Horacio Zeballos

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Kyrgios And Verdasco Setup Quarterfinal Clash @BBTAtlantaOpen

Posted by Admin on August 5, 2016
Posted in: Atlanta, ATP, BB&T Atlanta Open, On Site, Steen Kirby. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Kyrgios And Verdasco Setup Quarterfinal Clash at 2016 BB&T Atlanta Open
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

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Three of the four Thursday singles matches were routine straight set affairs at the 2016 BB&T Atlanta Open. Nick Kyrgios made his highly anticipated debut in singles against fellow young gun Jared Donaldson in the night match, and he dominated proceedings 7-6 6-3. Kyrgios was strong on serve and he didn’t need much else. Kyrgios saved one break point in the first set, a first set that featured an hour long rain delay, and despite failing to break for the set 6-5 up when given two opportunities,  he eased his way through the first set tiebreak.

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Donaldson continued to be unable to bother Kyrgios on return, and his own serve wilted in the second set. He went down a double break as Kyrgios upped his game, eager to get off court. Despite getting one of the breaks back, Kyrgios went 5-3 up, and didn’t need to serve again, breaking Donaldson easily to take the match and reach the quarterfinals.

Kyrgios will face another fan favorite, veteran Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals. Verdasco broke Julien Benneteau four times in a resounding 6-1 6-3 win and he’s been playing great through two matches in Atlanta. Benneteau was dispatched in less than an hour, and never troubled Verdasco on serve, failing to generate a break point.

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The #4 seed Alexandr Dolgopolov wasn’t entirely fit this week, and it showed, as he struggled through a three set loss to the upstart Japanese player Yoshihito Nishioka. Nishioka prevailed 6-3 2-6 6-1, as the first and third sets were over in less than 30 minutes. Dolgopolov failed to produce break points against a breakable Nishioka in either set. The second set saw Nishioka suddenly lose form, but despite that, he didn’t waver heading into the third, and Dolgopolov’s fitness issues revealed themselves, with the Atlanta heat not helping. Dolgopolov and his teammate Sergiy Stakhovsky later withdrew from the doubles match they were scheduled to play against Raja/Sharan.

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Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos continued his great run of form in Atlanta this week, as he dispatched Tobias Kamke 6-1 6-4. Kamke got off to a slow start, and Zeballos, who isn’t a great server, wasn’t really under pressure in his service games throughout the match.

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In the lone doubles match played Thursday, Demoliner/Garcia-Lopez defeated Marray/Shamasdin.

Six matches on tap for Friday

The doubles matches on Friday will be Eubanks/Kennedy vs. Molteni/Zeballos, and Brunstrom/Siljestrom vs. Monroe/Sitak. in Singles Zeballos faces Nishioka, Verdasco will be opposite Kyrgios, and a pair of All-American battles will take place with Opelka facing Young, and Isner taking on Fritz in the late match.

 

 

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Garcia-Lopez Upset, Verdasco Advances, Tuesday @bbtatlantaopen

Posted by Admin on August 3, 2016
Posted in: Atlanta, ATP, BB&T Atlanta Open, On Site, Steen Kirby. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Garcia-Lopez Upset, Verdasco Advances, Tuesday at 2016 BB&T Atlanta Open
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic\

The Spaniards at the 2016 BB&T Atlanta Open, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, and Fernando Verdasco had mixed results on Tuesday when both were in action on stadium court. A lengthy rain delay made the match between Garcia-Lopez and Horacio Zeballos take most of the afternoon, as Zeballos prevailed in an upset victory 6-3 6-7 6-4 over the Spaniard in two and a half hours of match play.

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Both players got off to a shaky start, but were able to hold their serves until the eight game of the match, where Zeballos broke Garcia-Lopez, and held the next game at love to capture the first set. Garcia-Lopez struggled mightily with his serve all match, his first serve percentage was under 50%, and the quality of his serves was lacking. Both players also hit a number of slow, and high spinners from their backhand side, as they didn’t seem entirely comfortable on hard court compared to clay. The hot conditions also took their toll on the volunteers, as well as the players, as a ball girl passed out in the first set, causing a delay.

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Despite his troubles on serve, Garcia-Lopez didn’t waver in the second set, saving a break point in his opening service game, and breaking Zeballos, who also served poorly, but methodically, to go up 3-1. Zeballos would break back, but had to save four set points to send the match into a second set tiebreak. Zeballos lost three straight points from 5-4 up in the tiebreak, and the match was sent into a third set.

