I have been negligent in updating as of late.
Notable Results:
Tsonga wins Paris and rises to no. 6 in the rankings.
Djokovic wins the anticlimactic Tennis Masters Cup, which say Federer losing to Simon and Nadal pulling out.
Upcoming is the Davis Cup Final with Argentina vs. Spain. With Nadal out, Spain is going to have a rough time against Nalbandian and del Potro.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Federer wins Basel; Murray Continues Success
The last week has been an interesting one, with minor tournaments going on in Basel, St. Petersburg, and Lyon. For the most part things went according to form, but there are some interesting things to note.
In Lyon, the hot streak that Gilles Simon was on cooled off a little when he lost in the semifinals to Robin Soderling, who went on to win the title 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1 over Julian Benneteau. Very solid week for Soderling, who I haven't seen much of lately.
Andy Murray continues his impressive streak by winning the St. Petersburg title, though the quality of that win is dampened a little by the fact that he won it 6-1, 6-1 over qualifier Andrey Golubev.
Finally, Federer waltzed through an easy draw, defeating David Nalbandian easily 6-3,6-4 in the final, showing that Nalbandian just doesn't have anywhere near his indoor form from last year.
Interesting stuff for the rest of the week as the big tournament in Paris happens and the Tennis Masters Cup race is decided for good. Predictions and more from Paris coming soon!
In Lyon, the hot streak that Gilles Simon was on cooled off a little when he lost in the semifinals to Robin Soderling, who went on to win the title 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1 over Julian Benneteau. Very solid week for Soderling, who I haven't seen much of lately.
Andy Murray continues his impressive streak by winning the St. Petersburg title, though the quality of that win is dampened a little by the fact that he won it 6-1, 6-1 over qualifier Andrey Golubev.
Finally, Federer waltzed through an easy draw, defeating David Nalbandian easily 6-3,6-4 in the final, showing that Nalbandian just doesn't have anywhere near his indoor form from last year.
Interesting stuff for the rest of the week as the big tournament in Paris happens and the Tennis Masters Cup race is decided for good. Predictions and more from Paris coming soon!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Murray Wins Madrid
Wow. The Madrid tournament was going more or less according to form up to the quarterfinals, with a couple minor upsets (Karlovic def. Djokovic). But wow, what a finish.
Simon sneaks thorugh the tournament until the semifinals, when he has that spectacular win over Nadal. I must say that Murray def. Federer was pretty surprising too. The way Federer took care of del Potro I thought he had the tourney in the bag. Boy was I wrong. Murray takes him down emphatically and blows away Simon in the final.
Simon, from relative obscurity somehow finds himself on the cusp of a Masters Cup berth. Never in a million years would I have predicted that. Now del Potro and Ferrer have got something to think about in these last couple tournaments of the year.
But the real story is Murray, who in my mind has firmly added himself to the big three of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic as the clear pinnacle of the men's game. Like those three, the way he has played recently has demonstrated that he is a step ahead of the rest of the men's game. I think he could be number 3 next year if he can pick it up next spring, particularly in the clay season.
Simon sneaks thorugh the tournament until the semifinals, when he has that spectacular win over Nadal. I must say that Murray def. Federer was pretty surprising too. The way Federer took care of del Potro I thought he had the tourney in the bag. Boy was I wrong. Murray takes him down emphatically and blows away Simon in the final.
Simon, from relative obscurity somehow finds himself on the cusp of a Masters Cup berth. Never in a million years would I have predicted that. Now del Potro and Ferrer have got something to think about in these last couple tournaments of the year.
But the real story is Murray, who in my mind has firmly added himself to the big three of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic as the clear pinnacle of the men's game. Like those three, the way he has played recently has demonstrated that he is a step ahead of the rest of the men's game. I think he could be number 3 next year if he can pick it up next spring, particularly in the clay season.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Predictions for Madrid
This week is the big Masters Series event in Madrid and all of the big names in tennis are playing. Play has just started, but the top 16 seeds gets byes, so we won't be seeing the likes of Federer and Nadal until Tuesday.
In the top quarter of the draw, I like Nadal to get through pretty easily as his quarter avoids most of the in form players. After his second round match with Gulbis, there are really no challenges until the semifinals as I don't expect Ferrer or Wawrinka to be able to do much damage based on their results as of late.
Similarly, Djokovic looks to be having a pretty easy time, though there are a couple of players like Karlovic that can do damage on quick indoor courts. Davydenko could also be a threat, thought he is so inconsistent it is impossible to tell. Blake also has a game well suited for the indoors. However, I fully expect Djokovic to get through with few problems.
