McIntyre Tennis

Around The Corner: Atlanta, Gstaad and Umag

By Mike McIntyre

BB&T Atlanta Open

The Emirates Airlines U.S. Open Series officially gets underway with the level 250 event in Atlanta. While the major players will make their first hardcourt swing appearances in two weeks time at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, some smaller (and taller) fish will start accumulating points a bit earlier.

When I say taller I am definitely talking about John Isner who heads the field in Atlanta as the number one seed. Isner has become the hardest working player on the ATP Tour in recent summers and this year should be no exception. He has plenty of points to defend which must compel him to play such a heavy schedule, but it certainly seems to leave him weakened by the time the U.S. Open arrives at the end of August. At the age of 29 Isner is no kid anymore and if he truly wants to have his major moment he is going to have to ease up on the hours he spends out in the summer heat. Isner's success in 2014 has been limited to the early months of the season where he won his first event in Auckland and then reached the semi's at Indian Wells where he fell to Djokovic in three sets. He's the defending champ here in Atlanta and anything less than a repeat victory at this event will be seen as a disappointment.

Isner has a first round bye and then will face the winner between wildcard Robby Ginepri -who is still trying to salvage something of a once promising career - and Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine. Gael  Monfils of France is the number three seed and is also in the top-half of the draw. Monfils could win this thing or self-destruct in a dizzying array of cartwheels and Boris Becker inspired dives...you just never know with him.

Wimbledon doubles champs Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil are reunited together again since their big triumph. They are also both playing singles of course and Pospisil is the fourth seed and in the bottom-half of the draw. With his back seemingly no longer troubling him, the Canadian will look to gain some momentum as the Roger's Cup approaches where he has semi-final points to defend. Lots of pressure on the youngster who is fresh off a loss to Bernie Tomic in Bogota this past week.

Yen-Hsun Lu of Tapei is the seventh seed and in the bottom half as well. He is coming off a Challenger level tournament victory in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. For him it will be a battle between his rising confidence and impending jetlag. Kevin Anderson, the second seed, is also one to watch. He lost the final a year ago to Isner and played very well last summer on the smaller American hardcourt events.

Credit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad

For those looking to cling to red clay for a little bit longer we have just the event for you in Switzerland. No Roger Federer this year as he does not need the extra ranking points nor is he testing out a new racquet. Federer was shocked in his opening match a year ago against Daniel Brands in a forgettable 65 minute match.

Mikhail Youzhny is the number one seed and defending champion in Gstaad. He is quite capable on clay as he is on all other surfaces. He's got some decent dirt-ballers such as Juan Monaco, Thomasz Bellucci and Federico Delbonis to content with in the top half of the draw.

In the bottom half the ATP World Tour welcomes back the self-proclaimed innocent Viktor Troicki who hopefully has learned his lesson about refusing to provide a blood sample when asked. He was fortunate enough to have his 18 month suspension reduced to 12 and to receive a wildcard for this event. He opens against sixth seeded Dominic Thiem from Austria.

Fernando Verdaso will try to get his season back on track as the fourth seed here in Gstaad. Other than winning a small tournament on green clay in Houston back in April, there has been little worth reporting from the thirty year old Spaniard so far in 2014.

Marcel Granollers is the second seed in the event and won this tournament in 2011.

Take the results from this tournament with a grain of salt. Clay court events are on their way out this year and a win here does not by any means translate to success at the final Grand Slam of the year in New York. These are players who are trying to pad their stats or bank accounts but clearly care little for what they may be able to accomplish at a major.

Vegeta Croatia Open Umag

Ditto for Umag.

Number one seed Fabio Fognini will try to stick around a little longer than he did last week in Hamburg where he was defeated 6-4, 6-0 by the 150th ranked player in the world - Filip Krajinovic. A dismal effort from the defending champion to say the least. Fognini was a finalist here in Umag in 2013 and I would expect somewhat of a stronger effort this week as he tries to hold on to his current ranking of 15th in the world.