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Garcia-Lopez played a poor third set however, as he was broken at love with a miserable game serving 1-2, and Zeballos would go 5-4 up, before rain came, and the Argentine had to wait over an hour to try to serve the match out. He was broken easily when the players returned to court, and Garcia-Lopez was given a second life, however, he was broken and lost the match in the next game serving 4-5, as Zeballos converted his second match point/break point opportunity. The frustrated Garcia-Lopez slammed his racquet on the ground, as Zeballos let out a roar of excitement. It was just not to be for GGL on the day. The win improves Zeballos to 11-5 in hard court matches this season, and he has reached the second round of an ATP main draw for the second tournament in a row.

Fernando Verdasco had better luck on the day against Dusan Lajovic, winning 7-6 6-4. A cagey match saw neither player earning a break point chance early and the first set going to a tiebreak. Verdasco took the initiative when needed, and then broke Lajovic midway through the second set, and held serve after facing two break points in the next game to go up 4-2. Lajovic was nearly ousted quicker than he was as he could have went down a double break, but he saved three break points to hold, and Verdasco went on to serve it out 6-4. Verdasco’s forehand was all he needed to dictate play on a hard court and smack winners when needed.

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French veteran Julien Benneteau played his best match of the season to earn a 6-4 6-2 win over J.P. Smith. Benneteau has just two ATP main draw wins this year now, but his game has clearly picked up. Benny didn’t face a single break point, as Smith meekly conceded three breaks in total and was wiped off the court.

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Lucky loser Tobias Kamke made the best of his luck after the withdrawal of Ivan Dodig, upsetting Sergiy Stakhovsky 7-6 7-6 to reach the round of 16 in two hours. Stako blew two set point chances in the first set tiebreak, and he faced pressure on his serve most of the day, as his serve and volley skills were lacking consistency, while Kamke was more consistent with his groundstrokes on the day. Stako’s struggles this season continued as his high risk style of play saw him getting passed at the net when it mattered. Stako was playing better in the second set and went up 4-2, looking prepared to force a third set, but he was broken back in the next game, and had to save break points serving 4-4 and 5-5 to eventually force a second set tiebreak. Kamke dominated that tiebreak, going 5-0 up, and he would eventually take it 7-2.

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Yoshihito Nishioka showed signs of improvement in dealing with American heat, as he got past Dan Evans 6-2 6-7 7-6 in a match that also saw a lengthy rain delay late in the third set that paused play for over an hour. In Washington, Nishioka wilted in the hot conditions, but this time it was Evans struggling with his fitness, as the British man earned no break point chances in the first set, and was broken twice with relative ease, including at love serving 2-5. Evans went down a set and a break twice in the second set, and looked ready to hit the showers when he was 4-2, and 5-3 down.

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Nishioka got tight serving the match out and after having to save three break point chances against Evans, he found himself dominated in the second tiebreak, going down 4-0, and losing it 7-2. Nishioka had two more bp chances early in the third, and rain came at 4-3 in the third. Nishioka found himself broken when he returned to court, and Evans had three match point chances from 40-15 up in the next game. However, Nishioka’s speed got him back into the match, and after saving a fourth match point chance in his next service game, Nishioka converted his second match point chance to take the victory in three hard fought sets to the delight of a few local Japanese fans.

Last, but certainly not least, Americans Taylor Fritz and Bjorn Fratangelo were big winners on the day. Fritz dominated college standout Austin Smith 6-2 6-2, despite loud chants for Smith throughout the match. The young American’s power from the baseline was too much for the Georgia Bulldog. Fratangelo rolled past Igor Sijsling 6-1 7-6. Early in the first he broke, and had to save six break point chances in an extremely long first service game, but Sijsling wilted from there. Fratangelo went a set and a break up, although he couldn’t serve it out, the Dutchman never really got a shot at a third set, as the American had the match in hand.

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In the lone ATP doubles match on the day, Chris Eubanks and Zack Kennedy upset Thiago Monteiro and Nishioka in a narrowly fought third set tiebreak, as the pairing of local NCAA players produce some late magic to stay in the tournament.

Wednesday Preview 

Americans will feature in all of the four singles matches that are set to take place today at the BB&T Atlanta Open. Big men Kevin Anderson and Reilly Opelka will battle with their big serves, while Tim Smyczek and Donald Young fight it out for a much needed quarterfinal berth after that. In the night session, John Isner starts his quest for a fourth ATP Atlanta title against Adrian Mannarino, and Fritz will face Fratangelo in a battle of young Americans. Five ATP doubles matches will take place as well.

