Well, you can't really ask for a better semifinal line-up than this one. While last year's quarterfinals were star-studded, with the world's top eight players making it to that stage, last year there were three out of four upsets - only Andy Murray made it to the semifinals out of the top four, and he went on to win the tournament. This year, the semifinal round is stacked with the big four, the four players who have dominated tennis for the last two years, and it should be fun.
Murray and Djokovic both had relatively easy times with their quarterfinal matches - the Scot's performance was probably the more impressive, because he was facing a tougher opponent in David Nalbandian, but he was effective from the very first ball, and Nalbandian was never really in the match. Djokovic had a relatively low-tier foe in Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, but he was up to the challenge.
On the other hand, Nadal strugged early on against an inspired Phillipp Kohlschreiber, but was able to gut out a win in three. Federer started better against Tomas Berdych, then seemed to slow down and very nearly lost the match. Berdych was up 5-2 in the third set, but his one-break lead evaporated and Federer pulled out the win in the tiebreak. This would have been a devastating loss for Fed, so you know he'll be inspired by this win.
Nadal meets Murray for the third time this year, and they split their previous two meetings. Murray won in Australia but Nadal won at Wimbledon. This match will hinge entirely on how Murray plays - if he's aggressive enough, he can beat Nadal, but if he sits back and lets Nadal dictate, then he's going to be out. Nadal will beat him every time if he tries to counterpunch. It should be an interesting match, though - Nadal is on an unbelievable tear this season, with only a single loss since April, at Queen's Club. On the other hand, Murray hasn't won a tournament yet this year. Two players with very divergent years, thus far. There's a lot on the line for both of them.
The other match is no less interesting, as Federer and Djokovic have meet more than a dozen times. Federer has the lead in the head to head, but Djokovic won their most recent match, which took place at the end of 2009. Neither player is having a great season recently, so whoever comes out on top is going to take a lot of confidence from their win. I think Federer has better form coming in, and he has to be energized by that win over Berdych. But Djokovic is the number two player in the world, stunningly, and he's - by the numbers - been the better player over the past year.
I still think a Federer-Nadal final is fairly likely, but none of the possible permutations that we could see come Sunday would be a complete shock, with four players of this caliber remaining in the tournament. Like I said before, it would be tough to ask for a more exciting line-up at this point.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Rogers Cup Quarterfinals
We're through to the quarterfinals in Canada, and - for the most part - things have been going as expected. The top four seeds are all alive and well, though the same can't be said for the other seeds in the draw. Other than the big four, only one of the remaining 12 seeds made it to this stage. Remember that last year, this was the tournament were all eight of the top seeds made it to this stage. At this point, the top four are still in action, but Juan Martin Del Potro is out of action, injured, Nikolay Davydenko lost earlier today to Jeremy Chardy - the Russian clearly still not back to form after his wrist injury earlier this year - and Andy Roddick and J.W. Tsonga both declined to play the tournament, due to injury/exhaustion. The message to take from this is that the top four are in that place for many reasons, but one of the main ones is their consistency and their ability to stay healthy.
The only other seed to make it to the quarterfinals here is Tomas Berdych, who is now ranked inside the top 8. He's going to face Roger Federer, while he's riding a two-match win streak against the world number 3. (It's still weird to see that) But before Berdych beat Federer at Wimbledon and in Miami, he was riding an eight-match losing streak. It will be interesting to see how this match goes, because Berdych has been quiet since losing in the Wimbledon final - but so has Federer. I'm sure that Roger is eager to avenge his last two losses and show that he's back to his top form. This has the potential to be tomorrow's best match, for sure.
The other match in the running before that is between defending champion Andy Murray and the comeback kid David Nalbandian, who has ousted Ferrer and Soderling already this week. He's riding an 11-match winning streak, and it will be interesting to see how Murray handles him. The Scot has yet to win a title this year, and only reached two finals. His top-four ranking is in jeopardy, if he loses too many points this week. And Nalbandian is the sort of player who can beat Murray - crisp hitting enough to blunt Murray's returning. This match might be able to best Federer-Berdych, depending on whether Nalbandian's run can continue.