17 year old Alexander Zverev has received a special entry into the tournament due to his phenomenal effort last week in Hamburg where he reached the semi-finals before falling to David Ferrer. This kid has experienced the most prolific start to his career by a teenager since one Rafael Nadal did about ten years ago. He jumped 124 spots in the rankings up to his current of 161st in the ATP. Zverev started 2014 ranked in the 800s and won the Australian Open junior event. Looks like he's ready for the big leagues now.

In the bottom half of the draw the fans will no-doubt be pulling for Marin Cilic who won here in 2012. Tommy Robredo is the second seed and defending champion from a year ago. Every time I write anything negative about Robredo he goes on a serious run and manages to rediscover his top-twenty ranking and form. I'm done predicting anything for this guy, he is officially my kryptonite!

We're back in business here at ProTennisFan after some website issues earlier this year. Please check back with us during the summer swing for in-depth analysis of the ATP World Tour. You can also follow us on Twitter if you're so inclined.

Milos Raonic Wins First ATP Title in San Jose

By Mike McIntyre

Hello Canada and welcome back to the world of professional tennis.

Twenty year old Milos Raonic who resides in Thornhill, Ontario, won his first ever ATP World Tour title at the SAP Open in San Jose on Sunday against the ninth ranked player in the world, Fernando Verdasco. Fittingly, he won the event in a hockey arena that normally houses the NHL's San Jose Sharks.

"It's nice to know a hockey arena isn't new to me," Raonic said after the win. "I've been in a few of these. This feels like home."

A total unknown up until a month ago in all parts of the world except perhaps certain tennis circles in Canada and in Spain where he trained during the off-season, Raonic has now shot up the rankings from 150th in the world to a top-60 position he should assume when the new rankings are released this week.

Armed with a huge serve, a strong sense of timing at the net and the ability to surprise many with his deft ground-strokes, Raonic is the biggest young talent to emerge on the tour since Rafael Nadal in 2003. Nadal won the ATP's newcomer of the year award that year as he rose from 203rd in the world to 48th by the year's end. While Nadal was a couple of years younger at the time, I'm hard-pressed to remember any other player who has so quickly captivated the tennis community.

With his 7-6(6), 7-6(5) victory over Verdasco, Raonic has literally served notice that he is for real. He becomes the first male Canadian singles player to win a tournament on tour since Greg Rusedski sixteen years ago.

That comparison might make Canadian tennis fans a tad nervous as Rusedski jumped-ship in 1995 to the United Kingdom. While himself born in Canada, Rusedski's mother was born overseas. For his part, Raonic was born in Montenegro and moved to Canada at the age of three with his parents.

Similar to Rusedski, Raonic is becoming known for his rocket serve. In an exhibition contest just a couple of days ago he out-served Croatian monster Ivo Karlovic in a serving competition held on court after they completed their match. Karlovic stands a ridiculous 6'10'' and has been for several years considered the hardest serving player on tour. While Karlovic struggled to get almost any of his ten serves over 140mph, Raonic routinely eclipsed that mark and even clocked one at 151mph that just missed the service box.

Raonic will be hoping that his career unfolds more closely to that of his idol Pete Sampras, a 14 time Grand Slam champion, than that of Karlovic who is thought viewed as more of a circus act on the circuit.

Milos has already attained several meaningful results in his short time as a professional player. Last summer he and partner Vasek Pospisil defeated Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in a first round doubles match at the Rogers Cup in Toronto. At the time Nadal and Djokovic were ranked one and two in the world in the singles rankings.

Raonic followed that up with a tough match against Nadal in singles play in Japan where the Spaniard won 6-4, 6-4. A respectable score no-doubt considering the nearly 200 ranking points that separated them at the time.

Off season training with coach and former professional Galo Blanco during the off-season clearly paid-off for Raonic. There he got plenty of practice with Spanish players like David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro - both top-twenty regulars.

Raonic started 2011 by narrowly missing the chance to qualify in Chennai, India but then had his break-out moment at the first Grand Slam of the season in Australia. He battled through three rounds of qualifying action before advancing all the way to the final sixteen players in the field. After knocking off top-ten player Mikhail Youzhny in the third round he was defeated by Ferrer in four sets.