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Young Frenchmen Pouille and Hemery Qualify in Hamburg and Gstaad

Posted by Admin on July 27, 2015
Posted in: Adam Addicott, ATP, Gstaad, Hamburg. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Young Frenchmen Pouille and Hemery Qualify in Hamburg and Gstaad
Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic

ATP Hamburg Qualifying Recap

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Top seed Lucas Poullie booked his place in the main draw of the International German Open after surviving two tricky matches. In the first round he played former top 40 player Carlos Berlocq. After dropping the opening set to the 32-year-old, Poullie battled back to win 3-6, 6-1,6-3 to set up a final match with another Argentine player, Renzo Olivo. Similar to the first round the Frenchman dropped the first set before winning 5-7, 6-2, 6-2. Pouille is currently at a career high ranking of 87th in the world. Recently he reached the semi-final of the ATP Poznan Challenger in Poland before losing to eventual champion Pablo Carreno Busta.

Another player who is currently at their career ranking high is Íñigo Cervantes. The world No.117 has claimed three Challenger titles this year with his most recent being in Germany at the start of this month. During qualifying he shocked eighth seed and fellow countryman Daniel Muñoz de la Nava to win 6-4, 3-6,6-3. In the last round he played Slovakia’s Norbert Gombos. Gombos beat third seed Damir Dzumhur in the first round. Cervantes made light work of Gombos as he won 6-4, 6-4, to move into the main draw.

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Taro Daniel is the only player to qualify for the main draw without dropping a set. After beating German wild-card Daniel Masur in straight sets. He faced another German test which was in the form of Maximilian Merterer. Merterer knocked out Italian second seed Marco Cecchinato in the first round. The inexperienced 20-year-old was no match for Daniel as he only dropped four games to win 6-3,6-1.

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Finally, Albert Montanes encountered a major blip before beating Germany’s Mischa Zverev 6-0, 2-6, 6-4. After losing the second set, Zverev opened up a 3-0 lead in the final set before the Spanish player staged an impressive comeback to edge the German out after two hours and 11 minutes. Since June, Montanes has reached the final at three Challenger tournaments, narrowly missing out on the titles.

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First round match results for the qualifiers

Taro Daniel and Albert Montanes were both shown the door, Daniel falling to Jerzy Janowicz early on Monday, and Montanes falling to German veteran Florian Mayer. Pouille beat Cervantes in a qualifier vs. qualifier matchup.

ATP Gstaad Qualifying Recap

Following top seed Facundo Bagnis early exit in the first round of qualifying at the ATP Swiss Open. The draw opened for some of the lesser known names on the ATP Tour to get their own taste of life on the main stage of men’s tennis.

20-year-old Calvin Hemery knocked out two seeded players to reach his first ATP main draw event. The Frenchman stunned 4th seed Gerald Melzer in round two before beating Italy’s Andrea Arnaboldi in three sets in the final round. After suffering a first set hammering, Hemery beat the Italian 1-6, 6-3,6-2. The 20-year-old is currently at a career ranking high of 211th in the world. In May he won his first pro title by winning the Italian F9 Futures.

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Second seed Horacio Zeballos eased his way into the main draw following a 6-2, 6-4, win against fellow countryman Pedro Cachin. The Argentine encountered little difficulty during the three qualifying rounds with straight sets wins over Alexander Lazov and Tomas Lipovsek Puches prior to his final round triumph. The 30-year-old is currently ranked 136th in the world and is yet to claim a title this year. Going into the tournament, Zeballos beat Brazilian world No.89 Joao Souza to reach the quarter-final of the ATP Braunschweig Challenger.

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Elsewhere in Gstaad there was joy for former world No.83 Julian Reister as he qualified for his second successive ATP main draw. Last week he qualified for the main draw of the Swedish Open where he lost to Alexander Zverev in the first round. The German, who used his protected ranking to enter the draw, knocked out seventh seed Giovanni Lapentti in the first round before easing past Adrien Bossel in the second. In the final round, he had a tough match-up against 3rd seed Kenny de Schepper however, he breezed past the Frenchman with a 6-3, 6-3 win.

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Finally, Maxime Teixeira overcame two extremely close sets to beat world No.374 Daniil Medvedev. Teixeira required almost two hours on the court before winning 7-6 (5), 7-6 (12), with his eighth match point. The Frenchman also knocked out veteran player Nicolas Hanescu in the second round. This is the first time that the Frenchman has qualified for the main draw of an ATP event since the Stockholm Open back in 2012.

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First round match results for the qualifiers

Zeballos upset Andrey Rublev, Teixeira fell to Denis Istomin, while Hemery found himself foiled by Dusan Lajovic in straights, and Reister is still yet to play Blaz Kavcic who he trails in the h2h 1-3.

