2013 ATP Dusseldorf, Nice Previews
2013 ATP Dusseldorf, Nice Previews
Steen Kirby, TennisEastCoast.com
It’s time for the final stops on the road to Roland Garros for the ATP World Tour.
ATP Dusseldorf
Power Horse Cup
ATP World Tour 250
Dusseldorf, Germany
May 19-May 25, 2013
Prize Money: € 410,200
Dusseldorf was formerly known as the “World Team Cup”, a team based event, but now it is just a normal clay court ATP 250.
Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes)
1: Janko Tipsarevic
2: Tommy Haas
3: Juan Monaco
4: Phillip Kohlschreiber
Dusseldorf manages to bring in a solid field for a pre-slam 250.
First round matchups to watch:
(5)Lukas Rosol vs. Daniel Brands
Rosol is at a career high ranking of 33, and is looking to break into the top 30 with a solid showing. He won Bucharest of course and has been red hot this year. Now he will run into Brands, who has a 3-2 career H2H against him, though they last played in 2011. Brands is also at a career high ranking of 58 and is having his own excellent year. This should be a matchup of heavy ball strikers.
Top Half:
Janko Tipsarevic, who has had a miserable year thus far, will once again try to get it going against a qualifier. After that, he could face countryman Viktor Troicki, Bordeaux Challenger semifinalist David Goffin, Grega Zemlja or Michael Russell. Troicki made headlines with a crazy meltdown in Rome in a match against Ernest Gulbis.
Juan Monaco, who defeated Tipsarevic in the first round of Madrid but lost in the first round of Rome to eventual semifinalist Benoit Paire, will play a qualifier or Go Soeda. For the next round, expect him to meet one of Benjamin Becker/Tobias Kamke, Dmitry Tursunov/Nikolay Davydenko, this is quite a hollow section for Pico.
Bottom Half:
Phillip Kohlschreiber, who retired in the 3rd round in Rome with symptoms of vertigo, will play Igor Sijsling or a qualifier. If he is healthy, he should face Rosol/Brands or Jan Hajek/Evgeny Donskoy in a big quarterfinal matchup. Donskoy lost in the first round qualifying of Rome.
Tommy Haas, the German number one who was dropped out of the first round in Rome, will play Blaz Kavcic or the underappreciated Ivan Dodig. The winner could face Jarkko Nieminen/Lukas Lacko, or Roberto Bautista Agut/Gilles Muller. Nieminen lost Round 1 to Gulbis in Rome, while Bautista Agut has slumped a bit after issues with his wrist. Haas defeated Dodig in the Munich semis recently.
Dark Horse: Dmitry Tursunov
Tursunov still has talent left at age 30, but he is just inconsistent at this point with it. Overall, he has a 10-6 record at the ATP level this year and his ranking is back to 57. If he beats countryman Davydenko, Becker/Kamke should be easy enough and then he probably runs into Monaco. They have only met once back in ’06 and thus it would be a fresh slate. That match could shake out either way, with Monaco being a slight favorite heading in. The quarter above with Tipsarevic, Goffin and Troicki as top players is considerably weaker, so it really comes down to the quarterfinal match in regards to how far he can advance.
Predictions:
Semis:
Monaco d. Goffin
Kohlschreiber d. Haas
Monaco, if in form,should cruise to the final. Goffin did well to make the Bordeaux Challenger semis but he may be fatigued from that, probably still has enough to beat the struggling Tipsarevic. Haas beat Kohlischreiber in the Munich final, but I have a feeling that if Peppo is healthy he will get revenge this time.
Final:
Monaco d. Kohlschreiber
This final is a tossup based upon form and health, as a Haas-Monaco final would be, but I’ll just flip a coin and say Monaco wins either way, probably in 3 sets.
ATP Nice
Open de Nice Cote d’Azur
ATP World Tour 250
Nice, France
May 19-May 25, 2013
Prize Money: € 410,200
Top 4 seeds (who all receive first round byes)
1: Albert Montanes*
2: Gilles Simon
3: Sam Querrey
4: John Isner
*Tomas Berdych was supposed to be the top seed in Nice but he withdrew, moving Albert Montanes into the number 1 seed line.
