Filip Krajinovic

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Grigor Dimitrov, and French Stars Lucas Pouille and Richard Gasquet Lead Weakened Field at ATP Dubai
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The 2018 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships are a 500 level stop in Dubai on outdoor hard courts. Normally an event on the elite side of the 500 level, the field is relatively weak this year, opening up opportunities for ranking points and prize money for players outside of the top 10. Here is your full preview, with predictions.

Top Half:

Top seed Grigor Dimitrov has put together a solid season thus far. He should defeat local favorite Malek Jaziri, and either Robin Haase or Quentin Halys to reach the quarters. Philipp Kohlschreiber has an advantage to reach the quarters in his section. Kohli hasn’t had a great 2018, but Gleb Sakharov is his first opponent, then Mikhail Kukushkin or Stefanos Tsitsipas, both of whom are struggling. Kohli over the young Greek is my pick, with Dimitrov reaching the semis.

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Roberto Bautista Agut is looking to get back on track against Florian Mayer first up, with Joao Sousa or Pierre-Hugues Herbert to follow. RBA should be good enough to reach the quarters. The section featuring Richard Gasquet vs. Borna Coric and Benoit Paire vs. Yoshihito Nishioka is the strongest of the draw. Paire and Gasquet have both been solid this year, and Coric has potential. I’ll go with Gasquet over Paire in round 2, with Gasquet knocking off RBA in the quarters.

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Bottom Half:

Ernests Gulbis has qualified for two ATP tournaments this year. He’ll open with Marseille finalist Lucas Pouille. Given the fatigue factor, I’ll go with Gulbis to upset Pouille and also defeat Karen Khachanov, who is coming off a big title in Marseille. Khachanov opens with Denis Istomin. Yuichi Sugita or J.L. Struff should benefit big time in this section. Sugita opens with an in-form Ilya Ivashka, who reached his first ever ATP semi in Marseille. Struff faces a struggling Andreas Haider-Maurer. I’ll back Struff over Sugita and Gulbis in consecutive matches to reach the semis.

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Yannick Maden is moving his way up the ATP rankings but Marseille quarterfinalist Damir Dzumhur should defeat him in the opening round. Evgeny Donskoy reached quarters in Delray Beach and should defeat Blaz Kavcic. I’ll back Dzumhur to reach the quarters from that section.

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Filip Krajinovic faces Thomas Fabbiano, then Marcos Baghdatis or Viktor Troicki. The younger Serbian should get past Fabbiano and Baghdatis, then fall to Dzumhur in the quarters.

Predictions

Semis
Dimitrov d. Gasquet
Dzumhur d. Struff

This should be Dimitrov’s week. Gasquet has a shot as well. The bottom half is relatively open, but I’ll back Dzumhur to get to the final before falling to Grisha.

Final
Dimitrov d. Dzumhur

2018 ATP Doha Preview and Predictions: Next Gen Stars Thiem, Coric, Rublev Lead Weakened Doha Field
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The ATP 250 in Doha on hard courts to start the season is normally the ritziest 250 on tour but with most notably Novak Djokovic’s absence it plays host to one of the weaker fields it’s had in recent memory. ATP Next Gen stars Dominic Thiem, Borna Coric, and Andrey Rublev are presented with a great chance to make a run. Here is your full preview, with predictions.

Top Half:

Having cemented himself in the top 5, Thiem leads the Doha field and will open with Evgeny Donskoy. Thiem needs to focus on keep himself fresher in 2018, and he’s also going to be playing with a target on his back all season. That said, he has the game to put away Donskoy and either Malek Jaziri or Aljaz Bedene, Jaziri tends to step up his play in the Middle East, Bedene, who is back representing Slovenia, had a great 2017 though and should be opposite Thiem, falling in round 2.

French veteran Richard Gasquet opens with one of the oldest players on tour, Victor Estrella, he’ll then get another young gun in this draw, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, or veteran Florian Mayer in round 2. The Greek won 4 matches on the main tour last year and will be looking for a big scalp to start the season, that said Gasquet is good enough when fit I have him defeating everyone into the semifinals, including Thiem in the battle of backhands.

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Another veteran hoping for a good 2018 is Tomas Berdych, the Czech won 35 matches but hoisted no titles in 2017 was forgotten for much of the season. He’s better than J.L. Struff, and either Paolo Lorenzi or wild card Gael Monfils though. Monfils had yet another season derailed by injury last year, shutting down after the US Open, he hopes to be fit to start 2018.

Serbia’s Viktor Troicki faces ATP debutante Matteo Berrettini, while his countryman Filip Krajinovic takes on Peter Gojowczyk. Krajinovic had an incredible 2017 winning 71 matches in total (only 5 on the main tour) and reaching the ATP Paris Masters final. After tearing up the challenger tour look for Krajinovic to rise defeating Troicki and Berdych to reach the semifinals.

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Bottom Half:

Pablo Carreno Busta had a career year in 2017 but it still doesn’t seem like he’s appreciated enough. PCB has transformed into an all court performer, but despite his top 10 ranking he’s an underdog against Coric in his opening match. Coric is a talent but posted a below .500 tour record in 2017, PCB should defeat Coric and either Nikoloz Basilashvili or Thomas Fabbiano to reach the quarterfinals.

Russia’s young gun Rublev is my choice to reach the semifinals, Rublev just beat PCB in Abu Dhabi and his path is Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, then a veteran, either Fernando Verdasco or Dudi Sela, before facing PCB or Coric in the quarters (most likely).

The section with Albert Ramos as the highest seed is the weakest part of this draw, Ramos faces Guido Pella in a toss-up contest, Spanish veterans Feliciano Lopez and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez will square off, qualifier’s Mirza Basic and Stefano Travaglia are favored against Andreas Haider Maurer and local wild card Jabor Al-Mutawa respectively. Lopez did not have a great year last year but he still should be favored to survive and reach the quarters where he should defeat Ramos.

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Predictions

Semis
Gasquet d. Krajinovic
Rublev d. Lopez

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I’ll take Gasquet’s guile and shotmaking to take home the Doha title over the young gun Rublev, this is a pretty open field so anything could happen, but look for this contingent to get off to a good 2018.

Final
Gasquet d. Rublev

Maximilian Marterer Stuns Almagro, Filip Krajinovic Storms Into @IfSthlmOpen

Posted by Admin on October 20, 2015

Posted in: Adam Addicott, ATP. Tagged: 2013, Ante Pavic, atp, Filip Krajinovic, Maximilian Marterer', Mischa Zverev, Nicolas Almagro, qualifying, Stockholm Open. Leave a comment

Maximilian Marterer Stuns Almagro, Filip Krajinovic Storms Into @IfSthlmOpen
Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic

Nicolas Almagro 2015 Miami Open
Top seed Nicolas Almagro has failed in the final stage to qualify for the main draw of the Stockholm Open.

Almagro brushed aside Ukraine’s Vadim Alekseenko in the first round, but had a difficult match in the second round against Croatia’s Mate Pavic. Pavic specializes in doubles where he is ranked 54th in the world. The world No.73 required over two hours to defeat the Croat 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to move to the final round. In the final round Almagro came undone against Germany’s Maximilian Marterer. The 20-year-old is currently at a career ranking high of 243 in the world and has won four Futures titles this year (three in Germany and one in Italy). Throughout the final match Almagro faced nine break points (saving seven of them) compared to Masterer’s two. The German broke Almagro twice, once in each set, to take the surprise 6-3, 6-4 victory. Merterer will play in an ATP main draw for the second time in his career where he will be bidding to win his first match on the main stage of tennis.

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Second seed Filip Krajinovic enjoyed better success than Almagro during his qualifying campaign. The Serbian is currently ranked 94th in the world and has claimed two Challenger titles this year in Braunschweig and Cordenons. The first round of the draw was the most testing match for Krajinovic. Facing Croatian world No. 556 Filip Veger, Krajinovic fended off two set points in the first set to win 7-6 (4), 6-3. Following his opening victory, the second seed was more convincing in the second round by dropping three games against Swedish wild card Carl Söderlund (6-3, 6-0). In the final round, he faced another Swede, Milos Sekulic. Sekulic is currently ranked 1062 in the singles and 643 in the doubles. He has won two doubles titles this year on the Futures circuit. Krajinovic required 55 minutes on the court as he crushed Sekulic 6-2, 6-1.