Adam Addicott TA Watermark

Introducing Your 2015 @Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Qualifiers

Posted by Admin on June 28, 2015
Posted in: ATP, Wimbledon. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Introducing Your 2015 @Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Qualifiers
Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic

Wimbledon Official Site

The Wimbledon qualifying draw encountered a series of shocks and surprises. It was a disastrous draw for the seeded players with none of the top ten players automatically qualifying for the main draw. Luca Vanni received a lucky loser spot in the main draw due to David Ferrer’s withdrawal. The highest seeded player to qualify was Dustin Brown, who was 12th. Despite the disappointing performance of the seeds, there are some qualifiers that have a good chance of causing a shock first round win.

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Vincent Millot

Age – 29

Ranking – 213 (career high of 147)

Titles – 4 Futures and 1 Challenger.

Vincent Millot booked a place in his first Wimbledon main draw after an impressive qualifying competition. In the first round the Frenchman knocked out top seed Kimmer Coppejans. He then beat Marius Copil and Edouard Roger-Vasselin to book a place in the main draw. Since January Millot has reached the quarter-finals at two Challenger tournaments in Saint Brieuc and Tallahassee. In the first round, he will play Vasek Pospisil.

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Alejandro Falla

Age – 31

Ranking – 130 (career high of 48)

Titles – 3 Futures and 11 Challengers
Alejandro Falla edged out Germany’s Andres Beck in four extremely close sets to book his place in his third Wimbledon main draw. Falla recently reached the second round at the Gerry Webber Open as a qualifier. During the tournament the Colombian beat Janko Tipsarevic and Lukas Lacko. He also took a set of Jerzy Janowicz before losing to him. He has reached one ATP quarterfinal in 2015 which at the start of the year in Auckland, New Zealand. In the first round he will play Robin Haase. Falla has beaten Haase once before on grass which was in the second round of last years Gerry Webber Open in Halle, Germany.

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Elias Ymer

Age – 19

Ranking – 133 (career high of 130)

Titles – 5 Futures and 1 Challenger
19-year-old Elias Ymer has a 100% winning record in qualifying draws for Grand Slams in 2015. Following his victory over third seed Guido Pella, he became the first player since Julian Reister (2013) to qualify for the first three Grand Slam main draws in the same year. In the main draw he will play Ivo Karlovic. The Swede currently has a main draw win-loss of 11-12 in 2015.

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Hiroki Moriya

Age – 24

Ranking – 174 (career high 143)

Titles – 5 Futures and 1 Challenger

Hiroki Moriya’s recent run of disappointing results finally ended with him qualifying for the main draw at Wimbledon. Going into the tournament, the Japanese player exit in the first round in five out of last six tournaments. During the qualifying tournament, Moriya beat fourth seed and countryman Tatsuma Ito before producing a straight sets win over Matteo Donati. The best result of 2015 for the 24-year-old was reaching the semi final of the Batman Challenger in April. Awaiting Moriya in the main draw will be 9th seed Marin Cilic.

Luke Saville, Newport

Luke Saville

Age – 21

Ranking – 182 (career high 152)

Titles – 6 Futures

Double junior Grand Slam champion Luke Saville booked his place in the main draw after recovering from two sets down to beat Luca Vanni. In the lead up to Wimbledon, Saville reached the final of the Surbiton Challenger where he lost in straight sets to Sam Groth. The 2011 Wimbledon boys champion will play Richard Gasquet in the first round.

Igor Sijsling, ATP Newport, Copyright TennisEastCoast.com 2012

Igor Sijsling

Age – 27

Ranking – 170 (ranking high 52)

Titles – 5 Futures and 6 Challenger
Igor Sijsling will play in his 9th consecutive Grand Slam following an epic five sets win over Paul-Henri Mathieu in the final round of qualifying. Since making the quarter-final of the Zagreb Open in February, the Dutch player has endured a series of early tournament losses which has contributed towards he decline to 170th in the world. In round one he will face Sam Querrey. Sijsling has played the American twice in 2012. He lost to him on both occasions.

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Pierre-Hugues Herbert

Age – 24

Ranking – 151 (ranking high 107)

Titles – 6 Futures and 2 Challenger.
Pierre-Hugues Herbert overcame Íñigo Cervantes in five sets in the final round of Wimbledon qualifying. The Frenchman won the Wimbledon Boys doubles title back in 2009 with Kevin Krawietz. He also achieved success in doubles on the pro circuit by reaching the final of the Australian Open earlier this year. More recently, Herbert reached back-to-back doubles finals in S-Hertogenbosch and Queen’s. He won the Queen’s title partnering Nicolas Mahut. He will play 19-year-old South Korean sensation Chung Hyeon in round one.