1st round matchups to watch:
Santiago Giraldo vs (WC) Gael Monfils
Giraldo is your average, steady but not fantastic clay courter, but what makes this match interesting is the form of Monfils. Le Monf is in the final of the Bordeaux Challenger after limping and jumping his way through injuries and rust and everything else this year. It is impossible to predict what form and health he will show up in here. He could either do really well or bomb out in the first round. It really is something to watch.
Top Half:
The alternate, Montanes, will play Albert Ramos or Victor Hanescu. Then, Ramos will likely face Marcel Granollers or Carlos Berlocq. Leo Mayer and Paul-Henri Mathieu are also options in a literally wide open section.
Sam Querrey, who has looked aloof on Red Clay thus far, will play a qualifier and then could play Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Alejandro Falla, Ricardas Berankos or Denis Istomin. Querrey has been poor on clay, but this section is one of the least troubling he could ever hope for.
Bottom Half:
Top French seed Gilles Simon will play Paolo Lorenzi or a qualifier and then could meet up with Madrid semifinalist Pablo Andujar, if Andujar can beat Lleyton Hewitt and Andreas Seppi/Yen-Hsun Lu. Seppi has been playing below his normal level as of late.
John Isner, who has also struggled this year and looked aloof on clay, will play Robin Haase or Marinko Matosevic, and odds are lose to either one. After that, it will be Monfils/Giraldo, a qualifier, or Fabio Fognini.
Dark Horse: Gael Monfils
Monfils could either lose in the first round or win the entire tournament. It is that wide open of a draw and he is that unpredictable right now. After the match with Giraldo he could play Fognini again, a difficult but winnable match. If he gets through that Robin Haase is his likely opponent, followed by Andujar, Lorenzi or countryman Simon, who he just loves to rally with.
Predictions:
Semis:
Ramos d. Roger-Vasselin
Fognini d. Andujar
The top half is open and weak but I’ll go with Ramos, and randomly go with Roger-Vasselin simply because he is ok on clay and the home player. Even a qualifier could emerge as a semifinalist in that section.
Fognini should be able to get by Monfils and Haase and Andujar is dangerous but inconsistent. I say he beats the steady but bland Simon, though.
Final:
Fognini d. Ramos
This is a difficult tournament to predict, but I’ll go with Fogna in what would be a rematch of their 2nd round Monte Carlo encounter this year.
Nadal Rolls to 5th 2013 Title in Madrid
Nadal Rolls to 5th 2013 Title in Madrid
Rafael Nadal continued cruising on clay this week in Madrid, finishing off Stan Wawrinka 6-2 6-4 for his 5th ATP title of the year. Earlier in the week, Nadal took out Pablo Andujar, David Ferrer, Mikhail Youzhy and Benoit Paire. Andujar was a surprise semifinalist and beat Kei Nishikori in the quarters.
Wawrinka continued to have his own tremendous year, following up an Estoril title with wins against Marius Copil, Grigor Dimitrov, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych. His final 3 matches before making the final all went 3 sets, and he showed tremendous grit and fitness to win them all. For Berdych, meanwhile, he suffered another mental let down that let Wawrinka come back and win.
The Bryans won their 5th Madrid doubles crown over Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares.
—Steen Kirby
2013 ATP Rome Preview
2013 ATP Rome Preview
Rome is Burning
The final Masters before Roland Garros fired up today but my Editor couldn’t get his act together in time.
ATP Rome
Internazionali BNL D’Italia
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Rome, Italy
May 12-May 19, 2013
Prize Money: €2,646,495
Top 8 seeds (who all receive first round byes)
1: Novak Djokovic
2: Roger Federer
3: Andy Murray
4: David Ferrer
5: Rafael Nadal
6: Tomas Berdych
7: Juan Martin Del Potro
8: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
First round matchups to watch:
Phillip Kohlschreiber vs. (14)Milos Raonic
Kohlschreiber is back in action this week after a week off and he will take on the dangerous but still inconsistent Raonic, who followed up semis in Barcelona with a 2nd round loss in Madrid. They have met just once: this year at the Australian Open where Raonic prevailed, but that was on hard courts. Peppo will have a good upset chance here on clay.
