Well, that was a weird final day. Both of the matches which took place today were delayed and interrupted by some problems with rain. In Toronto, during the men's final, the rain delay just kept Federer from really getting into the match. It was a tight affair, but Murray won 7-5, 7-5. Unfortunately, because of the odd conditions in which the match was played, it's tough to tell too much from Murray's victory. He played great, but he got a few breaks that ended up deciding the match. Good win for the Scot, but good for Federer to make it back to number two in the world.
In Cincinnati, the women's final was just as odd. Kim Clijsters was down a set and a break, and was serving to stay in the tournament when a rain delay came along, and she went ahead to break Sharapova while she was serving for the match, then won the second set in a tiebreak. Sharapova was troubled by some kind of injury in the third, but credit Kim for playing through a tough situation. And Maria was magnanimous in defeat - I'm glad to see her back near the top level of the game, because she's such a great personality in addition to being such a great competitor.
The second big men's Masters event takes place next week in Cincinnati, now that the women are off to Canada. I'll take a look at the draw there - this pair of Masters Series tournaments is always a great fortnight during the Summer, something of a U.S. Open preview. Murray just helped his odds in Flushing Meadows this year, but Federer showed he can still play some great tennis to make it to that stage.
Nadal is still the top seed, of course, and one of the eight players to get a bye in the first round. His section of the draw has some tricky players - in fact, his first match could be against Feliciano Lopez, who beat Nadal in Queens. Lopez has to get past Taylor Dent first, but Dent has not been having a great year. After that, Nadal will probably get either Almagro or Wawrinka, who are actually playing each other in the first round. That's going to be a good match, and the winner will get either Llodra or Benneteau - but I'd bet against either Frenchman, no matter who they get. In the quarters, Nadal could have face Cilic, but the Croat was already upset in the first round by Marcos Baghdatis. As a result, it's likely that the Spaniard will get Berdych instead. That should be a fun one.
Even though Federer moved up to number two again this week, the seedings were already determined for this week's tournament, which means that Federer is still the third seed, and could face Nadal in the semifinals. Since Federer is the defending champ here, that's a tough draw - and Federer could slip back to third in the world before the U.S. Open seeds are determined. Lots on the line here. Fed's quarter also has two American wildcards - Robbie Ginepri and James Blake, who could get Fed in the second round. It's tough to see the American pulling off that upset, but he's beaten Roger before. After that, Fed could face Monfils or Kohlschreiber, or his near-conqueror Alejandro Falla. In the quarters, Davydenko is Fed's seeded opponent, but since the Russian has not been playing his best, I see either Querrey or Ferrer making it there. This is actually a good chance for Sam, who has gotten a pretty good draw. He needs a good result at a big tournament like this.
The third quarter is Murray's, but there are a lot of dangerous floaters there. His seeded quarterfinal opponent is Verdasco, but he could have to get by Melzer, Youzhny, Gulbis, Chardy, Gasquet, Fish, or Simon instead. This quarter has the most firecracker opening rounds - Fish against Simon, Gasquet against Youzhny, and Gulbis against U.S. wildcard Donald Young. Lots of fun, streaky players here, so any number of them have the chance to get on a run through to the semifinals.
The final quarter has Novak Djokovic, Robin Soderling, and recently mono-suffering Andy Roddick, who has dropped to the ninth seed, so he has to open in the first round against Sergiy Stakhovsky. Lleyton Hewitt opens against Yen-Hsun Lu for the chance to face Soderling, while David Nalbandian gets Ivan Ljubicic. And Djokovic's first opponent will be either Radek Stepanek or Viktor Troicki. And John Isner is in this section, too. These bottom two quarters are pretty much loaded, honestly. And it's tough to know who's going to get through. There are plenty of great match-ups, though. I'm excited for another week of Masters Series tennis.
Showing posts with label sharapova. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sharapova. Show all posts
Monday, August 16, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Week 7 Finals Preview
The finals are set for this week 7, and there's going to be at least one new title-winner this year. In France, they've got an all-countrymen final, but it doesn't feature any of the top three Frenchman in the draw, including Tsonga, Monfils, and Simon. But the French crowd should be pretty happy with their final between Benneteau (the eighth seed) and Llodra, who made the final here last year. This is Benneteau's fourth singles final, and he has yet to win one. Llodra lost this final last year, but he has three to his name. His last came in Rotterdam in 2008, where he had beaten Soderling in the final. Coincidentally, Soderling was Llodra's victim in the quarters here in Marseille.