Misha Zverev joined his brother in the main draw by dropping 12 games in three matches. The 28-year-old beat Christopher Solberg (6-2, 6-1) in the first round followed by New Zealand’s Michael Venus (6-2, 6-2) in the second. In the final round, he faced a potentially tough task against sixth-seeded Hungarian Márton Fucsovics. The task was, however easier than expected as the German cruised past Fucsovics 6-4, 6-1.

Finally Croatia’s Ante Pavic qualified for the main draw in what is one of the biggest achievements of his season. The Croat has been ranked as high as 132 in 2014 but a six-month injury time out at the start of 2015 as well as poor results had lead to to him slipping down to 656 in the world. He avoided a second round showdown with Romanian third seed Marius Copil after he was knocked out in the first round by Jesse Huta Galung. Galund was also problematic for Pavic but he took the match in two close tie breaks – 7-6 (1), 7-6 (3). In the final round Pavic faced Italian fifth seed Federico Gaio. Gaio is ranked 225th in the world and has won two Italian Futures titles this year. Despite being over 400 places below Gaio, the Croat battled to take the match 7-6 (6), 6-4.

First Round Matches

Krajinovic, Filip (Q) vs. Dimitrov, Grigor – (Dimitrov lead the H2H 2-0).
Zverev, Mischa (Q) vs. Muller, Gilles – (Zverev leads 1-0, 2007 Istanbul Challenger)
Marterer, Maximilian (Q) vs. Mayer, Leonardo – first meeting
Delbonis, Federico vs. Pavic, Ante (Q) – – first meeting

2015 Vancouver, Cordenons and Meerbusch Challenger Recaps

Posted by Admin on August 24, 2015

Posted in: ATP, Chris De Waard. Tagged: 2015, Andres Haider Maurer, atp challenger tour, cordenons, dudi sela, Filip Krajinovic, Haider-Maurer, Meerbusch, Vancouver. Leave a comment

2015 Vancouver, Cordenons and Meerbusch Challenger Recaps
Chris De Waard, Tennis Atlantic

Vancouver

Strange times on the Challenger circuit. Last week I wrote about how all the seeds in Aptos made it to the quarterfinals. This time it was the exact opposite in Vancouver, with none of the seeds managing to get there. The top half only started with two of them to begin with, as #5 Go Soeda and #6 Kyle Edmund withdrew before their first round matches. Third seed Ernests Gulbis pulled off what perhaps is the biggest contrast ever in back to back weeks. After reaching the quarterfinal of the Montreal 1000 tournament, missing two match points against world number one Novak Djokovic, he lost in the first round here to Iliya Marchenko, 6-3 6-7(5) 7-6(2).

Dudi Sela came out as the winner in the top half, although it didn’t come easy. He survived his first three matches 6-4 7-6(3), 6-7(4) 7-5 1-0 ret. and 6-4 6-7(4) 6-4. His semi-final against Yuki Bhambri was a lot more convincing, 6-2 6-4. In the bottom half qualifier Daniel Evans, who slipped to #417 in the rankings, showed he might be on the way back to his old form, which saw him reach the top 125 in early 2014. He beat Radek Stepanek 6-4 6-1 in the first round, after which he saved five match points in a remarkable comeback against seventh seed Taro Daniel, coming back from *0-5 down in the third set to win 4-6 6-3 7-6(6). An equally remarkable win followed in the quarterfinal against Brydan Klein, 7-6(1) 6-7(7) 6-0. John-Patrick Smith was too strong in the semi-final, however, beating Klein 4-6 6-2 6-3.

Sela just edged out the final in two tight sets, 6-4 7-5. It meant his fourth Vancouver title and eighteenth Challenger titles, which are incredible numbers. Not only that, the victory put him back inside of the top 100 at exactly #100, rising thirty spots. Smith rose to a career high ranking of #121, rising fifteen spots.

Sela in Newport

Men's Main Draw Singles Final: Dudi Sela, Israel, def. John-Patrick Smith, Australia, 6-4, 7-5 #VanOpen #tennis pic.twitter.com/BVVypszyUh

— Odlum Brown VanOpen (@vanopen) August 24, 2015

Cordenons

There were little results that can be marked as shocking. Perhaps one in the quarterfinal, where top seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas lost to sixth seed Roberto Carballes Baena, 4-6 6-2 6-3. His semi-final opponent was Adrian Ungur, who beat fourth seed Kenny De Schepper 6-4 7-6(7) in the quarterfinal. Ungur also beat Carballes Baena in the semi-final, 4-6 6-4 6-2. Perhaps I should retract my earlier statement, because the bottom half had two results that were pretty shocking. Second seed Paolo Lorenzi double bageled Pedja Krstin in the first round, with Filip Krajinovic doing the same against Erik Crepaldi in the second round. They faced each other in the semi-final, with Krajinovic winning 7-6(5) 6-4.

The final was a high quality affair and turned out to be an entertaining fight. Unfortunately it ended on a down note, with Krajinovic winning after retirement in the third set, 5-7 6-4 4-1, claiming his second title of the year and fourth overall. The problem lay in Ungur’s upper right leg. There was one absolutely spectacular rally in the second set which is a must watch, see the video attached below. Krajinovic rose twenty-two spots to #98, while Ungur rose eighty-one spots to #246.

Meerbusch

Top seed Andreas Haider-Maurer started the tournament rusty, needing three sets against qualifier Philipp Davydenko, but after that he started to get into his groove, not dropping another set on his way to the final. In the semi-final he dispatched third seed Facundo Arguello 6-4 6-4. In the bottom half the ever erratic second seed Dustin Brown got upset by Marek Michalicka in the second round, 2-6 6-3 6-1. Pere Riba took advantage, beating Michalicka 7-5 6-3 for a place in the semi-final. There he met Carlos Berlocq, who was having his first good run in ages, having struggled with injury for a good part of the year. Berlocq was clearly too strong for Riba, 6-3 6-3. In the final Haider-Maurer continued his great run of form, however, once again not dropping a set to win the match 6-2 6-4, claiming the ninth Challenger title of his career. He also rose to #52 in the rankings, an improvement of nine spots. Berlocq rose ten spots to #141. And as if the ATP felt Haider-Maurer’s title coming, they released their ATP World Tour Uncovered video about him a couple of days prior to his victory.

Haider-Maurer

Kohlschreiber Wins with ease at Mercedes Cup, Kraijinovic Displeased, Sugita Couldn’t Handle the Breeze, ATP Stuttgart 2015 Monday Report
Andreas Thiele for Tennis Atlantic

Rain Hampered Monday’s Schedule in Stuttgart (photo credit: Andreas Thiele)

We expected the first day of the main draw matches and qualifying’s last round today, Monday, but what did we get? Of course, rain! Either drizzling or heavy rain, it never stopped. It thundered Sunday evening, so bad weather was already approaching and the last hours showed signs of constant rain. All journalists hid in the press center and talked about anything and everything. Players who were scheduled to play today were hidden like us in the players’ lounge. My heart went out to the fans and spectators who stood outside. Everybody had to wait five and a half hours to see the first ball struck, so I decided to explore what’s outside of the venue before the games started.

Rafael Nadal’s press conference

For starters, a press conference with Rafael Nadal was routine, standard questions and standard answers. However, one question was interesting: Asked if he watched the Roland Garros’ final this year. His answer was he had to train (in the center court at 5 pm), journalists guffawed. Even though it wasn’t asked, he talked about Stan’s success and said he’s a great player, ‘playing well’. Stan has very good strokes “hits the ball with the most power on the tour”, so he can dictate the game ‘everywhere’.