The other two matches are less exciting - Nadal gets Phillip Kohlschreiber, who he's 6-0 against. The German gutted out a tough win against Yen-Hsun Lu, but just because he managed to serve up a bagel against the best player from Chinese Taipei, that doesn't mean he can do much against the best player in the world. Novak Djokovic may have a slightly tougher time with Jeremy Chardy, who has been playing very well this week, no question. But he got a hobbled Davydenko after he just barely eked past Fernando Verdasco, and got a tired Marcos Bagdhatis in the first round. I expect Nadal and Djokovic to get through to the semis - it would be a huge upset any other way, but Murray and Federer are more of a toss-up.
Some good tennis on offer tomorrow, but the lack of U.S. players in the second big swing of the U.S. hardcourt circuit is a bit of a downer. Only two of them were even in the draw - and they played each other in the first round. Querrey beat Russell, but then fell to Kevin Anderson in the next round. We had no Blake, Fish, Isner, Roddick, Ginepri... nothing. At least in Cincinnati, I can bet that somebody like Ryan Harrison will get a wildcard. Hopefully the American men will have a better showing next week, so that we can stop wringing our hands about the state of American tennis.
The only other seed to make it to the quarterfinals here is Tomas Berdych, who is now ranked inside the top 8. He's going to face Roger Federer, while he's riding a two-match win streak against the world number 3. (It's still weird to see that) But before Berdych beat Federer at Wimbledon and in Miami, he was riding an eight-match losing streak. It will be interesting to see how this match goes, because Berdych has been quiet since losing in the Wimbledon final - but so has Federer. I'm sure that Roger is eager to avenge his last two losses and show that he's back to his top form. This has the potential to be tomorrow's best match, for sure.
The other match in the running before that is between defending champion Andy Murray and the comeback kid David Nalbandian, who has ousted Ferrer and Soderling already this week. He's riding an 11-match winning streak, and it will be interesting to see how Murray handles him. The Scot has yet to win a title this year, and only reached two finals. His top-four ranking is in jeopardy, if he loses too many points this week. And Nalbandian is the sort of player who can beat Murray - crisp hitting enough to blunt Murray's returning. This match might be able to best Federer-Berdych, depending on whether Nalbandian's run can continue.
The other two matches are less exciting - Nadal gets Phillip Kohlschreiber, who he's 6-0 against. The German gutted out a tough win against Yen-Hsun Lu, but just because he managed to serve up a bagel against the best player from Chinese Taipei, that doesn't mean he can do much against the best player in the world. Novak Djokovic may have a slightly tougher time with Jeremy Chardy, who has been playing very well this week, no question. But he got a hobbled Davydenko after he just barely eked past Fernando Verdasco, and got a tired Marcos Bagdhatis in the first round. I expect Nadal and Djokovic to get through to the semis - it would be a huge upset any other way, but Murray and Federer are more of a toss-up.
Some good tennis on offer tomorrow, but the lack of U.S. players in the second big swing of the U.S. hardcourt circuit is a bit of a downer. Only two of them were even in the draw - and they played each other in the first round. Querrey beat Russell, but then fell to Kevin Anderson in the next round. We had no Blake, Fish, Isner, Roddick, Ginepri... nothing. At least in Cincinnati, I can bet that somebody like Ryan Harrison will get a wildcard. Hopefully the American men will have a better showing next week, so that we can stop wringing our hands about the state of American tennis.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Washington Wrap-Up and Toronto Masters Preview
The week in Washington was absolutely crazy. Not only did every American get dumped by the quarterfinals, but David Nalbandian, who looked like his career was on its last legs this time last year, tore through some tough opposition to take only his 11th title. For a player who's been on tour as long as he has, and who has as much talent, that number is woefully low. A huge win for Nalbandian over Baghdatis in the final, and this brings the Argentine back into the conversation. He played stellar tennis all week long, bringing out his best when he really needed it, and absolutely playing like the world-beater he once was. The question will be how well he can maintain that form, because if he can, he's going to be a dark horse in almost any tournament he enters.