I'm surprised that these two Frenchmen, both in their late twenties, have never played each other on tour before. They played in a futures tournament ten years ago which Llodra won, but it's tough to put much stock in that. Benneteau had the harder road, facing Monfils and Tsonga, while Llodra had to face the relatively minor foe Mischa Zverev in the semis. But Benneteau is the higher-ranked player here, and has been on better form so far this year. This is largely a pick-em, and I hope it will be a good match. It's been a good week for both players, as they are both also in the doubles final, playing together. It should be interesting for them to play that right after completing the singles.
In Buenos Aires, they've got the best match-up they could have hoped for in the final, once David Nalbandian withdrew from the tournament with injury before his quarterfinal against Albert Montanes. Ferrer then steamrolled a well-rested Montanes in the semis, after beating Igor Andreev that same morning, when matches had been pushed back due to rain. Really, that's an astounding performance from Ferrer, to play two-matches in one day, the second against a very well-rested opponent, and win it 6-1, 6-1. He'll be facing Juan Carlos Ferrero, last week's winner in Costa do Sauipe. The only set dropped by either of these players was by Ferrero, inexplicably, in the quarters against Santiago Ventura. The Ferrer-Ferrero rivalry, which is my second-favorite in the sport, name-wise, after Wozniak-Wozniacki, has been pretty one-sided. Ferrer is 5-1 against the older, more experienced Spaniard. Add to that the fact that last year, Ferrer was the highest-ranked player who did not win a title, and the "Bulldog" will be eager to notch his first tour win since the Netherlands in 2008.
An all-French final, an all-Spanish final, and in Memphis, an all-American final. Sam Querrey and John Isner, the two young guns of U.S. Tennis, will be facing here for the first time. They've had very different years up to this tournament, with the tall man winning his first title and going 8-1 to get here. On the other hand, Querrey was 3-4, and is just now getting his record above 500. Querrey is recovering from a pretty terrible arm injury that ended his season last year, so it's good for him to make the final here. While he was struggling to get his year kick-started, Isner was on fire, and ultimately replaced Querrey as the number 2 American behind Andy Roddick. This should also be an interesting match, as these two players are close, and will be playing together in the final after they play against each other in the singles, just like Benneteau and Llodra. I don't know of the last time that's happened twice in the same week, but it hasn't happened recently, to the best of my knowledge.
It's also worth mentioning that Venus Williams won her first title of the year in Dubai, which was also her first successful title defense since Wimbledon in 2007-2008. She beat Victoria Azarenka in the final, and did not drop a set en route to the title. Azarenka may have been the seed that she faced, but it was still an impressive run. Sharapova also won in Memphis without dropping a set, and never even played a tiebreak. She was taken to 7-5 only once, by Elena Baltacha. It's a great way to kick-start the year for both players.
The women's final in Bogata has not yet been decided, and it doesn't feature any big-name players like Sharapova or Venus. But it does have a 20-year old Colombian player named Mariana Duque Marino who may be making her first big splash on the tour level. She's won a bundle of lower-tier ITF titles, but has yet to make much noise at the top. She faces German Angelique Kerber, who is also going for her first overall WTA title. With the home crowd's support, Marino may have the advantage over another first-time finalist. But that's why you play the tennis.
I'm surprised that these two Frenchmen, both in their late twenties, have never played each other on tour before. They played in a futures tournament ten years ago which Llodra won, but it's tough to put much stock in that. Benneteau had the harder road, facing Monfils and Tsonga, while Llodra had to face the relatively minor foe Mischa Zverev in the semis. But Benneteau is the higher-ranked player here, and has been on better form so far this year. This is largely a pick-em, and I hope it will be a good match. It's been a good week for both players, as they are both also in the doubles final, playing together. It should be interesting for them to play that right after completing the singles.
In Buenos Aires, they've got the best match-up they could have hoped for in the final, once David Nalbandian withdrew from the tournament with injury before his quarterfinal against Albert Montanes. Ferrer then steamrolled a well-rested Montanes in the semis, after beating Igor Andreev that same morning, when matches had been pushed back due to rain. Really, that's an astounding performance from Ferrer, to play two-matches in one day, the second against a very well-rested opponent, and win it 6-1, 6-1. He'll be facing Juan Carlos Ferrero, last week's winner in Costa do Sauipe. The only set dropped by either of these players was by Ferrero, inexplicably, in the quarters against Santiago Ventura. The Ferrer-Ferrero rivalry, which is my second-favorite in the sport, name-wise, after Wozniak-Wozniacki, has been pretty one-sided. Ferrer is 5-1 against the older, more experienced Spaniard. Add to that the fact that last year, Ferrer was the highest-ranked player who did not win a title, and the "Bulldog" will be eager to notch his first tour win since the Netherlands in 2008.