Sugita at Newport 2013, TennisEastCoast.com

Yūichi Sugita

Age – 26

Ranking – 149 (career high 116)

Titles – 12 Future and 3 Challenger

Yuichi Sugita ended British hopes by beating Dan Evans to make the main draw. This is the second Grand Slam main draw appearance in his career after Wimbledon last year. Sugita’s best result in 2015 was runner-up at the ATP Saint Brieuc Challenger in April. He was edged out in the final by Nicolas Mahut. Awaiting the Japanese player in the main draw is world number 111 Blaž Kavčič.

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Nikoloz Basilashvili

Age – 23

Ranking – 153 (career high 134)

Titles – 10 Future and 2 Challenger
2010 Wimbledon Boys champion Nikoloz Basilashvili enjoyed a comfortable journey into the Wimbledon main draw. After producing straight sets wins in the first two rounds, he beat Marton Fucsovics in four sets (6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2). The Georgian has claimed one title this year which was at the ATP Raanana Challenger in Israel. He will play Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis in the main draw.

JP Smith, 2012 Charlottesville (Photo: Steve Fogleman)

John-Patrick Smith

Age – 26

Ranking – 160 (career high 148)

Titles – 3 Future and 21 Challenger
John-Patrick Smith knocked out 18th seed Bjorn Fratangelo in the second round to reach the main draw. In the final round, he beat Czech Republic’s Jan Mertl in straight sets. Smith won his third Challenger title earlier this year in Drummondville, Canada. More recently he reached the quarter-finals of the Surbiton Challenger in Great Britain. He will play another qualifier, Kenny de Schepper, in the first round.

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Michael Berrer

Age – 34

Ranking – 139 (career high of 42)

Titles – 1 Future and 10 Challenger.
Veteran German player Michael Berrer endured a grilling five set match against 11th seed Adrián Menéndez-Maceiras before booking his place in the main draw. Berrer started 2015 in incredible fashion by beating Rafael Nadal at the Qatar Open. The German however, hasn’t been able to capitalize on the stunning upset with a series of unspectacular results on the tour. Except Qatar, his best performance was a semifinal appearance at a Challenger event in Israel in June. Berrer has played at SW19 five times before this year, losing in the first round of four of them. In his sixth Wimbledon first round main draw, he will play Adrian Mannarino.

Dustin Brown Winston Salem Open 2014

Dustin Brown

Age – 30

Ranking – 102 (career high 78)

Titles – 3 Future and 6 Challenger

Dustin Brown didn’t drop a set on his way to qualifying for his fifth Wimbledon main draw.

In the final round, he beat Italy’s Andrea Arbaboldi 7-6 (1), 6-3,6-4. Prior to Wimbledon, the German participated in back-to-back grass-court tournaments in Stuttgart and Halle. Brown’s best performance on the tour this year was reaching the quarter-finals in Doha at the start of the year. More recently he reached the quarter-final at a Challenger tournament in Rome last month. He will face Lu Yen-Hsun.

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Aleksandr Nedovyesov

Age – 28

Ranking 122 (career high 72)

Titles – 6 Futures and 3 Challengers.
Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Nedovyesov dismissed Belgium’s Yannick Mertens in three sets in the final round of qualifying. The Ukrainian born player has enjoyed success on the doubles tour in 2015 by winning two Challenger titles. In the singles he has recently reached the last four at the ATP Prague Challenger. He will play Serbian 22nd seed Viktor Troicki in the main draw.

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Horacio Zeballos

Age – 30

Ranking – 128 (career high 39)

Titles – 1 ATP, 13 Challenger and 4 Futures

Clay-court specialist Horacio Zeballos upset 14th seed Ivan Dodig to reach the main draw of Wimbledon. The Argentine is yet to make a final in 2015 but he has reached the semi-finals of Challenger tournaments in Moscow, Russia and Leon, Mexico. This will be the thirteenth time he will participate in a Grand Slam main draw.  He will play David Goffin in round one, a player who he beat in Miami last year.

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John Millman

Age – 26

Ranking – 119 (career high 118)

Titles – 7 Futures and 5 Challenger
15th seed John Millman beat a trio of unseeded player to reach the main draw. In the final round Millman overcame a slow start to edge out France’s Enzo Couacaud 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. The Australian has been runner-up in two Challenger tournaments this year (Vicenza, Italy and Kyoto, Japan). He will play 16th seed Tommy Robredo.