Now with his first tournament victory under his belt and barely any ranking points to defend from a year ago, the potential for Raonic seems limitless.

On the official ATP World Tour website, Raonic lists his goal as becoming a, "consistent top-fifty player with top-ten aspirations." If he continues his development at this pace, look for him to far surpass these now seemingly modest targets.

While Raonic now moves on to another tournament in Memphis, many will already begin talking about how a player of his size and abilities will fare when he gets to the largest tennis stage at Wimbledon later this year. Canadian tennis fans will  be hoping it is not merely a coincidence that the young man they call the Maple Leaf Missile grew up dreaming of becoming the next Pistol Pete.

Around The Corner: Marseille, Memphis and Buenos Aires

By Mike McIntyre

Open 13 - Marseille, France

Fresh off his win in Rotterdam, Sweden's Robin Soderling looks to continue his impressive form this week in Marseille as the number one seed. This guy has certainly proved he belongs in the top five and the only thing really left for him to achieve at this stage in his career is to win a Slam at some point. With Roger approaching thirty and Nadal's healthy always a question, there is no reason why Soderling cannot accomplish this at some point in 2011.

Soderling gets a first round bye and will face either Frenchman Nicolas Mahut or a qualifier in the second round. He will have the likes of Jurgen Melzer or Ivan Ljubicic to contend with in the top-half of the draw.

Tomas Berdych is the second seed and still seems to be struggling with his game. Despite making the semifinals of Wimbledon last year, Berdych has not managed to be as consistent week in and week out like Soderling is. The Czech will face either veteran Arnaud Clement or a qualifier in the second round.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is a more likely name to emerge from the bottom-half of the draw and lookout for Nikolay Davydenko or Gilles Simon - both unseeded - to also make a run in Marseille. The two former top-ten players face each other in the opening round and then have the "good" fortune of facing seventh seeded Mikhail Youzhny in round two. Getting through that kind of tough start could give them the momentum to go deep in the draw.

A Frenchman has won this event in four of the last five years. In 2010 it was Michael Llodra, who opens this time against Julien Benneteau. With all the big names entered in the draw I think it is a huge long-shot for Llodra to expect similar results this time around.

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships - Memphis, Tennessee

Andy Roddick makes his return to the ATP World Tour for the first time since the Australian Open where he surprisingly lost in the fourth round. He opens against Richard Berankis in a relatively easy opening match and then could face Janko Tipsarevic in round two. Tipsarevic has given him trouble in their past two meetings so this will be no easy draw for America's top player. Roddick could really use a tournament victory to show others he is still one of the top contenders on the circuit. It wouldn't hurt to prove that to himself either as he has not won a title since March of last year. Roddick has a lot of ranking points to defend next month and could see himself drop out of the top-ten if he doesn't bring his best game to the court.

Veteran Lleyton Hewitt is also in Roddick's quarter and the pair could meet up in the third round. Hewitt, even more-so than Roddick, needs to show he still has some fight left in him. Turning thirty in just over a week, the Australian is ranked 70th in the world and is looking for his first ATP level win of the season. 

The first-round match to watch here in Memphis will undoubtedly be that between wild-card Juan Martin Del Potro and sixth seeded John Isner. Standing at 6'6'' and 6'9'' respectively, these two players will be bringing some serious firepower to the court. Del Potro leads the head-to-head 2-0 but is still not back at 100%. He did take a giant leap forward in his comeback from wrist surgery when he made the semi-finals in San Jose this past week before losing to Fernando Verdasco.

Verdasco leads the bottom-half of the draw as the second seed and will face Canadian Milos Raonic in the first round. The interesting thing about this match-up is that the two have just played each other in the finals in San Jose. It is not often that you see two players meeting in the final of one event only to then meet in the first round of the next one.

Defending champion Sam Querrey is also in the bottom-half of the draw, but much like with Llodra in Marseille, I feel he will be hard-pressed to repeat as champion due to the tough competition. Ranked 17th in the world, Querrey has struggled mightily at the start of the season by losing both of his first round matches in Australia last month. We'll see if he can get back on track while playing in a spot like Memphis where he has so many positive memories from 2010.