An all-French final, an all-Spanish final, and in Memphis, an all-American final. Sam Querrey and John Isner, the two young guns of U.S. Tennis, will be facing here for the first time. They've had very different years up to this tournament, with the tall man winning his first title and going 8-1 to get here. On the other hand, Querrey was 3-4, and is just now getting his record above 500. Querrey is recovering from a pretty terrible arm injury that ended his season last year, so it's good for him to make the final here. While he was struggling to get his year kick-started, Isner was on fire, and ultimately replaced Querrey as the number 2 American behind Andy Roddick. This should also be an interesting match, as these two players are close, and will be playing together in the final after they play against each other in the singles, just like Benneteau and Llodra. I don't know of the last time that's happened twice in the same week, but it hasn't happened recently, to the best of my knowledge.
It's also worth mentioning that Venus Williams won her first title of the year in Dubai, which was also her first successful title defense since Wimbledon in 2007-2008. She beat Victoria Azarenka in the final, and did not drop a set en route to the title. Azarenka may have been the seed that she faced, but it was still an impressive run. Sharapova also won in Memphis without dropping a set, and never even played a tiebreak. She was taken to 7-5 only once, by Elena Baltacha. It's a great way to kick-start the year for both players.
The women's final in Bogata has not yet been decided, and it doesn't feature any big-name players like Sharapova or Venus. But it does have a 20-year old Colombian player named Mariana Duque Marino who may be making her first big splash on the tour level. She's won a bundle of lower-tier ITF titles, but has yet to make much noise at the top. She faces German Angelique Kerber, who is also going for her first overall WTA title. With the home crowd's support, Marino may have the advantage over another first-time finalist. But that's why you play the tennis.
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.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Matches to Watch - Day 2
Well, day one had its fair share of excitement, despite the weather in Melbourne not cooperating. The line-up wasn't completed on any court save for the two covered that had retractable roofs. There were some excellent matches though, and two seeded
players upset.
On the men's side, the upset was not a huge shock, as Radek Stepanek lost to Ivo Karlovic in five sets. It was revenge for the Davis Cup loss last year, so good for Dr. Ivo. It's a shame for Stepanek, who made the final in Brisbane in the lead-up to the Aussie Open. Another player on the men's side who had a good warm-up tournament was Mardy Fish, who took eventual champion Marcos Baghdatis to three tight sets. Fish lost to Andrey Golubev, ranked 131 in the world. It looked like a pretty sloppy match, with both players making at least 50 unforced errors. But Fish hit only 16 winners to Golubev's 44. It may have been the heavy conditions and the frequent rain delays, but Mardy has to be disappointed.
But I bet he's not as disappointed as Maria Sharapova, who lost to friend and fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko. In one of the longest women's matches in Australian Open history, it wasn't Sharapova's double faults that did her in, like at the US Open last year. Eleven is a lot of double faults, but it is half as many as Sharapova had in her loss to Melanie Oudin. It was Sharapova's 77 unforced errors that did it, and when they occurred. She actually won more points than Kirilenko, but she didn't win the ones she needed to.
Other seeds and favorites cruised - the ones that got to play their matches, anyway. In addition to the matches I made note of yesterday that haven't finished yet, here are some other matches to watch on Day 2.
Roger Federer v. Igor Andreev - This is among Federer's tougher first-round matchups at Grand Slams in recent years. Andreev is a big-hitter with one of the biggest forehands in the game. But he knows that's his biggest shot, and he'll go well out of his way to avoid hitting his backhand. Watch for Rajah to send most of his balls to that side, and then hit a ton of winners down the line when Andreev runs around his weaker shot to rip a forehand.
Fernando Verdasco v. Carsten Ball - It's tough to be an up-and-coming young player if you keep getting paired with unreasonably difficult first rounds. Carsten is poised for a breakthrough, but he won't be able to do it against last year's semifinalist and recent winner of the Kooyong exhibition. Verdasco is also a lefty with a big serve, so Ball won't have as much of an advantage as he usually does.
Richard Gasquet v. Mikhail Youzhny - Both of these players are grand slam semifinalists who aren't playing their best tennis at the moment. Both of them are extremely talented, with beautiful one-handed backhands, while both lack the mental fortitude of some of their more successful peers. While Gasquet has the edge in artistry and shot-making ability, Youzhny has more pace on his shots. It should be a good contest.
Christophe Rochus v. Donald Young - While Olivier's match against Fernando Gonzalez didn't turn out to be quite as tight as I thought it might be, the elder, taller, and less successful Rochus has a much better chance against the young American Young. But "the Donald" definitely wants to put his frustrations behind him, and he couldn't have gotten much better than the lesser Rochus brother. While these aren't the two greatest players to meet today, they should still be closely matched, so it could be a good match.
