****** EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ******
* Tipsarevic stunned by wildcard in Moscow; Zeballos, Mannarino also upset
* Verdasco edges Dodig in Stockholm to move closer to Top Thirty
* Monfils loses to Lucky Loser, will not hit Top Thirty
****** TODAY’S MEN’S NEWS ******
Moscow
Singles – First Round: (5) D Istomin def. And. Kuznetsov (WC) 6-0 2-6 6-1
Denis Istomin matches his result from last year, if by a very strange scoreline, but he needs a semifinal to count toward his ranking.
Singles – First Round: (WC) T Gabashvili def. (8) A Mannarino 3-6 6-4 6-4
This means that only one of the four bottom seeds will reach the quarterfinal. For Adrian Mannarino, that means he will stay well below the Top Fifty.
Singles – First Round: I Karlovic def. D Kudla 6-2 6-3
Ivo Karlovic is defending semifinalist points, so he is still in danger of falling in the rankings, but his form looks good — he hit 15 aces in 45 total service points.
Singles – Second Round: (2) A Seppi def. P Lorenzi 6-3 6-2
Andreas Seppi needs a final to count toward his ranking, and a title to defend his points, so this doesn’t matter to him — but it looks as if he’ll be able to stay Top 25 no matter what.
Singles – Second Round: (WC) K Khachanov def. (3) J Tipsarevic 6-4 6-4
Despite the close score, this was amazingly quick — an hour and six minutes. If you’re wondering why, consider that Karen Khachanov hit 14 aces — and that against one of the game’s top returners! Guess we know why he got a wildcard…. Khachanov has now increased his point total by more than 200%; he’ll rise about 300 places above his current #808. Seems like someone we should keep our eyes on…. Janko Tipsarevic, who has been sinking in the rankings all year, will fall another spot or two; at the rate he’s going, he may not be Top Thirty at year’s end.
Singles – Second Round: (Q) A Golubev def. (6) H Zeballos 6-3 6-4
We’ve given up trying to figure out Andrei Golubev; we’ve no clue if this means anything about his form. But we know Horacio Zeballos’s indoor form isn’t any too good. This will leave him around #50.
Singles – Second Round: E Roger-Vasselin def. S Stakhovsky 7-5 7-5
Sergiy Stakhovsky is still looking for his first quarterfinal since Montpellier in February.
Doubles – First Round: (WC) Baluda/Kravchuk def. (WC) Karatsev/And. Kuznetsov 7-5 6-1
Doubles – First Round: Bogomolov/Sela def. Raja/Sharan 6-4 3-6 10-5
Stockholm
Singles – First Round: F Verdasco def. (8) I Dodig 6-7(2-7) 6-1 6-4
Talk about a horrid first round match for both players! Fernando Verdasco came in at #32, Ivan Dodig #29, so there wasn’t much to separate them. Dodig will likely stay Top Thirty, but it isn’t guaranteed; Verdasco needs a final to make it that high.
Singles – First Round: J Nieminen def. B Becker 6-3 3-6 7-6(7-3)
This event remains one of Jarkko Nieminen’s favorite tournaments; it’s about as close as he gets to a chance to play at home. One more win just might put him in the Top Forty.
Singles – First Round: K de Schepper def. (WC) M Eriksson 6-4 5-7 7-5
This was closer than it had any right to be, but one suspects that Markus Eriksson, who came in with a ranking of #406, got nervous at the end.
Singles – Second Round: (3) J Janowicz def. G Garcia-Lopez 6-2 6-1
If you looked only at the ace count, you might wonder if Jerzy Janowicz was truly back — he had only five. But everything else was working just fine; he won almost two-thirds of the points. Pretty impressive for a first match back! It might well suffice to let him keep the #15 ranking.
Singles – Second Round: (6) B Paire (WC) def. P Carreno Busta 6-4 6-4
This doesn’t yet count for Benoit Paire, but if he wins his next match, it will. His Top 25 ranking already looks fairly solid.
Doubles – First Round: (3) Marrero/Verdasco def. Chardy/Dimitrov 1-6 6-2 10-3
Marrero/Verdasco are #5 in the ATP doubles Race, and while they can’t rise above that at this time, they look intent on cementing that spot.
Doubles – First Round: (4) S Gonzalez/Lipsky def. Monroe/Stadler 7-5 2-6 10-7
Doubles – First Round: Gulbis/Tursunov def. Rosenholm/Sekulic 6-1 7-6(7-3)
Doubles – First Round: (WC) Bjorkman/Lindstedt def. (WC) Arvidsson/Siljestrom 6-3 5-7 10-3
Back when Jonas Bjorkman was still an active player, he and Robert Lindstedt never had much success together; they seemed to be one of those doubles teams that just didn’t gel. And now they’re a combined 77 years old. But they faced a team they would ordinarily have faced only in an exhibition….
