Defending Champions Keys, Medvedev Lead 2020 Western & Southern Open Singles Fields
CINCINNATI (JULY 29, 2020) – Ten former champions headline the players on the initial singles entry lists for the 2020 Western & Southern Open that will be held Aug. 20-28 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
The initial entries include both defending champions: Daniil Medvedev for the ATP Tour and Madison Keys for the WTA.
Former men’s champions who have entered the ATP Masters 1000 also include the top two players in the ATP Rankings – No. 1 Novak Djokovic (2018 winner) and No. 2 Rafael Nadal (2011) – along with Grigor Dimitrov (2017) and Marin Cilic (2016). Two-time champion Serena Williams (2014-15) will join Keys, Kiki Bertens (2018), Garbiñe Muguruza (2017) and Karolina Pliskova (2016) as past WTA champions in the Premier 5 field.
The women’s field includes five Major champions in Williams, Muguruza, Sofia Kenin, Petra Kvitova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2019 W&S Open runner-up. Three men’s entrants – Cilic, Djokovic and Nadal – are past Major winners.
The women’s field, which features 39 of the top 53 players in the WTA Rankings, includes seven players aged 21-or-under. Sixteen-year-old Coco Gauff will make her Western & Southern Open debut and will be joined by fellow teens Amanda Anisimova (18) and Iga Swiatek (19) to join a youth movement that also includes 20-year-old Dayana Yastremska. Kenin, a 2019 Western & Southern Open semifinalist who won the 2020 Australian Open, leads a group of 21-year-olds that includes Elena Rybakina and Marketa Vondrousova.
Forty of the top 43 ranked ATP players have entered on the men’s side. One teenager, 19-year-old Felix Auger Aliassime, leads five men aged 21-or-under in the field. Four of the entrants from the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings are under the age of 25: No. 5 Medvedev (24), No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas (21), No. 7 Alexander Zverev (23) and No. 8 Matteo Berrettini (24). The top eight seeds in both draws will receive first round byes. Twelve players will be added to each field through a two-round qualifying event that will be held Aug. 20-21. The deadline for players to enter the qualifying event is Aug. 3. Four men and five women will be awarded wild card entries into the main draw singles fields.
Main draw play for the Western & Southern Open will begin on Aug. 22. Both singles finals will be held on Friday, Aug. 28, with the WTA final taking place at 2 p.m., and the ATP Tour’s at 4 p.m.
Further details for the 2020 tournament will be announced in the coming weeks, and all aspects of the event are subject to change.
Roger Federer captured Grand Slam #18 at the age of 35 this past weekend with his five set victory over long time rival Rafael Nadal 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3. Federer turned back the clock for two weeks in Melbourne, after missing of half of 2016 due to a back injury. The swiss legend took advantage of the quick surface in Melbourne to gain key advantages against Rafa in the three sets he won. Nadal was broken early in the three sets he lost, and in the fifth set, he was up a break, but lost it, going on to surrender the match. When Federer slipped into more passive play, Nadal took advantage with his topspin forehand, but from the start of the second week, with Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray defeated, the tournament looked to be Federer’s to lose.
Federer had not won a title since 2015, and hadn’t won a slam since 2012, many thought he had at most a couple years left on tour. He still may have a couple of years left, but those years are all the sudden looking a lot more promising. The injury layoff gave Federer time to rest and recuperate, and in the right conditions, his ability to play masterful attack tennis is still good enough to beat almost every ATP player on tour.
Federer also showed renewed stamina, outside of his three set victory over Mischa Zverev, who served and volleyed his way into the quarterfinals, ending Andy Murray’s bid for a first AO title, the two other Federer victories to reach the final in week 2 were in five sets. Semifinalist Stan Wawrinka couldn’t keep up sustained pressure after coming back from 2 sets to 1 down. Kei Nishikori also forced a fifth set against Federer, but his serving wasn’t strong enough to take the 5th in their round of 16 match.
Nadal was an underdog all tournament, having not won a hard court title since early 2014. The 30 year old Spaniard was pushed to his limits against Grigor Dimitrov, in his second five set contest of the tournament, but in the end, Nadal’s experience and poise was too much for the less accomplished Dimitrov, who has been playing great tennis in 2017. Milos Raonic and Gael Monfils were Nadal’s two other victims, despite being top 10 players, they were no match for Rafa’s movement, and forehand pace.
