In two of the three tournaments going on this week, the majority of the top players have been upset. Not quite what the promoters were hoping for when only three or four seeds even make it to the quarterfinals, which was the case in both Dubai and Del Ray Beach.
In Dubai, which is probably the richest non-Masters Series event on tour, Novak Djokovic was the only top 10 player to make the semifinals. He barely did, dropping the first set in his quarterfinal match-up against Ivan Ljubicic and then squeaking out the second set before bulldozing his way through the third. Ljubicic had already beaten Tsonga, who appeared to be struggling with some injury problems. Davydenko was similarly hobbled, forced to retire against Michael Berrer with a bad left wrist.
Andy Murray had lost in the second round to an inspired Janko Tipsarevic, who then couldn't put it together the next day and lost to Youzhny in straight sets. Youzhny probably was expected to face Marin Cilic, one of the hottest players on tour, but he too was felled to Jurgen Melzer, who was having a spectacular day. The final quarterfinalist is Marcos Baghdatis, who beat Berrer in the quarters.
If Djokovic wasn't still in the tournament (and if he doesn't make it to the final) the organizers and tennis fans who paid to see the top tier of the game is going to be disappointed. He really should walk away with this one, though. Youzhny, Russia's number two, is looking like he's ready for an assault on the top ten once more. Good to see him back at the top of his game. And Baghdatis, too. Both of these guys were about four places lower in the rankings a year ago, so I'm glad to see them improving.
Things are also fairly topsy-turvy in Del Ray, although in this case I imagine that the organizers are pretty happy with the surprises left in the draw. With the weather, not so much. The week has been rain-soaked and it's been difficult to get in any continuous play, but at the quarterfinal stage, there are two Americans left, and that's something. Mardy Fish and James Blake are still standing, and they'll each have tough but winnable matches tomorrow. Fish goes up against Jeremy Chardy, who is a big hitter but has been having a terrible year, and Blake takes on Ivo Karlovic.
If the weather continues to be muggy, it should slow down Karlovic's serve and give Blake a better chance of blocking some returns back, and should also give him time to wind up on his forehand. In any case, this match will feature a ton of aces for the big man, because Blake goes for as much off the return as anyone, and ends up getting aced a lot. Except for their very first meeting, Karlovic has never hit fewer than 22 aces against Blake.
The top half of the draw features a handful of players who would each be lucky to make it to the final. Ernests Gulbis beat the player who knocked out top seed Tommy Haas, Benjamin Becker got a walkover from Wayne Odesnik, Leonardo won the battle of the Mayers against Florian, and Jarkko Nieminen absolutely ran away with the match after losing the first set to Evgeny Korolev. It's a pick-em, up here. Whoever can come out on top from this four will really get a boost, both in terms of ranking and momentum.
The only place where sanity seems to have reigned is in Acapulco, where all of the semifinalists are clay-court players that you might expect to see in this situation. Juan Monaco ousted top seed Fernando Verdasco, who despite being Spanish is not the greatest clay-courter around. Ferrero continued his ridiculous run, beating twice-defending champ Nicolas Almagro. His winning streak is now 13 matches long, which is by far the longest on tour at the moment. Monaco is a tough competitor, but unless Ferrero's 30-year old body is starting to get tired, it's not easy to see him beating this Spaniard, who is right at home on clay.
The bottom half of the draw has an equally appetizing semifinal, which features David Ferrer and Fernando Gonzalez. It's a match-up of a big, big hitter and a big returner, so it'll be interesting to see if Gonzo can hit his spots better than Ferrer can run them down.
It's also worth noting that in Acapulco, defending champ and top seed Venus Williams recovered from from being down 5-3 in the third set against 25-year old Spanish qualifier Laura Pous Tio, who is ranked 399 in the world, to win the set and the match 7-5. Gutsy save from the elder Williams. After making it through that tough match, can she go on to defend her second title consecutively?
Friday, February 26, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Week 8 Preview
First of all, kudos to Sam Querrey for successfully turning his season around, beating the two hottest Americans on tour (and the only two ranked above him) in winning his first title of the season and third overall. This was also his first title in which he beat a player ranked higher than him in the final. No shame for Isner, though, who has continued his strong season. Both of them then teamed up to win the doubles title. Not a bad run for both!
