Around The Corner: Life Continues on the ATP World Tour
By Mike McIntyre
After a hectic two weeks of Grand-Slam action from Melbourne, life returns to normal on the ATP World Tour. There are three 250-level tournaments this week and while the pace will be perhaps less enthralling than what we've just witnessed in Australia, here are some of the big names we can look forward to watching.
Formerly held in Lyon in October of each year, the Open Sud de France has now relocated to Montpelier at an earlier date within the tennis season.
Tomas Berdych is the number one seed and will try to win his first ATP title since his victory in Beijing this past October. That was the only title the Czech won in 2011, but he had an incredibly solid year reaching the semi-finals of eight tournaments and the quarter-finals of seven others. That type of consistency has made Berdych a main-stay in the top-ten in recent years but success at the Masters 1000 and Grand Slam level have still mostly eluded him with the exception of his win at the Paris Masters in 2005 and his Wimbledon final in 2010.
Berdych has a very manageable quarter of the tournament with no major obstacles in his way and a first-round bye to ease him into the draw.
Richard Gasquet is the fourth seed and is also in the top-half of the draw and he will likely face Nikolay Davydenko in the second round. Despite Davydenko's rapid drop in play these past two years, the Russian will still give Gasquet a good challenge and provide fans with an entertaining early round match.
In the bottom half of the draw, look for two Frenchman to navigate their way through to the semi-finals. Both Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon are the highest two seeds and also the most likely to ride the support of the French fans to a solid showing.
Canadian number-two singles player Vasek Pospisil will undoubtedly be keeping his eye on the French, as Canada is scheduled to host the French in the first round of the Davis Cup on February 10th in Vancouver. Pospisil opens against French wildcard Guillaume Rufin.
It was a moment for Croatian tennis fans to relish a year ago in Zagreb when Ivan Dodig captured his first ATP title against Michael Berrer. While the chances of Dodig repeating are not necessarily favored, he is one of three Croats who could lift the trophy on the final Sunday.
Veteran Ivan Ljubicic holds the top seed and opens against Karol Beck. Ljubicic has won the event before and has the best chance of emerging from his quarter of the draw.
Beneath him can be found monster-server Ivo Karlovic who will also receive plenty of home-country support. Mikhail Youzhny will try to bounce back from a disappointing first round loss in Melbourne as he holds the third seed and is my pick to emerge from the top-half of the draw.
In the bottom half, we have Marcos Baghdatis and the previously mentioned Dodig in one quarter. In the final section of the draw, Alex Bogomolov Jr. is the surprised second seed and leads the weakest section of the tournament. In other words, look for Baghdatis or possibly Dodig to have a good route to the finals.
Providing some contrast to the two hard-court tournament's this week, we have the VTR Open which is played on red clay. Last year's champion in Vina del Mar is Tommy Robredo but he is not entered in this year's edition. Meanwhile Fernando Gonzalez holds the most career titles at the event with four. Gonzalez has taken a wildcard into the main draw as he has struggled since returning to the tour last year from hip and knee injuries he sustained in 2010.
Clay court expert Juan Monaco takes the pole position this year and opens with a first round bye. Albert Montanes who is seeded fifth will likely be Monaco's main source of opposition in the top-half of the draw.
In the bottom section look for Thomaz Bellucci, who won the event in 2010, to challenge once again for the title and for second seeded Juan Ignacio Chela to advance into the draw as well.
Don't feel bad if you are feeling the effects of a tennis-hangover as these smaller events begin. Nothing can really compare to two weeks of elite level tennis like we have just experienced. There is lots to look forward to however, with the first round of Davis Cup action just two weeks away and then a month after that we will enjoy back-to-back Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami.
January 29, 2012 in Tomas Berdych, Vasek Pospisil | Permalink | Comments (0)
Australian Open Men's Preview
By Mike McIntyre
The Dark Horse:
Kei Nishikori gets my pick as the potential dark-horse of the 2012 Australian Open. The just-turned 22 year old is ranked 26th in the world at the moment and has seen his fortunes quickly rise over the past year. In 2011 Nishikori had wins over Mardy Fish, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and most impressively, Novak Djokovic towards the end of October in Basel. This week at the Kooyong Classic he stepped in as a replacement for Milos Raonic and scored impressive wins over Tsonga again as well as Andy Roddick. Nishikori has a good draw with no troublesome opponents in the first two rounds and then potentially Gilles Simon in the 3rd before a rematch perhaps with Tsonga in the fourth. If I were in his shoes I’d be feeling pretty good about the opening week in Melbourne.
Higher-ranked/seeded player crashing out:
I would not hold my breath for American Andy Roddick advancing deep in this year’s Aussie Open. Roddick will be turning thirty this year but will find that milestone far less agreeable with him than Roger Federer did last summer. Roddick will very likely be facing Aussie veteran Lleyton Hewitt in the second round and that match could really go either way. Even if he were to get beyond Hewitt, a fresh-faced Milos Raonic could likely be waiting and the young Canadian has really come a long way in the past year.
Best 1st or 2nd round Match:
A second round match between Richard Gasquet and Mikhail Youzhny has five sets written all over it. Youzhny leads their head-to-head 3-2 and that includes two victories here at the first Grand Slam of the year. Their last meeting at the Aussie Open was a five set win for the Russian in 2010 that included three tiebreaks to settle it.
First round upset special:
If I have to pick one, I suppose I’ll go with Michael Russell over Juan Ignacio Chela. Between both veteran players, I’ll take Russell’s level of fitness in the Aussie heat and on a hard-court I never feel like Chela has much to offer despite being the 27th seed here.
Quarter-final choices and eventual champion:
Djokovic/Youzhny: Nobody is going to stop Djokovic from attaining the quarters despite it being several months now since his U.S. Open victory. Meanwhile I see Youhnzy picking up some momentum if he gets by Gasquet in round two.
Monfils/Tsonga: Murray will be feeling enormous pressure (as per usual) to win that elusive first Grand Slam, although Melbourne is probably his best bet to eventually break through. I’m really impressed with the rise of Monfils however, and see the Frenchman being more than capable of the upset to reach the quarters against compatriot Jo-Willy Tsonga.
Del Potro/Federer: No suprises here unless 19 year old Bernard Tomic can push Federer should they meet in the fourth round. Should be a fantastic match between the 2009 U.S. Open finalists and one I’m sure Federer would relish for a little revenge.
Nadal/Berdych: On paper it looks like an easy route to the quarters for both Nadal and Berdych. Neither John Isner or David Nalbandian is likely to challenge the Spaniard while Berdych even if he is playing mediocre, doesn’t have any serious threats in his quadrant.
Overall I can't see anyone beating Novak Djokovic for this title. Even with Federer's great finish to 2011, I don't think he has an edge on Novak at the moment when both are healthy and at their best. Federer's back may or may not be 100% while Djokovic seems to be over his shoulder problems. I see Djokovic taking his second consecutive, and third Aussie Open title overall here in 2012.
January 14, 2012 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Australian Open Main Draw
The Aussie Open main draw was just released.
Here's the link from the official website.
Novak Djokovic gets Andy Murray in his half, while Rafael Nadal gets Roger Federer and Juan Martin Del Potro in his.
Check back soon for a full draw analysis.
January 12, 2012 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Australian Open Qualifying Draws Revealed
By Mike McIntyre
The qualifying draw for the men has been revealed in Melbourne.
Go Soeda from Japan is the number one seed and is fresh off his semi-final performance in Chennai.
American veteran Robby Ginepri is unseeded and also in the top section of the draw. Canadian Peter Polansky can be found in there as well for all you Canuck tennis fans.
In the second quadrant we have Igor Andreev who is seeded fifth. Here's a guy I always though could achieve more but as he approaches thirty is seemingly on the downward side of a mediocre career.
Another Canadian, Vasek Pospisil is in this part of the draw and is seeded 9th. Pospisil was the Davis Cup hero for Canada last year in defeating Israel to qualify for the world group for this season.
The third quarter has aging German player Rainer Schuettler who made the Aussie Open finals way back in 2003 while the fourth quarter has another veteran, Arnaud Clement of France who himself was a finalist here in 2001. Both of the above players have the distinction of being beaten by a man named Andre Agassi. No shame in that.
Long story short, this is not a draw packed with any hidden gems who might somehow find their way into the second week of play. Still a nice pay day and a few much-needed ranking points for any of the qualifiers who make it through three rounds of play and perhaps through one or two rounds within the main draw as well.
Check back Friday January 13th for a full look at the main draw.
January 10, 2012 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Around The Corner: Sydney, Auckland and the Kooyong Classic
By Mike McIntyre
With just over a week until the start of the Australian Open, there is little time to tinker with one's game for the first Grand Slam of the year.
While the top four players in the world will be taking the week to rest themselves in anticipation for a deep-run in Melbourne, there are plenty of other of the game's great players who are in action.