Vienna
Singles – First Round: (LL) J Pospisil def. (6) G Monfils 7-6(7-0) 7-5
Note that that’s not Vasek Pospisil, it’s Jaroslav Pospisil — ranked a mere #213. So this is an immense shock. It means no Top Thirty spot for Gael Monfils. A lousy way to celebrate his Movers of the Week award.
Singles – First Round: L Kubot def. F Mayer 7-6(7-1) 6-4
Florian Mayer wasn’t defending anything, but this costs him the chance to rise in the rankings. He will stay #43 or, just possibly, fall to #44.
Singles – Second Round: (5) R Stepanek def. L Lacko 7-6(7-4) 5-7 7-6(7-5)
It’s lucky for Radek Stepanek that he gets a day off to recover from this; this took more than two and a half hours. But the points are already counting for him; he could rise to #45 or higher.
Singles – Second Round: (8) L Rosol def. (Q) M Basic 6-3 7-5
The organizers here really seem to like scheduling Radek Stepanek and Lukas Rosol for the same days. But they didn’t get very similar matches! Rosol cruised through in less than half the time Stepanek’s match required. He defends his points, but he hasn’t clinched any particular ranking yet.
Doubles – First Round: (3) Knowle/Nestor def. (WC) Haider-Maurer/G Melzer 6-3 6-2
Putting together Andreas Haider-Maurer and Gerald Melzer was a pretty desperate move for the tournament organizers (who of course had the problem that Jurgen Melzer couldn’t play) — but it must have been really depressing when they were drawn against Julian Knowle, another Austrian…. It was quite the day for really old teams; Knowle/Nestor, at a combined 80 years old, are even more senior than Bjorkman/Lindstedt.
Doubles – First Round: (4) J Murray/Peers def. Gimeno-Traver/Hajek 6-0 4-6 10-6
This by itself isn’t going to make any difference for Murray/Peers’s chances for London, but they’re at joint #10 in the race, and could still climb this week.
Doubles – First Round: (WC) Neuchrist/Thiem def. Brands/Kohlschreiber 6-2 6-4
Doubles – First Round: Haase/Huta Galung def. Kas/Marach 5-7 6-4 10-5
Doubles – First Round: Levinsky/Pavic def. Lacko/Russell 6-1 6-2
****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******
This Week’s Movers — Men
Each week, Daily Tennis will look at the biggest movers of the week, looking at how they did what they did.
Biggest Upward Mover — Most Places Moved (Top 100)
Leader: Dudi Sela — Moved 19 places, from #87 to #68.
Sela won the $125K Tashkent Challenger.
Runner-Up: Gael Monfils — Moved 11 places, from #42 to #31
Monfils made the Shanghai quarterfinal before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
Biggest Percentage Mover — Cut Ranking By Highest Percent (Top 100)
Leader: Monfils, cut ranking 26%
Runner-Up: David Ferrer — Moved 1 place, 25%, from #4 to #3
Ferrer didn’t do much at Shanghai, but at least he’s playing. Andy Murray, last year’s Shanghai finalist, couldn’t play this year, and lost enough points that Ferrer moved up.
Biggest Loser — Most Places Lost (Top 100)
Loser: Jack Sock — Dropped 19 places, from #78 to #97
Sock lost some Challenger points.
Biggest Percentage Loser — Worst Percentage Increase in Ranking (Top 100)
Loser: Andy Murray, ranking increased 1 place, 33%, from #3 to #4.
Murray, as noted above, didn’t play Shanghai, and paid the price.
Ranking Notes
Surprisingly, only three players rose as much as 20% this week, and one of them, Ferrer, backed into his move. The three were Monfils (26%), Ferrer (25%), and Sela (22%). Nicolas Almagro was next; he rose 19%, to #13; no one else rose more than 14%.
On the down side, Murray fell 33%, Sock 24%, Marin Cilic 22% (to #45, and of course he’ll keep falling), Radek Stepanek 18% (to #46), and Marcos Baghdatis 15% (to #65 — and he’ll fall even lower this week).
Our Personal Picks for “Best Mover of the Week”
These are subjective picks!
Monfils. He had the biggest move and he had a good Masters result.
