Qualifiers In @TennisHalloFame; Main Draw Underway Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic
I normally don’t like Mondays at a tennis tournament. You get leftover qualifying rounds and a few first round matches. The real red meat of the tournament always starts later in the week. So Monday is tennis subsistence day. Like watching Lucas Lacko, who reached the third round of Wimbledon, flame out in the first round at Newport. The best part of that match was learning that the victor, Dudi Sela, was traveling with his 2 year old and 7 month old, and he looked really busy after the match, like “we need you now” busy. Sela faces off against defending champ Rajeev Ram in the second round.
Ram cruised over Mackenzie McDonald later in the day to set up the second round match. As for McDonald, the UCLA champ was in great spirits just to have had the opportunity to play on Center Court in Newport. That made Monday better.
The first sign that it wasn’t going to be the usual Monday were the qualifiers: Old hands Frank Dancevic and Alex Kuznetsov advancing in three grueling, up-and-down sets.
Kuzentsov
Dudi had a Baby
Then it was Brian Baker’s turn. Baker, after spending only 25 minutes on court yesterday due to the retirement of Jan Hernych, had a closer match against Great Britain’s Brydan Klein. Baker looked like his old self again, and he closed out the match to qualify in straights/ Seeing him out there was enough to make my Monday.
As he heads to the Olympics next month to represent the U.S., Baker told Tennis Atlantic, “I feel great. I’m getting fitter and better each week. I just need to get some more matches. This year has been a little bit of a struggle just because coming back from so much time off, and playing the bigger events with my protected (ranking), if you’re not winning a ton, you’re just not getting a lot of matches. It’s nice this week to already get two matches under my belt and hope to get more”.
One good thing about Mondays is a chance to see young players on the rise and local players of interest. Today, the crowds got to see Rhode Island’s own Jared Donaldson. In fact, they wouldn’t have been much of a press corps here today without Donaldson on the schedule. Donaldson is an intense young player with a bright future. I will let the entire local press corps tell you all about him, because going against the grain is what Mondays are all about. I will tell you that he lost in straights to Donald Young, but that is all.
Ready, Play! Tennis Hall of Fame Qualifying Kicks Off in Newport Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic
It’s a scaled-down field at the best-looking ATP Tour tournament in North America. the International Tennis Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, Rhode Island. The 250-level event now has a main draw field of 28, down from 32. Tournament organizers cut the qualifying field down to 16, so two wins are now all that are required to enter the main draw.
A small crowd watched eight matches on the outer courts today in excellent weather, but easily the most anticipated match was the one involving Reilly Opelka, the American ranked #852 with a big serve and a qualifying wild card. Opelka waited alone for several minutes before Frank Dancevic marched onto the court. It may have psyched out the American youngster, as Opelka committed eight double-faults in the first set (and 20 in the match) but still managed to take the set to a tiebreak won by Dancevic. Opelka creeped back to win the second set breaker, but quickly fell apart after being broken early in the final stanza and Dancevic feasted. In the third set, Frank the Tank won 82% of first service points while Opelka won a paltry 40%. Check out this sick shot in the final game of the set:
In other matches, top qualifying seed Alejandro Falla was routined by Daniel Cox of Great Britain in 65 minutes. Cox will face Alex Kuznetsov for a main draw booking tomorrow, as Kuznetsov outlasted Ernesto Escobedo in three sets today. Israel’s Amir Weintraub, the second seed in qualifying, edged past Evan King in two tiebreaks and is scheduled to play Dancevic tomorrow. Michal Przysiezny of Poland (and of brief Wimbledon 2010 fame) was all business in a straight setter over Evan King. He’ll face Australia’s Matt Barton, a winner today over Adrian Bossel.