In my opinion, the bottom half of the draw is where it gets interesting. Andy Murray's quarter could go a number of ways, especially with dangerous players like Cilic, Gonzalez, and Roddick in his quarter. While none of these players are doing particularly well as of late, they have been known to come out of nowhere to produce brilliant results. I actually like Gonzalez and Roddick in this quarter more than Murray, so I'll give the nod to Roddick.
In the bottom quarter, Federer is faced with an absolutely brutal draw. With in form Tsonga, del Potro, and Nalbandian (all have won titles in the last few weeks) he could be in for a tough week. There are lingering questions about del Potro's fitness after pulling out from Vienna last week, but he is perhaps the most in form player on tour besides that. Tsonga also showed incredible grit in taking the Bangkok title a couple weeks ago over Djokovic, so he could actually be the biggest threat of them all. I consider these four players to be a virtual tossup to get through. I like Federer still a little more than any of them, but its hard for me to imagine Federer taking this title with so many tough matches in his way. So with some hesistation, I'll take Federer for this quarter.
In summary, here are my picks:
Quarters:
Nadal def. Ferrer
Djokovic def. Blake
Roddick def. Murray
Federer def. del Potro
Semis:
Djokivic def. Nadal
Federer def. Roddick
Final:
Federer def. Djokovic
Lets see what happens!
In the top quarter of the draw, I like Nadal to get through pretty easily as his quarter avoids most of the in form players. After his second round match with Gulbis, there are really no challenges until the semifinals as I don't expect Ferrer or Wawrinka to be able to do much damage based on their results as of late.
Similarly, Djokovic looks to be having a pretty easy time, though there are a couple of players like Karlovic that can do damage on quick indoor courts. Davydenko could also be a threat, thought he is so inconsistent it is impossible to tell. Blake also has a game well suited for the indoors. However, I fully expect Djokovic to get through with few problems.
In my opinion, the bottom half of the draw is where it gets interesting. Andy Murray's quarter could go a number of ways, especially with dangerous players like Cilic, Gonzalez, and Roddick in his quarter. While none of these players are doing particularly well as of late, they have been known to come out of nowhere to produce brilliant results. I actually like Gonzalez and Roddick in this quarter more than Murray, so I'll give the nod to Roddick.
In the bottom quarter, Federer is faced with an absolutely brutal draw. With in form Tsonga, del Potro, and Nalbandian (all have won titles in the last few weeks) he could be in for a tough week. There are lingering questions about del Potro's fitness after pulling out from Vienna last week, but he is perhaps the most in form player on tour besides that. Tsonga also showed incredible grit in taking the Bangkok title a couple weeks ago over Djokovic, so he could actually be the biggest threat of them all. I consider these four players to be a virtual tossup to get through. I like Federer still a little more than any of them, but its hard for me to imagine Federer taking this title with so many tough matches in his way. So with some hesistation, I'll take Federer for this quarter.
In summary, here are my picks:
Quarters:
Nadal def. Ferrer
Djokovic def. Blake
Roddick def. Murray
Federer def. del Potro
Semis:
Djokivic def. Nadal
Federer def. Roddick
Final:
Federer def. Djokovic
Lets see what happens!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Nalbandian in Stockholm; Kunitsyn in Moscow
As expected, David Nalbandian won the title in Stockholm 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 over Robin Soderling. He's been having a mediocre year, but maybe he'll catch fire late in the season like he did last year. If not, his rankings gonna plunge since he's defending so many points in Madrid and Paris.
A minor surprise in Moscow, Igor Kunitsyn beat Marat Safin to take the title 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 6-3. Marat had a great run at Wimbledon this year, but for the most part he's been struggling. A man of his talent really has no business losing to Kunitsyn. This could have been a big boost to a mostly rough year.
A minor surprise in Moscow, Igor Kunitsyn beat Marat Safin to take the title 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 6-3. Marat had a great run at Wimbledon this year, but for the most part he's been struggling. A man of his talent really has no business losing to Kunitsyn. This could have been a big boost to a mostly rough year.
Unknown Petszchner Wins Vienna
In a startling turn of events, qualifier Philip Petszchner took the title at Vienna, winning his first ATP title over Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4. In a field including Del Potro, Gonzalez, Wawrinka, and Monfils, I did not expect it to come out like this. I have to admit I had never heard of him, the 125th ranked player in the world. I didn't get a chance to see the match, but I'll keep an eye out for him over the next few weeks.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Federer to Play Madrid
Organizers of the Madrid tournament have just announced that Federer will indeed be playing at the Masters Series event in Madrid next week. This is a surprise after his cryptic announcement last week that he was "not sure when he would be ready to play again."
So much for the long offseason Rog. On the plus side, it will make the Madrid event a lot more interesting.
So much for the long offseason Rog. On the plus side, it will make the Madrid event a lot more interesting.
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