Another interesting thing he said is he doesn’t like to play down tournaments like Stuttgart or Halle as preparation tournaments for Grand Slams. Grand Slams matter, but not in the fashion of other tournaments being unimportant. What does he aim at in the next months? “Trying to be healthy, trying to finish inside the top 8 to compete at the World Tour Finals” and “to get self-confidence for next season”. It seems he still doesn’t have the confidence of previous years, and it serves as an explanation for why he lost to Djokovic at the French in straights (and talked this defeat down). He’s still not there, where he wants to be, but still wants to compete to raise his current level and reach his prior world beater status. A big step forward would be to win this year’s grass tournament in Stuttgart, his last title on grass was the Wimbledon Championship against Berdych in 2010.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEOgs_nNdR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCj8e-0HDio

Monday Final Round Qualifying

As I mentioned earlier, it took a very long time to see a tennis match. Ten matches should have been played today, among others Nadal and Feliciano Lopez in doubles against an alternate, since Radek Stepanek withdrew due to a back injury (He could neither move nor serve well during practice on Saturday). In the end five matches took place, the last four qualifying-matches and Philipp Kohlschreiber against Alexandr Dolgopolov.

The surface of the courts got really wet, so preparation took even longer than it normally does and it even took longer on the non-center court. Hence the match between the two Germans Dustin Brown and Michael Berrer was the first one on Center Court. Brown loves playing on the main stage, and he displayed why today, hitting some awesome winners and lobs. Besides that, he found his serve and offered some great volley winners in the first set, except his second service game, when Berrer didn’t convert two break points.

Berrer served very well in the first set till his last service game. The hometown boy lead 30-0, but still managed to lose the control after three wonderful winners Brown hit. The first one was a smash winner at the net, the second one a lob winner as Berrer played serve and volley and he got his first break point over a volley winner after chip & charge. The Stuttgart home player got too passive and lost his serve finally, as he was at the end overchallenged by Brown and committed some risky shots which went out.

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Brown’s problem in the second was inconsistency on break point chances against Berrer, he knew how to extort him and didn’t apply his abilities to their potential. Berrer got more confident and hit some great shots too, whereas Dreddy lost his focus and even almost lost his serve before tiebreaker. A serve winner and a volley winner closed his service game. Like the second set, the tiebreaker was very even with neither player taking an advantage. Berrer served at 7-7, but committed a very easy forehand cross UE after a moderate return, so the North-German could close the match with a serve winner again with the scoreline 6-4, 7-6(7). “It’s never easy to play against Dustin” Berrer said after the match at the on-court-interview. Berrer played well enough to snatch a set but it was not to be.Bachinger against Mischa Zverev was the next match between two German qualifiers. They had to wait a while for their match, since the chair umpire wasn’t pleased about the grass condition and wanted to have the surface dry. Both looked a bit tense before the match, perhaps the rain delaying adding to their nerves. First set was very even at the beginning, suddenly Bachinger lost his service game to love. He didn’t well at this point, had a taped knee, and he was surely tired because of the two matches played over this very hot weekend.

Zverev looked fresher, but as he won the break, he also suddenly lost his serve, though he had two game points. His younger brother Alex (Sascha) Zverev was in the stands to motivate him, both held their serves with ease. Even the tiebreaker was very even, till Bachinger lost twice his service and Zverev didn’t miss. Zverev moved on with his flow, didn’t give Bachinger any break chance and the Bavarian struggled every time with his serves. Zverev broke him again to love at 3-4 and served the match out (7-6(3), 6-3). Bachinger looked very disappointed, yet he’s still as Lucky Loser in the tournament and will face another German qualifier.

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Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated the human highlight reel from Ukraine Alex Dolgopolov in routine fashion 6-3, 6-3. Dolgopolov, who has been very inconsistent this season, hit his typical slice shots and played his exciting varied game, but again lacked the consistency to beat the sixth seeded Kohlschreiber. Inspired by the crowd he posted a solid showing and can now save his energy for later stages in the tournament.

Dolgopolov was broken just twice on his serve and one of these he lost with two double faults. Though he came back again, served to love and reached almost a re-break point, Kohlschreiber couldn’t close so easily he did it in the first for the set. After a beautiful volley winner on the line, he hit another forehand cross winner like in good old days. However, reality overcame him, returned twice poorly and the German closed the match with a beautiful forehand down-the-line winner past another poorly played slice. So no problem for Kohlschreiber who can have a deep run here, though Dologpolov’s form is currently poor.

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Another one who could feel pain is definitely Filip Krajinovic. He played very well in the first two qualifying rounds, but he was very annoyed by the rain and the delay. He began very poorly, losing his second service game to love, since he couldn’t hit any heavy first serves. The Serb committed many forehand errors, and couldn’t manage the wind. His opponent Peter Gojowczyk knew Krajinovic’s flaws well. When he was inattentive, the Krajinovic failed to conver his two break point chances. He didn’t grasp how he blew them, and his mind overwhelmed him with doubts, he grew very passive and Gojowczyk could do what he wanted. Except for that service game, it was a lop-sided set, the cooler player won the set.

Second set was a bit more even, though the German led with an invisible small edge, as he played the better tennis. Krajinovic still complained about weather or the rain delay, but in especially about himself and never stopped committing unforced errors. Gojowczyk started even to serve aces and it got more and more superior, until he had three match points on Krajinovic’s serve. The first one was saved due to a serve-winner, the next one was a return unforced error and the last one was very clutch by Krajinovic, he played a very strong forehand down-the-line and Gojo’s backhand slice not good enough. Diego Nargiso’s charge could hold finally hold his serve and raised his level to get three break points, when Gojowczyk served for the match. It seemed to be the turning point, the German was very nervous. His serve wasn’t good, but Filip’s return was even poorer, and Gojo saved the first match point with a strong forehand winner. The next ones were saved again with serve winners and Gojowczyk converted his first match point with a classy ace.

Gojowczyk a winner on the day (photo credit: Andreas Thiele)

Besides these two service games Gojowczyk had always the control of the match and though it was lop-sided, the last service game was the only one with drama. Krajinovic was irritated off the wall, and couldn’t keep cool at the interview I conducted. He responded to a question ‘I don’t know, I really don’t know, why do you ask me? Why do you ask me?’. He was very emotional and almost ran to the players’ restaurant. The final scoreline was 6-2 6-4.As for the last match of the day, I chatted a bit with Yuichi Sugita’s coach. “Mate Pavic can play very good on grass” he said and expected a good match from both. Yuichi has to play “with big strokes and good serves” because “these will be the keys for today”. He performed well in regards to those factors, frustrating the Croatian talent who dropped his racket and went to the umpire to chat, twice during the first set.

The umpire was a young German guy who was gentle towards him and the crowd here in Stuttgart had empathy, he didn’t face a reign of boos as he might have in Paris. Anyway, Sugita got very tired after the first set was decided in the tiebreaker and Pavic began to serve way better than Sugita, reversing the result of the first set tiebreak to win the second set tiebreak and force a third set.

It was the last match, and thus all the tennis fans remaining in the venue started to watch this match. The winds became stronger and darkness loomed. Sugita committed so many unforced errors in the decider, baseline shots were a lottery. The Croat managed it, broke him and served for the match at 5-3. Amusingly the Japanese started to goat and hit some unreal passing shots, a very big difference compared with his last service game, when his lob hit the linesman’s seat or Pavic was behind the baseline and Sugita tried to aim the crowd with his volley. Pavic’s serve and volleys were practically unbreakable before.

At the end of the match, Sugita converted to the erratic player he was before his break and lost four points in a row. The match point was a hard fought rally with a beautiful smash winner at the end. Both played wonderful and entertaining tennis and in the end Pavic won 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-4.

2015 ATP Stuttgart Day 1 Qualifying Report
Andreas Thiele for Tennis Atlantic

Day 1 at the 2015 Mercedes Cup (photo credit: Andreas Thiele)

The first ATP grass tournament takes place in Stuttgart and begins at the first June weekend just like the ATP tournament in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. First of all, welcome to Stuttgart! The city of the eternally lasting building lots, cranes form the skyline here and political demonstrations fill the streets.

Far away from the noise of the city, the whole tennis complex Weißenhof is behind small forests on a mountain. ATP Stuttgart’s tennis tournament, after its official sponsor called Mercedes Cup, was held for the first time in 1898. Hence it is very famous for its tradition and is popular among tennis professionals because of the friendly atmosphere and the good organization. Though the surface was traditionally clay, this year they changed it to grass as another preparation tournament for Wimbledon to have a more stellar field. It worked, as Cilic, Monfils, and Rafa Nadal are confirmed to play.