The same thing happened in Marseille, where Llodra beat the higher-ranked Benneteau and then went on to win the doubles title with his opponent, who became his partner. Shame for Benneteau, who remains titleless, but Llodra did one better than his run last year.
Also, props to Juan Carlos Ferrero, who looked like he was going to fall to David Ferrer once again, only to come back and win in three to get his second title in as many weeks. Is the former number one getting back to his top ten form? He hasn't finished a year in the top ten since 2003.
Looking ahead to the next week, the Dubai field has suffered a bit, as Nadal and Del Potro are out with injury, while Roddick and Federer also withdrew in the past few days. It's still the strongest tourney since the Australian Open, with world #2 Djokovic as the new favorite. Unfortunately for the Djoker, he has his nemesis Tsonga in his quarter, who faces last week's Marseille winner in the first round. That was Llodra, by the way.
Other first round matches of interest are Gilles Simon and Marcos Baghdatis. Simon has yet to win a match on tour this year, and this will only be his second. That's a tough one to get back on track with. In addition to four of the top ten players, there are a bevy that seem like they really ought to be in the top twenty, and could make a breakthrough here, with some of the biggest names out of the tourney.
There are some big names out of the tournament on U.S. soil this week as well. In Del Ray beach, the Americans are going to have trouble repeating the feat they had at Memphis this week. The only seeded American is slumping James Blake, ranked 55 in the world. And he faces another American, Taylor Dent, in the first round. Tommy Haas half-counts, and he's the top seed. Also worthy of note, Kei Nishikori returns to action here after more than a year off for injury. He opens against Benjamin Becker. Really, this is the weakest field of the week, so anyone could conceivably run away with the title.
The reason the field is so weak is that the two Americans who made the final in Memphis decided to run down to Mexico to play on the clay, dedicating themselves to playing their best - and maybe getting ready for the Davis Cup match against Serbia. An impressive move by both Isner and Querrey. It's particularly interesting for Querrey, who must have gotten late entry and is unseeded. He'll open against Fernando Gonzalez, in what probably amounts to the best first-round match of the week.
Another first round match of interest is Richard Gasquet against Carlos Moya, which should be a fun one to watch. Ferrer and Ferrero are both in the draw, as are Verdasco, Almagro, and Montanes. These are some of the best clay-courters on tour, so keep an eye on them for the next couple of months. After the Indian Wells-Miami double, that is.
The same thing happened in Marseille, where Llodra beat the higher-ranked Benneteau and then went on to win the doubles title with his opponent, who became his partner. Shame for Benneteau, who remains titleless, but Llodra did one better than his run last year.
Also, props to Juan Carlos Ferrero, who looked like he was going to fall to David Ferrer once again, only to come back and win in three to get his second title in as many weeks. Is the former number one getting back to his top ten form? He hasn't finished a year in the top ten since 2003.
Looking ahead to the next week, the Dubai field has suffered a bit, as Nadal and Del Potro are out with injury, while Roddick and Federer also withdrew in the past few days. It's still the strongest tourney since the Australian Open, with world #2 Djokovic as the new favorite. Unfortunately for the Djoker, he has his nemesis Tsonga in his quarter, who faces last week's Marseille winner in the first round. That was Llodra, by the way.
Other first round matches of interest are Gilles Simon and Marcos Baghdatis. Simon has yet to win a match on tour this year, and this will only be his second. That's a tough one to get back on track with. In addition to four of the top ten players, there are a bevy that seem like they really ought to be in the top twenty, and could make a breakthrough here, with some of the biggest names out of the tourney.
There are some big names out of the tournament on U.S. soil this week as well. In Del Ray beach, the Americans are going to have trouble repeating the feat they had at Memphis this week. The only seeded American is slumping James Blake, ranked 55 in the world. And he faces another American, Taylor Dent, in the first round. Tommy Haas half-counts, and he's the top seed. Also worthy of note, Kei Nishikori returns to action here after more than a year off for injury. He opens against Benjamin Becker. Really, this is the weakest field of the week, so anyone could conceivably run away with the title.
