McIntyre Tennis

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)

Rogers Cup Day One Review

 By Mike McIntyre

Day one from the Rogers Cup offered up some quality first round matches in Montreal. Some were able to meet expectations while others did not.

Falling into the category of the latter would be David Nalbandian against 16th seeded Stanislas Wawrinka. While the world's second ranked Swiss player held a solid 5-3 record against Nalbandian heading into the match, the Argentine won their last encounter with ease a year ago by a score of 6-1, 6-3.

Nalbandian has had a tough year, one that once again has been negatively impacted by health issues. Requiring not one, but two separate surgeries to his left leg/groin areas, Nalbandian missed three months on the tour and returned just in time for the brief grass-court season. He lost in the third round of both Queen's (Verdasco) and Wimbledon (Federer) before falling to James Blake in the first round of Washington where he was the defending champion. His inability to defend those ranking points sent him plummeting 24 spots in the ranking to his current spot of 51st in the world.

Nalbandian looked ordinary on Center Court against Wawrinka today and could not make a dent in his game. He looked somewhat lethargic and allowed Wawrinka to win easily 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the second round where he will now face the winner of the Michael Russell vs. Albert Montanes match scheduled for tomorrow.

Wawrinka was moving well on the court today and never seemed bothered by Nalbandian's game. His assessment of his opponent was pretty much to the point as he said that, "With him, you never know.  Today he was not playing really good. I think he's not really ready." He pointed out that perhaps at Nalbandian's age he is not quite as fit as he needs to be. "But maybe with the year (age), he's 29 now, maybe it's not easy for him to play many matches at the top level."

Nalbandian was practicing on the weekend with big-serving Ivo Karlovic - perhaps not the best player to prepare for a groundstroke battle with an all-round player like Wawrinka.

In the second match of the day on the main stage, the ever-present Juan Carlos Ferrero took on enigmatic Ernests Gulbis. JCF held a 1-0 head-to-head advantage coming into the match and had looked strong lately on clay in winning his sixteenth career title in Stuttgart. Ferrero's season has been a trying one however as he did not play his first tournament until April due to wrist and knee injuries. He was then out between May and July when those same ailments began acting up once again. Today was his first hard-court action of the year and he got off to a good start by taking the opening set 6-3.

Gulbis has been playing some of the best tennis of his career as of late as the 22 year old won his first title of the year and second of his career in Los Angeles against Mardy Fish. Could it be that Gulbis is finally going to deliver on his enormous potential? He dug deep today against Ferrero to comeback and win 3-6, 6-1, 7-5. Next on the horizon will be a match against the winner of tomorrow's match between Mikhail Youzhny and Michael Llodra.

Other matches of note on the outside courts included the talented Alexandr Dolgopolov, who survived a scare from Erik Chvojka of Canada who is ranked 290th in the world and was entered in the draw thanks to a wildcard from Tennis Canada. Dolgopolov had to battle to win 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

Big serving Ivo Karlovic snapped out of a funk that has seen him lose seven of his last eight matches on the tour. He prevailed today against Juan Monaco 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(5) for only his second win since May. Speaking with him afterwards, Karlovic recalled that when he turned thirty it was, "the most depressing day of my life, so I know how Roger must feel now."

American Alex Bogomolov Jr. continued his surprising play of late by dispatching Adrian Mannarino in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6(4).

Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil knocked-off Andrey Golubev 7-5, 7-6(6). Golubev has now lost eighteen straight matches. He is quickly approaching the all-time losing record of Vince Spadea who at one point in his career lost twenty-one consecutive matches. Talk about having your resolve to keep playing thoroughly tested.

Marin Cilic, who it seems to me is due for some sort of breakthrough this year, was able to dispatch of Andreas Seppi 7-5, 6-4.

Nikolay Davydenko defeated Flavio Cipolla 6-3, 6-3 to advance to an interesting second round encounter. Davydenko will now face world number one Novak Djokovic in the second night match on Tuesday in Montreal. While a shell of his former self, Davydenko will be a tricky opening opponent for Djokovic. The Serb has not played yet due to a first round bye.

