PRO TOUR NEWS - MEN
* All Dubai matches, singles and doubles, go according to seedings; Youzhny withdraws
* Anderson tops injured Ferrer at Acapulco; Dimitrov ends Gulbis's winning streak
* In Sao Paolo, Granollers upset again
****** TODAY'S MEN'S NEWS ******
Dubai
Singles - Quarterfinal: (1) N Djokovic def. (6) M Youzhny walkover (illness)
It almost doesn't matter what the reason is. The rule remains: Something goes wrong when Mikhail Youzhny is in line for a big rankings move. He will not rise above #15.
Singles - Quarterfinal: (3) T Berdych def. (5) J Tsonga 6-4 6-3
This time, Tomas Berdych had his first serve working; he put sixty-odd percent of his first deliveries in the court. As a result, he was never broken. He's still only #7 in safe points, but he's in the soft half of the draw. If he makes the final, he'll stay #6. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga loses another chance to become the #1 Frenchman; he will stay stuck at #10.
Singles - Quarterfinal: (4) R Federer def. L Rosol 6-2 6-2
Roger Federer had the day's late match, so it's good that he finished so quickly. He has now defended his points, leaving Lukas Rosol at around #46 or #47. Federer can't rise above #8 this week, but he'll have a shot at Indian Wells and Miami, and of course any points he earns here help.
Singles - Quarterfinal: (7) P Kohlschreiber def. (WC) M Jaziri 6-2 6-3
This clinches Philipp Kohlschreiber's Top 25 spot -- it appears he'll be #24.
Doubles - Quarterfinal: (1) Nestor/Zimonjic def. Bautista Agut/Sijsling 6-3 6-2
Doubles - Quarterfinal: (2) Bopanna/Qureshi def. Bhupathi/Istomin 5-7 7-6(7-3) 10-7
Rohan Bopanna plays with his older old partner against his newer old partner. Looks like he picked the right partner to keep.
Acapulco
Singles - Quarterfinal: (5) K Anderson def. (1) D Ferrer 2-6 4-2, retired (left adductor strain)
Just what David Ferrer did not need right before Indian Wells and Miami. This continues to be a very tough year for him. He loses the chance to take the #3 ranking from Stanislas Wawrinka, and opens a door for Andy Murray to claim the #4 ranking. Kevin Anderson has now clinched his Top Twenty spot -- he'll likely be #18.
Singles - Quarterfinal: (2) A Murray def. (6) G Simon 1-6 7-6(7-4) 6-2
Andy Murray is up to #5 in safe points, and the loss by David Ferrer means that he can reach #4 with a title here. He leaves Gilles Simon stuck at #23.
Singles - Quarterfinal: (4) G Dimitrov def. (7) E Gulbis 4-6 7-6(7-2) 7-5
This was a battle for a Top Twenty spot; Ernests Gulbis had to win to keep his spot, and failed. His winning streak ends at seven, and he will fall from #18 to #22. Grigor Dimitrov, #22 coming in, will probably be #19, with the chance to go higher.
Singles - Quarterfinal: A Dolgopolov def. I Karlovic 6-4 7-6(7-4)
In a match between comeback kids, perhaps it makes sense that the younger one would be the more successful. Ivo Karlovic is on the brink of the Top Fifty, but Alexandr Dolgopolov appears to be up to #31 -- meaning he'll be seeded at Indian Wells. Which in turn means a chance to go even higher.
Doubles - Quarterfinal: F Lopez/Mirnyi def. (1) Kubot/Lindstedt 6-3 6-4
So much for Kubot and Lindstedt's first big event since the Australian Open.
Doubles - Quarterfinal: (3) Huey/Inglot def. Nieminen/Roger-Vasselin 7-6(7-5) 7-6(7-4)
Doubles - Quarterfinal: Anderson/Ebden def. (4) Butorac/Klaasen 7-6(7-5) 3-6 13-11
A very tough day for teams who did well in Australia. It's interesting to wonder how this might have turned out had Kevin Anderson had to play a full singles match, though.