Federer’s victory and Nadal’s finals appearance sets up an intriguing 2017 season. Djokovic and Murray remain the overall top 2 players, and should compete as co-favorites for the remaining three Grand Slam titles this season. At Wimbledon and the French Open however, Federer and Nadal will have key roles to play. A renewed Federer is dangerous on a fast grass court, especially if he continues to hit the ball as flat as he did against Nadal. A healthy Nadal remains the king of clay, and has a fantastic shot at winning yet another title in Paris.
Dimitrov has shown signs that he could solidify a spot in the top 10, after an excellent start to 2017. His performance at the eight Masters 1000 tournaments this season will go a long way towards determing his fate however. Dimitrov has historically failed to live up to expectations in clutch moments.
Wawrinka also showed he’s not going to drop from the top 5 anytime soon, having his Swiss countryman back playing at a top level should push Wawrinka to up his game as well. Wawrinka and Dimitrov were both masterful in their quarterfinal matches, defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and David Goffin respectively.
Players on the second tier of the ATP tour in terms of accomplishment, such as Monfils, Raonic, Nishikori, and Marin Cilic are going to have to play much better if they are going to threaten the tour’s core of Djokovic, Murray, Wawrinka, and once again Federer and Nadal. They benefited from Federer and Nadal’s relative absence, especially on hard courts, but the competition level of the ATP tour just rose. Young guns such as Alexander Zverev, and Dominic Thiem are also fast improving too.
Henri Kontinen and John Peers took home the doubles title, defeating the legendary Bryan Brothers in straight sets. The Finnish/Aussie duo rose to prominence in 2016, and brought joy to home fans already in 2017.
Stuttgart Loves 2015 Champion Rafael Nadal and Nadal Loves The Mercedes Cup Andreas Thiele, Tennis Atlantic
Nadal wins on grass (photo credit: Andreas Thiele)
The last two days here in Stuttgart were very sunny and without any problems. At this weekend three matches were played, two Semi-finals on Saturday and the final on Sunday. As you already know, Rafael Nadal could gained the fourth grass title of his career and managed to defeat the Serb Viktor Troicki in two sets, concluding a week of intense matches for Rafa. Troicki performed very well in the first set against Cilic on Saturday, but – in short – his game wasn’t a similar threat to Nadal’s precise game. Nadal defeated Troicki 7-6(3), 6-3.
Semifinals: Nadal d. Monfils in 2, Troicki d. Cilic in 3
Gael Monfils didn’t perform up to a level needed to beat Rafael Nadal who has improved his forehand a lot. Monfils served better than on Friday when he faced Philipp Kohlschreiber, but his many unforced errors during rallies prevented him from troubling Rafa. Besides Nadal’s first service game, Monfils didn’t face any break point and he blew his chances then due to wrong shot selection. Nadal served very well and approached to the net successfully, though he had some forehand unforced errors Uncle Toni was critical of in the stands. It seemed the Frenchman was slightly cramping from his thighs, as his movements got even worse than the day before and Nadal could hold his serve easily with Serve-and-Volley after he avoided the break. Monfils made it too easy for Nadal who dictated the match without any pressure. Nadal improved his returns a lot and could read Gael’s serve with ease, breaking him in the middle of the set as Monfils double faulted when serving against the break. Monfils knowing Nadal was dialed in on his second serve, overcranked himself on first serves. Nadal didn’t have any problems to hold his serves then, though Monfils displayed some great shots and forehands.
Monfils looked deflated (photo credit: Andreas Thiele)
In the second set Monfils kept having problems holding his service, though he served 11 aces. Nadal returned too well and Monfils had problems staying focused on the match, put on a show and tried to hit many hot shots which didn’t get in. The crowd was delighted, but it didn’t help his game, he even laughed a lot and didn’t appear to be taking things too seriously. Monfils tried to strike at Nadal’s topspin on grass, the problem is you do a lot of UEs if you don’t move well enough to get every ball. Nadal didn’t have many problems dictating the rallies, predicted Monfils’ shots in the right spots and could let him move a lot. The very charismatic person – that’s how Nadal described Monfils – lacked the get up, did some great shots, but a double fault and a very silly backhand smash which went right into the net sealed Nadal’s break and just like in the first set he didn’t have problems to hold his last service game to win in a surprisingly short match 6-3, 6-4.