At night, Juan Martin Del Potro easily handled Jarkko Nieminen by a margin of 6-4, 6-0. I've personally stopped feeling any sympathy for Nieminen ever since he trounced Andre Agassi in the last two sets of the American's last appearance at the French Open. In that match in 2005, Agassi was up two sets to one until his back acted up and he was beaten 7-5, 4-6, 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-0.

The 19th ranked Del Potro is on a collision course to face Djokovic in the third round in what would be a marquee match-up that early in the event. The 2009 U.S. Open winner has been making some solid progress since missing most of the 2010 season due to injury and is certainly going to be back in the top ten, perhaps even top five if he continues at this rate.

Del Potro refused to speculate on facing Djokovic and gave the classic "one match at a time" answer when pressed.

"Yeah, I know that. But first I will have to play against Cilic. Will be very difficult match for both.  We know each other since juniors. We play many, many times. It's really difficult match for me because he knows everything about my game, and I know many things about his game, too. But first I have to beat him and then I will thinking if I have another match. Before (Djokovic), Cilic in the next round."

The final match of the night was between fan-favorite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Fabio Fognini. The Frenchman advanced with some second set difficulty but was able to make Fognini the third in a trifecta of Italians to be bounced from the tournament. The final score was 6-4, 7-6(0). Tsonga was visited by the trainer in the second set when down a break and appeared to have - no joke - his head checked. Tsonga stuck around after the match to hit a few balls with a local wheelchair tennis player in a nice moment to end the evening.

One noticeable no-show today was birthday boy Roger Federer. With a bye in the first round he is not scheduled to play until Wedneday so we will have to wait until then to discuss how he feels about turning the big 3-0.

 

 

Men's Rogers Cup Preview

Djokovic and Nadal at the Rogers Cup. Photo Credit Jennifer Knapp.

By Mike McIntyre

After a five week hiatus from the ATP World Tour, the superstars of the circuit are ready to make their presence felt as the Rogers Cup in Montreal is set to begin play on Monday.

Newly crowned number one Novak Djokovic was on site Saturday for a brief media appearance alongside Rafael Nadal to christen, oddly enough, some new green clay courts that Tennis Canada has built on-site. The courts will serve to aid young Canadian players develop confidence on a surface that they rarely succeed on.

Djokovic and Nadal will not be playing together in doubles as they did a year ago when the men played in Toronto. While they were ranked one and two in the world at the time, their rivalry has taken a more serious dynamic with Djokovic beating Nadal in their five previous encounters.

The draw is a tough one for just about everybody in this format, where players will be on court almost every single day. With rain in the forecast early in the week the potential for double-duty also presents itself.

In the top quarter Djokovic will begin the event with a bye followed by a difficult match potentially against Nikolay Davydenko who opens against a qualifier. While Davydenko has been a shell of his former self since returning to the tour following a lengthy layoff in 2010, he still has the ability to test any of the top players and has a respectable 2-3 career head-to-head against the Serb. 

Djokovic's maiden appearance in Canada in 2007 was a self-described key point in the Serb's ascension to the top of the game. There he beat the top three players in the world one after another in Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Speaking on his past success at the Rogers Cup, Djokovic said, "I have very nice memories especially from Montreal where I won the title in 2007 and in some ways started this great four years in my career."

Beyond Davydenko things do not get any easier as Juan Martin Del Potro is his likely third round opponent. Del Potro has steadily been improving since he returned from his own wrist injury which kept him off the tour for eight months in 2010.

Gael Monfils, John Isner and Viktor Troicki are all included in this very difficult top quarter in Montreal. An opening round match between the big-serving Isner and former Aussie Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis is sure to be one worth watching.

In the next quarter we find Roger Federer, a man who is going to be facing dozens of awkward questions about his birthday Monday, where he will officially break into his thirties. Never-mind the fact that the world number three has made the semis in Australia, the finals in Paris and the quarters at Wimbledon - he is sure to be hounded with queries about his inevitable demise.

Federer is eager to finish the year strong and cap it off with a Grand Slam just as he did in 2008. That year he had been unable to win a Slam as well by this point in the season, but finished solid in New York and then returned to form in 2009 by winning his first French Open and another Wimbledon.