The ATP has two tournaments, one in Sydney and another in Auckland, while the Kooyong Classic exhibition will boast a strong field as well. Here's a closer look at what tennis fans can expect.
Juan Martin Del Potro starts his year in Sydney as the top seed. After making a strong return to the circuit last season following a wrist injury, the 2009 U.S. Open champion is ready to make some noise this year. Del Potro is certainly capable of challenging anyone in the top four and I would put him in the mix of the few serious contenders at the Aussie Open.
The Argentine could see Marcos Baghdatis in the quarters here and then Feliciano Lopez who is the fourth seed. I would however, put the winner of the first round match between Victor Troicki and veteran Aussie Lleyton Hewitt to advance against Del Potro in this section of the draw.
Hewitt has won the even four times, in 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2005. Don't expect a repeat as his career is clearly on the downward spiral and injuries have taken their toll on the two-time Grand Slam champion. This may be the last year we see Hewitt playing on the ATP Tour, so enjoy him while you still can.
John Isner from the United States is the second seed. Patrick McEnroe recently stated that he feels Isner has the potential to reach the top ten in the ATP rankings. While I do not see that as being a realistic assessment for the 6'9'' Isner just yet, this guy is certainly a strong top-thirty player who can cause incredible damage on a hard court due to his imposing serve. It will be Isner's first action of the year so it will be interesting to see how he comes out of the gate.
Isner could face either veteran Xavier Malisse or Radek Stepanek in the quarters and given his ranking he should be beating opponents like these. However, at this stage of the year anything is possible.
A likely semi-final opponent would be third seeded Richard Gasquet who had a solid week at the Hopman Cup where he defeated Fernando Verdasco, Lleyton Hewitt and Wu Di before falling to Tomas Berdych in the finals.
All-court wonder and the always hustling David Ferrer is the number one seed in Auckland. Ferrer started the year off by making the finals of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi and was the runner-up in that exhibition to Novak Djokovic. Ferrer starts his week off with a bye at the Heineken Open and will face the winner of the match between Albert Ramos and Lukas Rosol. In other words, a nice way to ease into the tournament.
Ferrer's main opposition will be from third seeded Fernando Verdasco who has just competed in the Hopman Cup. There, the Spaniard defeated Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, knocked-off Wu Di of China 6-3, 6-4 and was beaten by Richard Gasquet 6-2, 6-4. So essentially, he won the two matches he was supposed to win and could not find a way to be competitive against a solid opponent in Gasquet. Never any consistency with Fernando, but he has the tools to go deep in any draw.
The second seed here is Nicolas Almagro, but unless we're talking about a clay court match I wouldn't count on this guy to get too far. While he did make the semi-finals in Chennai, the field was rather weak and he was no match for Canadian Milos Raonic who took him out 6-4, 6-4.
Look for guys like Philipp Kohlschreiber, Donald Young and perhaps Sam Querrey to enjoy some success in this draw. It is nice to see Young seeded in the tournament (7th) and hopefully able to build on a nice season in 2011. There is still so much potential with the American and he still has many years ahead of him despite already being a presence on the ATP Tour for several seasons.
Always a high-quality exhibition tournament, the Kooyong Classic again boasts a strong field in 2012. Ten players make-up the draw that has both a championship and consolation side to it.
American Andy Roddick will be the most high-profile player involved and will make his season debut on the tennis court at Kooyong. Roddick's buddy and current number-one American male tennis player, Mardy Fish, will also be present.
This year will be of the utmost importance to Roddick who struggled mightily a year ago. He needs to re-assert himself and prove to his fellow players that he is still relevant in the sport today. Usually a strong starter, Roddick will be one to watch closely here this week.
Continuing with North-American players, we have Canadian Milos Raonic who has just made the finals in Chennai. Raonic is going to be very exciting to watch this year, especially if he can stay healthy. This guy's game is perfectly suited to Wimbledon and it is no surprise that he grew up idolizing Pete Sampras.
The rest of the players here include Jurgen Melzer, Bernard Tomic, Tomas Berdych and recent Qatar finalists Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Of all the stops this week, Kooyong will be the one I'm most interested in due to its very strong field.
Keep checking back with us all week long for updates or check out our Twitter feed if you like. Only one more week until the first Slam of 2012 so we have lots to look forward to!
January 7, 2012 in Andy Roddick, John Isner, Juan Martin Del Potro | Permalink | Comments (2)
Federer Speaks About Back Injury in Qatar
Here is the link to the Roger Federer press conference on Friday January 6th where he discusses his reasons for pulling out of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open due to a back injury.
The world No. 3 withdrew after sustaining the injury in his second round match against Grega Zemlja and it got worse during his quarter final victory against Andreas Seppi. Federer was scheduled to play against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi finals which would have surely been a high-level match.
Instead Tsonga played a one-set exhibition match against former six-time Grand Slam champion Stefan Edgerg.
Federer is not scheduled to play again until the Australian Open which begins on January 16th in Melbourne.
January 7, 2012 in Roger Federer | Permalink | Comments (0)
Qualifying Draws From Sydney and Auckland
By Mike McIntyre
Apia International Sydney - Qualifying Draw
Not much to write home about here as Ryan Sweeting is the highest ranked qualifier at 72nd in the world.
Names worth noting include veteran Jarkko Nieminen as well as Denis Istomin and marathon man Nicolas Mahut.
Heineken Open - Qualifying Draw
Even less to get too enthused about in Auckland in terms of a quality qualifying draw. I didn't realize Dominik Hrabty was still kicking his tires on the ATP Tour. Canada's Pierre-Ludovic Duclos is also entered and being Canadian myself I've got to give him a mention.
Stay tuned for full draw analysis once they are revealed this coming weekend. And please do follow us on Twitter as we like to keep our readers updated there as well.
January 6, 2012 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Roger Federer Withdraws from Doha with Back Injury
By Mike McIntyre
Roger Federer was forced to pull-out of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Friday due to a back injury he sustained in his second round match against Grega Zemlja and one that he aggravated in the quarter-finals against Andreas Seppi.
Federer was supposed to play against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France for a spot in the finals but recognized the possibility to further aggravate the injury and made the decision to prevent missing the Australian Open which begins January 16th.
Federer has made it a point of avoiding injury for the better part of his stellar professional career, but something was clearly wrong as he was stretched to three sets against the 38th ranked Seppi on Thursday. Federer had held a 7-0 career head-to-head against the Italian prior to the match and had never lost a set in any of those encounters.
It was Swiss journalist and Federer biographer, Renee Stauffer, who broke the news of the back injury via twitter shortly after that match.
Stauffer's tweet read as follows, “Federer has a bad back: ‘I wasn’t sure if i was going to play ag Seppi’, he revealed in Doha. It happened ag Zemlja (Wednesday).”
Speaking to reporters after the official announcement on Friday, Federer revealed the decision to pull-out of the tournament was very much related to the importance of the next few weeks.
"I don't feel a whole lot of improvement for today, and I just don't think it's the right time to risk anything more right now," Federer said. "I still have pain, and that's why it was the only right decision, a difficult one for me … So it's a sad moment for me and for the tournament and for the fans, but health goes first."
The injury withdrawal is only the second time Federer has had to do so in his career but fans should not worry as the world No. 3 seemed pretty confident he would be fine for Melbourne with a little time-off to heal.
"For Australia, I'm optimistic, just because it's not very good but it isn't crazy bad," Federer said. "I have had bad backs in the past. This is definitely not very good; otherwise I would be playing. But I feel without play and the right treatment, I will get through it in the next few days."
Instead of the semi-final, Tsonga played a one-set exhibition match against former world No. one and six-time Grand Slam champion Stefan Edberg.
In the other semi-final Gael Monfils upset Rafael Nadal by a score of 6-3, 6-4 to advance to play against Tsonga for the title.
Federer's withdrawal guarantees a new champion in Doha this year, as the Swiss star had won the event a year ago.
January 6, 2012 in Roger Federer | Permalink | Comments (0)
The Importance of Week One
By Mike McIntyre
With the 2012 season of the ATP World Tour just getting officially underway this week, tennis fans and media alike will be closely watching how the pros come out of the starting blocks.
The Mubadala World Tennis Championship (an exhibition) in Abu Dhabi last week and now regular events in Brisbane, Chennai and Doha, have provided an alphabetically-related quartet of venues whose results may or may not mean anything by the end of the year.
Players who struggle initially and suffer early round losses will attempt to quickly put those disappointments behind them, while winners will try to keep an even keel moving forward. Still, we should not be so quick to discount these early results when looking at the big picture.
The mental consequences of victory versus defeat in the early stages will certainly impact a players progress in the first few weeks on tour. Banking some points in January provides a confidence boost along with either a jump in ranking points or at the very least the ability not to drop in the standings.