Nadal’s forehand worked very well a lot of times, but failed at crucial moments too. Nevertheless his forehand improved a lot compared with the first practice sessions when almost all his forehands reached the net or were far and few between out. His service which has a slice kick, since it ‘skirts’ the returner was lethal this tournament. Nadal reached a grass court final for the first time since Wimbledon 2011 (l. to Djokovic).
Viktor Troicki played fantastically in the first set against Marin Cilic. The Croat didn’t seem to be fit, even at practice he looked very troubled and unhappy with himself. Marin lost his first service game and had a rusty start to the match as he couldn’t put his plan into action to attack with his forehand. He committed too many unforced errors at the beginning of the match and didn’t have the depth in his shots to let Troicki on the baseline, Viktor could move forward often and approach to the net. He played an all-round solid first set and struggled in just one service game. Cilic had a chance at four break points but he couldn’t convert due to good serves and good shot selection, aside from that Cilic didn’t have the power in his shots to force errors. Nonetheless the Serb returned very well and the Croat had issues during his service games: Troicki had even set points on Cilic’s serve. Troicki’s groundies were good and he often varied, so Troicki had the rhythm to break Cilic.
Troicki (photo credit: Andreas Thiele)
In the second set Marin had issues and had to take the medical timeout, Troicki lost his rhythm to win the match in two sets. Both had more problems with their serves and long rallies took place in the second. Cilic started to return better as time went by and his shots had the depth they had previously lacked. Troicki found his keys to success again and returned very well at later stage of the set, many returns landed on the line. Cilic faced pressure, but many serve winners kept him in the match. Troicki also matching him with big serves, so the second set had to be decided in a breaker. Troicki didn’t have any chance in the breaker and Cilic redlined his game. Troicki by contrast committed unforced errors in crunchtime and wasn’t clutch enough.
In the third set Cilic had Troicki behind him as he won the rallies, returning well, and broke Troicki, but thanks to a pair of poor backhand errors, he failed to keep the break in hand and the te match was even again. Troicki saved himself after a very long service game, with three break points gone for Cilic. The breaker had to decide a set yet again, and therefore the whole match. Contrary to the second set tiebreak Cilic committed many unforced errors, above all with his forehand. He was more nervous than Troicki, perhaps feeling the pain of losing break point chances in the third set. Troicki took advantage of the situation, and served the match out 6-3, 6-7(1), 7-6(2). Vik achieved his first grass final ever and his second ATP final in 2015 (Sydney).
The crowd applauded Troicki (photo credit: Andreas Thiele)
Final: Nadal d. Troicki in 2
Before the match it was clear Nadal was the favorite. At his press conference he didn’t want to put himself under pressure and was even more relaxed than probably the tournament director and journalists were at his day before the final. Sweltering heat featured on the final day in Stuttgart and these were probably the best conditions for Rafael Nadal, a player of great stamina. It was a sell out like the past three days and this year’s tournament goes down in the history as one of the most successful ones ever for the Mercedes Cup. Both players,vying for a coveted Mercedes car, got a big cheer after their entry to the stadium, Nadal of course the fan favorite, but both looking comfortable playing in Germany.
Troicki served first and got off to a strong start. The Spaniard returned well in the beginning but wasn’t given time to rip his groundies.Troicki began with solid baseline game and good shots to keep the ball in play. Nadal committed the unforced errors at the beginning, and especially in his service game. A wrong shot selection, some tricky misses and a very good return granted Troicki the first break point. Nadal could save his serve with backhands crosscourt, and a great forehand down-the-line passing winner to get his game point and convert it with an ace. Troicki seemed unfazed and served again like he did at the beginning. He made the better start as he served better than the Spaniard and had more free points. Nadal won his service games after very long and exhausting rallies, exhausting particularly for Troicki. Nadal’s forehand down-the-line wasn’t as effective as usual, and Troicki began even to win the longer rallies. As time went by, Nadal could feel more comfortable with his forehand. He began to touch the lines with depth, and got more offensive in his service games, winning them without effort. Both served very well in the first set, but couldn’t hold a good level in returning. They won the service games more or less smoothly, apart from Nadal’s first one, and still needed time to adjust to the others game. Suddenly Nadal served two double faults serving at *3-4 and but managed to win the game then with huge services.