The return of Brian Baker was almost perfect, but we only got to see a 25-minute set of him before Jan Hernych retired. I saw Baker in warm-ups, with his thicker, fuller beard, and went into the media center a happier man. Twenty minutes later, I overheard a walkie-talkie announcing “Brian Baker…retirement” and got nervous, giving Baker’s injury slides that would have caused a reasonable person to walk away from the competitive game forever. Baker, who was awarded a qualifying wild card, will attempt to ascend to the main draw here when he faces the winner of Michael Mmoh and Brydan Klein on Monday.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
The second day of main draw play at the Winston-Salem open brought the first round to conclusion and saw fifth seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez open the second round in the night session. The day’s play was on the whole a level higher than Sunday’s, with a number of exceptional clashes and notable names.
The day session was opened with defending champion Jurgen Melzer falling to qualifier David Goffin 6-3 6-4. Melzer, who would later lose in the first round of doubles as well, will see his ranking fall outside the top 100 after an injury-plagued last twelve months. Goffin, meanwhile, continues an incredible run of form that saw him win his first title in Kitzbuhel.
On court two, Jerzy Janowicz put up an impressive performance against Carlos Berlocq. Although the two are close in the rankings currently, Berlocq was a serious underdog on the quick hard courts of Winston-Salem and looked lost in the first set before steadying himself slightly in the second. Janowicz, however, simply had too much power for Berlocq to absorb in the end, and won 6-1 6-4.
Janowicz dispatches Berlocq
On court three, Federico Delbonis pulled off an upset victory over a superior hard-courter in Martin Klizan, 7-6(5) 6-4. Klizan produced nearly all of the match’s best shots and received almost universal crowd support, but was too erratic and dealt with Delbonis’s impressive serving too poorly to prevail. On the distant court four, Igor Sijsling defeated Andrey Golubev in a tight two-setter. Golubev failed to take advantage of poor volleying by Sijsling and allowed himself to be outrallied by the Dutchman, surrendering his serve from 40-0 for the decisive break in a 7-6(5) 6-3 match.
Delbonis had one of the first big upsets of the tournament
In what was surprisingly possibly the day’s best match, Frank Dancevic faced off against Thomaz Bellucci. Both players’ smooth and powerful serves and groundstrokes drew a larger crowd than one would expect on the third court, and Dancevic produced a number of stunning backhands equaled by a stream of Bellucci winners off the forehand wing. An extended rally saw Dancevic take a very tight first set, but Bellucci rebounded to take the second set with ease. In the end, it was the Canadian who prevailed in a three-set match interrupted by rain with Bellucci down break point in the third set, 7-5 3-6 6-2.
Canadian veteran Frank Dancevic survived a test from Bellucci
Around the grounds, there was plenty of action to be had between spurts of rain which included what was nearly a two-hour delay. Adrian Mannarino easily put away an erratic Damir Dzumhur 6-2 6-2. Aleksandr Nedovyesov crushed American hopes with a close 6-4 6-4 win over Marcos Giron in which the American was a dismal 1/7 on break chances. Blaz Rola prevailed in two tight sets over fellow leftie Wayne Odesnik, 7-6(3) 6-3. In one of the day’s two second round matches, Jarkko Nieminen came from a break down in the second to defeat Benjamin Becker 7-5 6-4.
Mannarino showed great form against Dzumhur
On Center Court, the night session was led into with a pair of low quality matches, Paul-Henri Mathieu’s messy 6-3 7-5 win over wild card Robby Ginepri and Sam Querrey’s 7-6(5) 6-4 win over Pere Riba, who is unimposing on a hard court. However, the first set of Dustin Brown taking on fifth seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez was probably the highest quality and most dramatic of the event thusfar. Brown’s big serve and beautiful volleys were pitted against Garcia-Lopez’s capable return and piercing groundstrokes off both wings. Brown saved two set points with two aces at 4-5, and took the tiebreak 7-5 after a Garcia-Lopez double fault. Brown’s resistance would fade, however, in the next two sets, with a lackluster final scoreline of 6-7(5) 6-2 6-2.