Doubles - Quarterfinal: (WC) Ramirez/Reyes-Varela def. S Gonzalez/Lipsky 1-6 6-3 10-8
It was a crazy day, but this is without doubt the craziest match of all. It can't even be attributed to crowd support, since Santiago Gonzalez is Mexican.
Sao Paulo
Singles - Second Round: M Klizan def. (3) M Granollers 6-4 6-3
Six seeds out in their openers. Only Tommy Haas and Juan Monaco survived. Of course, Marcel Granollers has been struggling a lot lately. He'll stay within one spot of his current #36.
Singles - Second Round: (4) J Monaco def. A Ramos 7-6(7-4) 2-6 7-5
This was definitely a schedule-disrupter -- it took almost three hours, and the worst of it is, Juan Monaco still hasn't earned any points.
Singles - Second Round: P Lorenzi def. R Dutra Silva 6-4 6-3
Paolo Lorenzi is defending 90 points, so he still needs more to maintain his ranking. And he's down to #114, so he really doesn't want to go any lower....
Singles - Second Round: T Bellucci def. A Haider-Maurer 7-6(7-4) 5-7 6-3
This was another more-than-two-and-a-half-hour match, and it was the late match, so we'd guess this will be the end of the line for Thomaz Bellucci -- but if he can keep going, he has a very good shot at returning to the Top Hundred.
Doubles - First Round: Bagnis/Delbonis def. Giraldo/A Gonzalez 6-1 7-5
Is Alejandro Gonzalez ever going to win an ATP match? The ATP report lists him as 0-5 in singles, 0-4 in doubles.
Doubles - Quarterfinal: (2) Cabal/Farah def. Bracciali/L Mayer 6-4 6-2
Six straight wins for Cabal/Farah.
Doubles - Quarterfinal: Granollers/Riba def. (4) Cuevas/Zeballos 5-7 6-4 10-8
Doubles - Quarterfinal: Garcia-Lopez/Oswald def. M Gonzalez/Monaco 7-6(8-6) 6-3
Another hour and twenty minutes on the court for Juan Monaco. What will he have left tomorrow?
****** TODAY'S FEATURE ******
KEYWORDS: No Feature Today
******** THIS WEEK IN TENNIS ********
THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Dubai (500/Hard). Defending Champion: Novak Djokovic
Acapulco (500/Hard). Defending Champion: Rafael Nadal
Sao Paulo (250/Clay). Defending Champion: (new event)
NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:
Indian Wells (1000/Hard). Defending Champion: Rafael Nadal
******** STATS AND FACTS ********
RANKINGS
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of February 27, 2013
Rank &
Prior...Player...........Points
1..(1) Nadal.............14085
2..(2) Djokovic..........10260
3..(3) Wawrinka...........5560
4..(4) Ferrer.............5160
5..(7) Murray.............4975
6..(5) Del Potro..........4870
7..(6) Berdych............4770
8..(8) Federer............4305
9..(9) Gasquet............2950
10.(10) Tsonga.............2785
11.(11) Raonic.............2485
12.(12) Haas...............2435
13.(13) Isner..............2320
14.(14) Fognini............2230
15.(15) Youzhny............2145
16.(16) Robredo............2005
17.(17) Almagro............1840
18.(21) Anderson...........1820
19.(22) Dimitrov...........1810
20.(19) Janowicz...........1750
21.(20) Nishikori..........1715
22.(18) Gulbis.............1616
23.(23) Simon..............1565
24.(26) Kohlschreiber......1510
25.(24) Monfils............1475
26.(25) Cilic..............1455