Qualifying Day 1

It was a very hot day, the hottest after quite a while here in Germany, so fitness and stamina were very important. However, a lot of matches demonstrated many players, even ball kids couldn’t handle the heat. Robin Kern for example, who was 0-6 and 0-4 down, gave up and could barely move due to a minor injury, sending Jan Choinski into the second round.

A lot of matches were played between Germans at the first qualifying round, one of them was the opening match between Peter Gojowczyk and Andreas Beck. Both players have good resumes and it should have been a good match, but unfortunately it wasn’t. Gojowczyk was dominant in the points and his serve was strong. Beck created just one break point chance, while Gojowczyk broke him twice and he could have broken him even more than that. However, these two breaks decided the whole match. Beck struggled with many service games, in contrast to Gojowczyk. So Gojowczyk won the match deservedly 7-5, 6-4 and he remains a favorite to reach the main draw.

Dustin Brown played right after Gojowczyk likewise on the Mercedes Court, the second biggest court here, and didn’t have any problem against Sebastian Sachs. The young German is outside of the top 2000 currently and hadn’t any chance to threaten Brown’s next victory on his beloved grass (6-2, 6-1). Germany’s new Davis Cup member Brown didn’t display his best tennis, though his groundstrokes were constantly good and he hit some great winners. His serve-and-volley was very sharp today and he has very good chances to get one of the qualifiers spot apart from some inattentive unforced errors.

Brown won his first match at a picturesque venue (photo credit Andreas Thiele)

Way more hairsbreadth was Filip Krajinovic’s victory. As today’s top-match between the first seed and an in-form Daniel Brands featured highlights as expected. Brands won the first tiebreaker in clutch fashion, though he served for the set at 5-4 and wasn’t clutch there. He was more often at the net and hit some great volleys, while Krajinovic was too passive at the deciding moments and stood on the baseline. Both played very well in the second set, too. Service games were held with ease, just Brands had a few problems with his last service game in this set. Both played some great Serve-and-Volleys and both hit many aces. A typical good grass-tennis match, details decided the second set’s tiebreak.

Brands destroyed his hopes of winning the set with a Double fault at 5-5 and Krajinovic could win his first set with a cross forehand winner after his opponent’s short shot. The tension rose from there, Brands broke Krajinovic’s serve after a very long and intense rally with a beautiful forehand-volley right to the baseline’s corner, just to get re-broken because of so many forehand UEs. Brands was obviously very disappointed and couldn’t raise his level. Krajinovic broke Brands’ hard fought service game (four times deuce) and end the game with a service winner (6-7(3), 7-6(5), 7-5). Brands got very disappointed by this match he almost won and walked as fast as he could back to the players’ restaurant.

Krajinovic won the match of the day (photo credit: Andreas Thiele)

Another one who has to be mentioned here is Matthias Bachinger who surprised me a lot with his tennis. He defeated Somdev Devvarman 6-2, 7-5. Bachinger was very dominant in the first set, not giving Devvarman many opportunities and especially his forehand troubled the Indian too much. Bachinger held his service games with ease after he lost his first one in the first set. However, Devvarman lost three times his serve in the first set and didn’t have any clue how to stop the German. Bachinger’s key was his fitness: He moved very well on the baseline, he could defend a lot of dangerous shots and could combine it with good volleys and even better serves. The second set featured longer rallies (a bit rare for grass) and Devvarman was at least on eye-level with the German. Though he lost his first service game, Devvarman could raise his level to break the Bavarian again.

Devvarman played more offensively and was more often at the net with his superior volley game. Bachinger struggled with Devvarman getting better and better, had many problems to hold his last service, but managed to win it with some impressive passing shots. As everyone expected a tiebreaker, Devvarman suddenly lost the control of the game, had some mishits. 30 all, Devvarman served very well, hit a very good forehand down-the-line Bachinger barely reached, hit a forehand-volley to the other side, but the German reached the ball running very fast and won the match with an overwhelming backhand-dtl-passing shot, amazing. Facing the matchpoint Bachinger returned Devvarman’s second serve with a beautiful backhand down-the-line-winner to end the match.

Michael Berrer defeated Frank Dancevic in a very close match 6-7 (7), 6-0, 7-6 (3). Dancevic hit many great shots and his forehand worked today quite well, his problem was the inconsistency. He explained his loss due to lack of grass matches, just started to train at the same day on grass and stated Berrer served too well. He’s right, especially in the second set Berrer served very well after a short rain delay during the second set and Dancevic made mistakes you normally don’t do if you know how to play on this surface. Still, the Canadian raised his level again, could compete on a high level and called Berrer out, but the hometown boy was too clutch especially in the tiebreaker and had even opportunities to close the match earlier.

The veteran Berrer eased into Q R2 (photo credit: Andreas Thiele)

Mischa Zverev had to play against Tim Puetz and Sascha’s older brother managed to win the match after he lost the first set 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Tim Puetz didn’t play very well in the first set, though Zverev couldn’t do better. Right after Tim lost his first serve in the second set (0-2), it began to rain and that helped Mischa. Zverev hit winners after intensive rallies (especially cross) and Serve-and-Volley worked in contrary to the first set, when he hit some unforced errors. “Grass courts are fine and well-prepared” he told me after the match and “the [weather-]conditions here were fair for us”. Talked about his next opponent, Grega Zemlja, he emphasized he really looks forward to it, as “it will be the first meeting and [I] never played him”. A self-confident Zverev could certainly beat Zemlja who won in two close sets against Farrukh Dustov 7-6 7-5.

The last match I watched, that was moved to another court was between Nikoloz Basilashvili and Alejandro Falla. I only caught the third set in full, but it was already enough! A roller-coaster. The Colombian seemed to have everything under control in the match, but the Georgian discovered the power he has in his forehand and broke Falla’s service game while he served very poorly. In the third set it was a match on eye-level, some great net approaches and some fantastic winners; one of them was a very long and intensive rally, Falla played as a leftie with angles and Basilashvili couldn’t leave the backhand-side till the Colombian hit a beautiful down-the-line forehand winner after a too short bh-shot to the middle of the court.

Everything was fine for Alejandro, but he suddenly lost his serve again at 4 all due to a poor backhand error. Those who stood behind his wife (just like I did), witnessed the meltdown the Falla-clan had. Thanks God they said, Basilashvili couldn’t hold the game, as he served for the match and Falla broke him to love after three genuine unforced errors and a double fault. Falla held his serve, Basilashvili had even game point when serving, but a fh dtl-ue, a double fault and a forehand into the net sealed his fate. Falla didn’t even earn his match point, but I have to say it was very windy and not easy to play. Problem was Basilashvili still tried to overpower the Colombian with his forehand; it often worked, but at the end didn’t. This match would be the classical definition of a choke. Falla’s wife didn’t care and vamosed her husband over and over, Falla’s coach was just relieved.

Basilashvili told me after the match: “I didn’t play well today, made too much errors.” Having the impression he tries to say he did everything wrong he added: “My next step is London (Queen’s), hope it will be better”. Hanging his head when he walked very slowly back to the players’ lounge, he ignored my positive comments on his play. I couldn’t fathom then why he was so disappointed, but being at home I just start to understand why and wish him the best. Match ended 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 for Falla.

Other Round 1 Qualifying Results
Remi Boutillier def. Aslan Karatsev 6-3, 6-4.
Ilija Bozoljac def. Adrien Bossel 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Dmitry Zhyrmont def. David Vega hernandez 7-6(1), 7-5.
Yuichi Sugita def. Ante Pavic 7-5, 6-2.
Mate Pavic def. Philipp Petzschner 6-2, 7-6 (6).
Michal Przysiezny def. Vijay Prashanth 6-3, 6-2.
Martin Fischer def. Jimmy Wang 6-2, 6-4.

Coric, Haase, and Muller advance to round 2 @EstorilOpen Monday
Manuel Traquete for Tennis Atlantic

Monday at the Estoril Open saw the last round of qualifying being played, as well as the beginning of the singles main draw.