The reason the field is so weak is that the two Americans who made the final in Memphis decided to run down to Mexico to play on the clay, dedicating themselves to playing their best - and maybe getting ready for the Davis Cup match against Serbia. An impressive move by both Isner and Querrey. It's particularly interesting for Querrey, who must have gotten late entry and is unseeded. He'll open against Fernando Gonzalez, in what probably amounts to the best first-round match of the week.
Another first round match of interest is Richard Gasquet against Carlos Moya, which should be a fun one to watch. Ferrer and Ferrero are both in the draw, as are Verdasco, Almagro, and Montanes. These are some of the best clay-courters on tour, so keep an eye on them for the next couple of months. After the Indian Wells-Miami double, that is.
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.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Week 6 Wrap-Up, Week 7 Preview
There were several wild matches to wrap up in the past weekend of tennis, and a couple enticing tournaments on the horizon, so I won't waste any time.
I was at the San Jose tournament for the quarterfinals, which turned out to be an excellent day of tennis. The semifinal between Roddick and Querrey turned out to be the match of the week, though. Roddick won in three sets despite never even getting a break point against Querrey's serve. Tough loss for the young American, but he's shown that he's clearly recovered from last year's injury and ready to be a force again this year. He emphasized that fact by winning the doubles title with Mardy Fish.
Unfortunately, all that tennis turned out to be a little much for Andy Roddick, who lost the final to Verdasco, who had a much easier road to the final. While Roddick was facing Querrey and Berdych, the Spaniard only had to get through Uzbek Denis Istomin and 19-year old Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis. Not really equal competition on each side of the draw, in the end. Still, a strong performance from Roddick, who hopefully won't be too exhausted to perform well in Washington (more on that in a moment).
The finals at the other two tournaments this week weren't quite at the same level, even though though they did also each feature a player who had spent all of his energy just getting to that stage.
In Rotterdam, Youzhny had to retire against Soderling after the Russian had upset Djokovic in the semis, while Soderling notched his first big win of the year over the top-ranked Russian who had been the hottest three-set player on the tour, Nikolay Davydenko. Good for Soderling, who started off the year in poor form, to get things back on track.
In Costa do Sauipe, Ferrero breezed past Lukas Kubot, who apparently used up everything he had to beat Igor Andreev in the semifinals. Kubot managed only one game against the top seed. I was expecting Ferrero to face local favorite Tomaz Bellucci in the semis, but Bellucci was upset by another Brazilian player, the journeyman pro Ricardo Mello. Alas, Mello couldn't mount recapture that magic in the semis.
Looking ahead to next week's action, the next red clay tournament of the year in Buenos Aires features many familiar faces from the past two weeks. Ferrero is back, but Bellucci is taking the week off. The top seed this week is Spaniard David Ferrer, and there are also a handful of fresh faces, including wildcards Carlos Moya and Gaston Gaudio. Gasquet is supposed to be back in action this week, as well as the wayward Argentine, returning to play on home soil at least, David Nalbandian. He's been out of action for almost a year, so I'm eager to see how he does here.
In Marseille, last week's champion Soderling is back in action, as is finalist Youzhny, assuming he can recover from whatever forced him to retire. Tsonga, Monfils, and Benneteau make up the home-crowd seeds, and they're joined by Marcos Baghdatis and Tommy Robredo. Baggy is having a great year, but still hasn't quite reached his top ten form. Robredo hasn't done much of anything since winning the Hopman Cup over Andy Murray. The draw is filled out with a bevy of French and European players, including Arnaud Clement, the Rochus brothers, and Denis Istomin, who flew over from San Jose.
Speaking of San Jose, Roddick and Verdasco are the top seeds once again in Memphis, but who knows how tired they'll be. Surprisingly, Roddick plays unseeded James Blake in his first-round match, and James just had to fly back from the Netherlands. Why are these guys jetting around so much? Verdasco's opener isn't much easier, as he faces young, big-hitting Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. The other seeds in the draw are mostly familiar faces, except for John Isner, who's back in action after his great start to the year.