Losing yesterday in Doha to Roger Federer means that Nikolay Davydenko can kiss about 150 ranking points goodbye that he had accumulated in the same tournament a year ago. His current ranking of 41st in the world is about to take a big hit and he can clearly forget about any hopes of being seeded at the Australian Open in two weeks.
A player like American Sam Querrey will also be distraught about his opening round loss to Victor Hanescu in Chennai in the opening round. After missing three months midway through 2011 to elbow surgery, Querrey was no-doubt optimistic about starting on the right foot this season. On the plus side for Querrey, he suffered three opening round losses in-a-row a year ago, and thus has no ranking points to defend. There's only one way for Sam to go in the rankings in January and that is up. Still, he must now regroup and move on to the next tournament hoping his luck will change.
For the top-four of Djokovic, Nadal, Federer and Murray, these first couple of week's will be used to jostle for the available confidence and swagger required to conquer the first Grand Slam of the year in Australia. Putting the seed of doubt in an opponent's head is of equal value to owning that self-confidence. We all know how Djokovic was able to get into Nadal's head last season and reel-off six consecutive victories in ATP finals on three different surfaces. That kind of dominance goes a long way into determining the final outcome of a match between two foes and getting an edge early-on is what all of these guys are hoping for.
Djokovic has already sent that opening message to his opponents with a strong result in Abu Dhabi. After needing three sets to defeat Gael Monfils, he thrashed Federer 6-2, 6-1 and then beat David Ferrer in the finals by the exact same dominating score. Lookout everybody, because Novak came ready to play.
Federer will hope to shake-off the loss to Djokovic and then Nadal in Abu Dhabi and instead look back to his impressive 17-0 finish to the 2011 season where he won three consecutive tournaments. Still, his early defeats to Djokovic and Nadal can't make him feel great.
With Federer and Nadal playing in Doha and Murray in Brisbane this week, we'll see who is ready to join Djokovic as an early front-runner prior to the January 16th start date in Melbourne. Regardless of what players of any ranking say to the press, the importance of week one is something we cannot deny.
January 3, 2012 in Mubadala World Tennis Championship, Sam Querrey | Permalink | Comments (0)
Mubadala World Tennis Championship Kick-Starts 2012
Mike McIntyre
It would seem as though the Middle East has found a way to draw the eyes of the tennis world upon them as the 2012 ATP World Tour season begins.
Not only does the Exxon Mobil Open in Doha, Qatar have Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the line-up as play begins on January 2nd, but the Mubadala World Tennis Champiopnships in Adbu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates boasts all three of the top players in world including Novak Djokovic.
While not a sanctioned ATP event, the high-profile exhibition in the Emirates has also lured David Ferrer, Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to come play.
The three day event begins on Thursday December 29th with matches between Djokovic and Monfils as well as Ferrer and Tsonga. Both Federer and Nadal have been given opening round byes, which is interesting considering it is Djokovic who is the undisputed number one player in the world.
Either Djokovic has requested the extra match to help prepare for the start of the season, or event organizers have a soft spot for third ranked Federer who spends a good chunk of time training in the Emirates during his off-season.
Keep checking back with us at ProTennisFan for updates of this exciting event and do take the time to follow us on Twitter as well.
December 27, 2011 | Permalink | Comments (0)
ATP World Tour 2012 Ready To Go
By Mike McIntyre
Hello tennis fanatics and welcome to the start of the 2012 season on the ATP World Tour!
While it was only a few short weeks ago that we last heard from our favorite tennis professionals, the stage is set for the debut of another exciting year in the sport we love so dearly.
Everyone with the exception of Novak Djokovic, will be looking forward to building upon their accomplishments from a year ago. How could Djokovic possibly do better than he did last season? The Serbian world number one had arguably one of the greatest tennis seasons of all-time in 2011 and will be hard-pressed to match that level of excellence in back-to-back years. There is no doubt who has a target on his back as the season begins.
With an end-of-year that was marred by shoulder problems and the loss of the incredible momentum that saw him win three Grand Slams, it will be very interesting to see how the Djoker begins 2012 both physically and mentally.
World number two Rafael Nadal ended last year with a Davis Cup victory for Spain, while number three Roger Federer went undefeated after the U.S. Open with a record of 17-0. Andy Murray sits at the number four position and typically starts the year quite strongly down-under. These guys are going to be hungrier than ever for the first Slam of the season.
Add to the mix a resurgent Juan Martin Del Potro, a fearless Jo-Wilfried Tsonga along with a slew of hungry Americans like Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick and John Isner and we've got all the right ingredients for another amazing year of tennis on the ATP World Tour.
The season begins with three tournaments in Australia, Qatar and India. Let's take closer look at what we have to look forward to.
Beginning right on New Year's day, the Brisbane International tournament was resurrected in 2009 after a fourteen year absence. Notably missing this year will be defending champion Robin Soderling of Sweden. The world's thirteenth ranked player has not played a match since he won the title in Bastad in his home country in July. Diagnosed with mononucleosis, he has already confirmed his withdrawal from the Australian Open. Unlike a typical physical injury, there is no way of knowing just how long this type of illness will prevent Soderling from playing on the tour.
Instead, look for Andy Murray to lead the charge as the top seeded player. Murray will be looking to finally end his Grand Slam drought in 2012 and silence the numerous critics who feel like he should have already attained such an achievement at this point in his career.
Murray will be joined by other notable players such as Gilles Simon, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Marcos Baghdatis and Bernard Tomic in Brisbane. Veteran Tommy Haas is also in attendance and will be looking forward to a full season of good health no doubt.
Stan Wawrinka made a great start to his season a year ago by winning the Aircel Chennai Open in India for the first time. His victory snapped a two year streak of Croatia's Marin Cilic hoisting the trophy there.
Both former champions will be back in the draw in 2012 and joined by the likes of Jankko Tipsarevic who was absolutely on-fire last season, Nicolas Almagro who is normally better-suited to playing on clay, and Canadian sensation Milos Raonic who was named the ATP's newcomer of the year in 2011.
Also starting on January 2nd will be a tournament of equal ranking points but quite a bit more prize money in Doha, Qatar. Something tells me that extra cash incentive is the reason we might be seeing so many of the top players in the world present in the draw this year.
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will both be there to begin their pursuit of the number one ranking. Add Frenchmen Jo-Wilfrid Tsonga and Gael Monfils to the mix as well as quality players such as Viktor Troicki, Mikhail Youzhny and Nikolay Davydenko and you can count on some great matches in the scorching heat of the desert.
Check back with us at ProTennisFan in the next few days as we will have a full draw analysis of these upcoming events. You can also follow us on Twitter for regular updates as play begins.
December 26, 2011 in Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer | Permalink | Comments (0)
Raonic To Face Idol Sampras in Toronto Exhibition
By Mike McIntyre
Twenty year-old Canadian tennis phenom Milos Raonic is set to face legend Pete Sampras, the man he idolized growing-up, in an exhibition match in Toronto this November that is being billed as the Face-Off presented by SAP.
Mark November 17th on your calendars as it will showcase the first ever tennis match to be played at the Air Canada Centre, which normally houses the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Thursday night tennis exhibition will also feature Canadian female players Aleksandra Wozniak and Eugenie Bouchard. The format for the evening will include some mixed-doubles with the four tennis stars, followed by a women's set between veteran Wozniak and up-and-coming junior sensation Bouchard. The evening with culminate with the exciting feature match between Raonic and Sampras.
Surprisingly, the match will be the first that Raonic has played on home soil this year due to a difficult hip injury that he sustained at Wimbledon in June. The recovery period forced him to miss playing in Canada's Masters 1000 event, the Rogers Cup and also prevented him from competing at the U.S. Open.
Since returning to the ATP World Tour earlier in October, Raonic has quickly found the form that catapulted him into the top-thirty in the world rankings earlier in 2011.
He lost a tough match to second-ranked Rafael Nadal in Tokyo and then suffered another difficult defeat in Shanghai against world no. 5 David Ferrer. Not an easy return to the game for any player after a nearly four month layoff.
Things took a step-up this past week in Stockholm where Raonic advanced all the way to the semi-finals before being beaten by eventual champion Gael Monfils 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.
With the regular season of professional tennis nearly over, the exhibition with Sampras will be a nice way for the young Canuck to finish his roller-coaster year.
"Playing in front of my hometown against my hero growing up is a dream come true," said Raonic. "I'm also really excited about playing the first ever tennis event at the Air Canada Centre with Pete, Aleks, and Eugénie and I know tennis fans in Toronto and surrounding provinces will pack the arena to see how I match up with one of the best of all time".
One would normally be suspicious about how a forty year old like Sampras could compete with someone just entering his physical prime, but the American tennis legend has been quite active this fall while playing on Jim Courier's Champions Series tennis circuit.
The former 14-time Grand Slam champion finished the season as the top-ranked player on the senior tour and displayed that he still has a knack for coming up with some booming serves when required and has not lost his killer instinct on a tennis court. He finished with an 11-2 record against some of the best players of his generation including Andre Agassi and Michael Chang.