Copa Claro - Buenos Aires, Argentina

The seemingly mandatory clay court event on the tour this week takes place in Buenos Aires where forgotten veteran Juan Carlos Ferrero is the defending champion. Unfortunately Ferrero has not been able to play yet this season as he recovers from wrist and knee surgery and will miss the event this year.

That being said there are several worthy successors to walk away with the title. Top seed Nicolas Almagro loves playing on red clay and just won the Brasil Open against Alexandr Dolgopolov. Almagro has always had trouble putting together back-to-back titles though, so don't expect another deep run this week. He often follows up a win with a second round loss for some reason. Should he get to round three in Buenos Aires, he will likely get a rematch with Dolgopolov.

David Nalbandian and Tommy Robredo represent the veteran presence in the top-half of the draw and while I would count on Nalbandian to emerge from this section, you can never really count out Mr. Robredo. This guy always seems to have a strong performance just when you think he's on the verge of disappearing from the radar.

The bottom half of the draw is led by second seeded Stan Wawrinka. While Stan has had a great season thus far, on clay I'd take guys like Juan Monaco and Alberta Montanes as more likely picks in this section of the tourney.

All in all this week has some great matches despite the lack of Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Murray. Most of the other top players are in action and we also have some great new faces like Dolgopolov and Raonic to continue to keep an eye on. Enjoy the tennis everyone!

 

 

 

Around The Corner: Shanghai Hosts Masters 1000 Event

By Mike McIntyre

The best men's tennis players in the world are once again assembled as the ATP World Tour showcases their talent in Shanghai. The Masters 1000 event boasts all top twenty players in the world.

In the first quarter we have world number one Rafael Nadal who recently completed his career Grand Slam at the U.S. Open. Since then Nadal has lost a semi-final match in Thailand and is currently set to play Gael Monfils in the finals in Beijing.

Nadal gets a first round bye this coming week and will play the winner of the Gilles Simon vs. Stan Wawrinka match.

While Nadal seemed to pace himself this year by playing fewer tournaments, he has been going full throttle during the Asian tennis swing and is perhaps due for an early round upset. Either of Simon or Wawrinka could trouble him. After his opening match Nadal could face the likes of Mardy Fish and Fernando Verdasco in the third and fourth rounds. I feel it is time for Nadal to come back down to earth with a humbling loss to one of the above players.

Andy Murray leads the next quarter and has had a less than successful 2010 season on tour. While he did finally grab his first tournament victory in Toronto in August, he failed to advance past the third round at the U.S. Open. Murray also bombed out early this past week in Beijing where veteran Ivan Ljubicic thrashed him 6-3, 6-2.

Murray could be challenged by the likes of Marcos Baghdatis, Sam Querrey or Mikhail Youzhny in his section. His recent results do not inspire confidence in his chances here this week.

On the other side of the draw Novak Djokovic has regained the number two position on the tour and likely will open in the second round against Ivan Ljubicic who has had a terrific week in Beijing making the semi-finals. Djokovic will have Gael Monfils and potentially Tomas Berdych to deal with in his quarter as well.

Finally, world number three Roger Federer will play in his first tournament since New York. It is hard to tell what we can expect from Federer after his month-long layoff, although he has played strongly since Wimbledon where he unexpectedly lost in the quarter finals.

Federer has the best draw of the top four and should get a couple of wins under his belt before having to face Robin Soderling in the quarter-finals.  

I expect a strong showing from Federer who will certainly be well rested. I foresee a Federer vs. Djokovic semi-final on one side with more of an upset on the other between Verdasco and Youzhny.

Any way it ends up, it's another great opportunity to see all of the best players in the world show us their skills. Tennis fans in Asia and those willing and able to watch at odd hours around the globe will enjoy this late season competition. 

Around The Corner: Tennis On The Rise in Asia

By Mike McIntyre

The ATP Tour crosses several time zones this week and sets up shop in Thailand and Malaysia where it hopes to attract new fans and sponsors in an effort to spread its global presence.