Isner opens against American teen and qualifier Ryan Harrison. Surprisingly, Harrison qualified while "The Donald" Young fell short. There are a ton of interesting first-round matches here, though. Querrey plays Rajeev Ram, who beat him at the Newport final last year. Radek Stepanek opens against Kevin Anderson, Jarkko Nieminen plays Dudi Sela, Benjamin Becker plays Ivo Karlovic, and Xavier Malisse plays Tommy Haas. That's a lot of matches between players of very comparable skill levels, as of late. There could be some firecrackers in there. And if Roddick and Verdasco are tired from their play in San Jose, this tournament could bust wide open.
I was at the San Jose tournament for the quarterfinals, which turned out to be an excellent day of tennis. The semifinal between Roddick and Querrey turned out to be the match of the week, though. Roddick won in three sets despite never even getting a break point against Querrey's serve. Tough loss for the young American, but he's shown that he's clearly recovered from last year's injury and ready to be a force again this year. He emphasized that fact by winning the doubles title with Mardy Fish.
Unfortunately, all that tennis turned out to be a little much for Andy Roddick, who lost the final to Verdasco, who had a much easier road to the final. While Roddick was facing Querrey and Berdych, the Spaniard only had to get through Uzbek Denis Istomin and 19-year old Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis. Not really equal competition on each side of the draw, in the end. Still, a strong performance from Roddick, who hopefully won't be too exhausted to perform well in Washington (more on that in a moment).
The finals at the other two tournaments this week weren't quite at the same level, even though though they did also each feature a player who had spent all of his energy just getting to that stage.
In Rotterdam, Youzhny had to retire against Soderling after the Russian had upset Djokovic in the semis, while Soderling notched his first big win of the year over the top-ranked Russian who had been the hottest three-set player on the tour, Nikolay Davydenko. Good for Soderling, who started off the year in poor form, to get things back on track.
In Costa do Sauipe, Ferrero breezed past Lukas Kubot, who apparently used up everything he had to beat Igor Andreev in the semifinals. Kubot managed only one game against the top seed. I was expecting Ferrero to face local favorite Tomaz Bellucci in the semis, but Bellucci was upset by another Brazilian player, the journeyman pro Ricardo Mello. Alas, Mello couldn't mount recapture that magic in the semis.
Looking ahead to next week's action, the next red clay tournament of the year in Buenos Aires features many familiar faces from the past two weeks. Ferrero is back, but Bellucci is taking the week off. The top seed this week is Spaniard David Ferrer, and there are also a handful of fresh faces, including wildcards Carlos Moya and Gaston Gaudio. Gasquet is supposed to be back in action this week, as well as the wayward Argentine, returning to play on home soil at least, David Nalbandian. He's been out of action for almost a year, so I'm eager to see how he does here.
In Marseille, last week's champion Soderling is back in action, as is finalist Youzhny, assuming he can recover from whatever forced him to retire. Tsonga, Monfils, and Benneteau make up the home-crowd seeds, and they're joined by Marcos Baghdatis and Tommy Robredo. Baggy is having a great year, but still hasn't quite reached his top ten form. Robredo hasn't done much of anything since winning the Hopman Cup over Andy Murray. The draw is filled out with a bevy of French and European players, including Arnaud Clement, the Rochus brothers, and Denis Istomin, who flew over from San Jose.
Speaking of San Jose, Roddick and Verdasco are the top seeds once again in Memphis, but who knows how tired they'll be. Surprisingly, Roddick plays unseeded James Blake in his first-round match, and James just had to fly back from the Netherlands. Why are these guys jetting around so much? Verdasco's opener isn't much easier, as he faces young, big-hitting Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. The other seeds in the draw are mostly familiar faces, except for John Isner, who's back in action after his great start to the year.
Isner opens against American teen and qualifier Ryan Harrison. Surprisingly, Harrison qualified while "The Donald" Young fell short. There are a ton of interesting first-round matches here, though. Querrey plays Rajeev Ram, who beat him at the Newport final last year. Radek Stepanek opens against Kevin Anderson, Jarkko Nieminen plays Dudi Sela, Benjamin Becker plays Ivo Karlovic, and Xavier Malisse plays Tommy Haas. That's a lot of matches between players of very comparable skill levels, as of late. There could be some firecrackers in there. And if Roddick and Verdasco are tired from their play in San Jose, this tournament could bust wide open.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Week 6 Thursday Update
Week 6 continues to move along, with a few upsets taking place. I'm hoping that Andy Roddick survives his match against Leonardo Mayer tonight, because I've got tickets to see him tomorrow. Fingers are crossed. But let's see what else is going on, before heading to San Jose.