The last of qualifying brought a lot of disappointment to the Portuguese players and fans as both Pedro Sousa and Frederico Gil lost in very close matches, faltering in the deciding stages. Sousa led in both sets against 22yo Constant Lestienne, but his terrible play on big points – including no points won on serve in the deciding set tiebreak – cost him dearly and it’s the Frenchman who advanced to the main draw, where he will face Pablo Carreno Busta on Tuesday afternoon.

Lestienne d. P. Sousa 7-5 7-6(3)

As for the 2010 finalist of this event, Gil, he won the first set and was up 4-2 in the decider before getting broken back and then getting broken from 40-15 up in the last game to give away the match in what turned out to be another disappointment result in his attempt to return to the level he once reached before illness derailed him. His conqueror, Martin Fischer, will be facing Albert Montanes in round 1 of the main draw.

Fischer d. Gil 4-6 6-3 6-4

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First seed Kenny de Schepper and fourth seed Roberto Carballes Baena secured very comfortable, one-sided wins and advanced to the main draw as well; De Schepper will open up against home favorite Gastão Elias, who reached the quarterfinals of this event in 2013 and 2014, while Carballes Baena will take on his countryman and newly crowned Bucharest champion Guillermo Garcia Lopez.

De Schepper d. David Vega Hernandez 6-2 6-2

Carballes Baena d. Gerald Granollers 6-0 6-3

As far as main draw action is concerned, Robin Haase opened up the proceedings against Ricardas Berankis; it was a very tight affair throughout, with plenty of momentum swings and players getting tight on key junctures but in the end the Dutchman managed to book a round 2 date with the tournament’s #1 seed Feliciano Lopez, though not before another trademark tiebreak loss in the second set.

Haase d. Berankis 6-3 6-7(6) 6-4

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Filip Krajinovic had little trouble disposing of Alejandro Gonzalez with his bigger serve making the difference in a match that featured a lot of long, tightly contested rallies; the Serb will now face either Nick Kyrgios or Albert Ramos in round 2.

Krajinovic d. Gonzalez 6-3 6-3

In what was perhaps the most anticipated match of the day, 18yo Borna Coric beat Jeremy Chardy in relatively straightforward fashion, avenging his Australian Open loss to the same opponent; as is often the case, Chardy hit his fair share of blistering winners but those were heavily outnumbered by the borderline ridiculous unforced errors; the young Croatian didn’t need to do anything all too special, the baseline consistency that we’ve come to associate with him was more than enough to prevail over Chardy’s inconsistent/erratic ballstriking. Next up for Coric is the winner of João Sousa vs Rui Machado, meaning that he must be feeling good about his chances of making yet another ATP quarterfinal.

Coric d. Chardy 6-2 6-4

Coric overcame Chardy on the day (photo credit: Manuel Traquete)

In the final match of the day on Center Court, 20yo Portuguese hope Frederico Silva took on Gilles Muller in a rare battle between two lefties. In the first set, Silva conceded an early break and was powerless against Muller’s fantastic serve, but he fought back in the second set, taking advantage of a dip in Muller’s serving level to sneak a break and level the match. He seemed to carry that momentum into the third set and got an early break chance, but after squandering it with a missed second serve return he checked out from the match mentally and it was all Muller until the end. Though this a very rare claycourt winner for the Luxembourgian, his run might well not be over with Fischer/Montanes looking like beatable opponents in the next round.

Muller d. Silva 6-3 3-6 6-1

Muller won the battle of the lefties (photo credit: Manuel Traquete)

Previewing Tuesday

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On Tuesday, Kenny de Schepper and Gastão Elias will open up the proceedings at 1pm on court 2; it’s a match where, given the surface and his history of good performances at this event, the Portuguese player has to be considered the favorite, though De Schepper’s huge serve always gives him a shot on a great day despite his general shortcomings on the clay; after that, Bucharest champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez will face Roberto Carballes Baena and although form and ranking suggest Garcia Lopez should win, it won’t be easy for him to get going again after such a great week in Romania, it is after all rare for players below the very top to string consecutive great weeks of tennis and there’s bound to be a physical and emotional letdown after winning a title. Not only that, but when these two faced last year in the Casablanca semifinals Carballes Baena pushed eventual champions Garcia-Lopez to the very limit; considering that, the good form Baena showed during the qualifying tournament and the challenge that it will be for Garcia-Lopez to back up a title run last week, an upset could very well be on the cards in this one.

Court 2 action will finish with Nicolas Almagro, who’s still trying to comeback to his pre-injury level, taking on Stephane Robert. Despite his unimpressive form, Almagro has to be considered the huge favorite here; Robert’s most memorable career moment was an unbelievable comeback from 0-2 down in sets against perennial top 10 player Tomas Berdych in the 2011 French Open, but aside from that one result clay has never proved a happy hunting ground for him

On court 3, Pablo Carreno Busta will take on qualifier Constant Lestienne; the Spaniard is the obvious favorite but he’s not immune to upsets against lower ranked players as we’ve seen multiple times in the past year, not to mention that due to the way he plays he’s always vulnerable to opponents playing good quality attacking tennis. Lestienne must feel he’s in with a chance to spring an upset here. After that match, the 2009 and 2010 champion of this event, Albert Montañes, will take on Martin Fischer; Montañes is heavily declined and a mere shadow of the player who claimed back-to-back titles on Portuguese soil – even beating Roger Federer in the semifinals of the 2010 tournament – but should still have the edge in this contest.

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On center court, Richard Gasquet will make a long-awaited return from the injury he sustained against Michael Berrer in Indian Wells; though there might still be some question marks about his health and especially match fitness, the draw was quite kind to him, pairing him up with Marinko Matosevic in round 1, a player who is notorious for his lack of success on clay. Even if he’s still rusty, the 2007 and 2012 finalist (lost to Djokovic and del Potro) should make it through to round 2. At 4pm, the all-Portuguese clash between Sousa and Machado will take place; while Machado was once, not too long ago, the highest ranked Portuguese player of all-time, he’s nowhere near that level currently and Sousa has surpassed him in pretty much every regard and is the clear favorite for tomorrow, though Machado is not without his chances, especially if he can repeat the level he showed last year at this tournament.

The last match of the day will be between young Aussie Nick Kyrgios and Albert Ramos from Spain; Kyrgios turned 20 years old on Monday and he will be looking to celebrate his birthday with his first clay win of the year, but it will be a tough ask against a seasoned claycourter like Ramos. Kyrgios has of course the much bigger game of the two players, but clay is not his best surface and he’s bound to still be a bit rusty after returning only last week from the injury sustained during his round 2 match against Dimitrov in the California desert, and there are plenty of question marks regarding his form, especially considering his match against Ymer last week in Barcelona wasn’t shown on television or streamed.

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Thiem, Querrey regain form with round 1 wins at @MiamiOpenTennis (Day 2 Recap)

Posted by Admin on March 26, 2015

Posted in: ATP, Guest Writer, Miami, On Site, WTA. Tagged: 2015 ATP Miami, 2015 Miami Open, 2015 Miami Open Presented by Itau, 2015 WTA Miami, Albert Ramos, Alison Van Uytvanck, anastasia pavlyuchenkova, Annika Beck, ATP Miami, Austin Krajicek, Belinda Bencic, Carlos Berlocq, Crandon Park Tennis Center, Daria Gavrilova, Diego Schwartzman, Diego Sebastian Schwartzman, Dominic Thiem, Donald Young, Elina Vesnina, Filip Krajinovic, Heather Watson, Hyeon Chung, Jack Sock, James Duckworth, Jan-Lennard Struff, Jarkko Nieminen, juan monaco, julia goerges, Kyle Edmund, Miami Open, Miami Open Presented by Itau, Nicolas Almagro, Nicole Vaidsova, Pauline Parmentier, Robin Haase, sam querrey, Sesil Karatantcheva, Stefanie Voegele, Tatjana Maria, Thanasi Kokkinakis, tim smyczek, Tsvetana Pironkova, Urszula Radwanska, Victor Estrella, Victoria Azarenka, WTA Miami.