World number one and the dominant force in men's tennis in 2010, Rafael Nadal was treated like royalty when he arrived a few days ago in Bangkok.

While both stops on the schedule are ATP World Tour 250 events, the fact that the region has attracted the likes of Nadal and other young stars such as Juan Martin Del Potro, Robin Soderling, Tomas Berdych and Fernando Verdasco shows that they are committed to hosting premium quality tournaments.

Malaysian Open

Robin Soderling is the number one seed at the Malaysian Open and receives a first round bye. He should have an enticing semi-final match against Berdych if the draw holds true to form. Speedster David Ferrer of Spain is also in the top-half of the draw and should win a few rounds.

In the bottom-half, Marcos Baghdatis faces up and coming Kei Nishikori in the first round in what could provide the tournament with its first upset. Nishikori will have the crowd behind him and has been playing the best tennis of his season towards the late stages of the summer hardcourt swing. Ranked 123rd in the world, the 20 year old Japanese sensation made it through qualifying at the U.S. Open before advancing to the third round. In the process he defeated top-twenty player Marin Cilic before having to retire with an injury to Albert Montanes.

Russians Nikolay Davydenko and Mikhail Youzhny are also in the bottom half of the draw. Davydenko has had some big struggles since returning to the Tour in June after a lengthy injury layoff due to wrist surgery. He has not resembled his old self and has a 10-10 record since that time.

Meanwhile, Youzhny made it to the semi-finals of the U.S. Open and jumped in the rankings to 9th in the world - one spot away from his career high that he reached in 2008. I wouldn't be surprised if he overtook Davydenko as the highest ranked Russian before the year is out.

PTT Thailand Open

 Rafael Nadal is making his first ever appearance at the Thailand Open. While he was scheduled to play the event the past two years in a row, injuries derailed his plans and he was forced to withdraw. He comes in as the clear favorite following his impressive performance in New York where he captured the only missing Grand Slam from his already incredible tennis resume. Nadal gets a first round bye and will play the winner between two qualifiers in his opening match.

After tumbling down the rankings to the 35th spot in the world, Juan Martin Del Potro emerges from his nearly year-long wrist injury and holds the 5th seed here in Bangkok. His potential third round opponent is Nadal which will be a most difficult match in his first tournament back on the Tour. Let's hope Del Potro can remain healthy and get a few tournies under his belt before the conclusion of 2010. Having him back in the mix next season will be a huge boost to the current Roger and Rafa show we have been watching this year.

Jurgen Melzer and Fernando Verdasco represent the talent in the bottom half of the draw but neither one should be able to knock-off a healthy and in-form Nadal.

The Asian tennis swing continues next week with level 500 events in both Japan and China and then we have the Masters 1000 event in Shanghai that should have all the big names out in full force.

Men's U.S. Open Fourth Round Preview

By Mike McIntyre

The final week of Grand Slam play for 2010 is about to begin and there are sixteen players left in the men's draw. Noticeable absentees include the Andy's (Murray and Roddick) and Tomas Berdych. Other than that I suppose David Nalbandian and Marcos Baghdatis bowed out slightly earlier than we had thought, but there are still several big names left in the draw.

Rafa Nadal has been rolling along just fine on the hard courts so far in this tournament. He'll get compatriot Feliciano Lopez next. Lopez took him out of the grass court tune-up event at Queen's Club in June so we shouldn't be so quick to dismiss him. Nadal will raise his game when required however and we all know how hungry he is to complete the career slam with a win in New York. I'm going with Nadal in straights.

Another all-Spanish battle features Fernando Verdasco the 8th seed against number 10 seed David Ferrer. Verdasco impressively knocked off Nalbandian in the third round while Ferrer advanced against a lesser-known hard court player in Daniel Gimeno-Traver. I'm looking at a tough five set Verdasco victory which would give us a nice re-match of the Nadal/Verdasco tilt from the Australian Open that went the distance in 2009.