Always a proud man on the court, Sampras has said that he is, "looking forward to playing in Canada once again. I have great memories playing in the tournaments in Toronto and Montreal during my professional career and playing against Milos will certainly bring out that same competitive fire. I am anxious to show Milos and the fans that I can still play with the best at the highest level."
Here at ProTennisFan and in connection with title sponsor of the event, SAP Canada, we are happy to announce a contest for fans looking to attend the event live. Two of our lucky readers will get free tickets to watch Raonic and Sampras in-person at the Air Canada Centre. The winning tickets will be given to a reader of ours who comments on this posting and will be selected on November 8th, one week prior to the big event. Please leave your email address in your post so that you can be contacted if your name is selected.
Fans looking to follow Milos as the event draws near can check out the young star on Twitter where he is a regular contributor. You can also follow our Tweets at ProTennisFan to stay in the loop.
We'll leave you with a link to series of videos that feature Milos as well as one in particular of Milos giving tips on how to have an effective serve. We hope you get the chance to watch him deliver his trademark weapon in person on November 17th. Good luck!
October 23, 2011 in Milos Raonic, Pete Sampras | Permalink | Comments (5)
U.S. Open Tuesday Preview
By Mike McIntyre
There are four big men's matches scheduled for play on Tuesday at the U.S. Open as the field quickly approaches the final eight competitors. The tournament has avoided any major upsets amongst the guys and one has to wonder how much longer that will continue.
Andy Murray vs. Donald Young
American Donald Young will attempt to keep his best-ever Grand Slam showing moving along as he faces fourth seeded Andy Murray in the opening match on Arthur Ashe stadium at 11am. It is hard to believe that Young is only 22 years old as it seems he has been struggling on the ATP World Tour for years already. Actually, he has been struggling on the Tour for years as he rushed into his professional career at the tender age of 15.
Young has slowly begun maturing and making some strides this year that have signalled he is ready to move towards the expectations the tennis world has held for him for so long. Earlier this year he defeated Murray on the hard courts of Indian Wells. More recently he made the semi-finals of a level-500 tournament in Washington, D.C. as well.
That meeting in March was the only career encounter between Young and Murray, but expect a much different result on Tuesday. Young has been riding an emotional roller-coaster in New York with big wins over Stan Wawrinka and Juan Ignacio Chela, but faces a player of an entirely different calibre in Murray.
The Scotsman has amped-up his game over the past month and is not playing at the same mediocre level he was at earlier in the season when they first met.
Young can take home a lot of confidence from New York but he won't take another victory.
Prediction: Murray in three
Gilles Muller vs. Rafael Nadal
No-doubt recovered from his press-conference cramping incident from Sunday that was highly and uncomfortably covered by television cameras, Rafa Nadal will be feeling just fine as he faces severe under-dog Gilles Muller.
Nadal has yet to drop a set in the tournament and the defending champion rarely bows-out of a Grand Slam early. While I still have doubts about his ability to defend his title from a year ago, I can't see him getting bounced by Muller.
The pair have a career head-to-head record of 2-1 in Nadal's favor, but Muller's win was back in 2005 when Nadal was still discovering his game on hard-courts. More recently, they met at Wimbledon this summer with Nadal prevailing 7-6, 7-6, 6-0.
Muller has performed well in New York before, making the quarter-finals in 2008. He may give Rafa a challenge for a set, but otherwise will have to come up with the best tennis of his career to cause an upset.
Prediction: Nadal in four
John Isner vs. Gilles Simon
In a match that will offer fans a real contrast in styles, bit serving American John Isner will take-on the hustling baseline game of Frenchman Gilles Simon. This will be the first meeting between the two and the result is really anyone's guess.
Simon's best Grand Slam result was the quarter-finals of the Aussie Open in 2009 while Isner has made the fourth round at three majors including this one.
Both players have solid winning records on the Tour this year while Isner came into the Open with a tournament win in Winston-Salem. Both have had to beat top-level players in their journey here so far, with Isner defeating Marcos Baghdatis in the fist round and Simon just coming off a victory against Juan Martin Del Potro.
I see this one going the distance with at least a couple of tie-breaks given Isner's outstanding service game. Could go either way but I'll take a leap and go with Isner thanks in-part to the crowd support he'll receive.
Prediction: Isner in five.
Andy Roddick vs. David Ferrer
In the opening match of the evening session, the third American man in action on Tuesday will be 2003 champion, Andy Roddick.
Roddick has finally found his game after struggling with injuries and consistency issues all summer long. He dispatched Julien Benneteau in routine fashion in the previous round and the Frenchman had been playing some great tennis coming in. Things are about to get a whole lot harder against Ferrer.
The Spaniard can hang on any surface and will never, ever, get tired. Ferrer holds a 5-3 advantage over Roddick in their prior matches and defeated him this year in Davis Cup play in straight sets on hard-courts. For those who don't know Roddick well, he is a guy who lives for representing his nation. He gives 110% in Davis Cup matches, so you can imagine how well Ferrer must have been playing to attain the victory on that day.
While I feel that Andy may yet have a crack at going deep in another Grand Slam before the end of his career, I don't see it happening here with Ferrer standing in his way.
Prediction: Ferrer in four.
September 5, 2011 in Andy Roddick, Donald Young, John Isner | Permalink | Comments (3)
U.S. Open Sunday Preview
By Mike McIntyre
Let's take a quick look at the matches set for Sunday at the U.S. Open on the men's side. The third round is set to finish-up and there are some great battles to keep an eye on.
Alex Bogomolov Jr. is having a career year and has made the third round of his second consecutive Grand Slam. At the age of 28 he is a career high of 44th in the world and that is likely going to rise even further following the completion of this tournament. Just how well has Bogo been playing this year in comparison with his previous years on tour? In this one season alone he has amassed almost a third of his career earnings!
Bogo's run will likely come to an end against John Isner who is also having a terrific summer and has had more success in big-time matches. Isner has won both their career head-to-head matches on the ATP World Tour and both of those victories were earlier this year. I've got Isner in straight sets in this one.
Juan Martin Del Potro will continue to strive for another strong showing at the Open as he faces 12th seeded Gilles Simon of France. Despite being seeded 18th himself, Del Po will be considered the favorite in this one. Del Potro has lost to Ernests Gulbis, Marin Cilic and Roger Fererer this summer and has yet to get on a roll since Wimbledon ended. Still, those are all quality opponents and he is no-doubt feeling comfortable at the site of his only Slam win.
Del Potro has a 2-1 head-to-head advantage against Simon and beat him here in New York in 2008 as well as in June of this year at the All-England Club. I'll take the Argentine in four sets.
Donald Young is having the break-out moment of his career here at the Open as evidenced in his stunning come-from-behind victory over Stan Wawrinka in the second round. Young is going to take-down Juan Ignacio Chela in the next round to continue on his impressive form. Four sets is likely, but Chela could use his experience to push to five in a failing effort.
Andy Murray came back with a vengeance against Robin Haase in a strange second round encounter. He pulled out the victory in five sets and with a day to rest should be ready to go against Feliciano Lopez. Murray in three this time.
David Ferrer saw-off a potentially tough challenge from James Blake in the previous round. He'll face Florian Mayer, a player who is having career-best results but ultimately is not talented enough to take it any further. With Ferrer's tenacity and game that is tailor-made for best-of-five sets, the Spaniard will breeze through this one in three.
Andy Roddick has admitted he is still not back to where his game is capable of being, yet he finds himself in the third round against French vet Julien Benneteau. Andy should be able to use the home-crowd to his advantage, but Benneteau did reach the finals at Winston Salem a week ago and could be capable of an upset. Roddick's serve will have to be sharp and he cannot hesitate to charge the net when the timing is right. Roddick holds a 3-1 advantage against Benneteau but the duo have not played each other in three years. I'll take Roddick in four, but would not be shocked if Benneteau comes up with a surprise.
Coin-toss in the Gilles Muller vs. Igor Kunitsyn match. This should have been a Mikhail Youzhny vs. Jurgen Melzer match if the seedings had held true, but neither of those players were able to fend off their challengers.
Most casual tennis fans won't be too familiar with these two guys, so here's a quick breakdown:
Kunitsyn is 29 years old and is ranked 62nd in the world. He reached a career-high of 35th in the world in 2009 and attaining the third round here is his best result at a Grand Slam.
Muller is best remembered for stealing Andy Roddick's mojo at the Open back in 2005. He is 28 years old and ranked 66th in the world at the moment. His career high ranking is 59th which he reached back in 2005. His best Slam result was here at the U.S. Open in 2008 when he reached the quarter-finals before falling to Roger Federer.
Kunitsyn leads their previous matches by a 1-0 margin coming by way of a victory in Washington earlier this summer. I'm going to go with Muller in this one due to his previous Slam experience and results but it's gonna go the distance for sure.