He opens in the second round here in Montreal against the victor between clay-courter Juan Ignacio Chela and Canadian youngster Vasek Pospisil (who defeated the duo of Djokovic/Nadal last year with partner Milos Raonic in doubles).

In the third round Roger might have to deal with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga again in a rematch of their Wimbledon quarter-final. Bernard Tomic is also in the realm of potential third round opponents while Richard Gasquet is the likely quarter-final challenge for him. Eighth seeded Nicolas Almagro is the other player with a bye in Federer's quarter, but usually only excels on the red dirt of Europe.

In the other half of the draw we have Andy Murray and Mardy Fish receiving first round exemptions in their quarter. Fish will get the winner of Radek Stepanek (a finalist at the moment in Washington) or Feliciano Lopez. Murray will see either Pablo Andujar (a wildcard) or more likely big-serving Kevin Anderson. Given Murray's string of two consecutive Rogers Cups, I'd say he has the definite edge to emerge from this part of the draw.

This section is also littered with veterans like David Nalbandian (who won a practice set today 7-6(4) against Ivo Karlovic), and Juan Carlos Ferrero (seen practicing with Tomas Berdych). Other talented players include Mikhail Youzhny, Ernests Gulbis and Stan Wawrinka. The first round match to keep an eye on here would be Nalbandian vs. Wawrinka. Gulbis vs. Ferrero could also be entertaining while serve and volleyer Michael Llodra could give Youzhny some fits. 

Finally at the bottom of the entire draw is where world number two Rafael Nadal finds himself. He will open in the second round against either Ivan Dodig or Jeremy Chardy - a good way to ease back into competition. Nadal looked to be at times favoring his foot during a practice session with Juan Monaco earlier today. He will be available to the media on Sunday and we'll try to get some more info on that.

Nadal could have fellow-Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in the third round while a quarter-final against Berdych, the 7th seed, seems possible. Berdych will have to contend with Alexandr Dolgopolov perhaps in round two and Gilles Simon in round three. Any of those three players could equally emerge to face Nadal.

Ok, if you're looking for picks here I'm going to choose the predictable route. How can you not after the way the top-four have been playing? Djokovic has been on fire all year long with the exception of his one loss to Federer in Paris, so he's almost a sure-shot to make it to the semis. Federer has a great draw and I'm certain he's itching for another crack at Tsonga. A Djokovic/Federer hard-court semi-final will be the dream of fans and tournament organizers alike here in Montreal. I think they'll get it.

On the other side, Murray's performance in the past in Canada and the lead-up to the U.S. Open is well known and should continue. Fish has played a lot of tennis this summer and might not be able to put in 110% with some lingering soreness from Los Angeles. I'd pick Murray over him even if Fish was feeling perfectly rested.

Nadal is giving me some doubts with his behavior in practice today. If his body holds up then you have to think he'll be in the final four as well, but if not look for Simon or Berdych to take his place instead.

Djokovic taking down Murray in the finals is the best you'll get out of me. Regardless, we're about to have a fantastic week of top-level tennis from the fabulous city of Montreal. Enjoy the Rogers Cup everyone and let the speculation for the U.S. Open begin!

Federer Victorious in Doha

By Mike McIntyre

Roger Federer defeated Nikolay Davydenko with ease, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday in the finals of the Exxon Mobil Open in Doha, Qatar.

Federer avenges his semi-final loss to the Russian in the same event a year ago and has proven that he is ready to pick-up where he left off in 2010.

Unfortunately tennis fans were robbed of a Nadal-Federer final in Doha when Davydenko defeated a very ill Rafa in the semis.

Perhaps the tennis Gods will be more kind at the Australian Open which begins in just over a week's time. Federer will be the defending champion however it is Nadal who will be going for his fourth Grand Slam victory in a row.

Let's hope that Nadal recovers from his recent illness in time to be in peak condition for the opening Slam of 2011.