American hopeful Sam Querrey and Swiss understudy Stan Wawrinka both have the opportunity to make their first career Grand Slam quarter-final. Querrey has had a great year at the lower-level tournaments winning three ATP Tour 250 events, and one 500 event. Let's see if he now has the game to make a splash on a bigger stage. Wawrinka just beat one of the U.S. Open favorites in Andy Murray. Can he keep that level up? I'm picking Wawrinka in four sets due to experience.

Mikhail Youzhny took out American John Isner in the last round and will now face veteran Tommy Robredo. Normally I'd go with Youzhny hands-down but I've learned to never count Tommy out. Just when you think his career is on the downward swing, he tosses in an excellent result. Still, talent wise, you gotta think Youzhny will pull this one out in four.

Monday gives us the four bottom-half matches, starting out with Richard Gasquet against Gael Monfils. This match should be one of the most entertaining between Gasquet's beautiful backhand and Monfils' colorful court antics. The all-French match holds a 2-2 career head-to-head with all meetings on hard court. Could go either way really as neither has enjoyed much success on this surface this summer, but Le Monf has my vote in a five setter. 

Mardy Fish is likely wishing that the heat would return to Flushing Meadows in time for his match against Novak Djokovic. Unfortunately cool temperatures are in the forecast giving Djokovic the ideal conditions he needs to succeed against the American. While Fish has had a great summer and has made the quarter-finals in New York once before, the Djoker has been picking up his game this week and looks ready to advance. Djokovic in four. 

Robin Soderling gets the easiest match on paper as he takes on clay-court specialist Albert Montanes. A straight set wins for the Swede should be in the cards, making him a very dangerous and well-rested player to face Roger Federer in the next round.

Federer gets resurgent Jurgen Melzer who has had the best season of his career for sure. The 29 year old had never before advanced past the third round of a Slam before 2010 and has now made the semi's at Roland Garros, the fourth round at Wimbledon and now again the fourth round at the U.S. Open. His run is about to end at the hands of Federer who will have one last routine victory before having to face a serious test in Soderling. Federer in straights.

Third Round Men's Preview at U.S. Open

By Mike McIntyre

The third round will finish off play today at the U.S. Open leaving us with 16 competitors in the draw. So far all of the favorites still exist on the men's side with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray all looking strong. Novak Djokovic and Robin Soderling are also still in the mix.

Here is a quick peak at some of the matches coming up today:

Nadal will take on Frenchman Gilles Simon. Gotta give props to France for having so many talented players in the top 50 on the ATP Tour at the moment. Simon is trying to rediscover his hardcourt form that led him to wins over both Nadal and Federer back in 2008. It's a different story in 2010 and I don't expect him to challenge Nadal. We're going with the Spaniard in three sets.

Feliciano Lopez the 23rd seed is up against Sergiy Stakhovsky with the winner to likely face Nadal. Stakhovsky just won the Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven a week ago and comes in with great momentum. Lopez is inconsistent and his backhand is notoriously weak. Stakhovsky in four sets.

In an all-Spanish battle, the feisty David Ferrer will face countryman Daniel Gimeno-Traver. Ferrer made the semi's in New York in 2007 and his experience and determination will carry him through to the next round in four sets.

In what Brad Gilbert labeled a "popcorn" match on his Twitter account, David Nalbandian will face Fernando Verdasco. While Nalbandian has had a great summer he has struggled a bit lately and spent more time on court than Verdasco this summer. I wonder if he has enough gas left in the tank for this match. Verdasco only dropped five games in his last match and I expect him to come through against Nalbandian today in four sets. 

Fourth seeded Andy Murray is my pick to make it to the finals and will advance easily today against Stan Wawrinka from Switzerland. Three sets and expect a much tougher match against the next Swiss opponent I predict he will face.

American Sam Querrey will have the crowd behind him as he faces Nicolas Almagro today. Almagro is more known for his clay-court prowess but he hits a hard ball. Querrey should win this match but I've yet to see him have his Grand Slam breakthrough. If he does not win today his toughness in big matches will continue to be questioned. I'm gonna go with Almagro in five.