Fabio Fognini vs. Andreas Seppi
Both Fognini and Seppi are coming off bad first round losses in Madrid and this will be a rematch of their match in Monte Carlo, which was won be Fognini. They are the top two Italian players and are playing at home in Rome, so expect an electric atmosphere and some great clay court tennis.
Juan Monaco vs. Benoit Paire
Monaco and Paire have never met and both come off 2nd round losses in Madrid (to Anderson and Nadal respectively). They both have serious talent on clay but at times their game can disappear and their chances with it. Expect a close match and some fireworks.
(WC)Paolo Lorenzi vs. (16) Kei Nisihkori
Nishikori and Lorenzi have also never met, but Nishikori should be buoyed by his upset of Roger Federer and his run to the quarterfinals in Madrid. He has a lot of talent and can be a top 10 player soon enough if he can simply stay healthy. The veteran Lorenzi will be at home in Italy and is steady on clay, thus this has to be a bit of an upset alert.
Top Half:
Novak Djokovic was shocked by Grigor Dimitrov in Madrid, and really played quite poorly in that match. Dimitrov was good, but he was not at his all. As a defending finalist in Rome, he will look to recover against Martin Klizan or a qualifier. Then he could meet the sizzling Stanislas Wawrinka, who won Estoril and in Madrid runner-up. Wawa will need to get past a qualifier, then Alexandr Dolgopolov or Matteo Viola. If he is fatigued from playing so much tennis as of late, Dolgo could at least give him a test.
Madrid semifinalist Tomas Berdych will open against John Isner or Denis Istomin, then could get a rematch against Kevin Anderson, who he just beat in Madrid in 2 tight sets. Anderson just needs to get through Jurgen Melzer and Marin Cilic or a qualifier.
Madrid quarterfinalist David Ferrer will play Fernando Verdasco, who improved his form in Madrid, or Horacio Zeballos. Then he could meet Kohlschreiber/Raonic, a qualifier or Albert Ramos.
Madrid champion and 6 time Rome champion Rafael Nadal will look to continue dominating on clay against the Fognini/Seppi winner and then Jarkko Nieminen, a qualifier, Janko Tipsarevic or Viktor Troicki. None of them seem threatening in the slightest.
Bottom Half:
Roger Federer was shaky in a loss to Kei Nishikori in Madrid, and just seems shaky in general. He lost the number 2 ranking to Murray for now, and he really needs to start earning some points given the shortened schedule he is playing. Federer could play Radek Stepanek in a rematch of Madrid R2, or Potito Starace, who was formerly a solid enough ATP pro but has fallen off a cliff rankings-wise. After that Federer could be troubled by Tommy Haas, if Haas can beat Mikhail Youzhny and Gilles Simon/Filippo Volandri. Simon/Haas Round 2 would be a huge match.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a Madrid quarterfinalist, will play Jerzy Janowicz or a qualifier. After that, he’s looking at Richard Gasquet, who was shocked in the opening round of Madrid, Sam Querrey or Marcos Baghdatis/Grigor Dimitrov. Dimitrov lost to Wawrinka after shocking Djokovic, but still showed a lot of heart and talent in that one. He and Baghdatis played a great semifinal match in Brisbane this year on hard courts, won by Dimitrov in 3 sets, but Baghdatis is way out of form right now.
The new ATP number 2, Andy Murray, will take on Marcel Granollers/Nikolay Davydenko. He should then meet Nishikori/Lorenzi, while Jeremy Chardy and Feliciano Lopez are also options.Murray has consistently been shaky at best on clay this year, and Nishikori could cause him problems.
Juan Martin Del Potro has recovered from a virus that kept him out of Estoril and Madrid. Del Po will play a qualifier or Xaiver Malisse, then Paire/Monaco or Nicolas Almagro/Julien Benneteau. This is a brutal section of the draw.