The other big story of the week was how wayward Svetlana Kuznetsova pulled her game together long enough to win her first title of the year. She played some solid tennis herself - hopefully, this is the start of things shifting around a bit for the Russian.
Looking ahead, next week's Rogers Cup in Toronto is the first big tournament since Wimbledon. All of the non-injured top ten players are in action again, when we haven't too seen much of them lately. When your 16th seed is ranked #20 in the world, you know your draw is pretty stacked. It will be interesting to see how the top players perform, now that the hard court season is starting in earnest. One year ago, this was the tournament where the top eight seeds made it to the finals for the first time - this year, another historic milestone is happening this week. Roddick drops out of the top ten and that leaves no U.S. player in the top ten for the first time in history. Ouch. Since Roddick made it to the semifinals here last year, it's going to be tough to not lose points this week.
Roddick is in the top quarter of the draw, with top seed Rafael Nadal. His little section is also absolutely stacked with players who have beaten Roddick in tough matches. His first opponent could be Yen-Hsun Lu, who beat him at Wimbledon. Tipsarevic is also in this group, who beat him at Wimbledon two years ago and has been playing well. His first seeded player to meet is Cilic, who beat him at the Aussie Open, and he could also get Kohlschreiber, who beat him at the Aussie Open a couple years ago. Even Viktor Troicki beat Roddick during the summer swing two years ago. And then, if he makes it through that minefield, he'll probably get Rafael Nadal or - slightly less likely - Sam Querrey, who beat him earlier this year. Tough draw for the American; he could be on the verge of falling out of the top fifteen next week.
The next quarter of the draw is Andy Murray's, but his form has not been spectacular, either. He could face a red-hot Xavier Malisse in his first match, which could be a challenge. After that, perhaps Gael Monfils, or question mark Fernando Gonzalez, who has not played since the early Spring, and who opens against the Frenchman. Murray's potential quarterfinal opponent could be Soderling, Ferrer, Nalbandian, or Gulbis - that is a pretty stacked section of the draw as well. Gulbis-Bellucci is one of the most interesting first-round match-ups on offer, as we might see if Ernests has healed at all since his early withdrawal in Washington.
The draw's third quarter belongs to - bizarrely enough - Roger Federer, playing in his first tournament as the number three seed since... since before I started paying attention to tennis as a sport, honestly. His section of the draw is relatively cushy, in comparison to the top half, so hopefully his time off and his new coaching relationship will see him through to at least the quarters. Alejandro Falla, Federer's almost-conqueror at Wimbledon and potential first match for Fed here, has to be disappointed to see that. Almagro's is Fed's potential opponent once the seeds start to meet, and he is playing some of his best tennis of late, but it's tough to see him pulling off that upset. Federer will then get either Berdych (pretty likely) or Youzhny, or perhaps one of the two erstwhile Frenchmen, Gasquet or Simon. Simon-Youzhny is another of the really good opening rounds, but all the same - not a lot of firepower that's likely to knock Federer off his place, here.
The fourth quarter has second-seeded Novak Djokovic and Nikolday Davydenko, as well as Jurgen Melzer and Fernando Verdasco. Washington finalist Marcos Baghdatis is here, as well as Radek Stepanek. Two of the four Canadian wildcards ended up in this quarter, which is honestly good for the other players, but keep an eye Raonic-Hanescu in the first round. Raonic played a great match here last year, and has a lot of potential as one of the more visible teens on the tour. He just made a challenger final as well, losing to 102-ranked Tobias Kamke.
This is an interesting draw, as it appears to be really top-heavy, but with 16 of the top 20 players in action and only 56 players in action at all, there aren't that many places to hide. I'm excited to see how things play out.