Around The Corner: ATP Season Ready to Go

By Mike McIntyre

Brisbane International

Robin Soderling arrives in Brisbane as the number one seed. Earlier this week in Abu Dhabi he defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych, while losing to Roger Federer in a tight three set match. It seems like he is off to a solid start and should be considered the favorite in this tournament.

Soderling will face a qualifier in the opening round this week and has only Mardy Fish as a real threat in his half of the draw. That duo could meet in the semi-finals.

In the bottom half, defending champion Andy Roddick is the number two seed and faces Marinko Matosevic, an Australian wildcard, in the first round. Roddick's draw is much tougher than Soderling's as he will face either Igor Andreev or Alexandr Dolgopolov in the second round. A potential quarter-final match against Marcos Baghdatis also looms followed by either Fernando Verdasco, Gilles Simon or Feliciano Lopez in the semi's. Repeating as champion will be no easy task for Roddick but if he can get to the finals it will be a sign that he is clearly ready to play in 2011.

Aircel Chennai Open

Also fresh from Abu Dhabi is number one seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic. He will face Frederico Gil in the first round and could see Jeremy Chardy in the quarter-finals. For a player who was invisible in many tournaments a year ago, Berdych needs to take this opportunity in Chennai to show he is a true top-ten guy.

Third seeded Stan Wawrinka is also in the top half of the draw and must have been a late entry because he is using one of the wildcard's for the tournament.

In the bottom half, Xavier Malisse the 7th seed could face 4th seeded Richard Gasquet in one quarter-final while 6th seeded Janko Tipsarevic and 2nd seed Marin Cilic could square-off in the other.

Cilic is aiming to win his third Chennai Open in a row, which would make him the only player to have ever accomplished that feat at the Indian event. In 2010 he defeated Wawrinka in the finals and in 2009 it was Somdev Devvarman he took out.

Exxon Mobil Open - Qatar

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer continue their historic rivalry by opening the 2011 ATP World Tour season in Doha, Qatar.

Fresh off an exhibition tournament victory in nearby Abu Dhabi, Nadal is seeded first and will face Karol Beck in the first round.

At the Mubadala Tennis Championships, Nadal defeated Tomas Berdych and then Federer to show that he is ready to go on the hard courts.

Here in Doha he will have to get through the likes of Ernests Gulbis, Nikolay Davydenko and perhaps Philipp Kohlschreiber in order to advance to an anticipated final match-up against Federer.

A year ago Davydenko defeated both Federer and Nadal en route to the title. Do no expect a similar result this year as the veteran Russian's game has taken a sharp turn for the worse over the past eight months.

In the bottom half of the draw, Federer opens the tournament against a qualifier. He then has players such as Viktor Troicki and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his path who could pose him some problems.

I'm somewhat surprised in the weak field that Doha has to offer given the fact they have much more prize money to offer than the other two level 250 tournaments that the ATP has this week. Chalk it up to the distance that players must travel to get to the Middle East and then proceed to Australia I suppose.

Look forward to the Federer/Nadal final in a week's time. I'd be quite surprised if either player was unable to advance to that stage.

As for fans of players like Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro, you'll have to wait a bit longer to see these stars in action. Del Potro will take to the courts in a week in Sydney, while I've yet to see any indication of where Murray or Djokovic will be playing. They do not appear in the player list for any tournaments leading up to the Aussie Open, nor have they signed up for the Kooyong Classic exhibition at this point in time.

 

Around The Corner: Home Stretch - Valencia and Basel

By Mike McIntyre

While the WTA has almost wrapped up its season, the ATP World Tour still has a few more events to go before we have reached the elusive "off season."

As November is now upon us, the men's tour will turn this week to two 500 level events in Valencia, Spain and Basel, Switzerland. Let's have a closer look at what is around the corner at both locations.

Valencia Open 500

Andy Murray returns as defending champion and is also the number on seed this year. Murray has claimed two tournament victories this season, both over Roger Federer, but would no-doubt call 2010 an off year. Still waiting for his first Grand Slam victory, there is really no way for Murray to salvage his year at this point. Anything less than a Slam at this point of his career is a let-down.