In Rotterdam, Djokovic is cruising. He beat Chiudinelli 4 and 2 after his first-round opponent retired in the second set, and then the player he was supposed to play in the third round, Florian Mayer (no relation to Leonardo) pulled out of the tournament. He's on his way to the semis, having played only three sets of tennis! It's a shame that Mayer had to withdraw, because he had a good win yesterday over fifth-seed Tommy Robredo. He'll face the winner of Monfils-Youzhny, a tasty little quarterfinal match-up. Youzhny beat Djokovic in the semis here last year, so if the Russian comes through, I'm sure the new world number 2 will be looking for revenge.
In the bottom half, Soderling will play Julien Benneteau, and there are still too excellent second-round matches to player. Marcos Baghdatis, after an excellent win over James Blake (what was he doing in the Netherlands?) plays Nikolay Davydenko. The winner there will face the winner of Andreas Seppi and Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer. Still some good tennis to play in Rotterdam.
In Costa do Sauipe, the dirtballers are continuing to ply their trade. Horacio Zeballos still is not doing that well in his first year seriously playing the top tier of the tour. He's now 0-4 on the season, if I'm not mistaken. The jump from dominating the challengers to playing well at the top level is a tricky one to make. Richard Gasquet also pulled out of the tournament before it started, which sure doesn't help his comeback efforts. Hometown favorite Bellucci is still going strong, as are clay-court veterans Juan Carlos Ferrero, Igor Andreev, and Albert Montanes.
Over in San Jose, Sam Querrey finally won his first match of the year, breezing past Teimuraz Gabashvili in straight sets. He'll next face compatriot Taylor Dent, which is a winnable match, and should feature some spectacular serving. If he gets past Dent, he'll face either American veteran Michael Russell or (more likely) Belgian Xavier Malisse, who upset defending champ Radek Stepanek in the first round. Looks like Malisse may finally be ready to make use of his overturned ban.
Roddick plays Leonardo Mayer tonight, as I mentioned, and if he makes it through, he'll face Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals. Roddick leads the head-to-head 4-2, with one win coming earlier this year. It was a tight win for Roddick, as Berdych blew him off the court in the first set, 6-1.
In the bottom half of the draw, Denis Istomin upset Tommy Haas, who apparently didn't benefit too much from his dual German-American citizenship. Istomin faces Philipp Kohlschreiber, who has an excellent chance of making the final here. The draw was already top-heavy, and two of the four seeds in the bottom half (Haas, already mentioned, and Jeremy Chardy) have already lost. The only player standing in his way is Fernando Verdasco. It seems unlikely that Benjamin Becker or Bjorn Phau might make it to the final, but it's possible!
It's also worthy of note that the Bryan Brothers continued to do pretty poorly at this tournament, which they've never won despite playing eight (now nine) times. They lost in the quarterfinal the unlikely team of Benjamin Becker and Leonardo Mayer. The Bryans are now 7-9 at this tournament, a pretty poor record for the number one doubles team at an American hard-court event!
In Rotterdam, Djokovic is cruising. He beat Chiudinelli 4 and 2 after his first-round opponent retired in the second set, and then the player he was supposed to play in the third round, Florian Mayer (no relation to Leonardo) pulled out of the tournament. He's on his way to the semis, having played only three sets of tennis! It's a shame that Mayer had to withdraw, because he had a good win yesterday over fifth-seed Tommy Robredo. He'll face the winner of Monfils-Youzhny, a tasty little quarterfinal match-up. Youzhny beat Djokovic in the semis here last year, so if the Russian comes through, I'm sure the new world number 2 will be looking for revenge.
In the bottom half, Soderling will play Julien Benneteau, and there are still too excellent second-round matches to player. Marcos Baghdatis, after an excellent win over James Blake (what was he doing in the Netherlands?) plays Nikolay Davydenko. The winner there will face the winner of Andreas Seppi and Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer. Still some good tennis to play in Rotterdam.