The other big story of the week was how wayward Svetlana Kuznetsova pulled her game together long enough to win her first title of the year. She played some solid tennis herself - hopefully, this is the start of things shifting around a bit for the Russian.
Looking ahead, next week's Rogers Cup in Toronto is the first big tournament since Wimbledon. All of the non-injured top ten players are in action again, when we haven't too seen much of them lately. When your 16th seed is ranked #20 in the world, you know your draw is pretty stacked. It will be interesting to see how the top players perform, now that the hard court season is starting in earnest. One year ago, this was the tournament where the top eight seeds made it to the finals for the first time - this year, another historic milestone is happening this week. Roddick drops out of the top ten and that leaves no U.S. player in the top ten for the first time in history. Ouch. Since Roddick made it to the semifinals here last year, it's going to be tough to not lose points this week.
Roddick is in the top quarter of the draw, with top seed Rafael Nadal. His little section is also absolutely stacked with players who have beaten Roddick in tough matches. His first opponent could be Yen-Hsun Lu, who beat him at Wimbledon. Tipsarevic is also in this group, who beat him at Wimbledon two years ago and has been playing well. His first seeded player to meet is Cilic, who beat him at the Aussie Open, and he could also get Kohlschreiber, who beat him at the Aussie Open a couple years ago. Even Viktor Troicki beat Roddick during the summer swing two years ago. And then, if he makes it through that minefield, he'll probably get Rafael Nadal or - slightly less likely - Sam Querrey, who beat him earlier this year. Tough draw for the American; he could be on the verge of falling out of the top fifteen next week.
The next quarter of the draw is Andy Murray's, but his form has not been spectacular, either. He could face a red-hot Xavier Malisse in his first match, which could be a challenge. After that, perhaps Gael Monfils, or question mark Fernando Gonzalez, who has not played since the early Spring, and who opens against the Frenchman. Murray's potential quarterfinal opponent could be Soderling, Ferrer, Nalbandian, or Gulbis - that is a pretty stacked section of the draw as well. Gulbis-Bellucci is one of the most interesting first-round match-ups on offer, as we might see if Ernests has healed at all since his early withdrawal in Washington.
The draw's third quarter belongs to - bizarrely enough - Roger Federer, playing in his first tournament as the number three seed since... since before I started paying attention to tennis as a sport, honestly. His section of the draw is relatively cushy, in comparison to the top half, so hopefully his time off and his new coaching relationship will see him through to at least the quarters. Alejandro Falla, Federer's almost-conqueror at Wimbledon and potential first match for Fed here, has to be disappointed to see that. Almagro's is Fed's potential opponent once the seeds start to meet, and he is playing some of his best tennis of late, but it's tough to see him pulling off that upset. Federer will then get either Berdych (pretty likely) or Youzhny, or perhaps one of the two erstwhile Frenchmen, Gasquet or Simon. Simon-Youzhny is another of the really good opening rounds, but all the same - not a lot of firepower that's likely to knock Federer off his place, here.
The fourth quarter has second-seeded Novak Djokovic and Nikolday Davydenko, as well as Jurgen Melzer and Fernando Verdasco. Washington finalist Marcos Baghdatis is here, as well as Radek Stepanek. Two of the four Canadian wildcards ended up in this quarter, which is honestly good for the other players, but keep an eye Raonic-Hanescu in the first round. Raonic played a great match here last year, and has a lot of potential as one of the more visible teens on the tour. He just made a challenger final as well, losing to 102-ranked Tobias Kamke.
This is an interesting draw, as it appears to be really top-heavy, but with 16 of the top 20 players in action and only 56 players in action at all, there aren't that many places to hide. I'm excited to see how things play out.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Washington Final
Well, while I've been busy with other things, the Legg Mason tennis tournament has gone absolutely bonkers. The final, set for tomorrow, is between wildcard David Nalbandian and eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis. If you had them picked to play for the title a week ago, then you deserve a prize.