The doubles draw got underway today with some upset results. The second seeded team of Rohan Bopanna and defending champion Daniel Nestor lost in a pair of tiebreaks to the Columbians Cabal and Farah. Melzer was handed his second loss of the day as he and partner Lukas Rosol lost to Marcel Granollers and his unaccomplished partner, singles specialist Pablo Andujar 7-6(3) 2-6 10-4, with Melzer making a number of errors on critical points. The wild card team of Nicholas Monroe and Donald Young upset the Argentines Delbonis and Leonardo Mayer 7-6(4) 7-5. Robin Haase and Nicolas Mahut defeated Scott Lipsky and Max Mirnyi 7-5 6-4 in a match that may have been decided when Mirnyi missed a sitting duck volley at 5-5 40-40 in the first.
Tomorrow will be the day that fourteen of the event’s 16 seeds begin their campaigns. This includes two-time champion and hometown John Isner, whose practices are better attended than some of the main draw matches, and last week’s Cincy quarterfinalist Tommy Robredo, as well as the top seeded doubles pairing of Leander Paes (the other half of last year’s winning doubles team) and David Marrero. The forecast calls for more rain, but hopefully that will not prevent all the day’s tennis from being played.
Canadian Conquest @CoupeRogers @RogersCupTo; Wednesday’s Schedule
This Land is Our Land
Canada Day is supposed to be celebrated on July 1st. But for Tennis Canada, August 6th seems like a more appropriate date. Yesterday, there were celebrations in both languages and great moments of national unity due to massive successes on the hard courts of Montreal and Toronto. Most Canadian players were celebrating long three set comeback wins, so it will be interesting to see if fatigue is a factor today as they continue their marches to the titles.
In Montreal, junior sensation Filip Peliwo was already on his way to winning a first round ATP match with Jarko Niemenen retired at 3-6, 7-5, 3-1. It marks Peliwo’s first win as a pro. He’ll play Denis Istomin at noon today.
Filip Peliwo
Vasek Pospisil provided his Canadian fans with a shocker of his own, a 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(4) victory over a red-hot John Isner. For his troubles, Vashy will face Radek Stepanek later today.
Also, Frank Dancevic delighted the faithful at Parc Jarry with a three set win against qualifier Yendy Lu, 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-1. He’ll try to duplicate that success against Jerzy Janowicz today.
Not wanting to be left out of the Tennis Canada party, standard-bearer Milos Raonic edged Jeremy Chardy, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. Mikhail Youzhny is on his docket today.
And don’t forget Jesse Levine, who advanced on Monday. He’s got the tallest order of all today, as he tries to upstage the upsetters. He’s got Rafa Nadal today.
On the women’s side in Toronto at the Centre of the Universe, Canadian phenom and national darling Eugenie Bouchard was all poise in her conquest of Alisa Kleybanova, 6-3, 6-1. That poise will be tested tonight as Bouchard does battle with Petra Kvitova.
About the only bad news Canadians got yesterday was that two Canadians had to play each other. Sharon Fichman and Stephanie Dubois are no strangers to the others games, so it was no surprise that a grueling three setter ensued. In the end, the recent successes of Fichman continued as she won 5-7, 6-2, 6-2. Fichman plays Jelena Jankovic for a trip to the third round.