Thiem, Querrey regain form with round 1 wins at Miami Open (Day 2 Recap)
Esam Taha for Tennis Atlantic

Photo Credit: Esam Taha for Tennis Atlantic

The first round of the men’s main draw at the 2015 Miami Open presented by Itau, got underway from the Crandon Park Tennis center in Key Biscayne, a suburb of Miami, and our journalist Esam Taha was there for action, as both Dominic Thiem, and Sam Querrey regained form and scored round 1 wins in the evening session. In addition, lots of matches took place on the WTA round 1 main draw side as well.

Dominic Thiem d. Diego Sebastian Schwartzman 7-6(0) 7-5

Photo Credit: Esam Taha

It’s fair to say that’s Dominic’s start this year has been somewhat underwhelming, he can’t afford many more early exits if he plans to live up to the hype that has been surrounding him at just 21 years of age. Today he played another young player in Diego Schwartzman (22), who is steadily moving up the rankings himself. The match took place in the Grandstand under a hot Miami sun. Both players struggled to hold serve in the 1st set as they broke each other 3 times. Thiem has the more dangerous serve but he struggled to get his 1st serve in, registering only 57% in the 1st set. Schwartzman while never known to have the most comfortable service games, was making up for it by always putting pressure on Dominic’s service games with aggressive ground strokes. The crowd, with a strong South American flavor, was pro-Diego, but he didn’t seem to be able to take full advantage of it, barely engaging them and showing little body language. Fans of the Austrian by contrast were far and few between.

Despite the struggles with his serve, Dominic had a chance to serve out the set at 5-4 but once again couldn’t find his first serve and DSS took full advantage. The set would go on to a tie break, where Thiem went after DSS with some overpowering forehands before eventually closing out the clean tiebreak with a rare ace.

Dominic was pushed hard in round 1 (Photo Credit Esam Taha)

It seemed that Dominic had all the momentum at that point and would power through DSS, however that was far from reality. The sun started to set and scorching heat subsided as the two youngsters started the 2nd. Schwartzman didn’t seem to lose belief after dropping the first set meekly, as he broke Dominic twice and jumped to an early 3-0 lead. Thiem was careless in those 1st 3 games but he gathered himself during the changeover and proceeded to string together 4 games to get back even on serve in a rollercoaster of a second set. Thiem was helped by DSS serving a measly 47% on his 1st serve. Meanwhile Dominic was starting to find his rhythm on serve, getting a lot of free points and registering 4 aces in the 2nd. Dominic serving first would eventually pay off, the pressure of serving to stay in the match would get to Schwartzman. Down 5-6 and looking to force a tiebreak, Diego would hit an unforced error on matchpoint. Thiem reacted with a confident fist pump as he escaped a tricky 1st round matchup, where his opponent outplayed him for considerable periods in the match. He’ll go on to face a tough opponent in Feliciano Lopez next round. Thiem will be bidding to win consecutive matches in a tournament for just the second time this season.

Sam Querrey d. Victor Estrella 6-4 6-3

The Dominican Community in Miami made their presence felt cheering on their man Estrella (Photo Credit Esam Taha)

Coming off 2 consecutive first round exits, Sam Querrey was hoping to quickly make amends in Miami, and return to the form that had granted him a semifinal showing in Memphis, about a month ago on US soil. His first match was against Dominican Victor Estrella Burgos, who surprised everyone by winning ATP Quito, Ecuador by beating Feliciano Lopez in the final on clay back in February. The 34 year old is peaking late as his ranking has continued to climb well into the top 100 the past 2 years, currently sitting just outside the top 50 at 55th overall.

The match started off the night session with both players comfortably holding serve, but it was clear right away that Victor was going to have home court advantage here in Miami as the Dominican crowd made their presence felt early.

The set seemed to be on fast forward as both players were playing aggressively and looking to quickly end the point, however it was clear that was Sam was much more comfortable holding serve as evidenced by his 7 aces in the first set. Victor had to save a double breakpoint midway through the first set to keep it even, and struggling to hold serve would be the theme throughout the rest of the night. Eventually Victor would bend…and actually break as Querrey finally converted his 4th break opportunity on set point to claim the 1st set.

The 2nd set got off to a shaky start for Victor, who needed every bit of the crowd cheering him on to recover from a 0-30 hole and avoid getting broken early. However his efforts would prove futile as Sam would break him the next service game while the latter continued to hold serve with ease. Querrey hit 9 aces in the 2nd set and only faced a single break point the entire match. The 2nd set was fairly routine for the American. Victor would make some noise as Sam was serving to close out the match taking him to deuce to the delight of the crowd, but a couple of big serves from Querrey and it was all over. It was quite the contrast between the mellow and nearly silent Querrey, moving like a gazelle on his returns, and the loud and undersized Estrella, who was practically screaming as he chased down the ball.

Querrey was a pleased winner on Wednesday night (photo credit: Esam Taha)

Sam will go on to face the big serving South African, Kevin Anderson in the 2nd round.

In the interim of those matches, a few of the top players were getting on the practice courts to get a feel for that nice Miami sun and the court conditions, Alexander Dolgopolov was one of the guys that seemed to enjoy it out there.

Dolgo was chill in practice (Photo Credit Esam Taha)

18 year old Chung’s maiden ATP win and a perfect sweep for American Men Headline ATP Maindraw Day 1 Results

18 year old South Korean Hyeon Chung took full advantage of his wild card and scored both his maiden ATP, and his maiden ATP Masters level main draw win today over Spanish veteran Marcel Granollers, who is rarely an easy out. Chung, who has built up his ranking near the top 100 purely due to strong results on the Challenger and Futures tour, including a challenger title and final this year already, got off to a strong start, blanking Granollers 6-0 in the opening set. Granollers proved he wasn’t ill or injured by responding in the second, forcing a much closer contest, and scoring a lone break midway 3-2 through set, to end up taking it 6-4, as Chung failed to generate any chances to break back. In the third the match became quite the battle, but Chung didn’t wilt in the slightest against the grinding Spaniard. He got an immediate break back after going 2-1 down in the third, saved another break point at 3-3 to hold serve, and broke in a game that lasted over 8 minutes for a 6-4 third set victory. Granollers got tight in the end, as errors mounted, and his serve and forehand was simply not good enough, compared to the young Korean’s raw, but powerful groundstrokes that were able to push the Spaniard back.

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Americans Donald Young, Jack Sock, Tim Smyczek, and Austin Krajicek, a qualifier, were all winners and advanced into the second round, making it a perfect day for the American male contingent. Young beat Rendy Lu 5-1 via a retirement, as Lu was in poor shape going into the match, Sock rolled past Go Soeda 6-3 6-4, Smyczek had to survive qualifier Adrian Menendez-Maceiras, who was bidding for his maiden ATP main draw win at 29, 4-6 6-3 6-4, with a late break in the third set, and a hold of serve to close it out, and Krajicek got revenge over Denis Istomin, who he lost to previously in Indian Wells with a swift 6-4 6-4 victory.

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Another men’s singles winner on the day was Juan Monaco, who survived multiple mentally induced collapses against Ruben Bemelmans, a qualifier, to prevail 7-5 6-7 6-4 on his fourth match point chance, and his second of the third set. What saved Monaco was the fact his opponent Bemelmans was even more fragile in the mental department than he was, throwing up tense errors when it counted in the third set, as Monaco threw away his chance to close out the match in straights.

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Young guns Kyle Edmund and Thanasi Kokkinakis were denied further Masters level victories, Robin Haase and Carlos Berlocq took them out, 6-2 6-2 for Haase, and 6-4 3-6 6-2 for Berlocq. Kokkinakis, who was coming off a round of 16 showing in Indian Wells, had high expectations going into this tournament, but got off to a slow start, perhaps struggling to adjust to new conditions, and never really seemed to recover in his match.

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Jan-Lennard Struff saved match points to take out Benjamin Becker 3-6 7-6(10) 6-4, the Davis Cup teammates battled it out for over two hours as Becker had three match points in the second set tiebreak, and was at one point 4-1 up in the third set, but Struff would battle back each time, converting his lone match point opportunity to break serve and finish the match off 6-4.