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Kenny de Schepper

Age – 28

Ranking – 163 (career high 62)

Titles – 2 Futures and 4 Challengers.
Finally, Kenny de Schepper overcame tough resistance from countryman Stéphane Robert to set up a main draw showdown against another qualifier, John-Patrick Smith. The Frenchman achieved his best Grand Slam performance at Wimbledon by making the 4th round of the 2013 tournament. Since the start of the year, Schepper has only won seven main draw matches.

Adam Addicott TA Watermark

Day 1 Qualifying Report From @RolandGarros 2015

Posted by Admin on May 19, 2015
Posted in: French Open, Guest Writer, On Site, Roland Garros. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

Day 1 Qualifying Report From Roland Garros 2015
Stefano Berlincioni for Tennis Atlantic

My first day ever at Roland Garros. My first day ever at a Slam. A dream come true for a tennis fanatic like me.

The weather forecast was poor, and in fact we had a lot of showers that due to high winds, blew over relatively quickly.

I had some personal favorites to watch and none of them disappointed me: win or lose if you give everything on court and you are nice with fans at the end of the match you will have my appreciation.

The most expected match of the day was probably Hyeon Chung-Jared Donaldson and the American young gun trashed his opponent. It has to be said that Chung was probably tired and surely not enough trained on clay but Donaldson played a superb attacking tennis. I think I watched the match near to Chung’s father, a Korean man dressed with a suit cheering for him (today was Chung’s birthday). Donaldson d. Chung 6-0 6-1

I was looking forward to watch the talent of Lamine Ouahab and he didn’t disappoint me: from the very first games firing sick winners and untouchable dropshots. He was up a break in the third set against the Colombian veteran Alejandro Falla, and missed by 2 centimetres a break point for *4-1 then he collapsed due to tiredness: in last game he only served and volleyed. Falla d. Ouahab 6-3 3-6 7-5

On the same court Taro Daniel and Dustin Brown played an intense match with Dreddy playing his usual great to watch no margin tennis and Daniel being very solid from baseline, in the end also here the more consistent player, Daniel, won the match. Daniel d. Brown 6-3 5-7 7-5

Filippo Volandri and Alex Zverev won both a first set tiebreak and an easy second set but at least Austin Krajicek fought until the en against Volandri, an Italian veteran, while Horacio Zeballos tanked especially the last game serving on 6-7 0-5. The Argentinean ripped his T-shirt on 6-7 0-4 and kept on playing without changing it. Zverev d. Zeballos 7-6 6-0, Volandri d. Krajicek 7-6 6-1

I was curious to watch the 16 year old Corentin Moutet as I had a good impression from him last year during an Under 18 ITF event in Italy and he performed quite well in last months ITF Pro Tour. He disappointed me because he played with very childish attitude, complaining with himself after every point and was on the verge of crying. He even got a penalty point after he destroyed his racquet. His tennis is quite good considering his age but the attitude is surely to be improved. Michael Berrer d. Moutet 6-2 6-2

The most epic match of the day was Luca Vanni- Adrian Ungur. I watched the first games and Vanni was playing extremely well as he went two breaks up. He won the first set and I came back for the second set tiebreak where he played horrible tennis from 3-3. The third set was full of drama. The rain stopped the match a couple of times and both players could not convert easy chances with opponent serving 15-30. Until the first rain break I would have picked Ungur to win the match as Vanni looked quite fatigued but especially after the second break Vanni played very aggressive. Ungur lost the match because he framed 3 shots when serving 40-15 on 14-15. The players were cordial towards each other on court, trusting each other on calls and applauding the great shots of their opponent. The funniest moment of the day was when Vanni served on 6-6 third set, he won the point and he went for return: he thought he was 1-0* up in the final tiebreak but was just 15-0 because at RG they don’t have final set tiebreak and he didn’t know. Everyone laughed. Vanni d. Ungur 6-4 6-7 16-14

I watched the end of the match between Luke Saville and Farrukh Dustov with Australian players close to me (Daria Gavrilova and Thanasi Kokkinakis): was amazing to see them cheering so much…and they helped! Saville managed to win from break down in third set. Saville d. Dustov 3-6 7-6 6-4

I am from Italy and I have to say a lot of Italians played solid matches today: Volandri, Thomas Fabbiano, Marco Cecchinato, Matteo Viola, Andrea Arnaboldi…just Roberto Marcora lost to Elias Ymer who is a great young talent and played an aggressive match.