Troicki started strong (photo credit: Andreas Thiele)
Troicki was the one winning routine service games at this point, Nadal couldn’t return as well as he did against Monfils the day before. Whereas Vik sometimes returned great. and posed problems for Nadal. The Spaniard still held his service games and the breaker had to decide the first set. Though Troicki played a bit better and was leading in the most aspects, the Spaniard, known for clutch play, rose to the occasion. He won the first point Troicki served and extended his lead winning two more mini-breaks. The second time Troicki lost his serve was because of a double fault and he gifted his third point on serve due to a forehand unforced error. Troicki, who had a great shot selection before the breaker, began to fail too often at the important points and Nadal took the first set. as Troicki began to fold after he lost the first three points.
Nadal started again to serve very well in the second set and moved well on and behind the baseline. He anticipated more and more Troicki’s shots which slowly became powerless, and had the perfect answers to Troicki’s tests. Though Nadal’s forehand wasn’t at its classic best, his baseline game was enough for Troicki, who had many problems when forced to hit on the run. The Serb too often missed the sweet spot of his shots and was not in the zone, his shots also started to lack depth but Rafa still missed his chances to break Viktor. As Vik, how friends and players call him, served for the second time in this set, I heard Nadal’s uncle Toni Nadal, who was right behind him in the stands at this moment, shout very briefly in a very cryptic Spanish: “Play point to point”. Nadal began to play very aggressively, passed Troicki with his backhand and started to return sharply. A double fault vanished a good run of two won points. Toni Nadal must have realized his nephew was a bit too nervous, always thinking in games and his uncle tried to remind him what they talked about earlier in a subtle way.
Rafa was clutch on serve (photo credit: Andreas Thiele)
Troicki felt the pressure as Rafa raised his level and finally lost his service. His poor second service was the result of a failed first one which was a very close call. Troickiwas confused a bit as Lahyani already started to say ‘Let…’, but the linesman called it out and Nadal just nodded. Troicki didn’t challenge and his second serve wasn’t threatening enough, a forehand UE clinched the break. This exchange shows how important the mental side of the game is in tennis, and Troicki failed a crucial test. It was the only break point in the third set and thus perhaps the most important point of the match. After getting broken Troicki faded and Nadal servbotted his way to holds without worrying about securing a double break.
As I sat in the first row, it seemed to me Nadal was a bit fraught, his uncle tried to motivate him and keep the pressure on but after a great serve-and-volley to have two match points, Troicki pushed one final time. Long rallies and some great winners happened, at deuce Nadal played a very harmless volley at the net and Troicki responded with a backhand into the net. He yelled and was off the wall, the Spaniard gained the control again to close the match with a smash winner. A very good match which had its highs and lows, but more highs and the deserved winner was Rafael Nadal 7-6 6-3.
Nadal adds sorely needed ranking points as he had slipped down in the rankings, nearly outside the top 10, while Troicki moves up to 25.
Many Rafa-fans have shown up in Stuttgart and he didn’t disappoint the fans! He took his time, gave many autographs and took a lot of photographs with spectators and supporters. Even the press conferences were always relaxed as he gave detailed answers. Congratulations, Rafael Nadal, on your third Mercedes Cup (he won it twice on clay). Stuttgart showed great appreciation and love for their champion.
Rafa was great with fans! (photo credit: Andreas Thiele)
It should also be noted that Florin Mergea and Rohan Bopanna won their second ATP title of the season in doubles over Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares.