KEYWORDS: Movers Men Monfils
******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********
THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Moscow (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Andreas Seppi
Stockholm (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Tomas Berdych
Vienna (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Juan Martin del Potro
NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Valencia (500/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: David Ferrer
Basel (500/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Juan Martin del Potro
******** STATS AND FACTS ********
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of October 16, 2013
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Nadal………….11520
2..(2) Djokovic……….11120
3..(3) Ferrer………….6800
4..(4) Murray………….6295
5..(5) Del Potro……….5275
6..(7) Federer…………4245
7..(6) Berdych…………4090
8..(9) Wawrinka………..3240
9..(8) Tsonga………….3190
10.(10) Gasquet…………3060
11.(11) Raonic………….2860
12.(12) Haas……………2265
13.(13) Almagro…………2200
14.(14) Isner…………..2070
15.(15) Janowicz………..2060
16.(16) Simon…………..2060
17.(17) Fognini…………1965
18.(18) Nishikori……….1885
19.(19) Robredo…………1830
20.(20) Anderson………..1775
21.(21) Youzhny…………1735
22.(23) Melzer………….1460
23.(24) Kohlschreiber……1445
24.(22) Seppi…………..1395
25.(25) Paire…………..1380
26.(26) Gulbis………….1361
27.(28) Dimitrov………..1340
28.(27) Tipsarevic………1310
29.(29) Dodig…………..1295
30.(30) Lopez…………..1275
**DRAWS
Moscow — Week of October 15
……………QF
1 Gasquet
8 Mannarino
3 Tipsarevic…Khachanov(WC)
5 Istomin
6 Zeballos…..Golubev(Q)
4 Dolgopolov
7 Sousa……..Roger-Vasselin
2 Seppi……..(2)Seppi
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Gasquet
2 Seppi
3 Tipsarevic….lost 2R (Khachanov)
4 Dolgopolov
5 Istomin
6 Zeballos……lost 2R (Golubev)
7 Sousa………lost 1R (Stakhovsky)
8 Mannarino…..lost 1R (Mannarino)
Stockholm — Week of October 15
……………..QF
1 Ferrer
8 Dodig
3 Janowicz…….(3)Janowicz
5 Gulbis
7 Dimitrov
4 Anderson
6 Paire (WC)…..(6)Paire
2 Raonic (WC)
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Ferrer
2 Raonic (WC)
3 Janowicz
4 Anderson
5 Gulbis
6 Paire (WC)
7 Dimitrov
8 Dodig………lost 1R (Verdasco)
Vienna — Week of October 15
……………..QF
1 Tsonga
6 Monfils
3 Fognini
7 Pospisil
8 Rosol……….(8)Rosol
4 Kohlschreiber
5 Stepanek…….(5)Stepanek
2 Haas
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Tsonga
2 Haas
3 Fognini
4 Kohlschreiber
5 Stepanek
6 Monfils……..lost 1R (J Pospisil)
7 Pospisil
8 Rosol
******** SCORES ********
WEDNESDAY
Moscow
Singles – First Round
(5) D Istomin def. And. Kuznetsov (WC) 6-0 2-6 6-1
(WC) T Gabashvili def. (8) A Mannarino 3-6 6-4 6-4
I Karlovic def. D Kudla 6-2 6-3
Singles – Second Round
(2) A Seppi def. P Lorenzi 6-3 6-2
(WC) K Khachanov def. (3) J Tipsarevic 6-4 6-4
(Q) A Golubev def. (6) H Zeballos 6-3 6-4
E Roger-Vasselin def. S Stakhovsky 7-5 7-5
Doubles – First Round
(WC) Baluda/Kravchuk def. (WC) Karatsev/And. Kuznetsov 7-5 6-1
Bogomolov/Sela def. Raja/Sharan 6-4 3-6 10-5
Stockholm
Singles – First Round
F Verdasco def. (8) I Dodig 6-7(2-7) 6-1 6-4
J Nieminen def. B Becker 6-3 3-6 7-6(7-3)
K de Schepper def. (WC) M Eriksson 6-4 5-7 7-5
Singles – Second Round
(3) J Janowicz def. G Garcia-Lopez 6-2 6-1
(6) B Paire (WC) def. P Carreno Busta 6-4 6-4
Doubles – First Round
(3) Marrero/Verdasco def. Chardy/Dimitrov 1-6 6-2 10-3
(4) S Gonzalez/Lipsky def. Monroe/Stadler 7-5 2-6 10-7
Gulbis/Tursunov def. Rosenholm/Sekulic 6-1 7-6(7-3)
(WC) Bjorkman/Lindstedt def. (WC) Arvidsson/Siljestrom 6-3 5-7 10-3
Vienna
Singles – First Round
(LL) J Pospisil def. (6) G Monfils 7-6(7-0) 7-5
L Kubot def. F Mayer 7-6(7-1) 6-4
Singles – Second Round
(5) R Stepanek def. L Lacko 7-6(7-4) 5-7 7-6(7-5)
(8) L Rosol def. (Q) M Basic 6-3 7-5
Doubles – First Round
(3) Knowle/Nestor def. (WC) Haider-Maurer/G Melzer 6-3 6-2
(4) Murray/Peers def. Gimeno-Traver/Hajek 6-0 4-6 10-6
(WC) Neuchrist/Thiem def. Brands/Kohlschreiber 6-2 6-4
Haase/Huta Galung def. Kas/Marach 5-7 6-4 10-5
Levinsky/Pavic def. Lacko/Russell 6-1 6-2
Topics: 10sballs, Andreas Seppi, Andy Murray, Atp, Benjamin Becker, Denis Istomin, Fernando Verdasco, Ivan Dodig, Ivo Karlovic, Janko Tipsarevic, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News