The first day of tennis at Flushing Meadows was a fine way to start us off - lots of exciting tennis, but not a lot of upsets to write home about. On both the men's and women's side, there were only a pair of upsets, both male vets who couldn't make it to the second round. Fernando Gonzalez had to retire against Brian Dabul, and while Lleyton Hewitt didn't actually throw in the towel, he surely faded pretty severely in the final set against Paul-Henri Mathieu. It's the first time that Hewitt's lost in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament since Wimbledon in 2003, when he fell to Ivo Karlovic as the defending champion.
Aside from that, the most notable loss of the day was last year's top seed on the women's side, Dinara Safina, who fought hard but couldn't quite hold it together against Daniela Hantuchova. Despite her disappointing performance here, I see promising signs in her game of late. She may never again ascend to the heights she was at last year at this time, but I can easily see her making it back into the top twenty, maybe ten.
Melanie Oudin really played well in her opening round, which was admittedly against a player of even less experience, but still, with all the pressure she had, I wasn't sure she could handle it. Credit to the teen. The other top players mostly cruised against undistinguished opponents, except for Robin Soderling, who was pushed hard by Austrian qualifier Andreas Haider-Maurer (I know, 'who?') into a fifth set. But his experience saw him through in the end. Gael Monfils also needed a fifth set to beat American vet Robbie Kendrick. There was a questionable call in that match, but it didn't quite turn the tide in the end - the fact that Kendrick thought it went against him was what brought him down, in my opinion. The other two five setters of the day saw Jurgen Melzer get past Dmitry Tursunov (still hoping for his comeback!) and Albert Montanes over Przynsiezny, 6-0 in the fifth.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, we'll see Djokovic, Jankovic, Sharapova, Nadal and Wozniacki on Arthur Ashe. Not a bad line-up - there's an outside chance that Gabashvili could trouble Nadal, maybe a 20% chance of a close match. Djokovic-Troicki could be tight, but I don't give the junior Serb much of a chance of upsetting his countryman. Really, the matches on Armstrong and the Grandstand are much more exciting.
Baghdatis plays Clement, a French vet who has played some amazing matches of his career, but it's been a while since he's made much noise. Kateryna Bondarenko plays Na Li after that, followed by James Blake against Kristof Vliegen. Blake's going to have a ton of support, but that may not be enough for him. He seems like he's not fully recovered from his surgery, and he needs to be in top form considering his style of play. I hope he can win a couple of rounds, but it will be tough. Fish should have a better time with Jan Hajek, and Svetlana Kuznetsova should be able to handle the tricky Japanese player Kimiko Date Krumm.
On the outside courts, there are some intriguing match-ups. This is Robbie Ginepri's favorite tournament, and he has a good chance against Argentine Eduardo Schwank. On court 7, watch for a potential (though unlikely) upset as Dolgopolov plays Ferrer. He's got a chance, but whether or not he wins tomorrow's match, you'll hear more from Dolgopolov in the future. Also, put an upset watch on Peter Polansky over Juan Monaco, and Julien Benneteau over Radek Stepanek.
I don't necessarily see another upset on Court 13, but the first match could be a cracker, between French Jeremy Chardy and Ernests Gulbis. I lean towards the seeded Latvian, but there could be an upset in the cards if Gulbis isn't at his best, because he can easily get frustrated and go off the boil.
There are certainly plenty of fun matches to keep an eye on tomorrow.
Showing posts with label oudin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oudin. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Week 7 Mid-week Update
Streaming video has failed me. For once, the tournament in Memphis was not being broadcast on any television, and as a result was not being streamed on the internet. And as a result of that, I couldn't watch Andy Roddick battle with James Blake for two hours before finally coming out on top. Starting at the quarterfinals, Memphis will be broadcasting via TennisTV.com, but until then, us fans are just out of luck. It's a shame.
It looked like it would have been a good match, but it certainly wasn't the only fine one of the day. John Isner squeaked past Jarkko Nieminen in three sets after losing the first in a tiebreak. He wasn't broken once, and Nieminen is no slouch in his return game. Xavier Malisse upset Tommy Haas, and the Belgian is gaining some momentum. But one player who isn't getting much momentum is Radek Stepanek, who may have squeaked by Kevin Anderson in the first round, but just lost to perpetual underachiever Ernests Gulbis in the second. Since making the final in Brisbane, Stepanek is 1-3. Neither is Mardy Fish, who completed folded in the second set against Leonardo Mayer. I imagine that he's still struggling with injury. Verdasco, who also lost in the first round, was probably just tired after his title run last week. He didn't get the extra day of rest that Roddick did, which probably proved essential.