Bopanna and Mergea won the dubs (photo credit: Andreas Thiele)
Courtside Videocast brought to you by Tennis Atlantic and The Grandstand (TennGrand.com) Episode 7: Miami Open ATP & WTA Discussion Courtney Massey, Tennis Atlantic
In this weeks episode of Courtside, our own Courtney Massey aka The Traveling Fangirl steps into the hosting chair and is joined by fellow Tennis Atlantic journalists, Niall Clarke and Joe Craven. The main focus is aimed at the men’s and women’s action in Miami, Florida. The trio break down the ATP and WTA draws with their surprises and predictions, followed by a discussion about the players and what they prefer watching as a fan, and later on Courtney gives you some “In Case You Missed It” moments that happened on social media. This episode takes a lot of unique and comedic turns that included professional wrestling references, bird lingo, and playful digs at one another. You don’t want to miss this one!
We hope you enjoy this week’s episode and return to Tennis Atlantic for everything tennis! Remember, feedback is encouraged so let us know what you think of Courtside. Feel free to follow the new official twitter account of the show @CourtsideCast . Questions. Comments. We love it all! Thank you!
Stan Wawrinka narrowly avoided his second shocking opening round match loss in a row, as he had to scrape past the gritty Carlos Berlocq 6-7(9) 7-5 6-2, on a windy afternoon at the Miami Open. Wawrinka opened the match in the same poor form that had seen him exit the Indian Wells masters tournament to underdog Robin Haase in his last match, and Berlocq clearly was spurred on by that previous upset, as he fully believed he could win the match, at least for the first two hours of it.
Berlocq staved off two match point chances to hold 2-2 in the first, and then shockingly broke Wawrinka for 4-3. Wawrinka would calmly, and easily break him back, evening the match up, but the Swiss couldn’t convert a set point chance 5-4 up, on the Argentine veteran’s serve to clinch the opening frame. Berlocq ball bashed his way to a first set tiebreak, and it was handled incredibly poorly by both players. Wawrinka had to save a multitude of set points, some of which were on Berlocq’s serve, and couldn’t convert his own, eventually letting the Argentine close it out 11-9, in an error filled, and sloppy first set. At the end of the set, Wawrinka sent his racquet on a ride enraged at having blown his chance at a routine victory against an underdog opponent, and guaranteed the need for three sets of tennis if he was to come back, which is never something a top player wants in the opening round.
Wawrinka got off to a good start in set 2, and broke Berlocq at love, as the Argentine was perhaps still delirious from his tiebreak triumph. He would recover, breaking back for 2-2. He later saved break points for a 4-3 lead, but Wawrinka would save a pair serving 3-4 to prevent the Argentine from having the chance to serve out the match. Berlocq would be broken on the third break point chance of the game at 5-5, and Wawrinka would eventually close out the second set 7-5 on his third set point chance, as it was a long and grinding game.
Come the third set, Wawrinka had the momentum, and the hopes of Berlocq began to fade, Wawrinka rushed out to a 5-1 lead, and though Berlocq would save a match point on his own serve, in what was a long game at 1-5, Wawrinka would close the match out on his fourth chance to do so, finishing 6-2, as the third set was still quite long, and more challenging than the scoreline would indicate for the Swiss number 2. All the same, he will be pleased with his tenacious victory, having mentally overcome the horrors of Indian Wells.
Joining Wawrinka in the third round is another player top player who has been prone to be upset this year, that being Spanish lefty Rafael Nadal, as he blitzed past his countryman, and occasional rival Nicolas Almagro 6-4 6-2.
Rafa was trademark quality in his opening match in Miami (photo credit Esam Taha)
The world #3 took on a somewhat on form Almagro in a tricky matchup. Almagro had to battle past Sergiy Stakhovsky in the 1st round, who’s in the form of his career, and staved off a massive collapse to do so. Nico himself has been finding his rhythm lately after the injury layoff, making a deep run in Buenos Aires before losing to Monaco in the semifinal. Nadal meanwhile has been looking like a shadow of his old self since returning from injury. Having said that he looked much better in Indian Wells, although he would lose to a Raonic that he would’ve likely put away a couple of years ago. Playing well in Miami would provide the Spaniard with a pivotal confidence boost entering the clay season.