Last but not least we have a match that would have been a whole lot of fun to watch about four or five years ago. Talented but oft-injured David Nalbandian takes on 2nd seeded Rafael Nadal.
Nalbandian has again struggled with injuries this season and has been burdened with lackluster results all summer long. Nadal has been less than his usual stellar self since reaching the finals of Wimbledon, but has still performed decently on hard-courts leading up to the Open.
While Nalbandian is one of the few players who boasts a solid record against Nadal, he is in over his head Sunday. The pair stand tied at two wins each, with all four matches coming on hard court. Nalbandian has lost the last two however and has not beat Rafa since 2007. Nadal will take this one in three relatively easy sets.
Enjoy the long-weekend tennis everyone. Check back with us again soon for more updates.
September 3, 2011 | Permalink | Comments (0)
U.S. Open Day Three Review
By Mike McIntyre
As first round matches came to a close on Wednesday, thing appear to be progressing more or less according to plan thus far in the men's draw at the U.S. Open.
Andy Murray advanced against former NCAA standout Somdev Devvarman by a score of 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-3. Murray mentioned he felt some early match nerves and when asked to explain gave a rather humorous response.
"Well, I mean, try being a British player going into a Grand Slam. It's not easy (smiling)."
With Roger Federer struggling this summer and Rafael Nadal also seeming less-than-perfect, Murray might have the perfect opportunity to attain that elusive first Grand Slam. He certainly seemed to be handling Novak Djokovic as well as anyone could in his first set against the Serb in Cincinnati. Djokvic would retire while trailing 0-3 in the second set of that match citing shoulder pain.
In other matches today, American John Isner beat a tricky opening round opponent in Marcos Baghdatis, 7-6(2), 7-6(11), 2-6, 6-4. With Robin Soderling withdrawing in this section of the draw due to illness, Isner has a great chance to make the round of sixteen and maybe even a quarter-final at a Slam for the first time in his career.
Isner will now face compatriot Robby Ginepri who only started his season in June after injury issues. He won today against Joao Suza in four sets. Many will remember Ginepri for his loss against Andre Agassi in the semi-finals here in 2005.
2009 champion Juan Martin Del Potro destroyed Filippo Volandri 6-3, 6-1, 6-1. Known more for his clay-court exploits, Volandri has not won a match on hard-courts since 2007. Del Potro couldn't have asked for an easier match in his return to Flushing Meadows.
Forced to miss defending his title a year ago due to a wrist injury, Del Po has returned to the top-twenty in the game and appears to have a good shot of advancing deep into the draw.
The Argentine mentioned several times after the match how happy he was to return to his favorite Grand Slam tournament following his inability to play a year ago.
"Well, I am feeling very special these couple of days, because I wasn't here last year so I couldn't see my name in the locker room," Del Potro said. "That's special, but are pretty little details. But, you know, it's an honor be part of the champions of this tournament."
Canadian Vasek Pospisil is giving fans in his country reason to cheer in the absence of Milos Raonic. The 20 year old Canuck won his first ever Grand Slam match against Lukas Rosol with ease 6-1, 6-2, 6-1. Pospisil will now face Feliciano Lopez the 25th seed.
12th seeded Gilles Simon survived a marathon five-set match against Ricardo Mello of Brazil, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. 3-6, 6-4. The Frenchman will now go up against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain who also required five sets to advance to the second round.
The only seeded player to fall on day three was Nicolas Almagro, the 10th seed, who was beat by French veteran Julien Benneteau 6-2, 6-4, 6-3. I'd hardly consider that result an upset since Almagro rarely performs on this surface while Benneteau made the finals a week ago of the inaugural event in Winston Salem where he was defeated by Isner for the title.
In the final match of the night amongst the men, Andy Roddick needed a four set struggle to finally overcome 33 year-old Michael Russell, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
Roddick seemed to be moving along quite well until Russell experienced a resurgence in the third set. It was not meant to be for the veteran however, as he fell to 0-7 in matches at the Open.
Roddick now moves on to face youngster Jack Sock who at the age of 18 is making just his second appearance in a major.
Roddick got a good laugh out of the crowd as he assessed his next foe in Sock.
"Well, I know he's full of piss and vinegar and he's from Nebraska. Sounds a little bit like an 18 year old I knew once upon a time. I like Jack a lot. He had a good win and I'm excited...I'll take on the young American and I'll enjoy it."
It is nice to see Sock, along with Ryan Harrison and Donald Young emerging to form the next generation of American players. Thirty-one straight majors without a U.S. champion is a strange reality after so many decades of success. Perhaps one of these young guns can one day reverse this declining trend in tangible results at the Grand Slam level.
Keep checking back with us for regular updates and follow us on Twitter as well for timely news.
August 31, 2011 | Permalink | Comments (0)
U.S. Open Day One Review
By Mike McIntyre
The final Grand Slam of the year got underway on Monday in New York and with hurricane Irene no longer threatening, the tournament was able to get through all of its scheduled matches.
On the men's side we saw third seeded Roger Federer advance with relative ease against clay-court specialist Santiago Giraldo in straight sets by a score of 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
Federer very likely could have closed his opponent out in a much more devastating manner but was off his game at times throughout the match. He fully admitted afterwards that he rarely plays his best tennis in the opening rounds and is happy to be through to the next round where he will face Dudi Sela of Israel.
Elsewhere, seeded players Alexandr Dolgopolov, Tomas Berdych, RIchard Gasquet Janko Tipsarevic, Marcel Granollers, Gael Monfils, Marin Cilic, Radek Stepanek and Mardy Fish all advanced in straight sets as well.
Granollers, known more for his clay court exploits, dispatched tough veteran Xavier Maliss 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
Monfils, the flying frenchman, took out a future star in Grigor Dimitrov, 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-4. He will next face 2003 finalist Juan Carlos Ferrero who needed five sets to get past Pablo Andujar. Ferrero is still capable of solid results on clay as evidenced by his recent title in Stuttgart, but forget about him making it far on the hard-courts here.
Another veteran player who had a decent result today was Germany's Tommy Haas who advanced past French qualifier Jonathan Dasnieres de Veigy (good thing tennis players don't wear their names on the back of their shirts!) Haas has had a real tough-go since returning from a year long layoff earlier this year. He is currently ranked 475th in the world and has a record of 2-8 so far this season. Haas actually has a pretty good draw here and if he can get on a roll is someone you can never count out.
Mardy Fish looked every bit the part as the top-ranked American in the world as he easily defeated Tobias Kamke 6-2, 6-2, 6-1. Fish has somehow managed to top his solid summer of 2010 and made the finals of the Masters 1000 event in Montreal and then the semi-finals in Cincinnati the week after that. Seeded eighth in this event, Fish is no longer going to be content with making the round of sixteen in a major. With the way he has been playing the past two months, he must be considered a title contender for perhaps the first time in his career.
The only upset on day one was to see Serbia's Viktor Troicki be beaten by Alejandro Falla 3-6, 6-3, 4-7, 7-5, 7-5. Fortunately for fans of that nation, there is a guy who opens Tuesday who has a decent shot of going deep into the draw. Novak Djokovic will begin his tournament against Conor Niland of Ireland, a man who will need all the luck of the Irish he can muster.
Stay tuned for more updates here at ProTennisFan as the tournament progresses.
August 30, 2011 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Around The Corner: Winston Salem Open
By Mike McIntyre
With only one week left before the start of the U.S. Open, the Winston Salem Open provides tennis players with one final opportunity to prepare themselves for the final Grand Slam of the year.
Usually the top players in the world like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer take this week to rest-up before heading to New York, while the lower ranked players who are seeking a few more ranking points or preparation on their games can be found in the draw.
This is the first year of this event as it was previously held in New Haven, Connecticut. With Pilot Pen vacating their spot as tournament sponsor, the event could not find a suitable replacement and was forced to fold.
Let's look at this week's draw to see who might end up as the inaugural Winston Salem champ.
First Quarter:
Andy Roddick arrives here as the number one seed. Normally Andy would not be playing in the week leading up to the Open, but he is struggling to find his game this summer and needs all the help he can get. On Monday his ranking will drop out of the top-twenty, something that has not happened for him since August 2001. That was back when Roddick was on his way up in the rankings as a new tennis professional. He has done an amazing job at consistently being one of the top players in the world and will be very focused to get back there.
He opens with a first round bye and then is scheduled to face the winner of the match between Albert Ramos and Lukas Rosol. Either way this should be exactly the confidence boost that Roddick requires.
A tricky third round match could have him play against veteran Lleyton Hewitt, who is also trying to find his game after struggling with injuries this year. It's sad in many ways to see these two former world number ones and Grand Slam champions having such difficulty with their games.
Second Quarter:
American John Isner is the 4th seed and will face either Dudi Sela or Filippo Volandri in the second round. This is a tournament that Isner should do quite well at and his only real competition could be in a quarter-final match against either Marcos Baghdatis or Dmitry Tursunov.