27.(27) Pospisil...........1359
28.(28) Paire..............1275
29.(30) Mayer..............1245
30.(29) Tursunov...........1212
**DRAWS
Dubai -- week of February 24, 2014
.................QF................SF
1 Djokovic.......(1)Djokovic.......Djokovic
6 Youzhny........(6)Youzhny
4 Federer........(4)Federer........Federer
8 Tursunov.......Rosol
5 Tsonga.........(5)Tsonga
3 Berdych........(3)Berdych........Berdych
7 Kohlschreiber..(7)Kohlschreiber..Kohlschreiber
2 del Potro.......Jaziri(WC)
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Djokovic
2 del Potro........lost 1R (Devvarman)
3 Berdych
4 Federer
5 Tsonga...........lost QF (Berdych)
6 Youzhny..........WITHDREW from QF
7 Kohlschreiber
8 Tursunov.........lost 2R (Rosol)
Acapulco -- week of February 24, 2014
..............SF............F
1 Ferrer......(1)Ferrer
5 Anderson....(5)Anderson...Anderson
3 Isner.......Karlovic
8 Pospisil....Dolgopolov....Dolgopolov
7 Gulbis......(7)Gulbis
4 Dimitrov....(4)Dimitrov...Dimitrov
6 Simon.......(6)Simon
2 Murray......(2)Murray.....Murray
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Ferrer.......lost QF (Anderson)
2 Murray
3 Isner........lost 1R (Karlovic)
4 Dimitrov
5 Anderson
6 Simon.......lost QF (Murray)
7 Gulbis......lost QF (Dimitrov)
8 Pospisil....lost 1R (Dolgopolov)
Sao Paulo -- week of February 24, 2014
................QF
1 Haas..........(1)Haas
7 L Mayer.......Zeballos
4 Monaco........(4)Monaco
6 Garcia-Lopez..Lorenzi
8 Giraldo.......Belluvvi
3 Granollers....Klizan
5 Haase.........Montanes
2 Almagro.......Delbonis
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Haas
2 Almagro.......lost 2R (Delbonis)
3 Granollers....lost 2R (Klizan)
4 Monaco
5 Haase.........lost 1R (Souza)
6 Garcia-Lopez..lost 1R (Dutra Silva)
7 L Mayer.......lost 1R (Pella)
8 Giraldo.......lost 1R (Bellucci)
******** SCORES ********
THURSDAY
Dubai
Singles - Quarterfinal
(1) N Djokovic def. (6) M Youzhny walkover (illness)
(3) T Berdych def. (5) J Tsonga 6-4 6-3
(4) R Federer def. L Rosol 6-2 6-2
(7) P Kohlschreiber def. (WC) M Jaziri 6-2 6-3
Doubles - Quarterfinal
(1) Nestor/Zimonjic def. Bautista Agut/Sijsling 6-3 6-2
(2) Bopanna/Qureshi def. Bhupathi/Istomin 5-7 7-6(7-3) 10-7
Acapulco
Singles - Quarterfinal
(5) K Anderson def. (1) D Ferrer 2-6 4-2, retired (left adductor strain)
(2) A Murray def. (6) G Simon 1-6 7-6(7-4) 6-2
(4) G Dimitrov def. (7) E Gulbis 4-6 7-6(7-2) 7-5
A Dolgopolov def. I Karlovic 6-4 7-6(7-4)
Doubles - Quarterfinal
F Lopez/Mirnyi def. (1) Kubot/Lindstedt 6-3 6-4
(3) Huey/Inglot def. Nieminen/Roger-Vasselin 7-6(7-5) 7-6(7-4)
Anderson/Ebden def. (4) Butorac/Klaasen 7-6(7-5) 3-6 13-11
(WC) Ramirez/Reyes-Varela def. S Gonzalez/Lipsky 1-6 6-3 10-8
Sao Paulo
Singles - Second Round
M Klizan def. (3) M Granollers 6-4 6-3
(4) J Monaco def. A Ramos 7-6(7-4) 2-6 7-5
P Lorenzi def. R Dutra Silva 6-4 6-3
T Bellucci def. A Haider-Maurer 7-6(7-4) 5-7 6-3
Doubles - First Round
Bagnis/Delbonis def. Giraldo/A Gonzalez 6-1 7-5
Doubles - Quarterfinal
(2) Cabal/Farah def. Bracciali/L Mayer 6-4 6-2
Granollers/Riba def. (4) Cuevas/Zeballos 5-7 6-4 10-8
Garcia-Lopez/Oswald def. M Gonzalez/Monaco 7-6(8-6) 6-3