The first set didn’t start off the way Rafa would’ve liked, piling on unforced error early on as he struggled to hold serve. Almagro meanwhile looked much sharper, getting nice pace on his forehands and placing the one-handed backhand well. However, completely against the run of play, Nadal would find a way to break Almagro to take a 2-1 lead, as the latter double faulted and missed a forehand sitter. Nadal would consolidate the break to go up 3-1. Nico would not be let down by the break and continue to put Nadal on the backfoot with some attractive attacking tennis, holding at love to keep the lead at a single break. Nadal still seemed a bit shaky with several shanks and uncharacteristic misses, but managed to hold serve to keep the lead at 4-2. Nico’s level at this point would start to deteriorate, committing error after error, but he still managed to hold.
At this moment in the match the tennis wasn’t of the highest quality. Almagro would sum that period of play by producing back to back double faults, falling into a 0-30 hole. He would regain his composure with some good serving and force Rafa to serve out the set at 5-4. Almagro would somehow keep himself in that pivotal game despite not playing his best tennis, and eventually generate double break point. Nadal however would step his game up, he had started to find his groove towards the tail-end of the 1st set. Both break points were be saved. Almagro would have another break chance but blew that as well. The set was be sealed with the point of the match. Nadal played incredible defense to keep himself in a point, that Almagro virtually won twice, before turning defense into offense with a blistering DTL forehand winner to freeze a stunned Almagro. The Miami crowd going wild at the beautifully played point.
Nico was feisty on the day but came up short (photo credit Esam Taha)
Almagro still had some fight left in him, he would hold with relative comfort to kick things off in the 2nd. Nadal would hold easily and it was clear to the crowd that the 4-time Miami Open finalist had elevated his level. Rafa was now hitting his spots and Almagro was having trouble dealing with the massive top spin the former generates. It didn’t surprise the crowd when Nadal broke a game later on double break point to go up 2-1. He would follow that with a quick love hold and generating break points again on Nico’s serve. Rafa would flash some of his doubles skills with some almost super-human reflexes at the net to generate those break points, leaving Almagro standing with his hand on his hips completely deflated. Nadal would get the break and put a firm grip on the set going up 4-1. Even when Nadal gifts Nico a couple of double faults, the latter found a way to not take advantage, this time he would miss a routine overhead smash. Nadal would serve at 5-2 to close out the match, and face little resistance from Almagro as he wrapped up a relatively routine 2nd round victory 6-4, 6-2.
Vamos! (photo credit Esam Taha)
After the match Nadal commented on his ankle in press, “I am well, no? I had just a little bit, how do you say, small torn in the beginning, so it was going to be tough. The day after I had pain, but after 2 days I improved 50% and stays the same. It’s not limiting my movements.” It appears Nadal is growing in confidence the more hard court matches he plays this season, as he was better here than in most of his Indian Wells matches.
Tomas Berdych, who may be on a track to face Nadal later on in the tournament, was also a winner today 6-3 6-4, as he had the early match against the South Korean teen Hyeon Chung, and adapted well to the conditions, and his unfamiliarity with Chung. The Korean young gun hung in there with the powerful Czech until he was broken to go down 4-2 in the first set, and though he responded boldly by breaking back, he couldn’t hold his serve in the next game, and eventually Berdych held to take it 6-3.
In the second set, Chung shockingly broke Berdych for 3-1, and was at one point 4-1 up, only to lose the plot, and find Berdych come back on him to even it up at 4-4. His inexperienced showed at that point, as he lost the next two games, and in fact five consecutive games from 4-1 in the second set, to lose the match in straight sets. He has a lot of raw potential, but it’s still going to be some time, and experience needed before he is a true threat to upset top 10 players like Berdych.
Tomas’s doppleganger, and most frequent opponent on the ATP Tour, Kevin Anderson, snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat 6-7 7-6 6-4 against Sam Querrey, a player he has struggled with before, and did for large parts of today. Though big Kev is ranked more than two spots higher than Querrey in the rankings, they were quite evenly matched on court. With big serving and powerful forehands the norm, Anderson saved a pair of break points in the first set, eventually forcing a tiebreak. Shockingly, both players saw their serve desert them in that tiebreak, but eventually Querrey would convert his second set point chance to take it.