—Steve Fogleman
TORONTO RESULTS, TUESDAY AUGUST 6, 2013 / RÉSULTATS DE TORONTO DU MARDI 6 AOÛT 2013
Singles – Second Round / simple – 2e tour
[3] A Radwanska (POL) d Y Wickmayer (BEL) 62 63
D Cibulkova (SVK) d [8] A Kerber (GER) 67(0) 62 75
First Round / 1er tour
[11] M Kirilenko (RUS) d [Q] P Martic (CRO) 62 61
[12] S Stosur (AUS) d [Q] J Glushko (ISR) 57 62 63
[13] K Flipkens (BEL) d V Williams (USA) 06 64 62
[15] J Jankovic (SRB) d [Q] A Tatishvili (GEO) 76(6) 46 63
[16] A Ivanovic (SRB) d S Hsieh (TPE) 61 62
F Schiavone (ITA) d [Q] C Scheepers (RSA) 26 63 63
M Rybarikova (SVK) d [Q] A Dulgheru (ROU) 64 63
[Q] L Davis (USA) d [LL] S Kuznetsova (RUS) 36 75 75
A Cornet (FRA) d E Vesnina (RUS) 63 63
E Makarova (RUS) d [Q] A Rodionova (AUS) 61 75
[WC] E Bouchard (CAN) d A Kleybanova (RUS) 63 61
C Suarez Navarro (ESP) d J Hampton (USA) 64 64
[WC] S Fichman (CAN) d [WC] S Dubois (CAN) 57 62 62
Doubles – Second Round / Double – 2e tour
[1] S Errani (ITA) / R Vinci (ITA) d K Marosi (HUN) / M Moulton-Levy (USA) 64 36 10-5
First Round / 1er tour[5] S Mirza (IND) / J Zheng (CHN) d N Grandin (RSA) / D Jurak (CRO) 46 76(5) 10-2
[6] L Huber (USA) / N Llagostera Vives (ESP) d [PR] S Kuznetsova (RUS) / F Pennetta (ITA) 76(2) 76(6)
J Goerges (GER) / B Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) d [7] K Mladenovic (FRA) / G Voskoboeva (KAZ) 75 64
H Chan (TPE) / E Hrdinova (CZE) d A Klepac (SLO) / V Lepchenko (USA) 62 63
[WC] D Hantuchova (SVK) / M Hingis (SUI) d [WC] A Kerber (GER) / P Kvitova (CZE) 64 62
I Begu (ROU) / O Govortsova (BLR) d S Soler-Espinosa (ESP) / K Zakopalova (CZE) 64 26 10-5
A Kudryavtseva (RUS) / A Rodionova (AUS) d J Husarova (SVK) / P Martic (CRO) 46 64 10-5
MONTREAL RESULTS, SUNDAY AUGUST 4, 2013 / RÉSULTATS DE MONTRÉAL DU DIMANCHE 4 AOÛT 2013
Singles – Second Round / simple – 2e tour
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) d F Mayer (GER) 62 61
[7] R Gasquet (FRA) d M Klizan (SVK) 63 62
[9] K Nishikori (JPN) d A Seppi (ITA) 46 75 61
First Round / 1er tour
[10] T Haas (GER) d [Q] D Goffin (BEL) 76(4) 63
[11] M Raonic (CAN) d J Chardy (FRA) 63 46 75
R Stepanek (CZE) d [12] N Almagro (ESP) 63 67(4) 63
[13] F Fognini (ITA) d M Baghdatis (CYP) 16 61 61
N Davydenko (RUS) d [14] G Simon (FRA) 26 61 61
[15] J Janowicz (POL) d J Benneteau (FRA) 36 63 75
[WC] F Peliwo (CAN) d J Nieminen (FIN) 36 75 31 Retired
[WC] F Dancevic (CAN) d [Q] Y Lu (TPE) 57 76(6) 61
A Dolgopolov (UKR) d K Anderson (RSA) 76(0) 64
[WC] V Pospisil (CAN) d J Isner (USA) 57 76(5) 76(4)
[Q] A Bogomolov Jr. (RUS) d M Llodra (FRA) 62 46 63
M Youzhny (RUS) d J Melzer (AUT) 64 76(3)
M Granollers (ESP) d G Dimitrov (BUL) 64 64
Doubles – First Round / Double – 1er tour
A Seppi (ITA) / M Youzhny (RUS) d [Alt] J Chardy (FRA) / L Kubot (POL) 64 63
D Inglot (GBR) / J Janowicz (POL) d A Begemann (GER) / R Bopanna (IND) 76(4) 64
P Andujar (ESP) / R Nadal (ESP) d D Ferrer (ESP) / F Lopez (ESP) 67(2) 61 12-10
M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) d B Paire (FRA) / S Wawrinka (SUI) 76(6) 62