Nicolas Almagro, similar to Monaco avoided a mental collapse in a match he appeared to have in the bag, the final scoreline over Sergiy Stakhovsky was 6-3 6-7 6-4, but Almagro was at one point 6-3 3-1 up. Stakhovsky employed an aggressive gameplan throughout, but Almagro’s compact strokes and great passing backhands proved to be an effective foil for it, as he was returning the ball before the Ukrainian had time to properly react.

In men’s action on the outer courts, Albert Ramos won yet again on a hard court, 6-2 6-2 over Joao Sousa, dashing Portugese hopes this tournament, Jarkko Nieminen scored a comfortable 6-3 6-3 win over Marinko Matosevic, James Duckworth did better than his Aussie countryman and beat Damir Dzumhur 6-3 3-6 6-3, and fellow qualifier Filip Krajinovic got the better of his Serbian compatriot Dusan Lajovic 2-6 7-6 4-2 ret. as Lajovic came down with an arm injury.

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Watson, Vaidisova, Azarenka among WTA singles winners on the day

British hope Heather Watson got past Evgeniya Rodina, the world number 96 3-6 6-1 7-5, as she saved 10/14 of the break points she faced, and nearly half of the points on Rodina’s serve.

25 year old Nicole Vaidsova of the Czech Republic continued her comeback on the WTA tour, the former Top 10 player won her first WTA level main draw match, in just her second WTA tournament since returning to tennis in 2014 after a four year absence. Vaidsova, who qualified in Monterrey recently, won 6-1 7-6 over the world number 87 Timea Babos, as her ranking will now surely rise back into the top 300.

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Victoria Azarenka, who is looking to complete her own mini comeback, and surely get back into the top 20 in the world, got off to a good start in Miami with a 6-1 6-3 win over Silvia Soler-Espinosa. Other participants in the second round will include four Americans, as Christina McHale beat Sorana Cirstea 7-5 6-4, qualifier Irina Falconi beat Monica Puig 7-6 7-6, Alison Riske beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-4 6-0 in less than an hour, and in the nightcap, Sloane Stephens dominated Yania Wickmayer 6-1 6-3, winning 70% of her service points, compared to just 45% for the Belgian.

Daria Gavrilova setup a meeting with Maria Sharapova, a fellow Russian, in round 2 as she beat Marina Erakovic 5-1 ret., Germans Annika Beck (6-4 4-6 6-4 over Shuai Zhang), Tatjana Maria (7-6 6-3 over Roberta Vinci), and Julia Goerges (6-1 6-0 over Jana Cepelova) will also be participating in round 2. American Lauren Davis continued her struggles with a loss to Sesil Karatantcheva 6-3 7-6, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat her countrywoman Vera Zvonareva 6-2 3-6 7-5 in a battle that lasted over two hours, with the 23 year old Pavs outlasting an opponent seven years her senior.

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Alison Van Uytvanck added to the success of qualifiers wth a 7-5 2-6 6-0 win over Magdalena Rybarikova, Pauline Parmentier beat Kiki Bertens 4-6 6-2 6-3, Urszula Radwanska setup a meeting with Venus Williams with a 6-4 6-7 6-3 win over CoCo Vandeweghe, and Swiss Stefanie Voegele beat junkballer Kirsten Flipkens 6-2 6-2

Wonderkid Belinda Bencic beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-1 7-6, and Elina Vesnina (6-4 6-2 over Alexandra Dulgheru) and Tsvetana Pironkova (6-4 6-3 over Kateryna Kozlova) were two of the players who did have success over their qualifier opponents.

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Double German joy as Zverev and Berrer lead 2015 Miami Open Men’s Qualifiers
Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic

The final day of qualification took place at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Miami. Out of the 24 seeded player’s in the 48-strong field, only six player’s managed to reach the main stage on a day which consisted of both the expected and the unexpected.

Alexander Zverev rounded off his impressive display during the qualifying event with a hard fought three sets win over 24th seed Thiemo de Bakker. Zverev, who stunned top seed Joao Sousa in the first round, was made to come from a set down to beat Bakker 6-7 (2-7), 6-4,6-3, in a match which lasted nearly two and a half hours. The win has given the 17-year-old German his first ever place in a main draw of an ATP Masters event. Last week at the ATP Irving Challenger Zverev produced his best win of the year by beating world number 48 Jerzy Janowicz to reach the quarterfinal.

Zverev will be joined in the main draw by another German, Michael Berrer. 34-year-old Berrer was pushed all the way by 22nd seed Kenny de Schepper as he edged the Frenchman out in a deciding match tiebreak. Throughout the match the former world number 42 was solid on his serve as he was broken only twice during the two hour and 45 minute match as he won 6-3,4-6,7-6 (7-3). Berrer has played at the Miami Masters five previous times before this year with his best result being the second round of the tournament in 2008 and 2010. After qualifying in Indian Wells last week, where he reached the third round, his result in Miami moves his number of qualifications for ATP events in 2015 to 4 (Doha, Zagreb, IW, and Miami).

Third seed Benoit Paire suffered a disappointing straight sets loss to Alejandro Falla. In the lead up to the tournament, Paire appeared to be loving the Miami life when he posted a picture on his Instagram account on March 21st of a pool party that he attended. Unfortunately is seems like the Frenchman had much more fun there than on court today as Falla cruised to a 6-4,6-1, victory. The Colombian has only dropped eight games during the qualifying rounds.

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Steve Darcis is the highest ranked player to qualify for the main draw as he produced a straight forward 6-4,6-3, win against Norbert Gombos of Slovakia. The Belgian remained unbroken on his serve throughout the match. He will now be bidding to win his first main draw match in an ATP Masters tournament since the 2012 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. He joins Berrer as another veteran serve and volleyer in the draw.

Damir Džumhur booked his place in the main draw with a 6-4,6-2, win against unseeded Croatian Mate Delic. The Bosnian, who created history for his country by reaching the third round of the 2014 Australian Open, will now play in his first ever Masters main draw. Dzumhur is just the second Bosnian to ever play in Masters series main draw.

Australian tennis fans may be gutted that Nick Kyrgios has pulled out of Miami however James Duckworth has given a smile back on their faces as he knocked out 6th seed Alejandro Gonzarlez 6-2,7-5 (7-5). The success in qualification by Duckworth follows an impressive run at Indian Wells. The 23-year-old came through qualifying and knocked out Dominic Thiem in the first round before being knocked out by Fernando Verdasco. Duckworth took part in “ATP University” recently, and looks to be ready to enjoy the ATP lifestyle.

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One of the biggest surprises of the entire qualification draw came in the form of Adrián Menéndez-Maceiras. Before this week, Menéndez-Maceiras hasn’t won a match in the qualification rounds for a Masters event nevermind the main draw. He ended his dismal losing streak in the first round when he knocked out Tobias Kamke. Today the Spanish world number 126 made it two wins in a roll as he recovered from a first set hammering to beat Taro Daniel 1-6,6-3,6-3 for a place in his first ever Masters main draw.

Robin Haase enjoyed a 7-5,6-4, win against Lukas Lacko. It wasn’t all plain sailing for the Dutch player, however, as Lacko began the match in dominating form as he stormed to a 4-1 lead. Unfortunately, he was unable to hold on to the lead as Haase triumphantly battled back. The turning point occurred when Lacko lost his serve whilst 4-1 up in a game which consisted of 12 deuces. Haase level things up at 5-5 before taking the first set 7-5. Then in the second set Lacko faltered on his serve twice which guided Haase to the win.

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Édouard Roger-Vasselin reached the main draw for the fourth consecutive year after a 6-2,6-3, victory over former junior world number six Chase Buchanan. Roger-Vasselin has so far throughout his career only won five matches in a main draw of a Masters tournament of which two were in Miami. He previously had a good week in Indian Wells, just like Haase and Berrer.

Dustin Brown failed to keep hold of his first set lead after being knocked out by Ruben Bemelmans. After losing the first set in a close tiebreak, the Belgian battled to a 6-7 (4-7), 6-4,6-2, win to make his first Masters main draw since 2012. The win against Brown will be a massive confidence boost to the Belgian after he recently suffered two consecutive losses at the start of this month to player’s ranked outside of the top 250 (Henri Laaksonen, 344 and Dimitar Kutrovsky, 296).