Another possible epic match was Mathias Bourgue against Brydan Klein but when I arrived on 7-7 third set Bourgue failed to convert two break points and after that Bourgue started cramping and Klein held and broke for the match. Klein d. Bourgue 3-6 6-2 9-7

Award for loudest cheering of the day is for Constant Lestienne’s fans: I didn’t manage to watch a single point of that manage but I could hear his fans from every court.

I loved every single moment there (well, apart from the 10 euros hotdog menu!) and I can’t wait to go again tomorrow.

2015 Noumea and Happy Valley Challenger Previews and Predictions

Posted by Admin on January 4, 2015
Posted in: ATP Challenger, Chris De Waard. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

2015 Noumea and Happy Valley Challenger Previews and Predictions
Chris de Waard, Tennis Atlantic

The Challenger Tour is ready to start off again, with two tournaments on hardcourts. One in Australia and the other one on the small island of New Caledonia, about 1200 kilometers east of Australia.

2015 Noumea Challenger Preview

Noumea Challenger

Challenger BNP Paribas
ATP Challenger Tour
Noumea, New Caledonia
January 5-January 10, 2015
Prize Money: $75,000

Seeds: (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Adrian Mannarino (44)
2: Kenny De Schepper (106)
3: Horacio Zeballos (123)
4: Jimmy Wang (124)
5: Yuichi Sugita (131)
6: Stephane Robert (134)
7: Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (135)
8: Bradley Klahn (148)

The last direct acceptance is Jonathan Eysseric, ranked 245th. Young Frenchman Laurent Lokoli entered the draw on a wild card and plays American Chase Buchanan in the first round.

First round match-ups to watch

(1)Adrian Mannarino vs. Enzo Couacaud

A French encounter between players who are almost ten years apart. 19 year old Couacaud made a big rankings jump in his final tournament of 2014, when he reached the semi-final of the Rennes Challenger, launching him from outside of the top 300 to inside the top 250. Mannarino ended 2014 with two Challenger victories in the United States, giving him a career high ranking of #44. He took a wild card into this tournament and should be a strong favorite to win it, considering he is the only player in the top 100.

(3)Horacio Zeballos vs. Gonzalo Lama

This is a match-up you would expect to find at the other side of the ocean, in South America and played on clay. But in preparation for the qualifying draw of the Australian Open, a lot of clay grinders are hitting the warm-up Challengers on hardcourt. Zeballos had an awful 2014 and was lucky to win a Challenger in Quito without beating a top 300 opponent, keeping his ranking somewhat respectable, albeit still almost seventy spots lower than he started 2014 with. Lama failed to win a set in his four hardcourt tournaments last year, but against this Zeballos, who knows?

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Top Half:

Adrian Mannarino is clearly the favorite here and realistically I can only see two players challenging him. The first one is comeback kid Steve Darcis, who ended his 2014 with a final, win and quarterfinal in three Challengers, launching him from #355 to his current ranking of #160. In 2013 he beat Mannarino in straight sets in Montpellier. The other one is #6 seed Stephane Robert, who is making his comeback after being out with injury since Wimbledon. But naturally it’s hard to predict how his form is going to be. Both Darcis and Robert can not face Mannarino until the semi-final.

Bottom Half:

The bottom half has a lot more uncertain factors, making it harder to predict. #2 seed Kenny De Schepper had a reasonably strong finish to 2014, qualifying for the Paris Masters and Basel, but in his last tournament he had a first round loss in a French Challenger against #295 Laurynas Grigelis. The safe bet is to back De Schepper and #4 seed Jimmy Wang to face each other in the semi-final.

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Predictions

Semis:
Darcis d. Mannarino
De Schepper d. Wang

Ranking wise Darcis beating Mannarino might look like an upset, but his level is a lot higher than his ranking suggests. 2015 may well be the year we see Darcis back into the top 50.

Final:
Darcis d, De Schepper

Happy Valley Challenger

2015 Happy Valley Challenger Preview

City of Onkaparinga ATP Challenger 2015
ATP Challenger Tour
Happy Valley, Australia
January 5-January 11, 2015
Prize Money: $50,000

Seeds: (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Blaz Rola (80)
2: Marcos Baghdatis (85)
3: Andrey Kuznetsov (92)
4: Paul-Henri Mathieu (96)
5: Aleksandr Nedovyesov (129)
6: Hiroki Moriya (146)
7: Michael Russell (158)
8: Marton Fucsovics (161)

The last direct acceptance is Liam Broady, ranked 196th. There are a couple of dangerous Australian wild cards in the draw as well: Alex Bolt, Jordan Thompson and John-Patrick Smith.