Dark Horse: Tommy Haas
Haas was playing well in Madrid this week, though he fell in 3 sets to Ferrer, and in general he is fit, in form, and playing well on clay this year. If he can beat the mercurial Youzhny and then likely Simon, he would almost have to be the favorite against a shaky Federer. After that he should play Tsonga/Dimitrov/Gasquet, all of which are winnable, even if he is an underdog in them. In the semis, Monaco/Del Potro/Nishikori/Murray/Almagro/Paire are all reasonable opponents in a tough section. I have Haas as a finalist this week.
Predictions:
R16:
Djokovic d. Wawrinka
Anderson d. Berdych
Ferrer d. Kohlschreiber
Nadal d. Nieminen
Monaco d. Del Potro
Nishikori d. Murray
Tsonga d. Dimitrov
Haas d. Federer
Djoker should be fresher than Wawa, if nothing else. Anderson should be fresher than Berdych, who suffered a late collapse in his Madrid semi. Ferrer could lose to Kohlschreiber, but he would have to the favorite. Nadal should cruise, Monaco should best his countryman, Nishikori/Murray will be tight but an edge to the man from Japan. Tsonga/Dimitrov should also be close, and as mentioned, Haas should beat fellow veteran Federer.
Quarters:
Djokovic d. Anderson
Nadal d. Ferrer
Monaco d. Nishikori
Haas d. Tsonga
Djokovic is a favorite against Anderson. Nadal dropped a set to Ferrer, but then bageled him in the 3rd set, as the two Spaniards seem locked in a track against each other. Monaco is better on clay than Nishikori, and Haas-Tsonga should be a slugfest.
Semis:
Nadal d. Djokovic
Haas d. Monaco
Nadal is better than Djokovic right now if he isn’t fatigued. Monaco has a better h2h against Haas (4-1), but they only met once in recent history (2012 on clay in Hamburg won by Monaco), and that doesn’t account for Haas current form.
Final:
Nadal d. Haas
—Steen Kirby
Haas Claims Munich Over Countryman Kohlschreiber, Wawrinka Upsets Ferrer in Estoril
Haas Claims Munich Over Countryman Kohlschreiber, Wawrinka Upsets Ferrer in Estoril
ATP Munich
The German crowd was delighted to watch Tommy Haas win his first title of the year at home in Munich 6-3, 7-6 over the German number 2 Phillip Kohlschreiber, who made the final again but failed to defend his title. Haas moves up to 13 in the ATP rankings after wins over Ernests Gulbis in 3 sets, Florian Mayer, and surprise semifinalist Ivan Dodig, who knocked off Marin Cilic and Alex Dogopolov en route to the semis.
Kohlschreiber got back on track with his season and put wins together against Evgeny Korolev, Viktor Troicki and Daniel Brands in a tight 3 set tiebreaker.
Jarkko Nieminen and Dmitry Tursunov won the doubles over Marcos Baghdatis and Eric Butorac.
ATP Estoril
Stanislas Wawrinka won the sparsely attended event over David Ferrer 6-1 6-4, as Ferrer made the final, but once again fell short of his intended goal as at top 4 player. Wawrinka beat Albert Ramos, Gastao Elias, and Pablo Carreno-Busta, who continues his tremendous year with his first ATP semi.
Ferrer and Wawrinka were hitting partners this week.
Ferrer beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Victor Hanescu and Andreas Seppi.
Santiago Gonzalez and Scott Lipsky won the doubles over Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer.
—Steen Kirby
2013 ATP Madrid Preview
2013 ATP Madrid Preview
Steen Kirby, TennisEastCoast.com
Mutua Madrid Open
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Madrid, Spain
May 5-May 12, 2013
Prize Money: € 3,368,265
Madrid got rid of the smurf dirt because it drove the ATP mad, and is back on the red dirt this time. It also overlaps with my birthday.
Top 8 seeds (who all receive first round byes)
1: Novak Djokovic
2: Roger Federer
3: Andy Murray
4: David Ferrer
5: Rafael Nadal
6: Tomas Berdych
7: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
8: Richard Gasquet
Notably, Juan Martin Del Potro is out with a virus.