In the second, Anderson had to break back Querrey twice, once 3-4 down, and the second time 5-6 down, when Querrey was serving for the match. The South African number 1, who rarely breaks his opponents serve, amazingly broke a choking Querrey from 0-40 in that final game of the second set. They went to another tiebreak, and Anderson continued his momentum, racing out to a 5-1 lead, that he never looked back from, finishing it off 7-3 to force a third set.
Querrey is severely lacking confidence in his game, and just like in Indian Wells where he lost a set and a break up against Sergiy Stakhovsky, he lost hope in the third, Anderson broke in the opening game, and then bludgeoned the American on serve to eventually close it out on his only match point chance 6-4.
We could see Anderson matchup with Andy Murray, playing at his personal training facility this week, later in the tournament. Murray dominated Donald Young yet again, 6-4 6-2. Murray had a minor slip up, after gathering a big lead 5-1 in the first, but otherwise Young was abysmally confident as he got ran off the court by the time the second set came around.
Austin Krajicek put up a valiant effort at an upset, but he would be the final domino that would confirm an 0-3 record for American men in day 4. Krajicek fell to Bernard Tomic 7-6 7-5, in a closely contested match, as Tomic had to work his way back into form from injury problems in Indian Wells, where he was a quarter-finalist. Other players into round 3 include Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (6-4 6-4 over J.L. Struff), Leonardo Mayer (6-4 7-6 over Jarkko Nieminen), Santiago Giraldo, who regained some form of his own, and snapped Robin Haase’s sudden momentum, with a 6-2 3-6 6-0 victory, and Dominic Thiem, who beat Feliciano Lopez for the second time in his career.
The Spanish slice server Flopez, who remains markedly improved as of late compared to his previous history, played a solid first set and got off to a strong start, but he failed to maintain his break of serve 4-2 up, and later he would be forced into a tiebreak, as Thiem would erase any chance at another break of serve. In that tiebreak, Thiem played brilliant tactically and technically, getting the one minibreak of serve he needed to go up a set. Lopez fought back, breaking to go up 4-2 in the second, and this time he fought off break point chances (two of them to be exact at 4-3), to eventually hold and force a third set. Lopez almost seemed fatigued in the third, as Thiem played some of his best tennis, and perhaps his best match of 2015, to score what is in fact the best win of the year for the Austrian young gun. He saved a trio of break point chances at 1-1 in the third, and never looked back, breaking for 3-1 and holding serve for a 7-6 4-6 6-3 victory. Thiem masterfully dealt with Lopez’s serve and volley aggressive, not getting rushed, or forcing his shots too much, his gameplan was executed to its peak, and he hit some masterful shots, especially passing shots, to the thrill of the crowd, in what was a high quality contest, with either player likely to beat many other players in the field, had they faced someone else.
All of the big names got through their 2nd round singles matches on Friday in Miami on the WTA side. Sloane Stephens beat fellow American Madison Keys in a slugfest 6-4 6-2, in what was a big win for her. Belinda Bencic beat Casey Dellacqua in an unexpected 3 set struggle 6-2 4-6 6-2, and Simona Halep ended, what would have been a cinderella run, from comeback kid Nicole Vaidisova 6-2 2-6 6-1. Still the Czech has to be pleased with her performance this tournament as a wild card, and taking a set off an elite WTA player bodes well for the rest of her season.
Sabine Lisicki beat her countrywoman Julia Goerges 7-6 6-7 6-4 in a matchup featuring power tennis at its best, Cici Bellis continued to make everyone feel old, as the 15 year old shocked a listless Zarina Diyas, the world number 32 in a mere hour 6-2 6-1. Italians Flavia Pennetta and Camila Giorgi both had the mojo to win, Pennetta 6-7 6-3 6-3 over Tsvetana Pironkova. and Giorgi more easily 6-3 6-2 over Alison Van Uytvanck. Garbine Muguruza was another seeded winner 6-1 6-3 over Sesil Karatantcheva, Ana Ivanovic avoided a collapse and slipped past American Irina Falconi 7-5 6-7 6-3. Ivanovic had three match points in the second set and served for the match. Victoria Azarenka destroyed Jelena Jankovic, who was likely fatigued, 6-1 6-1, Svetlana Kuznetsova relied on her experienced to beat Alison Riske 6-2 6-2 and Johanna Larsson upset Lucie Safarova 7-6 6-2, one of the few WTA upsets on the day.