First round match-ups to watch

Philipp Petzschner vs. Matteo Viola

Former world #35 Petzschner came back in June, after a lengthy injury lay-off, but hasn’t been able to make an impact yet. His best result was a second round in Kuala Lumpur, where he lost a three set match against #13 Ernests Gulbis. Currently ranked 421st, he faces Matteo Viola. The Italian will be looking to start off 2015 better than he finished 2014, racking up five consecutive losses.

Top Half:

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1 seed Blaz Rola is projected to play former prospect Ryan Harrison in the second round. Will 2015 be the year where Harrison returns to his 2012 form? We will see. #7 seed Michael Russell will turn 37 this year, but will keep up the grind. He has a good draw, facing a qualifier in the first round and another qualifier or last direct acceptance Liam Broady in the second. In the second section there are a lot of guys who can get through to the semi-final, it’s a tough one to predict. #8 seed Marton Fucsovics has a kind draw and perhaps he can take advantage of the other heavy hitters being in the other section.

Bottom Half:

#2 seed Marcos Baghdatis made some pretty daft statements in the off-season, saying he aims to return to the top 50 in 2015 and eventually even the top 10 in 2018 or 2019, which seems wildly delusional. Nevertheless, top 50 should be possible for the current world #85, if he is healthy and motivated. He can make a firm beginning here, as he should be the favorite to win the title. Another player to watch in this half is Jurgen Zopp, the former world #71, who has struggled with his comeback from a serious injury in 2013 and 2014. But he finished off the year with a victory in the Helsinki Challenger, beating top seed and world #65 Jarkko Nieminen in the first round, so he should feel good coming into 2015.

Predictions

Semis:
Rola d. Fucsovics
Baghdatis d. Zopp

Final:
Baghdatis d. Rola

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TA Chris De Waard Header

Zeballos Shocks in Vina Del Mar, Gasquet Makes it 2 for ’13 in Montpellier, Cilic Nabs Zagreb Hat Trick

Posted by Admin on February 10, 2013
Posted in: ATP. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

ATP Vina Del Mar

World number 73 Horacio “Z ball” Zeballos of Argentina shocked Rafa Nadal in 3 sets 6-7 7-6 6-4 tonight. Zeballos gutted out a 2nd set tiebreak and broke at love after holding at love to take the match in the 3rd set for his first ever ATP title in his 2nd career final.

Zeballos was able to push Nadal around the court, even on clay, and played what was probably the match of his life with nifty shotmaking. He broke down in tears of joy at the conclusion.

It was Nadal’s first event back from a knee injury and it will be certain to leave a bitter taste in his mouth, even though he made the final.

Previously in the week Zeballos beat Diego Sebastian Schwartzman in 3, Pablo Andujar, Albert Ramos in 3 and Carlos Berlocq in straights.

As for Nadal, he actually looked ok in his first matches back, not 100% but still above average, scoring comfortable wins over Federico Del Bonis, Daniel Gimeno-Traver and Jeremy Chardy. Zeballos certainly caught him by surprise. The loss was just the third of his career after winning the 1st set on clay and his first loss to a player outside the ATP top 50 on clay since 2004.

Nadal also had success this week in doubles but fell short again in the final, as he and Juan Monaco lost to Paolo Lorenzi and Potito Starace.

ATP Montpellier

Richard Gasquet won his 2nd ATP title in 2 months and has only lost one match this year. He beat countryman Benoit Paire 6-2 6-3 in a slam dunk all-French final. Gasquet is red hot and mentally focused as he beat Gael Monfils, Julian Benneteau and Jarkko Nieminen, all in 3 sets to reach the final. All were competitive matches but Reeshie outlasted his opponents.

As for Paire, he reached his 2nd career ATP final and will be at a career high ranking as he slipped past Adrian Mendendez-Maceiras, Steve Darcis, Gilles Simon and Michael Llodra to reach the final. Llodra had knocked out Janko Tipsarevic in round 2.

In the doubles, it was also a victory for France, as Marc Gicquel and Llodra beat Johan Brunstrom and Raven Klaasen.

ATP Zagreb

Marin Cilic returned to victory, capturing his 3rd career Zagreb title 6-3 6-1 in his home country over a frustrated Jurgen Melzer. Cilic beat Grega Zemlja, Blaz Kavcic, and Mikhail Youzhny to reach the final, while Melzer, who had been struggling recently, had a bit of a lucky draw in beating Somdev Devvarman, Lukas Rosol and Robin Haase.

In doubles, Julian Knowle and Filip Polasek beat Croatians Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic.

—Steen Kirby