TORONTO ORDER OF PLAY – WEDNESDAY AUGUST 7, 2013 / HORAIRE DES MATCHS DE TORONTO – MERCREDI 7 AOÛT 2013
CENTRE COURT start 11:00 am / débute à 11 h
A Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) vs [4] N Li (CHN)
Not Before 1:00 PM
[Q] L Davis (USA) vs [7] [WC] M Bartoli (FRA)
Not Before 3:00 PM
K Zakopalova (CZE) vs [5] S Errani (ITA)
Not Before 7:00 PM
[1] S Williams (USA) vs F Schiavone (ITA)
[6] P Kvitova (CZE) vs [WC] E Bouchard (CAN)
GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
[11] M Kirilenko (RUS) vs A Cornet (FRA)
[15] J Jankovic (SRB) vs [WC] S Fichman (CAN)
[16] A Ivanovic (SRB) vs F Pennetta (ITA)
S Cirstea (ROU) vs [9] C Wozniacki (DEN)
C Suarez Navarro (ESP) vs [12] S Stosur (AUS)
COURT 1 start 11:00 am
M Barthel (GER) vs [14] S Stephens (USA)
E Makarova (RUS) vs [10] R Vinci (ITA)
[Q] K Bertens (NED) vs [13] K Flipkens (BEL)
[WC] G Dabrowski (CAN) / S Fichman (CAN) vs [8] A Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) / L Safarova (CZE) – After Suitable Rest
COURT 2 start 11:00 am
[5] S Mirza (IND) / J Zheng (CHN) vs O Kalashnikova (GEO) / A Rosolska (POL)
Not Before 1:30 PM
V Lepchenko (USA) vs M Rybarikova (SVK)
Not Before 3:30 PM
J Jankovic (SRB) / K Srebotnik (SLO) vs D Cibulkova (SVK) / S Hsieh (TPE) – After Suitable Rest
COURT 3 start 11:00 am
[4] R Kops-Jones (USA) / A Spears (USA) vs H Chan (TPE) / E Hrdinova (CZE)
I Begu (ROU) / O Govortsova (BLR) vs [3] A Groenefeld (GER) / K Peschke (CZE)
Not Before 3:30 PM
A Kudryavtseva (RUS) / A Rodionova (AUS) vs [2] E Makarova (RUS) / E Vesnina (RUS) – After Suitable Rest
Click here for printable version. / Cliquez ici pour obtenir une version imprimable.
MONTREAL ORDER OF PLAY – WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2013 / HORAIRE DES MATCHS DE MONTRÉAL – MERCREDI 7 AOÛT 2013
CENTRAL start 12:00 noon / débute à midi
M Granollers (ESP) vs [2] A Murray (GBR)
Not Before 14:00
[4] R Nadal (ESP) vs [WC] J Levine (CAN)
Not Before 18:00
M Youzhny (RUS) vs [11] M Raonic (CAN)
Not Before 20:00
[6] J Del Potro (ARG) vs I Dodig (CRO)
BN COURT start 12:00 noon
[WC] V Pospisil (CAN) vs R Stepanek (CZE)
[5] T Berdych (CZE) vs A Dolgopolov (UKR)
[WC] F Dancevic (CAN) vs [15] J Janowicz (POL)
Not Before 19:00
[Q] A Bogomolov Jr. (RUS) vs [3] D Ferrer (ESP)
COURT 9 start 12:00 noon
[13] F Fognini (ITA) vs E Gulbis (LAT)
[WC] F Peliwo (CAN) vs D Istomin (UZB)
J Benneteau (FRA) / N Zimonjic (SRB) vs C Fleming (GBR) / A Murray (GBR)
N Davydenko (RUS) vs P Andujar (ESP)
COURT 5 start 13:00
B Paire (FRA) vs [8] S Wawrinka (SUI)
[10] T Haas (GER) vs [Q] M Matosevic (AUS)
T Berdych (CZE) / M Llodra (FRA) vs M Klizan (SVK) / J Tipsarevic (SRB)
G Dimitrov (BUL) / P Kohlschreiber (GER) vs [WC] F Dancevic (CAN) / A Shamasdin (CAN)
Battle of Old Virginia and Harrison-Johnson headline Tally Challenger Tuesday Action
Kudla in the Rain, 2011
Because of rain, the Battle of the two Virginia residents in the tournament was postponed 24 hours. Denis Kudla and Somdev Devvarman will be hoping to get it on Tuesday night, but before that, tons of other matches will be served up on the Har-Tru clay.