First round matchups to watch:
David Goffin vs. Fernando Verdasco
A rematch of their five setter at the Australian Open this year, won by Verdasco, both players desperately need a good showing here as they will both continue to drop ranking points if they can’t pull themselves together soon. Verdasco is a miserable 3-8 this year, and 1-7 in ATP events, while Goffin hasn’t been able to string together consecutive wins as a general rule. Clay is known to be the preferred surface of both.
Thomaz Bellucci vs. Florian Mayer
Bellucci has had an up and down season, but did make quarters in Barcelona, while Mayer has improved in recent weeks with semis in Bucharest and quarters in Munich. Bellucci won their only meeting, which happened to be in Madrid in 2011, but I would have to give an edge to Mayer regardless.
(9)Janko Tipsarevic vs. Juan Monaco
Tipsy is playing nothing like the number 10 player in the world right now, as he lost early in Munich to Daniel Brands. Monaco on the other hand, with quarters in Barcelona, seems to be back on track after his own rough slump. Tipsarevic has won their last 3 meetings, but Monaco is playing better right now. With that, Monaco has an edge.
(13)Tommy Haas vs. Andreas Seppi
Haas is looking for a title in Munich, and made the final, while Seppi made the semis in Estoril. Both players are solid on clay and in form, in addition to being wily veterans. It’s hard to believe that they have never met on clay. Depending on the fatigue factor, Haas should probably have the edge.
Top Half:
Novak Djokovic looks to keep it rolling in the Masters events, starting off with Grigor Dimitrov or Spanish wild card Jaiver Marti. After Dimitrov, who could give him a bit of trouble, Novak should get Stanislas Wawrinka or Martin Klizan. Wawrinka made the final in Estoril, and of course, they had that memorable Aussie Open five setter this year, won by Djokovic over a tenacious Wawrinka. Yet Wawrinka doesn’t seem to be at the same level right now, and will likely be a bit tired after Estoril. A qualifier or Marius Copil are also options.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will play Alex Dolgopolov or a qualifier. Dolgo remains dangerous but is totally unpredictable, coming off quarters in Munich. Dolgo won their match last year in Madrid. After that, the winner likely gets Milos Raonic, if Raonic can beat a struggling Nikolay Davydenko, and the Goffin/Verdasco winner. Raonic surprised everyone by making the semis in Barcelona, and he will be looking to solidify his record on clay with another good run.
Andy Murray, who is never very stable on clay, could get trouble against Bellucci/Mayer (he lost to Bellucci in Madrid two years ago), but if he wins he likely faces Gilles Simon, who has only beaten Murray once in 11 tries. Simon would need to beat a slumping Julien Benneteau and a slumping Horacio Zeballos/Jeremy Chardy, in a match of ice cold players who need wins, in the first round, in order to get that far.
Tomas Berdych is the defending finalist, but he really hasn’t looked great on clay this year, and he will face Jerzy Janowicz or Sam Querrey, in what is an interesting first round tussle of the tall. The 2nd round winner should get Juan Monaco in the 3rd round, but Kevin Anderson, a qualifier, and of course Tipsarevic are all options.
Bottom Half:
Defending champion Roger Federer is back on tour this week, and he will play Bernard Tomic or Radek Stepanek. Steps was in miserable form but he did win a match in Munich this week, and Tomic is quite poor on clay. After that, Fed could get Kei Nishikori, who opens with Jurgen Melzer, or Viktor Troicki/Marcel Granollers. Granollers lost in the quarters of a challenger most recently and has not had a good year while Troicki has been up and down, including quarters in Munich.
Richard Gasquet will play Daniel Gimeno-Traver or Feliciano Lopez, then could face Marin Cilic, who lost early in Munich. Pablo Andujar, a qualifier, and John Isner are all options as well.
David Ferrer, who could be the Estoril champ, opens with Denis Istomin or a qualifier, then could face Haas/Seppi, Tommy Robredo or least likely a struggling Marcos Baghdatis. If Ferrer meets Seppi again, it would be an Estoril semifinal rematch.