Murray opens against lefty Feliciano Lopez and could face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals and then Fernando Verdasco in the semis. Nikolay Davydenko is also in the top-half of the draw as the 6th seed but has been miserable during the second half of the season.

In the bottom half, Mikhail Youzhny is the player to beat the way he has played of late. The Russian played great at the U.S. Open and has followed that up with a victory in Malaysia and a loss in the finals of St. Petersburg just this past week.

Gael Monfils and Robin Soderling will try to emerge from the bottom quarter of the draw.

For any Canadian tennis fans out there, youngster Milos Raonic fell in the first round of qualifying to Pablo Cuevas by a score of 1-6, 6-4, 7-5. Hopes of cracking the top one hundred in the world rankings will have to wait for next year for Raonic.

Swiss Indoor Basel

Former tournament ball boy Roger Federer will be trying for his fourth career title in his hometown. Seeded first, Federer will try to avenge his loss from a year ago to Novak Djokovic. Prior to that result, Federer had won the event three years in a row.

The Swiss great will open against a tricky opponent in Alexandr Dolgopolov. This is the first career meeting between the two and I feel it has upset potential written all over it. Dolgopolov is a talented youngster who has yet to have his break-out moment or victory. He plays a game with a ton of variety, has a deadly serve that is hard to read and displays great touch with his frequent drop-shots. If Roger is not on his game he could find himself in a real battle here.

Beyond Dolgopolov, Federer could face Janko Tipsarevic and Jurgen Melzer in successive matches.

In the second quarter American Andy Roddick will face compatriot Sam Querrey in an entertaining first round. I put this one at 50/50 given Roddick's questionable health of late. David Nalbandian and Marin Cilic are also lurking in this difficult section of the draw.

In the bottom half, look for number two seed Djokovic to emerge to the finals. It would be great to see him and Fed go at it again. The Djoker will have to navigate around big serving John Isner in his quarter, and then potentially Ivan Ljubicic or Tomas Berdych in order to make it back to the finals.

After this week the Paris Masters is on the horizon, followed by a brief hiatus prior to the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals. Enjoy the tennis while it is still here and talk to you again next week.

 

 

Around The Corner: ATP Tour Puts Down in Europe

By Mike McIntyre

Back over to Europe for three indoor hard court tournaments this week on the ATP World Tour. The big news on the circuit last week was that Roger Federer tied Pete Sampras' all-time tournament tally with his 64th career win in Stockholm. Only another 45 before he equals Jimmy Connors mark of 109!

This week we have stops in Austria, France and Russia as the season begins to draw to a close.

Bank Austria Tennis Trophy

It's gimmick time in Vienna as the event has chosen to dust off 43 year-old Thomas Muster with a wild-card into the main draw. The former world number one and French Open champion has been playing a few challenger and futures level events this fall and has a 1-6 record so far in his "comeback."

Muster opens against enigmatic Ernests Gulbis in the first round. I'm not really too sure what to make of this stunt. Muster is over ten years past being able to play at a high level - why make a return to the tour now?

Local Jurgen Melzer gets the number one seed and deservingly so. Not only is he the defending champion at this event, but he has had a terrific 2010 that has seen him reach his first career Grand Slam semi-final and also defeat Rafael Nadal for the first time. Melzer gets a first round bye and could face wild-card James Blake in the second round.

Melzer will likely have to face Philipp Kohlschreiber in his section of the draw, and could also see clay-court guru Nicolas Almagro or veteran Xavier Malisse as well.

In the bottom half, Marcos Baghdatis and second seeded Marin Cilic are lurking. Cilic could really use a strong result to close out his season as it has been one great disappointment for him since a semi-final appearance at the Australian Open back in January.

Open Sud de France

Doesn't it seem like there is an ATP event in France every couple of weeks? The French must really love their tennis and who can blame them? They have an abundance of players in the top one hundred in the world. Their players also have a variety in their game that makes them among the most enjoyable to watch in the sport.

Look over the qualifying draw and you might be surprised to see an A. Agazzi entered. That would be Andrea Agazzi from Italy...no joke.