Starting with Christian Harrison and Steve Johnson. The younger Harrison blitzed through qualifying and is looking sharp as he prepares to take on Johnson, who according to an article in the local newspaper, is going through the slow learning process of clay court tennis. At the same time, Michael Venus will take on Donald Young, Mischa Zverev will face Nikoloz Basilashvili, and Greg Jones will play Tim Smyczek.
Greg Jones
Those matches, weather permitting, will be followed by Jack Sock and Alex Kuznetsov, who will be looking to clinch his French Open wild card. Also scheduled for action are Bradley Klahn and Nico Barrientos and Facundo Arguello vs. Reid Carleton. Peter Polansky and Domonic Cotrone will also resume their suspended match.
On the stadium court, Michael Russell, who was spotted on the practice courts hitting with Tim Smyczek, will play Suk-Young Jeong, and Taro Daniel will play Ryan Harrison. On the outer courts, Wayne Odesnik will play Denys Molchanov and Frank Dancevic will play Ilija Bozoljac.
Taro
The doubles matches are Kante/Takura vs. Saleh/Santiago, Bucaro/Lock vs. C. Harrison/Venus, Reed/Sock vs. Melzer/Basilashvili, Jones/Polansky vs. Barrientos/Molchanov and Rice/Thornley vs. Gonzales/Letcher.
And don’t worry. A Taro Daniel interview is forthcoming.
The always-popular indoor hard court Challenger of Dallas at the T Bar M Racquet Club is this week and a strong field has come to play.
Top 8 seeds
1: Jesse Levine
2: Michael Russell
3: Tim Smyczek
4: Rajeev Ram
5: Matt Ebden
6: James Blake
7: Vasek Pospisil
8: Alex Bogomolov
The top seed is 81 in the world and the lowest seed is 132.
First round matchups to watch:
Frank Dancevic vs. Vasek Pospisil
Dancevic and Pospisil are Canadian Davis Cup Teammates and just for that reason, this is an interesting matchup. Dancevic looks to be in hot form as he steamrolled Marcel Granollers in his opening Davis cup singles rubber. Meanwhile, the younger Pospisil seems to be recovered from mono that sidelined him for the opening month of the season.
Tennys Sandgren vs. Mischa Zverev
Zverev reentered the top 140 with a finalist showing in Maui, while Sandgren is at a career high ranking of 219. Zverev will be favored but Sandgren has indoor experience and could pull the upset.
Top Half:
The newly minted Canadian Jesse Levine will be looking to crack the top 80 with a good showing here. He opens with Bradley Klahn, followed by Izak Van Der Merwe or Marcelo Demoliner. In the quarters, he should meet the Dancevic/Pospisil winner, but a qualifier or Michael Yani are also options.
Rajeev Ram opens with Daniel Kosakowski and then the winner of the battle of young Americans, Rhyne Williams vs. Austin Krajicek. After that, he could play Australian Open Mixed Doubles champ Matt Ebden, who is coming off successful Davis Cup duty for Australia. Ebden opens with Alex Kuznetsov followed by the Sandgren/Zverev winner.
Bottom Half:
Michael “Muscles” Russell, who made the semis in Maui, opens with the entertaining Jimmy Wang. Then, Russell will play a qualifier or Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The quarters could find find him across the net from the struggling 6 seed/wild card James Blake or Denis Kudla.