Isner defeated Baghdatis in Montreal this past week 6-3, 6-4 and the Cypriot has been quite mediocre of late. He has not advanced past the quarter-finals of any hard-court events this summer.
Third Quarter:
Enigmatic Alexandr Dolgopolov is seeded third and has also been playing under his talent-level for many stretches this year. After starting the 2011 season strongly by reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, he has failed to really build on his potential on hard-courts. He did win the event in Umag a few weeks ago but that was on clay. He could face either Grigor Dimitrov or Donald Young in the third round, but otherwise should be able to navigate his way to the quarter-finals.
There he could meet big-serving Kevin Anderson, who is the 6th seed, and has had a solid summer that was highlighted by a victory over Andy Murray in Montreal. He will likely face wild-card Ryan Harrison in the second round. The up-and-coming American faces Victor Hanescu in his opening match. James Blake is also lurking in this section and could face Anderson in the third round.
Fourth Quarter:
Jurgen Melzer is the second seed and will have the toughest opening match of the top seeds as he will face either Bernard Tomic or Igor Andreev. Tomic is a fast rising star on the ATP World Tour who showed his promise at Wimbledon this year by making the quarter-finals. Andreev is never an easy opponent and has skills on all surfaces. I'd call an upset over Melzer here a distinct possibility.
Nikolay Davydenko is the 5th seed and should be able to navigate his way towards the quarter-finals, but after a brutal 6-0, 6-2 defeat at the hands of Mardy Fish in Cincinnati, I wonder if his confidence is able to handle anyone at the moment.
I'm going to go with Roddick or Isner prevailing in this one. They are both great hard-court players and with their serves they are incredibly dangerous. This tournament could do wonders for their confidence as their home-country Grand Slam approaches.
August 20, 2011 in Andy Roddick | Permalink | Comments (2)
Cincinnati Day One Review
By Mike McIntyre
Day one is over in Cincinnati and while the top eight seeds get a little extra rest before they begin, there were still some big names in action on Monday.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Andy Roddick lost in his return to the tour following injury against Philipp Kohlschreiber. The German emerged victorious 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-1.
Kohlschreiber is a decent player who has been playing regularly since Wimbledon. At 45th in the world rankings he is certainly capable of beating a guy like Roddick, even more-so due to the American's layoff of late.
Roddick has slipped to 15th in the rankings and will see that fall even further if he does not get back to his usual form and quickly.
Check out the youtube video that shows Andy being docked a point for smashing a ball up and into the stands in a moment of frustration while serving at 0-1 in the decisive set. Roddick would double-fault to give Kohlschreiber a 30-40 score and a break point. He was so frustrated with himself that he belted the ball and was given a point penalty that gave his opponent a break to go up 2-0.
The win no-doubt will make Kohlschreiber feel better. His last victory was in the first round of the Kitzbuhel tournament in Austria where he defeated 43 year old Thomas Muster. At least this time the player coming back was only 28 years old.
In other action, Richard Gasquet defeated a very challenging first round opponent in Alexandr Dolgopolov, 6-1, 7-6(4). Gasquet has a good draw here in Cincy and could use this to leap back into the top-ten.
Rising American youngster Ryan Harrison defeated a very ordinary player in Juan Ignacio Chela. I should say that he is very ordinary on hard-courts as the Argentine has amassed some solid clay-court victories this year to put him in the top thirty players in the world.
Chela lost last week in Montreal to another young prospect in Canada's Vasek Pospisil. He must be getting tired of facing these young-bloods!
Veteran David Nalbandian will hope that his victory today against Kei Nishikori signals a turn-around in his season. He has failed to make it past the third round of any tournament he has entered since returning to the tour following a three month absence due to leg injuries. He currently sits at 66th in the ranking which seriously under-represents his abilities. The final score in this one was 6-4, 6-4.
Here are some of the other results from day one at the Western and Southern Open:
Fernando Verdasco d. Tomaz Bellucci 6-3, 7-6(4) (Time for Verdasco to make-good on his talent)
Feliciano Lopez d. Juan Carlos Ferrero 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 (Lopez continues to impress this summer)
Fabio Fognini d. Viktor Troicki 6-4, 6-1 (How did this happen? I thought Serbians didn't lose this early!)
Alex Bogomolov Jr. d. Robby Ginepri 6-4, 6-3 (Now in the top-fifty, Bogo continues to post wins)
Juan Monaco d. Tommy Haas 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 (Tommy really struggling to return to form)
Grigor Dimitrov d. Marsel Ilhan 6-3, 7-5 (Wanna guess the number of spectators at this one?)
Keep checking back for more Cincinnati Masters results and analysis. You can also follow us on Twitter if you'd like.
August 16, 2011 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Serena Williams Breezes to Rogers Cup Title
By Mike McIntyre
Serena Williams made a big statement today in Toronto as she easily defeated Samantha Stosur to claim the Rogers Cup by a score of 6-4, 6-2. Williams looked every bit the champion that we have come to know over the years and is without a doubt the favorite as the U.S. Open approaches.
Few gave Stosur much of a chance to realistically win the match. With a 2-8 record in WTA finals, the Australian seems to lack the composure to play her best game during these types of moments. Add to the fact that Williams has been gaining confidence with every victory over the past two weeks and it was going to be awfully tough for anyone to beat her. Between her title in Stanford and here in Toronto she has now won 11 matches in-a-row.
The two players managed to hold their serves through the opening eight games and for a short while it appeared we might have a competitive final on our hands. Instead, Serena managed to break thanks to a beautiful cross-court volley to take a 5-4 lead. She would close out the set in the following game.
While the tournament did not provide a comparison of winners to errors I noted a lack of clear-cut winners from both players. That does not mean there were not some impressive points between the two, but rather that with Serena making such high-qualitygroundstrokes, Stosur was often forced into making errors.
Stosur did crumple however as the second set got going and could not seem to find a way to counter Serena's powerful attack. Williams quickly found herself up 2-0 and would break again a bit later to take a 4-1 lead.
With dark clouds looming overhead and thunder rattling nearby, it looked for sometime that rain might halt play and give Stosur a chance to re-group. Instead it held-off just long enough to complete the match, which Serena did in her final service game thanks to four aces including one on match point.
In the post-match interview on court Serena showed off a different side from the one she revealed to Stosur during their hard-hitting rallies.
"I always wanted to win this trophy 'cause it's so cute," Williams gushed to the adoring crowd.
Not exactly what you'd expect from the winner of 13 Grand Slam titles, but you never do know what to expect from the American tennis legend.
After the match Williams alternated between answers that were at times modest and at others incredibly confident, perhaps even cocky.
On the one hand she said that she never doubted she would be able to return to playing this quality of tennis. On the other she claimed that she felt like the underdog coming into the Rogers Cup. Take what you want from her comments, at the end of the day she is suddenly the one to beat after nearly a year absence from the tour.
While Kim Clijsters truly shocked the tennis world two years ago with her victory at the U.S. Open following her first retirement from the sport, I don't think that anyone will be surprised if Williams can pull-off a similar result in her comeback from injury and illness.
August 14, 2011 in Serena Williams | Permalink | Comments (0)
Williams Defeats Azarenka to Move Into Rogers Cup Final
By Mike McIntyre
Serena Williams came through in fine style tonight in Toronto as she defeated Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the Rogers Cup final.
Williams played a remarkably clean game for someone who is only playing in her fourth tournament back after missing a year from the WTA Tour.There are very few players, man or woman, who could accomplish such a quick return to the top of the game.
Azarenka was coming in playing some terrific tennis as she had only dropped six games through three matches in the tournament. While she started strong in the opening few games against Williams, she could not sustain the same level of play tonight that we have seen all week long.
Williams broke to go up 4-2, yet Azarenka was able to promptly break her right back. Instead of then building on that momentum, the fourth ranked player from Belarus dropped her serve again to allow Serena to serve for the first set at 5-3. The American won all four points on her serve in that important game and took the opening frame 6-3 with an ace.
In the second set Azarenka was never able to mount a real challenge and could not break Serena's serve. She would double fault at 3-3, 15-40 to give Serena the break she would need to move on towards victory.
While Azarenka has many great skills on the tennis court, her soft second serve was far too easy for Williams to pounce on tonight.
The final score was 6-3, 6-3, which was a cleaner victory than many expected in this match-up. Williams was happy with the progress she has been making here this week yet feels she still has another gear to reach. Just what the rest of the tour wanted to hear, right?
"I feel like...I still can do a little better," Serena said. "But overall, I'm almost maybe where I was almost (before the time off), but I want to exceed that level.
Looking forward to the final against Stosur, Williams had the following assessment:
"Well, the last time we played, she got the best of me. It was an intense match, and she played really well. So being ranked 10th in the world...I think that, you know, she definitely has an opportunity to take it all. She's been playing well. I think this court really suits her game. We'll see. I have nothing to lose, and I'm happy to have gotten this far. Hopefully if I take another title, that would be great. If not, you know, hey, there's next week."