The main draw boasts number one seed Nikolay Davydenko who appears to be on his last legs of competitiveness since returning from a wrist injury back in the spring. His long-term hold on a top-ten position has reached its end as he has been unable to put together any type of consistent tennis all season. Davydenko gets a first round bye, which will probably actually hurt his chances.

Defending champion Ivan Ljubicic is in the top-half of the draw along with Frenchman Richard Gasquet who is my pick to win the tournament.

In the bottom half we find many other talented locals such as number two seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils. Again, what a great time to be a tennis fan in France. David Nalbandian is also present with a wild-card.

St. Petersburg Open

Russia welcomes Mikhail Youzhny as the top seed and a slew of other lesser known players into the field. It is arguably the weakest draw of the three tournaments and does not offer any first round exemptions.

Youzhny won the event way back in 2004 which speaks to his longevity on the tour. In 2009, Sergiy Stakhovsky emerged as the champion and he is back as the second seed this time around.

Viktor Troicki who just won his first ever tour event in Moscow is in the top-half of the draw, while Jeremy Chardy, Janko Tipsarevic and P.H. Mathieu are in the bottom section.

Enjoy the tennis this week everyone.

 

 

 

 

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.

Around The Corner: Gstaad, Umag and Los Angeles

By Mike McIntyre

Three ATP World Tour 250 events are on deck for this week and Andy Murray makes his first appearance since losing the semi-finals of Wimbledon. We have two clay-court stops in Europe in Gstaad, Switzerland and Umag, Croatia while the North American hard-court swing continues in Los Angeles.

Allianz Suisse Open

Russian Mikhail Youzhny has the top seed this week in Gstaad and will be playing for the first time since the Davis Cup quarter-finals two weeks ago where he went 1-1 against Argentina (beat Mayer, lost to Nalbandian). His last stop on clay-courts was at the French Open in May where he advanced to the quarters. Youzhny is currently the 14th ranked player in the world which is likely a bit higher than his talent level actually resides. He has had a solid year however, winning the title in Munich and finishing second in Dubai and Rotterdam. Without playing on clay for two months though I'm not expecting him to advance too deep in this week's draw.

Threats in the top-half of the draw include veteran Tommy Robredo - who every time I write about his weaknesses promptly goes out and wins a title, Albert Montanes - who won his opening match on Sunday 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) against Pere Riba of Spain, and Richard Gasquet - who won this event in 2006.

Brazil's Tomaz Bellucci is the defending champion and won his maiden ATP title here a year ago after advancing through the qualification stages. Bellucci opens against local Swiss hope Marco Chiudinelli and would face the tricky Igor Andreev in the second round.

Nicolas Almagro is seeded second and ended his 17-month title drought just over a week ago in Bastad. He followed that up by getting bounced in his opening match in Hamburg, so who knows which player we should expect this week?

I was hoping we might see Roger Federer play on home soil but such is not the case. With his recent struggles I would have thought a smaller tournament would be just what the doctor ordered for Roger to give him a much needed boost of confidence. Perhaps he doesn't want to touch the clay with some big hard-court tournaments looming on the schedule. I'm looking forward to seeing what he does in the weeks leading up to the U.S. Open.

Farmers Classic

Andy Murray is the only top-five player in action this week and begins his hard-court preparations in Los Angeles. Murray has not won a title since November and the only final he participated in was his very first tournament of 2010 at the Australian Open where he lost to Federer. LA offers Murray the perfect opportunity to reverse his futility streak this year and begin to ramp things up for Flushing Meadows. He could face Ernests Gulbis in the quarter-finals who he holds a 4-0 record against.

American Sam Querrey is the second seed and also the defending champion here while Marcos Baghdatis is in the number three position.

Mardy Fish - who has been having a stellar summer thus far - plays Benjamin Becker in the opening round, although I wonder if he might play the injury card after making back--to-back finals in Newport and Atlanta.

Meanwhile James Blake will try to reverse his recent struggles against Leonardo Mayer in the first round.

Studena Croatia Open

Croatian tennis fans will be rooting for Ivan Ljubicic to capture the title in Umag where he has never won before. Ljubicic is seeded third and opens with a bye in the first round.