In Costa do Sauipe, the dirtballers are continuing to ply their trade. Horacio Zeballos still is not doing that well in his first year seriously playing the top tier of the tour. He's now 0-4 on the season, if I'm not mistaken. The jump from dominating the challengers to playing well at the top level is a tricky one to make. Richard Gasquet also pulled out of the tournament before it started, which sure doesn't help his comeback efforts. Hometown favorite Bellucci is still going strong, as are clay-court veterans Juan Carlos Ferrero, Igor Andreev, and Albert Montanes.
Over in San Jose, Sam Querrey finally won his first match of the year, breezing past Teimuraz Gabashvili in straight sets. He'll next face compatriot Taylor Dent, which is a winnable match, and should feature some spectacular serving. If he gets past Dent, he'll face either American veteran Michael Russell or (more likely) Belgian Xavier Malisse, who upset defending champ Radek Stepanek in the first round. Looks like Malisse may finally be ready to make use of his overturned ban.
Roddick plays Leonardo Mayer tonight, as I mentioned, and if he makes it through, he'll face Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals. Roddick leads the head-to-head 4-2, with one win coming earlier this year. It was a tight win for Roddick, as Berdych blew him off the court in the first set, 6-1.
In the bottom half of the draw, Denis Istomin upset Tommy Haas, who apparently didn't benefit too much from his dual German-American citizenship. Istomin faces Philipp Kohlschreiber, who has an excellent chance of making the final here. The draw was already top-heavy, and two of the four seeds in the bottom half (Haas, already mentioned, and Jeremy Chardy) have already lost. The only player standing in his way is Fernando Verdasco. It seems unlikely that Benjamin Becker or Bjorn Phau might make it to the final, but it's possible!
It's also worthy of note that the Bryan Brothers continued to do pretty poorly at this tournament, which they've never won despite playing eight (now nine) times. They lost in the quarterfinal the unlikely team of Benjamin Becker and Leonardo Mayer. The Bryans are now 7-9 at this tournament, a pretty poor record for the number one doubles team at an American hard-court event!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Week 5 Wrap-up and Week 6 Preview
Well, there were certainly a handful of surprise finalists in last week's tournaments, and some surprise winners as a result. In Johannesburg, top seeds Monfils and Ferrer both lost in the semis, leaving the surprising final match-up of Lopez and Stephane Robert. The more experienced player won this one, as Lopez took the second title of his career. His previous title came all the way back in 2004, so this was quite a drought. It was an encouraging result by Robert as well, having made his first ATP final after reaching 24 at the level of the challengers and futures. He's playing the best tennis of his career at age 29.
The other surprise finalist was Tomaz Bellucci, who managed to unseat Fernando Gonzalez in the semifinals at his home tournament and then beat clay court veteran Juan Monaco in the final. The young Brazilian is making an assault of the top levels of the game. He hasn't had any shocking upsets or performances that are bringing him a great deal of attention, but he's quietly improving and winning more and more matches. Clay is his favorite surface, so watch for him at the French Open this year.
A young player who is earning his attention is Croatian Marin Cilic, who somehow managed to fight off fatigue and red-hot challenger player Michael Berrer to defend his second title of the year. That's incredibly impressive for a player who should be exhausted after his past few weeks. Kudos to Cilic for his spectacular start of the year.
On the challenger circuit, Bernard Tomic won his second career title on the challenger circuit, while Carsten Ball was upset by American Ryan Sweeting.
Looking ahead to the next week, some of the top players are back in action. With last week's lineups a bit on the weak side, it's good to see a handful of the big dogs on the court once again.
The weakest field is actually in Brazil, where Juan Carlos Ferrero is the top seed at 22 in the world, and the eighth-seed is Richard Gasquet, who is ranked outside the top 50. Despite the lack of top players, there could be some firecracker matches in the late rounds. In addition to Ferrero and Gasquet, who are both trying to get as much preparation for the French Open as possible, Bellucci is in the draw. He made the final here last year, in his own back yard, so he'll be wanting to go one step further. Igor Andreev is also here, undoubtedly anxious to beat someone into
submission after having Federer on the ropes in the first round of the Aussie Open. Horacio Zeballos is also there, trying to justify his relatively high ranking with some results of note on the tour level.