Nalbandian's performance has been absolutely spectacular - he has been in dominant form through most of his matches, losing only a single set to Gilles Simon, who was playing his best tennis in years. Every other set he's played, he's won, and also were never closer than 6-4. It's been brutal - and this is how well the Argentine can play, he just hasn't done it for a few years. It's good to see him back, though.
This has just been a weird tournament, after a day of tennis was almost canceled due to rain, they stuffed a bunch of matches in all at once, and it was a brutal day for Americans. Every American left lost in the round of 16, some pretty badly. Roddick's performance was extremely lackluster, and his reward for not being into it is dropping out of the top ten. This is bad news for Andy, who looked to be having a great year around March, but then he took a long clay-court layoff, got sick, and hasn't been the same player since. If he doesn't put up two good performances at the two upcoming Masters series events, he's going to be seeded outside the top eight, and could potentially hit a top four seed in the fourth round.
It's also worth noting that with Roddick dropping to (a projected) number 12, there are suddenly no Americans in the top ten for the first time since the ranking system began. An odd thing to happen at the same time that we were talking about an American renaissance - but it is worth looking at further, just not right now.
Nalbandian's opponent will be another recent underachiever, Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who started the year winning a title and then hasn't gone on to do much since. He was fairly lucky to get a tired Xavier Malisse in the semis instead of a fussy and uppity Tomas Berdych, who doesn't plan on coming back to the tournament next year, because of their unusual scheduling decisions and his feeling that he wasn't being treated well as the top seed. Baghdatis also may have rolled his ankle in the semis, which won't help him in the final.
Really, the final is probably going to be a cakewalk for Nalbandian, who had the tougher road, and was playing better tennis along the way. Baghdatis had a really nice win over Verdasco, but other than that, the quality of his opposition wasn't as much to write home about. Unless Nalbandian is exhausted or forgets how to play so well, I don't see Baghdatis posing a lot of a threat. It's good to see two interesting characters (who I pegged for big things this year on their respective comeback trails) in the final of the Legg Mason tournament.
Nalbandian's performance has been absolutely spectacular - he has been in dominant form through most of his matches, losing only a single set to Gilles Simon, who was playing his best tennis in years. Every other set he's played, he's won, and also were never closer than 6-4. It's been brutal - and this is how well the Argentine can play, he just hasn't done it for a few years. It's good to see him back, though.
This has just been a weird tournament, after a day of tennis was almost canceled due to rain, they stuffed a bunch of matches in all at once, and it was a brutal day for Americans. Every American left lost in the round of 16, some pretty badly. Roddick's performance was extremely lackluster, and his reward for not being into it is dropping out of the top ten. This is bad news for Andy, who looked to be having a great year around March, but then he took a long clay-court layoff, got sick, and hasn't been the same player since. If he doesn't put up two good performances at the two upcoming Masters series events, he's going to be seeded outside the top eight, and could potentially hit a top four seed in the fourth round.
It's also worth noting that with Roddick dropping to (a projected) number 12, there are suddenly no Americans in the top ten for the first time since the ranking system began. An odd thing to happen at the same time that we were talking about an American renaissance - but it is worth looking at further, just not right now.
Nalbandian's opponent will be another recent underachiever, Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who started the year winning a title and then hasn't gone on to do much since. He was fairly lucky to get a tired Xavier Malisse in the semis instead of a fussy and uppity Tomas Berdych, who doesn't plan on coming back to the tournament next year, because of their unusual scheduling decisions and his feeling that he wasn't being treated well as the top seed. Baghdatis also may have rolled his ankle in the semis, which won't help him in the final.
Really, the final is probably going to be a cakewalk for Nalbandian, who had the tougher road, and was playing better tennis along the way. Baghdatis had a really nice win over Verdasco, but other than that, the quality of his opposition wasn't as much to write home about. Unless Nalbandian is exhausted or forgets how to play so well, I don't see Baghdatis posing a lot of a threat. It's good to see two interesting characters (who I pegged for big things this year on their respective comeback trails) in the final of the Legg Mason tournament.
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