. (5) Mirnyi/Tecau 6-4 6-7(2-7) 10-3
(6) Bhupathi/Bopanna def. Gonzalez/Lipsky 6-3 7-6(7-3)
***
Bob LARSON – Publisher
Cort LARSON – Editor
Robert Waltz – Contributor
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