Nikolay Davydenko continues to enter tournaments each week and is still looking for his game to click as he comes back from a wrist injury. Davydenko again crashed out early this past week in Hamburg but you have to figure sooner or later he is bound to rediscover his top-ten form.

Austrian Jurgen Melzer is one of the hottest players on tour right now. Having excellent results at the past two Grand Slams, Melzer made the finals in Hamburg this past week where he lost to first-time champion Andrey Golubev.

Italian veteran Filippo Volandri also makes a rare main-draw appearance this year and opens against wildcard Franco Skugar of Croatia in the first round. Volandri used to be quite the clay-court player but has been limited to mostly futures events in his home country in 2010. 

This will be the last week involving any clay-court events at the ATP level until late September. The tour focuses on Washington D.C. and the Legg Mason Classic in a week's time, followed by Masters stops in Toronto and Cincinnati. Keep checking back as ProTennisFan will be covering the Rogers Cup in Toronto with live daily reports. 

Around The Corner: Hamburg and Atlanta

By Mike McIntyre

The International German Open - Hamburg, Germany

The German Open offers European clay-court specialists another opportunity to pad their ranking point totals for the year.

Russian Nikolay Davydenko is seeded first but given his play as of late I wouldn't expect much in terms of results here. Struggling to find his game after returning from injury, Davydenko was bounced in the first round in Stuttgart last week and is 3-4 since returning from a three month layoff. While Davydenko is the returning champion, he will have considerable difficulty in defending this time around.

Nicolas Almagro is seeded fifth and is always dangerous on red clay. The Spaniard just captured the title in Bastad, his first of 2010, and has a favorable draw here in Hamburg. One knock against Almagro however is that he usually disappoints after a big result. Consistency is lacking and it will be a challenge for him to put together back-to-back titles.

Veterans Juan Carlos Ferrero and Tommy Robredo are both in the draw and have the ability to raise the trophy as does Albert Montanes who won in Stuttgart last week.

Third seeded Jurgen Melzer has performed well at the last two Grand Slams, where he made the semis at Roland Garros and the fourth round at Wimbledon, but then bowed-out 4-6, 1-6 to Montanes a week ago on clay.

Second seeded David Ferrer is my favorite here and performed well in Bastad where he lost just a few days ago in the semi-finals to Robin Soderling in three sets.

The Atlanta Tennis Championships - Atlanta, Georgia

The city of Atlanta gets to host an ATP event for the first time since 2001 when Andy Roddick won his first ATP tournament. Previously this tournament was held on green clay, but returns as a hard-court event leading up to the U.S. Open. The city is no stranger to big tennis events as it hosted the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

Roddick gets a first-round bye and could face Xavier Malisse in the third round. Roddick holds an 8-0 career advantage against the 58th ranked Belgian, who is climbing his way back up the rankings as of late.

If you're a fan of American tennis you'll want to keep a close eye on the second quarter of the draw. There you'll find a quartet of aging American players who will fight for the chance of facing Roddick in the semi-finals.

Twenty-nine year old Taylor Dent gets an opening round match against thirty year old James Blake that should be a crowd pleaser. Blake has dropped out of the top-hundred while Dent is working on moving back towards the top-fifty. Blake is taking his departure from the upper-echelon of the game with much difficulty and has talked recently about how this could be his last year on tour if things do not improve. 

Also lurking in this section are twenty-seven year old Robby Ginepri and twenty-eight year old Mardy Fish. I would look to Fish to have the best chance of breaking out of this section of the draw as he won the title in Newport, Rhode Island just over a week ago.

Third seeded Lleyton Hewitt should be able to have a solid run in Atlanta and his presence here indicates to me that he is serious about taking a good run in Flushing Meadows. The veteran from Australia can still hit a good ball and is always a threat when healthy.

In the bottom quarter look for second seeded John Isner to advance quite deep in the draw. I'd imagine that Isner has more than recovered from his epic first-round victory at Wimbledon over Nicolas Mahut. Let's hope that Isner has found some time to practice around his recent media blitz that included reading the top-ten list on Late Night with David Letterman and winning an ESPY award for greatest record-breaking performance.