The way she is playing right now, it is hard to imagine Serena losing tomorrow. With her stellar play of late, coupled with Stosur's lackluster 2-8 record in WTA finals, expect Williams to win her second tournament in-a-row and head towards the U.S. Open as the definitive favorite.
August 13, 2011 in Serena Williams | Permalink | Comments (0)
Stosur Advances to Rogers Cup Final
Photo Bob McIntyre
Article By Mike McIntyre
Agnieska Radwanska's attempt to go on a Novak Djokovic-like winning streak came to an end today at the Rogers Cup in Toronto. After nine consecutive victories she was defeated today by 10th seeded Samantha Stosur 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
Broken three times in the first set it was a tough-go for Radwanska initially. She had not dropped a set thus far in the tournament and until today had looked like she was carrying over her momentum from her tournament win in Carlsbad, California from last week. Instead, she appeared to be sluggish today on the court against Stosur.
In the second set, the pressure got to Stosur, as it often does, when serving at 5-6. She would lose all four points on her serve in that game, culminating with a double fault to hand the set over to her Polish opponent.
In the third set Stosur would get the chance she needed to pull away. Radwanska got down 0-40 when serving at 2-2. The Australian would capitalize on the second break chance she got to take a 3-2 lead. After holding her own serve with ease, Stosur would then break Radwanska again to increase the margin by a score of 5-2 and get a chance to serve for the match. There were no nerves this time around as Stosur would close out Radwanska without any difficulty.
After the match Radwanska credited Stosur's strong serving as a key difference in the match. She also said that her injured right shoulder, that was heavily taped, prevented her from attaining 100% on her own serve.
"You know, and with my shoulder...I couldn't really hold my serve. Thaty's why, you know, I think there was a little bit of trouble especially in the beginning of the third set already."
Radwanska is still planning on going to Cincinnati, atlhough I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up withdrawing to rest the shoulder prior to the U.S. Open. I asked her if this was as confident as she's ever felt heading into a Grand Slam and she certainly seemed to think so.
"You know, I think I'm playing very good tennis," she said. I had a lot of food matches. I'm ready for the Open. It's been a very good experience the last three weeks. I think - you know, I just hope I can do well, as well, in the U.S. Open."
Stosur advances now to her second WTA final of the year and her first on hard-courts. The last time she won a title was in April 2010.
It won't be easy for her to take the championship here as Serena Williams will be considered the heavy favorite. She is 2-3 in her career against Williams, who defeated Victoria Azarenka with ease by a score of 6-3, 6-3 in the evening match.
The final is set for 1pm ET on Sunday.
August 13, 2011 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Around The Corner: Cincinnati Masters
By Mike McIntyre
As the Rogers Cup is set to wrap-up this weekend in Montreal with the men, the draw for the second consecutive Masters 1000 event has just been released in Cincinnati. With the U.S. Open just two weeks away now, players will be looking to fine-tune their games and round into form for the final Grand Slam of the year.
How will Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray rebound after poor showings in Canada? The answer to that question has a lot to do with the draws they have received as well as how they deal with their mental and physical short-comings from this past week.
World number one Novak Djokovic will enjoy the benefits of a first round bye at the Western and Southern Open and gets the winner of American Ryan Harrison and Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela. The progress that Harrison has made this year has been quite positive and he is giving U.S. tennis fans some real hope as they continue to search for the successor to Andy Roddick. Harrison should get by Chela, a player whose game is never really that dangerous on hard-courts.
Djokovic also has Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils in his section of the draw. Both of those players made the quarter-finals in Montreal this week. Djokovic can handle either, especially evidenced by his 6-2, 6-1 beating of Monfils on Friday evening.
Andy Roddick makes his return to the ATP World Tour after some injury issues of late. Currently ranked 12th in the world, Roddick could see his ranking start to fall quickly if he cannot put together some results this summer. Roddick has not played since a Davis Cup loss to David Ferrer on hard-courts in early July. He will open in Cincy against Philipp Kohlschreiber, a tricky opponent to be sure.
Djokovic should be able to advance through this section but having too much success just prior to the Open could be problematic down the road. A player does not want to peak too early, although it seems that Djokovic has found a way to keep his magical results going all year long.
In the following quarter of the draw, Roger Federer is not going to have an easy run. While he was fortunate to draw Canadian wildcard Vasek Pospisil in Montreal, his first adversary in Cincy will be either Juan Martin Del Potro or Andreas Seppi. No offence to Seppi, but it would be shocking if he could get by the 6'6'' Argentine.
Federer will be pushed to the limit by Del Potro and could see his U.S. Open preparations seriously harmed if he's not on top of his game. Federer holds a 6-2 advantage in their career head-to-head, but Del Po has won the last two encounters.
Tomas Berdych is also in this section of the draw as the 8th seed, but you can never get your hopes up with this guy. It seems like a mix of quarter-final and semi-final appearances this year are all we are going to get out of the talented but enigmatic Czech. He hasn't beaten a quality opponent all year long, so I wouldn't expect that to change now. This guy must drive his coach nuts!
On the other side of the draw Rafael Nadal will try to get things back on track after a surprising second round defeat to Ivan Dodig. While Federer losing to Tsonga in Montreal was always within the realm of possibility, I don't think anyone really saw that Dodig loss coming for Nadal.
The Spaniard will play either Guillermo Garcia-Lopez or a qualifier in his opening match. That should be the perfect prescription to get things going to him. A quarter-final match against Mardy Fish is a possibility for Nadal, although with Fish going deep in Montreal I wonder how much energy he will want to expend in back-to-back weeks.
Keep an eye on the talented Alexandr Dolgopolov who opens against Richard Gasquet in this quarter as well as Fernando Verdasco and veteran Xavier Malisse as a longshot who can still play the game quite well.
Finally, Andy Murray will try to find his form against the winner of David Nalbandian and a qualifier. Nalbandian can't seem to catch a break as he opened against Wawrinka in Montreal. Murray should be a good bet to dispatch of the veteran Argentine and hopefully the doubles action he saw with his older brother Jamie in Montreal will help him out here.
David Ferrer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are also in this section and are fantastic hard-court players who could go deep here if Murray is still working out the kinks in his game.
Of the top-twenty players in the world, only Sweden's Robin Soderling is missing in action.
My picks for a final four this week will be Djokovic vs. Del Potro and Murray against Dolgopolov. I don't see Federer getting by his first opponent and something just didn't seem right with Nadal while practicing or playing in Montreal this past week.
Let the speculation for the U.S. Open continue. It will be here before we know it!
August 13, 2011 in Alexandr Dolgopolov, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin Del Potro, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych | Permalink | Comments (1)
Final Four Set In Toronto at Rogers Cup
By Mike McIntyre
With both the men's and women's tournaments running simultaneously in Canada this year, members of the media had to make some big decisions about how to cover this virtually combined event for the first time.
I had planned ahead of time to do the first half in Montreal watching the men and then to transition to Toronto to catch the women finish things off and also take-in the Legends tournament with Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Jim Courier and John McEnroe. I just arrived in Toronto today in time to see the four quarter-final matches and it took a few matches before the level of play picked-up.
Sam Stosur took out surprise quarter-finalist Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-4, 6-1 in the opening match of the day. It was the end of a good run by Vinci who knocked off some serious competition in Yanina Wickmayer, Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic one after another. Vinci's loss brings an end to the blog she was keeping while here in Toronto.
In the second match of the day, fourth seeded Victoria Azarenka had no trouble in dispatching qualifier Galina Voskoboeva with ease by a score of 6-1, 6-2. Azarenka was doing her best impression as the tournament favorite. She raced out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back. Whatever Voskoboeva had going for her they day before against Maria Sharapova was no longer in effect. She looked like a shell of what she brought on court Thursday.
In a mid-afternoon match, 11th seed Andrea Petkovic took on 13th seed Agnieska Radwanska. The pair played a semi-final match last week in Carslbad where Radwanska prevailed in three sets. Despite bringing more fire-power onto the court, Petkovic made a few too many unforced errors while Radwanska played a very consistent and balanced game. The lack of power in her game did nothing to prevent her from prolonging the rallies and waiting for Petkovic to make a mistake. Radwanksa would win by a routine 6-3, 6-4 final score. She has now won 9 consecutive matches and joked on court after the match that she was trying to emulate Novak Djokovic's streak from earlier in the year.
Petkovic seemed pretty relaxed after the match and was upbeat with the media in her press conference. Despite the fact that she is now 0-4 against Radwanska in her career she had the following to say:
"Well, actually, I really enjoy playing her, because I always think it's a good match to watch for the audience."
In assessing her strategy Petkovic said that, "...today I just felt like, I don't know, I needed to overpower her, which was the wrong approach."