Another American, John Isner will take his big serve against Mikhail Youzhny the 12th seed from Russia. Youzhny can play top-ten tennis if he puts his mind to it and with Isner just returning from an ankle injury I see the Russian advancing in four sets. 

The last match on the men's side today has veteran Tommy Robredo against serve and volley whiz Michael Llodraw. This is a great opportunity for either of these players to make the fourth round of a major. Robredo is the more consistent of the two although the chips could fall either way. I'll take Tommy in five sets.

Around the Corner: Clay Court Tennis in Stuttgart and Bastad

By Mike McIntyre

With the short grass court season already over, the ATP Tour turns to a couple of clay court tournaments in Europe this week.

Stuttgart:

The chance at redemption to a multitude of players who have missed significant portions of the tennis season due to injury is offered at Stuttgart this year.

Russian Nikolay Davydenko is the top seed in Stuttgart and will try to improve on his semi-final appearances here in 2004 and 2005. Ranked sixth in the world, Davydenko is still struggling with his game since returning from a wrist injury in June. After missing three months he returned in time for Halle and Wimbledon and lost both times in the second round on his least favorite surface of grass. Davydenko gets a first round bye and will then play the winner of the Daniel Gimeno-Traver and Jeremy Chardy match. Chardy won his first career title here a year ago but will be hard-pressed to repeat.

Frenchman Gael Monfils is seeded third and has a fairly easy looking quarter of the draw that is littered with qualifiers. Monfils also missed some time earlier in the year with injury issues and has yet to post any significant results in 2010. This tournament offers the perfect opportunity for Monfils to reach his first final of the season.

Fellow Frenchman Gilles Simon could meet up with veteran Juan Carlos Ferrero in the third quarter-final. Simon will be have trouble living up to this seventh-seed status as he too was out of action for three months between March and June with injuries and is not yet where his game is capable of being.

In the final quarter, clay-court specialist Albert Montanes the fifth seed will likely meet up with second seeded Jurgen Melzer if they can get through the opening two rounds. Melzer is experiencing the season of his career thus far at the age of 29 by making it to the semi-finals at the French Open and the fourth round at Wimbledon. The Austrian had never before advanced past the third round of a Grand Slam.

Bastad:

In Bastad, Sweden, local hope Robin Soderling will look to defend his title from a year ago. Soderling was the first Swede to win the singles title in Bastad since his current coach, Magnus Norman, did it in 2000. 

Third seeded David Ferrer won the title in 2007 and is still capable of strong results on clay. This year he has won the title in Acapulco, made the finals of Buenos Aires and the Masters-Series tournament in Rome as well as the semi-finals of four other tournaments.

Nicolas Almagro is seeded fourth and is an able clay-court player. His section seems quite routine and he should be able to find his way deep into the draw.

The bottom quarter features two tough players from Spain in veteran Tommy Robredo, who has won the Bastad title twice before (2006, 2008), and second seeded Fernando Verdasco. Robredo holds a 23-7 career record at this tournament and has a 4-4 head-to-head against Verdasco.

One interesting note when looking at the list of former doubles champions is that Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman won here on seven separate occasions and with six different partners.

Nadal Destroys Verdasco in Monte Carlo Final

By Mike McIntyre

Lookout Roger - there's someone out there who seems pretty intent on taking back that French Open title.

Rafael Nadal showed everyone that he is healthy and hungry to once again dominate the ATP Tour on clay as he utterly destroyed a helpless Fernando Verdasco 6-0, 6-1 in the finals of the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 event on Sunday. It is amazingly his sixth consecutive victory at the event and pulls Rafa even with Roger Federer with a career total of sixteen Masters 1000-level victories and only one short of the all-time record behind Andre Agassi.

“Last year I didn’t play well but won; this year the level is completely different,” Nadal said. “I have been playing well since the start of the season.”

“If he plays like this, no one can beat him,” Verdasco said. “He beat everyone in six years here and I’m just one of them.”