Rafael Nadal, who has always been a bit finicky in Madrid, blaming a lot of it on altitude. This is the clay event in which he has been historically the weakest, and he will open against Benoit Paire or a qualifier. A Paire match-up would be a rematch of a match in Barcelona easily won by Nadal. After that, Nadal could get yet another Barcelona rematch, this time the finals rematch against Almagro that he won Almagro just needs to beat a qualifier and Fabio Fognini/Mikhail Youzhny.
Dark Horse: Florian Mayer/Kevin Anderson/Juan Monaco
One of these unseeded players will likely find themselves in a Masters semi this week, in what is the weakest and most unpredictable section of the draw and all have trump cards as to why. Mayer is at his best on clay, and again has had a good couple of weeks. He has a nice chance of upsetting Murray: if he beats Bellucci, then he probably gets past Simon.
Anderson has shown he can win on clay in Casablanca this year, and his 2nd round matchup with Monaco/Tipsarevic will be huge. Monaco won their only meeting a year ago on clay in Houston, while he and Tipsy have split meetings on hardcourts. The same applies to Monaco, the most traditional clay courter, and the winner will have a good chance of knocking off Tomas Berdych. It should be a Mayer vs. Monaco/Anderson quarter to decide the semifinalist.
Predictions:
R16:
Djokovic d. Wawrinka
Tsonga d. Raonic
Mayer d. Simon
Monaco d. Berdych
Nadal d. Almagro
Ferrer d. Haas
Gasquet d. Isner
Federer d. Nishikori
Tsonga-Raonic and Ferrer-Haas are the marquee matchups here and could go either way.
Quarters:
Djokovic d. Tsonga
Monaco d. Mayer
Nadal d. Ferrer
Federer d. Gasquet
Nadal owns Ferrer in the h2h and that should continue. Federer could be troubled with Gasquet.
Semis:
Djokovic d. Monaco
Nadal d. Federer
Nadal is better on clay, and more in form.
Final:
Djokovic d. Nadal
Djokovic beat Nadal in Monte Carlo, and the result shouldn’t be any different at an event Nadal likes much less than MC. Djokovic is a machine right now.
Kudla Surprises for Tallahassee Challenger Title, Sandgren/Krajicek Take Doubles
Kudla Surprises for Tallahassee Challenger Title, Sandgren/Krajicek Take Doubles
Denis Kudla upset Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-3, 6-3 to take the Tallahassee Challenger title, his 3rd challenger title overall and first of 2013. Kudla got ahead early and didn’t look back, holding his serve against Stebe and continuing the solid baseline play he had shown all week in Tally. The match started late because of a rain delay.
In the doubles Tennys Sandgren and Austin Krajicek made it a sweep for the Americans in Tallahasseee, beating Peter Polansky and Greg Jones 1-6, 6-2, 10-8.
Stebe-Smyczek and Harrison-Kudla: Your @TallyChallenger Semifinal Matchups
Stebe-Smyczek and Harrison-Kudla: Your @TallyChallenger Semifinal Matchups
Kudla
Cedrik-Marcel Stebe will be looking to improve his career record to 2-0 against Tim Smyczek in the first Tallahassee Challenger Semifinal match. Stebe, the only non-American left in the draw, took out Frank Dancevic 6-4 6-3, while Smyczek beat Alex Kuznetsov via 1st set retirement. Kuznetsov was, as I expected, dealing with shoulder problems and found no further reason to continue after clinching the Wild Card the day before. The only previous meeting between Stebe and Smyczek was in Australian Open qualifying this year and Stebe won in straight sets. This will be their first meeting on clay.
Stebe
Ryan Harrison survived Donald Young 7-6 6-4, while Denis Kudla upset Facundo Arguello by the same score. Harrison beat Kudla in their only meeting, but that was 3 years ago on grass in Newport. Both players are in good form and it should be a great match.