Radwanska meanwhile just seems content to approach the top ten but doesn't strike me as having the killer-instinct necessary to actually contend for a Grand Slam championship.
In the evening match Serena Williams was up against Lucie Safarova. Tennis fans were finally treated to some drama in this one as the match would go the distance. From the get-go it was apparent that Safarova was not simply going to roll-over or submit to nerves as some other Serena opponents have done this week. See Bondarenko, Alona for evidence of the above. Safarova played with tons of confidence and would break to go up 4-3. Later, she easily held her final service game of the first set at love to take it 6-4.
Serena refused to quit, which should come as no surprise. Her game began to find the mark and she started to find some incredible angles on the court. Safarova was still giving it her all and both players applauded each other on more than one occasion. The display of sportsmanship was appreciated by the Toronto crowd.
Serena would break to go up 3-1 and never looked back. She would take the second set as well as the third to win the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The semi-finals are now set for Saturday. Sam Stosur will first take-on Agnieska Radwanska in the daytime match. At night, Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka will meet. The winner of the late match won't have as much time to recover for Sunday, but which ever player wins between those two will certainly be considered the favorite.
Legends Michael Chang and John McEnroe will meet before the first semi and Andre Agassi will face Jim Courier after the second one. A great day of tennis is on deck. Stay tuned for more coverage here at ProTennisFan.
August 13, 2011 in Serena Williams | Permalink | Comments (0)
Ivo Karlovic Stands Tall, Speaks Softly
By Mike McIntyre
Croatian Ivo Karlovic is known for two things. The first, something that one notices immediately upon seeing the 125th ranked tennis player in the world - that he stands a remarkable 6'10''. The second can only be seen on a tennis court and even then is sometimes hard to see if you blink too quickly - his sizzling first serve. Yup, Dr. Ivo, as he is often referred to, can crank the tennis ball upwards of 150 miles per hour on his serve.
Karlovic has been on the ATP World Tour since 2000 and has amassed a pretty amazing career based mostly on his ability to send opponents cowering in fear as his service motion sends the ball flying by them.
On Thursday in Montreal, Karlovic was beaten by 7th seed Thomas Berdych 6-3, 7-6(2) in the third round of the Rogers Cup. For a player who had lost seven of eight matches coming into the event, his moderate success here this week is a step in the right direction.
I found some time to speak with Ivo one-on-on earlier in the week and was impressed with how softly a man of his size can speak but also by his sense of humor that comes across quite easily despite not speaking English as a first language.
I had to ask Karlovic what the pros and cons of living life from such a high vantage point. Not surprisingly the pros category included having a unique view of the world.
"Well it is good because I can overlook everything. When I walk down the street I can see a mile away even though my eyes are not as good as when I was young but I can still see a lot more than everybody else."
I was surprised, however, with the restrictions that the Croat mentioned on the flip side of things.
"The only thing which I don’t like is I cannot buy a car which I like. I like sports cars but I cannot drive them. I tried once to fit in a Lamborghini and it didn’t go that well!"
I guess an austin-mini is out of the question then. Too bad, could you imagine "Dr. Ivo" driving around in an Austin Powers-inspired mini with personalized plates?
Karlovic was happy to oblige all the questions I threw at him and seemed eager to address the issue of his supposed one-dimensional game. Sure the guy can serve better than pretty much any of his peers, but he must also have some functional tools to help him break his opponents when they are delivering their own rockets?
"I think in today’s game there is not a lot of volleyers," Karlovic noted, "so I think I am doing a pretty good job. Also everybody thinks that I don’t move as well but for my height and my weight I think I am pretty good at it."
Ivo is also one of the most active Twitter users amongst professional tennis players. A recent tweet from his account included, "Some guy on the street just asked me where he can buy weed!! Maybe I should shave..."
That sense of humor also came up when asked if he feels like one of the elder-statesmen on the tour at the age of 32. "Yeah, I mean of course. I remember when I turned thirty years old it was the most depressing day of my life, so I know how Roger (Federer) must feel now. But you know, on the other hand I’m also grateful that I played this long because a lot people don’t."
Karlovic revealed that baring injuries, he foresees his career lasting a few more years. With his serve unlikely to taper-off anytime soon and with continued progress on the volleys and foot-speed that he touched upon, there is no reason to believe that opponents won't be dodging those bullets for several more seasons.
August 11, 2011 in Ivo Karlovic | Permalink | Comments (0)
Federer and Djokovic Advance At Rogers Cup
Photo by Bob McIntyre
Article By Mike McIntyre
Tennis fans in Montreal were in-store for a great day on Wednesday with the world's top three players slated to hit Centre Court. Everyone was wondering how Djokovic, Nadal and Federer would respond after such a long layoff. Would there be any upsets as we saw yesterday with Andy Murray?
In the opening match of the day, Roger Federer made his return to the courts since a quick Davis Cup appearance in early July for Switzerland. He has not seen any tournament match-play since a shocking quarter-final loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the All-England Club in June.
Today was one of those rare days where Federer did not have the whole crowd behind him as he was matched-up against young Canadian Vasek Pospisil. Don't be surprised if you haven't heard of this kid as this was the first main-draw ATP World Tour event of his career.
Only having just recently turned 21 years of age and ranked 155th in the world, Pospisil had failed to qualify for the Rogers Cup in his previous two attempts. This year, due in part to his strong play for Canada in the Davis Cup, he was granted a wild-card into the main draw. He did not disappoint yesterday as he advanced to the second round with a gutsy three-set win over 22nd ranked Juan Ignacio Chela.
Although Pospisil managed to stay with Federer today through the first ten games of the opening set, nerves kicked in when serving at 5-6. Pospisil knew this would be a factor coming into the match as Federer was his idol growing up. He dropped four straight points to hand the set over to the world's number three player.
In the second frame, Federer seemed to find his game and the pace picked up quickly. Pospisil could not match it and looked somewhat helpless as his hero walked away with it 7-5, 6-3. The young Canadian admitted he had never before seen shots like Federer's in his short professional career.
"I mean, I knew he plays fast. But it's another level of fast, to be honest. I've never felt a ball that goes through the court as fast as his does, especially his forehand."
Still, the result was a promising one for Pospisil who will now see his ranking reach an all-time high of roughly 145th in the world according to ATP stats guru Greg Sharko.
"My plan was just to concentrate on my own game, kind of hit my targets, try to play the ball rather than the occasion and the player," Pospisil said after the match had ended. "Obviously it's a lot easier said than done when you step on the court and you have Federer in front of you."
Federer will advance to a terrific third round match that everyone was hoping for against Tsonga. The Frenchman defeated rising Australian star Bernard Tomic today in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(1). I asked Tsonga if Federer had lost some of his intimidation after beating him both here in Montreal two years ago as well as at Wimbledon this summer.
"Anyway, (he's) still the best player ever for me. So it's still tough to play against him. And I think the win I had in the past, you know, they will help me, of course. But like when I lost against him, because I lost many times, I think all these matches will help me a lot."
Later on Wednesday, American John Isner came out and quickly finished-off Marcos Baghdatis in a match that was postponed due to rain Tuesday evening. Isner was up 6-3, 1-0 when play resumed and was not challenged by Baghdatis as he would close out the match 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the next round. Isner won't get much rest as he is scheduled to play Viktor Troicki later in the day.
Next up the world got its first look at newly crowned world number one Novak Djokovic. It took a while for Djokovic to look the part as he quickly found himself down by two breaks against Nikolay Davydenko. The Russian used to be a top-ten stalwart but has seen his game hampered since a wrist injury that kept him out for a good stretch in 2010. Davydenko came ready to play today though and his crisp ground-strokes were finding their mark deep in the court.
Just when Twitter was starting to buzz with talk of an upset, Djokovic came back into the first set thanks in part to some errors on Davydenko's part. The 30th ranked player in the world then crumbled in the second and the victory was Djokovic's 7-5, 6-1. Disaster averted.
Life won't get any easier for Djokovic as he will next play either Marin Cilic or Juan Martin Del Potro who were on-serve at 3-3 in the first set when rain halted play just after 5pm ET.
Other final results from today in Montreal:
Monfils d. Bogomolov Jr. 6-2, 7-6(5) (Le Monf pleases the French fans here)
Berdych d. Dolgopolov 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 (Nice recovery by Berdych against a tough early-round opponent)
Gasquet d. Bellucci 6-1, 6-4 (Gasquet looking great through two matches here so far)
Wawrinka d. Russell 6-3, 6-2 (Wawrinka also breezing through opponents)
Almagro d. Stakhovsky 6-2, 7-6(5) (Good result on hard-court for Almagro, but Gasquet up next)
Karlovic d. Petzschner 6-7(0), 7-6(2), 7-6(6) (Five out of six sets have been tie-breaks for Ivo so far)
August 10, 2011 in Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Nikolay Davydenko, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer | Permalink | Comments (0)