The big doubles match of the day, and one of the biggest matches on the day in general, featured Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic, good friends and both leaders of Serbian tennis, teaming up to take on Robert Lindstedt and Jurgen Melzer. It was Tipsarevic’s first match back on tour in over a year, since more surgeries and a benign tumor in his foot kept him sidelined. The Serbian veteran baseliner was happy to be back on court, and not only seemed to relish playing with Novak, he also played well for himself, hitting some great shots, as did the world number 1. However, Lindstedt/Melzer play doubles much more often for a living, and their experience helped them to a 6-4 3-6 10-7 victory.
After the match, Novak did press, and here is what he had to say about his role in supporting his former top 10 countryman and friend, Tipsarevic.
“Yeah. It’s incredibly sad story with him in last 17 months. I know him for such a long time. We are great friends. His last official match was in October 2013, and ever since then he was suffering from injuries. Mostly from the heel that he had to operate I think two or three times. Along the way he also hurt some other muscles and joints. Just a very dreadful time for him. I tried to, as a friend and as a colleague, be close to him, to give him support, to let him know that I’m there and I wish him to have a speedy recovery and to come back as quick as possible. So the opportunity to play today with him was very special for me, really, as a friend and I cared very much to win this match today. I got very tight in the super-tiebreaker, I have to say, because it was a very tough match. We lost to two of the great, very good doubles players. But we talked after the match, and he appreciated the fact that he can actually play. Just feel that match play you know, have that sensation of how it feels and what it takes to be on the court. 17 month is a long time for injuries, and he’s also not young. You know, he’s now 31 this year, but he’s eager to play. He’s motivated. He feels 100% and he decided actually it’s better to skip this tournament in singles because he needed to a little bit more time to get in to it. Hopefully this doubles match today can help him. When he plays now in Houston after Miami he can perform his best. He can relax. He know, that’s the top 10. I really wish him that.”
Tipsarevic seemed to be pleased with his level of play, and given his general ease out there, I expect to see him fit, healthy, and perhaps causing some surprises the rest of the season, just like another Serb who made a recent comeback, Viktor Troicki did.
The other ATP doubles winners were Ryan Harrison/Rajeev Ram (1-6 6-4 10-4 over Eric Butorac/Sam Groth), and Nicolas Mahut/Edouard Roger-Vasselin (6-3 1-0 ret. over Viktor Troicki/Roberto Bautista Agut).
Martina Hingis and her partner Sania Mirza advanced over Bodgan/Melichar in WTA doubles 6-1 6-0, and in other scores, Babos/Mladenovic beat Date-Krumm/Pliskova 6-2 6-7 13-11, Dabrowski/Rosolska beat Medina/Tomljanovic 7-6 6-3, Hlavackova/Hradecka beat Aoyama/Voracova 7-5 4-6 10-5, and Makarova/Vesina, an all Russian pair, beat Krajicek/Zahlavova-Strycova 6-2 2-6 10-4.
Rain suspension adds to busy Saturday schedule in Crandon Park
The night matches were canceled due to rain in Miami, meaning the Saturday schedule is jam packed. Serena Williams, Aga Radwanska, and Caroline Wozniacki will all be action on stadium court in WTA singles, while top men’s players on stadium will be Novak Djokovic in the evening, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Grigor Dimitrov during the day.
Kei Nishikori will take to grandstand, as will top American John Isner, Venus Wiliams, and Milos Raonic, the Manitoba missile. American Jack Sock got pushed onto court 1, along with David Ferrer, talented shotmaker Alex Dolgopolov, and the Bryan Brothers.
Eugenie Bouchard, Gael Monfils, Borna Coric. Ernests Gulbis, and many other other intriguing, and fan favorite players have been pushed onto the outer courts given the tight schedule tomorrow.
As for matches in progress before the rain delay, Adrian Mannarino and Albert Ramos were locked in a struggle, one set each, before the rains came, and they will conclude with the third set of their match on Saturday. Two other WTA singles matches were also well underway at the time the rain struck, Heather Watson had dropped the first set to Angelique Kerber 7-5, and Sara Errani was on the verge of closing out Anatasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 4-1.
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