—Steen Kirby
2013 @TallyChallenger Tuesday Recap: Kuznetsov and Odesnik Keep Wild Card Race Alive, Jeong Upsets Russell
2013 @TallyChallenger Tuesday Recap: Kuznetsov and Odesnik Keep Wild Card Race Alive, Jeong Upsets Russell
Kuznetsov apres-match
Alex Kuznetsov and Wayne Odesnik kept the French Open Wild Card race alive for another round as both advanced today in Tallahassee. Kuznetsov looked sluggish at the start against a shot-spotting Jack Sock, but recovered in the 2nd and 3rd sets for a 3-6 6-2 6-3 win. Sock hit the ball well, but his footwork failed him as he was slipping and stumbling on the clay on which he obviously wasn’t used to playing.
Odesnik won a back and forth battle with Denys Molchanov 4-6 6-3 6-4, similar to their previous 3 set match in Sarasota 2 weeks ago. Odesnik is usually quite a rowdy player, but it was Molchanov who provided the spark and spice this time, yelling at himself, and at times, towards his girlfriend sitting in the stands, in Ukrainian, and doing enough physical monologuing to qualify as an announcer for his own match. He may well have found a future career. He also hurled his racquet into the fence after being broken in the 3rd set. Both guys had struggles holding serve at times
Harry the Younger advances Easily
The Harrison brothers both grabbed wins: Christian the Younger over Steve Johnson 7-6 6-1, in a match with 1 competitive set and then a letdown from Johnson. The air really came out of his game after losing the opening set tiebreak, and similar to Jack Sock, he struggled with his surface footwork and just didn’t look comfortable moving around
Ryan the Elder found himself in a much tighter match with Taro Daniel, 6-3 6-7 7-6. Daniel showed a lot of big game to hang with the number 2 seed and ATP regular, but Harrison just had that little bit of extra skill that put him over the top in the key moments
Suk-Young Jeong upset top seed Michael Russell 7-6 6-3, as his coaching team cheered him on. Both players were hesitant to get overly aggressive, but Russell never seemed comfortable and was totally out of sorts the entire match, exclaiming loudly near the end “it’s so different than last week!”
In other singles action, Frank Dancevic got past Ilija Bozoljac 7-5 6-3, Tim Smyczek scooted past Greg Jones, who struggled on serve, 6-3 7-5, and Bradley Klahn rolled past Nico Barrientos 6-3 6-2. Mischa Zverev handled Nikolosz Basilashvili 6-4 6-0, Peter Polansky was in a good mood as he finished off Dominic Cotrone 6-2 6-4 and Donald Young struggled a bit with Michael Venus’ serve but Young cracked the code and advanced 7-5 6-4.
Klahn
In the night cap, Denis Kudla struggled a bit on serve but held strong from the baseline and beat Somdev Devvarman 7-6 6-4, Devvarman giving away the breaks he did have in the match
The match of the day in terms of ball striking alone would have to be Facundo Arguello’s 7-5 7-6 win over Reid Carleton. Both players dealt with burning sun and scorching heat as a visibly tired Arguello labored away against a gritty Carleton. Both players were throwing missiles at each other and grunting loudly. Arguello is also quite a verbalizer and was snapping at his coach in Spanish after almost every point, during changeovers and everything else. Carleton countered with “c’mons” of his own but just didn’t quite have enough to beat the skilled Argentine
In doubles Rice/Thornley beat Gonzales/Letcher 1-6 6-2 10-6, Jones/Polansky beat Barrientos/Molchanov 6-4 6-7 10-6, C. Harrison/Venus beat Bucaro/Lock 6-3 6-4, Kante/Takura beat Saleh/Santiago 6-4 6-4 and Basilashvili/Melzer beat Reed/Sock 4-6 6-3 10-7.
—Steen Kirby
Atlanta Men Crowned National Champs at USTA 9.0 Super Seniors
(L to R): Stephen Duffel, Tom Smith, Dale Quigley, Roger Pearce, Marty Pearson, Larry Saheim, Robin Merriman, Hugh Thomson (Photo:USTA)
Atlanta Men Crowned National Champs at USTA 9.0 Super Seniors
SURPRISE, Ariz., April, 29, 2013 – The men’s team from Atlanta, Ga., representing the USTA Southern Section, captured the national title at the USTA League 9.0 Super Senior National Championships held at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex in Surprise, Arizona.