Tim Smyczek opens with Ryan Sweeting before meeting the winner of Rik De Voest and wild card Robby Ginepri. The quarters could see Smyczek taking on Alex Bogomolov (who opens with Denys Molchanov) or Steve Johnson (who opens with Bobby Reynolds).
Steen’s Pick: Frankie D.
Predictions:
Semis
Dancevic d. Ebden
Smyczek d. Russell
Dancevic looks to be in great form with a good draw while Ebden should do well here. Smyczek just beat Steve Johnson in Maui, so expect a repeat.
Final
Dancevic d. Smyczek
With a Heilbronn semi final and a good DC performance already under his belt this early part of the season, I’ll go with Frankie D.
International Players of Intrigue at Campbell’s Hall of Fame Championships
Steve Fogleman, TennisEastCoast.com
Tennis East Coast will provide daily coverage of the Campbell’s Hame of Fame Championships in one of the most surprisingly beautiful venues in the country. Jammed between a busy shopping center and downtown Newport commercial activity, the grounds of the International Tennis Hall of Fame are an oasis of all things racquet-related in an otherwise tourist engulfed island.
It’s like Wimbledon without the excessive grunting, the unfavorable currency exchange rate and the terrible queues. Upside: Lobster rolls, Opportunity for everyone to take a free hit on the grass courts, Del’s Lemonade, Theme park-like volunteers who dress in full vintage on-court get ups throughout the sun-baked days. It all adds up to to you intermittently forgetting the real reason you are there: an actual ATP 250 event of modern-day players with space-age sticks.
The USA is well represented with John Isner, Sam Querrey, Michael Russell, Jesse Levine, Rajeev Ram and Jack Sock. Nothing is better than catching up with the American players, but sometimes I see blogger gold (OK, silver) when speaking with international players and their widely diverse backgrounds.
Here’s who I’m excited to see play, and, hopefully, ask a few questions:
#39 Denis Istomin:
The only Wimbledon Sweet 16’er in the Newport draw, Istomin has had incredible success in 2012. He beat David Ferrer in Indian Wells earlier this year, made the San Jose final against Milos Raonic, and just became the first Uzbeki to ever reach the 4th round of Wimbledon.
#23 Milos Raonic:
My daughter got her very first autograph from a pro tennis player at the tender age of a year and day from Raonic at Rogers Cup in Montreal in August 2009. Let’s just say that both of them have really blossomed since the day I accidentally gave my daughter that wedgie as witnessed in the above photo. Raonic was being MC’ed by a Montreal radio sportscaster whose English left something to be desired that day. Raonic’s wasn’t much better at the time, but he’s gone from #783 to #23 as an ATP player, as has his English proficiency since then. Let’s hope the Montreal sports jock has fared as well in that department.
The Other Canadians: Pospisil and Dancevic
Usually you have to head to the Rogers Cup to see all three of these guys (adding Coach Niemayer) in the main draw, but I’ll opt for skipping the 2 hour border crossing and catch them up the 95 instead.
21-year-old David Goffin is the hottest name out there in men’s tennis (if you don’t live in the United States), and he’s headed to Newport just off his loss to Mardy Fish at the 3rd round of Wimbledon. “La Goff” ran through Stepanek, Clement and Kubot after coming in as a lucky loser at Roland Garros. He then proceeded to take the first set off his idol, Roger Federer, before bowing in defeat to him in the Round of 16.
Sijs
Then, there’s Igor Sijsling, the 24-year-old Amsterdam native and current resident who recently reached the Quarterfinals of the UNICEF Open, taking out Jarkko Nieminen in 54 minutes in that one.
Legendary Lleyton Hewitt
And what sane tennis fan wouldn’t want to ask 2 time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt about the future of Aussie tennis, and specifically Ash Barty and Bernie Tomic?
This is going to be good. And, unless you’re a three hour drive or less from Aquidneck Island, you shouldn’t have to move a muscle to experience any of it. Let us take care of it for you next week. @TennisEastCoast on Twitter. Enjoy!
Tennis Atlantic 