Also in Memphis, Melanie Oudin and Maria Sharapova, the top two seeds (it says something about your field when the second seed is ranked 42nd in the world) have been doing well in turning their years around. Both were dominant in their second round wins, which may not have been against the staunchest of competition, but it's still good to build momentum. Oudin had lost to Dementieva last week, and Elena then retired with injury in Dubai. The top two seeds also lost in Dubai, Wozniacki and Kuznetsova both lost to lower-ranked opponents. Azarenka and Venus Williams are now the favorites at this tourney.
Hopping across the pond to Marseille, three of the four non-French seeds are already out. Youzhny withdrew before a ball was struck, apparently still bothered by the injury that made him retire from his final last week against Soderling, who happens to be the top seed and only non-French seed left. Baghdatis and Robredo are out as well. Tommy continues to stumble this year. Monfils, Tsonga, and Benneteau are still standing. If he gets past Llodra in the next round, there's nothing stopping him from another final berth.
And finally, on the red clay in Buenos Aires, some fun matches taking place. Nalbandian has won his first two matches back on tour, the last one in stunning, third-set tiebreak fashion. Horacio Zeballos, fresh off winning 2009 ATP Newcomer of the Year, had already beaten Gaston Gaudio in the first round, and he'll face Carlos Moya in the second. Two French Open winners from six and twelve years ago against one of the fresh faces on the clay court scene. Nadal excepted, this tournament does have some of the best clay courters are tour, like top two seeds Ferrero and Ferrer. Still lots of tennis to play here, too.
Some people are talking about shortening the tennis season but if they did, I'm really not sure what I'd do with myself.
It looked like it would have been a good match, but it certainly wasn't the only fine one of the day. John Isner squeaked past Jarkko Nieminen in three sets after losing the first in a tiebreak. He wasn't broken once, and Nieminen is no slouch in his return game. Xavier Malisse upset Tommy Haas, and the Belgian is gaining some momentum. But one player who isn't getting much momentum is Radek Stepanek, who may have squeaked by Kevin Anderson in the first round, but just lost to perpetual underachiever Ernests Gulbis in the second. Since making the final in Brisbane, Stepanek is 1-3. Neither is Mardy Fish, who completed folded in the second set against Leonardo Mayer. I imagine that he's still struggling with injury. Verdasco, who also lost in the first round, was probably just tired after his title run last week. He didn't get the extra day of rest that Roddick did, which probably proved essential.
Also in Memphis, Melanie Oudin and Maria Sharapova, the top two seeds (it says something about your field when the second seed is ranked 42nd in the world) have been doing well in turning their years around. Both were dominant in their second round wins, which may not have been against the staunchest of competition, but it's still good to build momentum. Oudin had lost to Dementieva last week, and Elena then retired with injury in Dubai. The top two seeds also lost in Dubai, Wozniacki and Kuznetsova both lost to lower-ranked opponents. Azarenka and Venus Williams are now the favorites at this tourney.
Hopping across the pond to Marseille, three of the four non-French seeds are already out. Youzhny withdrew before a ball was struck, apparently still bothered by the injury that made him retire from his final last week against Soderling, who happens to be the top seed and only non-French seed left. Baghdatis and Robredo are out as well. Tommy continues to stumble this year. Monfils, Tsonga, and Benneteau are still standing. If he gets past Llodra in the next round, there's nothing stopping him from another final berth.
And finally, on the red clay in Buenos Aires, some fun matches taking place. Nalbandian has won his first two matches back on tour, the last one in stunning, third-set tiebreak fashion. Horacio Zeballos, fresh off winning 2009 ATP Newcomer of the Year, had already beaten Gaston Gaudio in the first round, and he'll face Carlos Moya in the second. Two French Open winners from six and twelve years ago against one of the fresh faces on the clay court scene. Nadal excepted, this tournament does have some of the best clay courters are tour, like top two seeds Ferrero and Ferrer. Still lots of tennis to play here, too.
Some people are talking about shortening the tennis season but if they did, I'm really not sure what I'd do with myself.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
2010 Tennis Season Underway!
After a long and lonely off-season, the 2010 tennis season officially begins this week. There are three official tournaments during week one: Brisbane, Chennai, and Doha. Meanwhile, there's the Hopman Cup mixed-doubles event in Perth as well. Not to mention last week, the Capitala World Tennis Championship exhibition took place in Abu Dhabi. The season really starts with a bang, doesn't it? Beginning next week, the entire tour becomes focused in Australia as things build up towards the first major of the year, but for one week, the players remain scattered across the globe.
First of all, looking back at last week's pre-season exhibition in Abu Dhabi, there is one very interesting result. Robin Soderling managed to find a way to beat Roger Federer in the semifinals, after losing twelve consecutive times to the Swiss maestro. While this is undoubtedly a thrilling result for Robin, Roger may have already pocketed his appearance fee and decided to head off to his next tourney. The sad truth is that these exhibition wins often don't make that much difference. Roddick beat Fed at Kooyong in 2007, but then won only six games when they played just a few weeks later at the Aussie Open.