The Atlanta defeated a team from Laguna Niguel, Calif. 2-1 in the Championship match. Earlier in the day, the Atlanta team defeated a team from Bass River, Mass. 3-0 in the semifinals. They advanced this far by winning their round-robin flight contested Friday and Saturday.
The team is captained by Hugh Thomson and features Stephen Duffel, Tom Smith, Dale Quigley, Roger Pearce, Marty Pearson, Larry Saheim, Robbin Merriman and plays at the Northeast Georgia Tennis Center.
The top four teams in order of finish are: USTA Southern (Atlanta, Ga.), USTA Southern California (Laguna Niguel, Calif.), USTA New England (Bass River, Mass.) and USTA Eastern (Syosset, N.Y.).
This year’s USTA League 9.0 Super Senior National Championship has drawn the top 21 teams, with 13 men’s teams and 8 women’s teams from all of the United States.
USTA League celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 2010. Since its inception in 1980, USTA League has grown from 13,000 participants in its first year, to over 820,000 players across the nation today, making it the world’s largest recreational tennis league.
USTA League was established to provide adult recreational tennis players throughout the country with the opportunity to compete against players of similar ability levels. Players participate on teams in a league format, which is administered by the USTA through its 17 Sections. The league groups players by using six National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) levels, ranging from 2.5 (entry) to 5.0 (advanced). USTA League is open to any USTA member 18 years of age or older. It features Adult and Mixed Doubles divisions, as well as a Senior Division (age 50 or older) and a Super Senior Division (age 60 or older).
Beginning with the 2013 National Championship season, USTA League changed its structure and format. The change offers USTA League participants among three age categories (Adult 18 & Over, Adult 40 & Over and Adult 55 & Over and Mixed 18 & Over) to better align participants with players their own age. The restructuring guarantees more frequency of play opportunities at more appropriate age groups.
Head Penn Racquet Sports is in its 26th year as official ball of USTA League.
For more information about USTA League or the USTA as a whole, visit http://www.usta.com.
—S. Pratt
Interview from Tallahassee: Taro Daniel and the Big Red Tablecloth
Taro Daniel and the Big Red Tablecloth
Steen Kirby is an excellent interviewer and a budding cinematographer. I’m going to break down and buy him a tripod. Here’s his interview from Tallahassee with Taro Daniel.
Last week you qualified in Savannah and won a couple of rounds. Talk about your play there.
Passing the qualies helped me a lot for playing better in the main draw, gave me some confidence, more groove. That definitely helped me play looser and play at a higher level.
We had a reader ask if you were going to continue to play for Japan even though you have dual citizenship.
I think I’ll keep playing for Japan. I think that I am more Japanese than American and think there will be some great benefits if I can become a great tennis player there.
Do you have a good relationship with Ito and Soeda and the other Japanese players? And what do you think of the state of Japanese tennis?
My relationship with them, I don’t really know them really close. I saw them for the first time and said hi to them the last time I was there. They were all really nice guys. I feel like tennis there is really good compared to the past and I hope tennis in Japan just keeps getting better and better.
Taro Daniel in the Player’s Lounge/Interview Room
You recently reached a career high ranking of 248. What are your short-term goals?
I don’t check all the numbers and results. It puts my head where it’s not supposed to be. Just keep playing at a higher level and improve as much as possible.
What about the financial difficulties on the Challenger level?
Some more open financial help of players would be more appreciated. It’s a real expensive sport, even though there’s prize money. Unless the Federation is covering your expenses, it’s really tough to keep it up. I don’t have any specific suggestions, but some help would be great.
You trained in Spain. Is clay your favorite surface?
I am definitely comfortable on clay. I’m a little more comfortable on clay. When I’m feeling great with my tennis, I prefer hardcourt. I like them both, but I think liking clay makes me like anything.
Describe your training regimen in Spain.
It’s really simple. There not much secrets to how we play. You have to be solid and you have to construct points. It’s not very technical or super-detailed. I think growing up on clay and hard courts helped with the general construct of the game.