Barbara Zahlavova vs. Virginia Kulikova - A match set to finish from yesterday, these two relatively unknown Eastern Europeans (a Russian and a Czech) are at 4-3 in the third set, after the first two went to tiebreaks. The first breaker was 7-5 and the second was 12-10. Since there's no tiebreaker in the third set, this match could go on all day.
John Isner v. Andreas Seppi - Isner is riding high, having just won his first title, while Seppi is the very talented but easily frustrated Italian player who probably hasn't lived up to his talent. The only concern for Isner in this match is that he may be tired from the last week, but otherwise, he should ace his way past Seppi without a great of trouble.
Also watch for the Williams sisters in action. Serena's first grand slam match after her meltdown in New York should be interesting. I expect that the Australian fans will have (rightly) forgotten about that event, and welcome their defending champion back with open arms.
players upset.
On the men's side, the upset was not a huge shock, as Radek Stepanek lost to Ivo Karlovic in five sets. It was revenge for the Davis Cup loss last year, so good for Dr. Ivo. It's a shame for Stepanek, who made the final in Brisbane in the lead-up to the Aussie Open. Another player on the men's side who had a good warm-up tournament was Mardy Fish, who took eventual champion Marcos Baghdatis to three tight sets. Fish lost to Andrey Golubev, ranked 131 in the world. It looked like a pretty sloppy match, with both players making at least 50 unforced errors. But Fish hit only 16 winners to Golubev's 44. It may have been the heavy conditions and the frequent rain delays, but Mardy has to be disappointed.
But I bet he's not as disappointed as Maria Sharapova, who lost to friend and fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko. In one of the longest women's matches in Australian Open history, it wasn't Sharapova's double faults that did her in, like at the US Open last year. Eleven is a lot of double faults, but it is half as many as Sharapova had in her loss to Melanie Oudin. It was Sharapova's 77 unforced errors that did it, and when they occurred. She actually won more points than Kirilenko, but she didn't win the ones she needed to.
Other seeds and favorites cruised - the ones that got to play their matches, anyway. In addition to the matches I made note of yesterday that haven't finished yet, here are some other matches to watch on Day 2.
Roger Federer v. Igor Andreev - This is among Federer's tougher first-round matchups at Grand Slams in recent years. Andreev is a big-hitter with one of the biggest forehands in the game. But he knows that's his biggest shot, and he'll go well out of his way to avoid hitting his backhand. Watch for Rajah to send most of his balls to that side, and then hit a ton of winners down the line when Andreev runs around his weaker shot to rip a forehand.
Fernando Verdasco v. Carsten Ball - It's tough to be an up-and-coming young player if you keep getting paired with unreasonably difficult first rounds. Carsten is poised for a breakthrough, but he won't be able to do it against last year's semifinalist and recent winner of the Kooyong exhibition. Verdasco is also a lefty with a big serve, so Ball won't have as much of an advantage as he usually does.
Richard Gasquet v. Mikhail Youzhny - Both of these players are grand slam semifinalists who aren't playing their best tennis at the moment. Both of them are extremely talented, with beautiful one-handed backhands, while both lack the mental fortitude of some of their more successful peers. While Gasquet has the edge in artistry and shot-making ability, Youzhny has more pace on his shots. It should be a good contest.
Christophe Rochus v. Donald Young - While Olivier's match against Fernando Gonzalez didn't turn out to be quite as tight as I thought it might be, the elder, taller, and less successful Rochus has a much better chance against the young American Young. But "the Donald" definitely wants to put his frustrations behind him, and he couldn't have gotten much better than the lesser Rochus brother. While these aren't the two greatest players to meet today, they should still be closely matched, so it could be a good match.
Barbara Zahlavova vs. Virginia Kulikova - A match set to finish from yesterday, these two relatively unknown Eastern Europeans (a Russian and a Czech) are at 4-3 in the third set, after the first two went to tiebreaks. The first breaker was 7-5 and the second was 12-10. Since there's no tiebreaker in the third set, this match could go on all day.
John Isner v. Andreas Seppi - Isner is riding high, having just won his first title, while Seppi is the very talented but easily frustrated Italian player who probably hasn't lived up to his talent. The only concern for Isner in this match is that he may be tired from the last week, but otherwise, he should ace his way past Seppi without a great of trouble.
Also watch for the Williams sisters in action. Serena's first grand slam match after her meltdown in New York should be interesting. I expect that the Australian fans will have (rightly) forgotten about that event, and welcome their defending champion back with open arms.
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