Speaking of Roddick, he's the top seed at the tournament in Brisbane, which features the majority of the American and Australian players, save for Aussie number one Hewitt, who's at the Hopman Cup. The first week of the season is always fascinating, because you get to see how players who were injured at the end of last season have recovered, or whether those who finished the year on a tear can maintain their momentum. Roddick is hoping to have fully recovered from the knee injury which cut his season short. Brisbane also features Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey, and Taylor Dent, all recently injured Americans who hope to start 2009 off well. There are quite a few dangerous floaters in the draw, as well. Look for a more in-depth draw analysis tomorrow.
Moving westward to India, the Chennai tournament will struggle to be as exciting this year as it was in 2009. That was the year that local wildcard Somdev Devvarman made it through the first three rounds, beating Carlos Moya and Ivo Karlovic in the process, only to get a walkover from Rainer Schuettler in the semis. He lost to Marin Cilic in the final, but what a dream run. Devvarman will be hoping to defend as many points as he can, and Cilic will be hoping to have his first successful title defense of his career.
Further west, in the Middle East, where the money still seems to be flowing despite the world's economic downturn, you will find most of the big dogs. Only three of the world's top six players will be in official action this week, but they will all be in Doha. Federer, Nadal, and Davydenko will all be there, and only Davydenko enters with a winning streak. Can the Russian continue his stupendous form from the end of last year? He was injured early last year, so he has no points to defend. If he plays like he did in the closing months of 2009, he could jump up to the top 3 or 4 in the world. Two of the other most interesting storylines of 2010 will get started here, too: will Nadal's body be able to hold up, what with all of his injuries, and will Federer be able to stay as motivated as he has been in the past, considering how he has accomplished everything he could have set out to do?
The other member of the top six who is playing this week is Britain's Andy Murray, who is playing the Hopman Cup with British teenage phenom Laura Robson. She could meet American sensation Melanie Oudin, if the U.S. And Britain make it to the final. Of course, to do that, they'll each have to win their groups. Or maybe they could meet in the semis. I'm the first to admit that I'm not 100% clear on the way that Hopman Cup works. Regardless, there should be some firecracker matches. Watch for Dementieva to start her season in style.
First of all, looking back at last week's pre-season exhibition in Abu Dhabi, there is one very interesting result. Robin Soderling managed to find a way to beat Roger Federer in the semifinals, after losing twelve consecutive times to the Swiss maestro. While this is undoubtedly a thrilling result for Robin, Roger may have already pocketed his appearance fee and decided to head off to his next tourney. The sad truth is that these exhibition wins often don't make that much difference. Roddick beat Fed at Kooyong in 2007, but then won only six games when they played just a few weeks later at the Aussie Open.
Speaking of Roddick, he's the top seed at the tournament in Brisbane, which features the majority of the American and Australian players, save for Aussie number one Hewitt, who's at the Hopman Cup. The first week of the season is always fascinating, because you get to see how players who were injured at the end of last season have recovered, or whether those who finished the year on a tear can maintain their momentum. Roddick is hoping to have fully recovered from the knee injury which cut his season short. Brisbane also features Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey, and Taylor Dent, all recently injured Americans who hope to start 2009 off well. There are quite a few dangerous floaters in the draw, as well. Look for a more in-depth draw analysis tomorrow.
Moving westward to India, the Chennai tournament will struggle to be as exciting this year as it was in 2009. That was the year that local wildcard Somdev Devvarman made it through the first three rounds, beating Carlos Moya and Ivo Karlovic in the process, only to get a walkover from Rainer Schuettler in the semis. He lost to Marin Cilic in the final, but what a dream run. Devvarman will be hoping to defend as many points as he can, and Cilic will be hoping to have his first successful title defense of his career.
Further west, in the Middle East, where the money still seems to be flowing despite the world's economic downturn, you will find most of the big dogs. Only three of the world's top six players will be in official action this week, but they will all be in Doha. Federer, Nadal, and Davydenko will all be there, and only Davydenko enters with a winning streak. Can the Russian continue his stupendous form from the end of last year? He was injured early last year, so he has no points to defend. If he plays like he did in the closing months of 2009, he could jump up to the top 3 or 4 in the world. Two of the other most interesting storylines of 2010 will get started here, too: will Nadal's body be able to hold up, what with all of his injuries, and will Federer be able to stay as motivated as he has been in the past, considering how he has accomplished everything he could have set out to do?
The other member of the top six who is playing this week is Britain's Andy Murray, who is playing the Hopman Cup with British teenage phenom Laura Robson. She could meet American sensation Melanie Oudin, if the U.S. And Britain make it to the final. Of course, to do that, they'll each have to win their groups. Or maybe they could meet in the semis. I'm the first to admit that I'm not 100% clear on the way that Hopman Cup works. Regardless, there should be some firecracker matches. Watch for Dementieva to start her season in style.
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