Tough learning curve for the teenagers

Two of the last matches in qualification featured upcoming talents Elias Ymer and Omar Jasika.

Ymer faced world number 146 Austin Krajicek of the USA. The Swedish teenager looked on course to make his Masters main draw debut as he lead his rival by a set and a break. Things then started to unravel for Ymer as Krajicek broke back and took the second set to force it into a deciding set. The momentum generated by the teenager was rapidly disappearing as the American surged to a 3-0 lead in the final set to have a strong hold of the proceedings for the first time in the match. Ymer had no resolution to combat the Americans final set surge as Krajicek took it 3-6,6-4,6-3.

Meanwhile 2014 US Open boy’s champion Jasika put up a brave battle against Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic but was knocked out 6-4,4-6,6-3. Both Krajicek and Krajinovic qualified for third ATP events on the season.

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Qualifiers placement in the main draw:

Q Alexander Zverev (GER) – Sam Groth (AUS)
Q Michael Berrer (GER) – Q Alejandro Falla (COL)
Q Steve Darcis (BEL) – Malek Jaziri (TUN)
Q Damir Džumhur (BIH) – Q James Duckworth (AUS)
Q Austin Krajicek (USA) – Denis Istomin (UZB)
Q Robin Haase (NED) – WC Kyle Edmund (GBR)
Q Adrián Menéndez-Maceiras (ESP) – Tim Smyczek (USA)
Q Édouard Roger-Vasselin – Jerzy Janowicz (POL)
Q Ruben Bemelmans (BEL) – Juan Monaco (ARG)
Q Filip Krajinović (SER) – Dušan Lajović (SER)

Even in this Masters level event, all of the qualifiers will have at least an outside chance to win their matches.

Adam Addicott TA Watermark

Veterans Melzer and Berrer, ATP Main Draw Débutante Alex Bolt among 2015 BNP Paribas Open Men’s Qualifiers
Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic

The final stage of qualification got underway on Wednesday with both old and new players booking their place into the 2015 Indian Wells main draw. 8 of the 25 seeded player’s booked their place, while four unseeded players also qualified.

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Jurgen Melzer continued his impressive Indian Wells record by maneuvering his way past Michael Russell to make the Indian Wells main draw for the 12th consecutive year. The former top 10 player spend just over two hours on the court before beating Russell 6-4 5-7 6-3. The 33-year-old Austrian is currently ranked 86th in the world, however he is yet to win back to back matches in any main draw this year.

Borna Coric was pushed all the way in the final set by 2011 French Open boy’s champion Bjorn Fratangelo before reaching his first ever master’s main draw by taking the match 6-1 2-6 7-6(9-7). After easily taking the first set, Coric had a taste of his own medicine when Fratangelo fought back to square the match. The American also broke Coric in the final set to lead 4-2 and be only two games away from a landmark victory. The lead was however short lived as Coric battled back to take proceedings into a deciding tie-break where he finally took it 9-7. To make the win even more special, the 18-year-old had to save three match points (one while trailing 4-5 and two in the tie-break) to the heartbreak of his rival and the home crowd.

Similar to Coric, Australia’s Alex Bolt will also embark on new territory following a 6-3 7-5 win over James McGee. Throughout the match Bolt remained strong on his serve as his Irish rival failed to break him during the one hour and eleven minute match.The 22-year-old Australian is currently at a career ranking high of 164 in the world.

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Bolt will be joined in the main draw by his fellow countryman James Duckworth, who endured a tough qualification match against Rajeev Ram. Duckworth, who reached the second round of the Australian Open earlier this year and has been in good form as of late, was a set and break down against the experienced Ram before climbing his way back into the match and eventually take it 2-6 7-5 6-4 to make his first ever Masters main draw.

Unfortunately, Luke Saville was unable to complete the Australian hatrick of qualifiers as he was knocked out in straight sets by Serbian 8th seed Filip Krajinović. After losing three out of his four service games in the first set, Saville put up a tougher fight in the second set, however, it wasn’t enough to tame Krajinović as he went on to take it 6-1 7-6 in 99 minutes.

One of the biggest stories of the day was Dennis Novikov’s epic three set win against Daniel Gimeno-Traver, a player ranked 162 places higher than him. Novikov, who beat Jerzy Janowicz in the first round of the 2012 US Open, was behind 3-6 0-2 before fighting his way back to take it in three sets. The win means that he will be the 11th American man to participate in the main draw. Following his win, Novikov expressed his delight on his Twitter account.

Happy to qualify for my first Masters 1000 this week! Just a taste of what is to come this year hopefully. #atp #IndianWells #Masters1000

— Dennis Novikov (@dnovi93) March 12, 2015

There was some consolation for Gimeno-Traver as he received a lucky loser spot into the main draw.

Despite approaching the end of his tennis career, Victor Hănescu has still demonstrated that he can play among the big guns. The world 146 was pushed all the way by Nikoloz Basilashvili before finally taking it 3-6 6-4 7-6(7-5). Hanescu has reached the second round at Indian Wells on five separate occasions. The most recent of these was last year where he beat Stéphane Robert in the first round before losing to Milos Raonic in the next round.

Germany’s Michael Berrer cruised into the main stage of Indian Wells with a straight forward 6-4 6-4 win against wildcard entry Mackenzie McDonald. McDonald, who has only played in two Future tournaments this year, was no match for the experienced Berrer on the day, as Berrer qualified for the third time on the ATP World Tour this year.

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Yannick Hanfmann, the best player on the USC tennis team, was unable to produce another sensational upset as he bowed out in three sets to Edouard Roger-Vasselin. In the first round the world 819 stunned 10th seed Paul-Henri Mathieu. Despite the loss, Hanfmann can still be fairly satisfied with how he played as he took Mathieu, a player ranked 700 places higher than him, to three sets.

James Ward was unable to reproduce his Davis Cups Heroics as he could only win four games against Mischa Zverev. Last weekend, Ward staged an outstanding comeback to beat John Isner in five sets to help Great Britain beat America in round 1 of the Davis Cup. All the effort by Ward has now, however appeared to catch up with him physically as the former world number 64 cruised to a 6-3 6-1 win. Zverev, formerly a top 100 player, had to win the pre-qualifier to get into the qualifying draw and he certainly made the best of it.

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Frank Dancevic booked his placed in the main draw of the Indian Wells Masters for the first time since 2007 following a three set win against Germany’s Philipp Petzschner. The Canadian was in big trouble as he trailed a set and 0-3 before staging a mighty comeback to take the second set to his opponents surprise. Unfortunately for Petzschner, the momentum that he generated in the first set and at the start of the second rapidly evaporated as Dancevic save five break points to comfortably take the final set with the final score being 5-7 6-4 6-1.

Finally, rounding competing the list of 12 qualifiers is Thiemo de Bakker. Baker, who reached the third round at the Indian Wells Masters back in 2010, brushed aside, young American, and Californian teenager Taylor Harry Fritz 6-4 6-4. Fritz has a promising future, but it will take some time to develop his game towards the ATP level. De Bakker has qualified for four ATP events this year and appears to be nearing critical mass.

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In the main draw, Novikov will face Melzer to earn the right to face John Isner, Coric will face Andreas Haider-Maurer for the right to face Bernard Tomic, Mischa Zverev will face Adrian Mannarino, before a possible encounter with Fabio Fognini, Gimeno-Traver will play Sam Groth as a lucky loser with the winner to face Ernests Gulbis. Roger-Vasselin will face Marinko Matosevic with Feliciano Lopez to follow if he wins, De Bakker will play Jarkko Nieminen with a good draw that would see him facing Pablo Cuevas in round 2. Duckworth will play youngster Dominic Thiem with Fernando Verdasco as the seed in waiting, Dancevic will face Alex Dolgopolov, with Santiago Giraldo as the seed in waiting, Berrer will have a good chance against Victor Estrella, with Gilles Simon on deck, Rafa Nadal awaits the winner of Krajinovic and Igor Sijsling, and if Bolt beats Robin Haase he would face Stan Wawrinka next. Last but not least, Hanescu will face fellow veteran Mikhail Youzhny, with another veteran, Andreas Seppi, lurking.

Adam Addicott TA Watermark

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