Next week will also be Novak Djokovic's first tournament after moving to number 2 in the world rankings, at Rotterdamn. This is really a loaded draw, despite the lack of last year's champion Andy Murray. Davydenko and Soderling are also there, as well as Monfils and Youzhny. Not to mention the most appetizing opening round of the whole week, unseeded Marcos Baghdatis against unseeded James Blake. They've each been involved in some of the best matches of the year. Davydenko also opens against Feliciano Lopez, fresh off a victory. Amazingly, the winners of those matches will play each other in the second round. The magic of the draw...
I'm a bit surprised to see Blake in Rotterdam, actually, since he could easily have been at the tournament in San Jose, where most of the other Americans are. Roddick, Querrey, Odesnik, Fish, Dent, Ginepri, Britton, Ram, Russell, and a few others. That's pretty much every American even near the top of the game, except for Blake and Isner. The Americans will have to compete with some tough foreign resistance, though. Last year's champ Radek Stepanek is in the draw, as is Fernando Verdasco and Tomas Berdych. You'll also find Tommy Haas, who just got dual German-American citizenship a week or two ago. I wonder if he'll get more support this way?
The other surprise finalist was Tomaz Bellucci, who managed to unseat Fernando Gonzalez in the semifinals at his home tournament and then beat clay court veteran Juan Monaco in the final. The young Brazilian is making an assault of the top levels of the game. He hasn't had any shocking upsets or performances that are bringing him a great deal of attention, but he's quietly improving and winning more and more matches. Clay is his favorite surface, so watch for him at the French Open this year.
A young player who is earning his attention is Croatian Marin Cilic, who somehow managed to fight off fatigue and red-hot challenger player Michael Berrer to defend his second title of the year. That's incredibly impressive for a player who should be exhausted after his past few weeks. Kudos to Cilic for his spectacular start of the year.
On the challenger circuit, Bernard Tomic won his second career title on the challenger circuit, while Carsten Ball was upset by American Ryan Sweeting.
Looking ahead to the next week, some of the top players are back in action. With last week's lineups a bit on the weak side, it's good to see a handful of the big dogs on the court once again.
The weakest field is actually in Brazil, where Juan Carlos Ferrero is the top seed at 22 in the world, and the eighth-seed is Richard Gasquet, who is ranked outside the top 50. Despite the lack of top players, there could be some firecracker matches in the late rounds. In addition to Ferrero and Gasquet, who are both trying to get as much preparation for the French Open as possible, Bellucci is in the draw. He made the final here last year, in his own back yard, so he'll be wanting to go one step further. Igor Andreev is also here, undoubtedly anxious to beat someone into
submission after having Federer on the ropes in the first round of the Aussie Open. Horacio Zeballos is also there, trying to justify his relatively high ranking with some results of note on the tour level.
Next week will also be Novak Djokovic's first tournament after moving to number 2 in the world rankings, at Rotterdamn. This is really a loaded draw, despite the lack of last year's champion Andy Murray. Davydenko and Soderling are also there, as well as Monfils and Youzhny. Not to mention the most appetizing opening round of the whole week, unseeded Marcos Baghdatis against unseeded James Blake. They've each been involved in some of the best matches of the year. Davydenko also opens against Feliciano Lopez, fresh off a victory. Amazingly, the winners of those matches will play each other in the second round. The magic of the draw...
I'm a bit surprised to see Blake in Rotterdam, actually, since he could easily have been at the tournament in San Jose, where most of the other Americans are. Roddick, Querrey, Odesnik, Fish, Dent, Ginepri, Britton, Ram, Russell, and a few others. That's pretty much every American even near the top of the game, except for Blake and Isner. The Americans will have to compete with some tough foreign resistance, though. Last year's champ Radek Stepanek is in the draw, as is Fernando Verdasco and Tomas Berdych. You'll also find Tommy Haas, who just got dual German-American citizenship a week or two ago. I wonder if he'll get more support this way?
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