The smile on his face after defeating Verdasco showed just how much this win means to Nadal. It is his first title in almost a year and since that time he has been defeated by just about everyone in the current top ten (Federer, Djokovic (3x), Del Potro (2x), Davydenko (2x), Soderling, Roddick, Cilic and Murray. Forget the injuries to his knees for a second - Nadal was most certainly battling some mental issues as well after nearly twelve months without sinking his teeth into a trophy. 

After spending much of 2009 battling those mental and physical issues, Rafa seems to be back on track in 2010. He has reached the finals in Doha, the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, and recently the semis of both hard-court Masters events in Indian Wells and Miami. Now back on his favorite surface, Nadal is once again blowing away the opposition with ease. He did not drop a set all week in Monte Carlo, nor did he even really get tested at any point during the tournament. He dispatched strong clay-court opponents like David Ferrer, Juan Carlos Ferrero and then Verdasco with complete ease.

With about a month to go before Roland Garros, Rafa has plenty of time to find his once invincible confidence on clay. When healthy the 23 year-old Nadal is virtually unstoppable during this portion of the season. Simply put, Rafa rules. It is a statement we seem to have forgotten recently but one that I expect will be once again embedded in our minds by the end of the next Grand Slam.

Around the Corner - Miami Masters 1000

By Mike McIntyre

Fresh off from a very intriguing tournament in Indian Wells, the ATP Tour now heads east to Miami for the next Masters 1000 event - the Sony Ericsson Open. Anyone willing to put money on another Roddick/Ljubicic final? Didn't think so.

Well for starters the two are paired in the same half of the draw, so a meeting in the finals in Miami is a physical impossibility. I somehow doubt anyone would have guessed the 31 year old Ljubicic would have had such an amazing run in a big event like Indian Wells, and yet he captured his fist Masters Series event by defeating top-level talent like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and then Andy Roddick. A nice feather in his cap as retirement draws nearer, but not something that will be repeated.

Instead look for a big name like Murray (the defending champ) or Djokovic (winner in 2007) to capture the title in Miami.

In the top half of the draw we have world number one Roger Federer who still is shaking off the rust from a month and a half layoff after winning the Australian Open. Federer lost a match against Marcos Baghdatis in the third round at Indian Wells that he led 4-1 in the third set and had several match points as well. That can only be chalked-up to inactivity. Federer might need a bit more time to get back to his usual self out there, so don't expect a big run in Miami - but don't count him out either! Federer has a first round bye and then a pretty easy go until a potential fourth round meeting with Tomas Berdych.

Fernando Verdasco and Marin Cilic are two players who could cause Federer some trouble in his quarter of the draw and both will be looking to post a good result for the first time since the Aussie Open. Verdasco is 3-3 since winning in San Jose in February while Cilic has cooled considerably since starting the year with two titles and his first Slam semi-final.

Andy Murray heads up the other quarter in the top section of the draw and it is definitely time that he stepped up his game. After losing his second Slam final to Federer in Australia, Murray tanked in Dubai and was then beaten in straight sets last week against Robin Soderling. I'm not sure why Murray has played such a light schedule in 2010, perhaps he really does spend too much time playing video games. Either way, he is due for a title and what better place to grab one than in the exact spot he did a year ago. Murray's draw should allow him to advance to the quarters before being tested, perhaps again, by Soderling.

In the bottom half of the draw look for quarter final matches between Tsonga/Nadal and Djokovic/Roddick. Tournament organizers will certainly be hoping for those outcomes. Tsonga has been quiet since the Aussie Open but has a nice section of the draw where his toughest competition will come from Philipp Kohlschreiber and John Isner. Nadal looked fit at Indian Wells and should be able to at least make it through to the quarters here in Miami. A returning David Nalbandian is in his section but the Argentine has a long way to go in his return from injury before being considered a threat. Let's hope Rafa can stay healthy because the tour is much more interesting when he is in the mix.

Djokovic should advance in his section as should Roddick - although I wonder if the American is due for a slip-up after starting the year so strongly. A guy like Igor Andreev could trouble him in the early-goings.

Enjoy this last hard-court tournament before the clay-court season gets started next week at three European locations. The lead-up to the French Open is just around the corner.