I guess not. After knocking out the top-seed yesterday and opening the draw for himself, Marat Safin played his last Kremlin Cup match today in Moscow. He lost his second-round match to Evgeny Korolev 6-4 7-6(4).

(Image: AP)

Marat Safin upset top-seed Nikolay Davydenko in his first-round matchup with the recent Shanghai champion at the Kremlin Cup. The retiring veteran has not been playing well as of late, but he is always dangerous when he is feeling it. I guess today was one of those days.

The upset marks the fifth exit of the seeded players. Only Mikhail Youzhny, Pable Cuevas and Janko Tipsaravic are left in the draw. With the upset of the top seed, the draw is now wide open on Safin’s side of the draw.

The big Russian now has a good shot at winning his first Kremlin Cup trophy. He will have to get past his second-round match with Anna Kournikova’s cousin, Evgeny Korolev first. The two players have never met in ATP or grand slam competition.

(Image: AP)

Rafael Nadal



















Juan Carlos Ferrero

























Gilles Simon


















David Ferrer

















Nicolas Kiefer



















Marat Safin


















Juan Monaco



















Viktor Troiki















Nicolas Lapentti


















Evgeny Korolev
















Frank Dancevic











There are some tennis polls some readers have pointed out and felt outrage at some the choices in these polls. I have received recent requests from readers over the week to do a proper topless poll. In light of the recent weather developments at the Open, I thought I would give you a treat.

I have gone to through the tennisfiend photo archives to compile a list for my fellow tennis fiends. By no means is it a comprehensive list, as I do not have photos of everyone. This poll will also be a tribute to the many of the fallen and the few who remain in the tournament that is steadily coming to a close this week despite the weather.

So, please participate in a proper poll of the ATP’s finest. Since this is a scientific poll and it may be hard for you to choose just one, we are going to do this one Chicago style -- so vote early and vote often.

Update: The formatting in IE is messed up. If viewing this post in IE , the pictured are as follows from the top to the bottom: Rafael Nadal, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Gilles, David Ferrer, Nicolas Kiefer, Marat Safin, Juan Monaco, Viktor Troiki, Nicolas Lapentti, Evgeny Korolev and Frank Dancevic.

(Images: Denise/tennisfiend)

City: Dusseldorf, Germany
Surface: Outdoor Clay
Championship Points: World Team Cup
2008 Champions: Sweden

Sweden received a wildcard to defend its title this year. Argentina, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Serbia and the USA will also participate in the tournament. Most of the top players are not around since this tournament is a week before the French Open. In the case of France, Argentina and Germany, they have part of the their Davis Cup teams participating in the tournament.

Russia has a good team of Igor Andreev and Dmitry Tursunov with Evgeny Korolev rounding it out. France has another good team with Gilles Simon, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Jeremy Chardy, but the French have been inconsistent this year. Argentina is in a good position to take the tournament. It is basically their new Davis Cup team since David Nalbandian is out with hip surgery. Juan Martin del Potro and Juan Monaco should do a lot of damage this week.

Tournament Draw
Round Robin

(Image: ARAG ATP World Team Championship)

The top thirty slots are the same as last week. The players, who did well last week, received a pay off this week. The movers this week are:

• Fueled by his title win yesterday, Juan Carlos Ferrero rockets 40 spots to 75. Phew!
• Evegeny Korolev jumps 11 spots to 72.
• German Bjorn Phau skips 7 spots to 70.
• Tommy Haas moves up 5 to 81.
• American Wayne Odesnik jumps 23 spots to 77.
• Lleyton Hewitt moves up 31 spots to 57 after winning Houston yesterday.
  

Tommy Haas defeated the defending champion Marcel Granollers 4-6 6-2 6-3. This is a good win for the former ATP world number two. He struggled with injuries over the last couple of years, and he is currently ranked number 86.

Haas will play countrymen Bjorn Phau in the quarterfinals. The two players have never met in ATP play. The bottom part of the draw is starting to open up nicely for Haas, who won the title in 2004.

On the other side of the draw, Evgeny Korolev bested Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3 7-6(4) after 80 minutes of play. He advances to the quarterfinals to meet Guillermo Canas, who gave Taylor Dent a beatdown today. Canas currently leads Korolev 1-0 in their head-to-head matchup.

Thursday’s Results
Singles Round of 16
Evgeny Korolev (RUS) def. Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 6-3 7-6(4)
Bjorn Phau (GER) def. Q Scoville Jenkins (USA) 6-4 7-6(2)
WC Tommy Haas (GER) def. 6 Marcel Granollers (ESP) 4-6 6-2 6-3
Guillermo Canas (ARG) def. WC Taylor Dent (USA) 6-2 6-2

Doubles Quarterfinals
2 A. Fisher (AUS)/J. Kerr (AUS) def. S. Lipsky (USA)/D. Vemic (SRB) 6-2 6-4
WC J. Levine (USA)/R. Sweeting (USA) def. J. Levinsky (CZE)/P. Vizner (CZE) 7-6(6) 6-4

Friday’s Order of Play


(image: Aaron M. Sprecher/River Oaks CC)

Evgeny Korolev had no problems beating Belgian Christophe Rochus in straight sets 6-1 7-5. This is the Russians first ATP final of his career. He will play top seed Mardy Fish in the final. The two players have never played in an ATP tournament or Grand Slam event. No top seed has ever won the tournament since its inception.




Saturday’s Results:
Singles Semifinals
1 Mardy Fish (USA) def. 7 Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 6-4 6-1
Q Evgeny Korolev (RUS) def. Christophe Rochus (BEL) 6-1 7-5

Doubles Semifinals
1 B. Bryan (USA)/M. Bryan (USA) def. 4 E. Butorac (USA)/B. Soares (BRA) 1-6 6-2 12-10
2 M. Melo (BRA)/A. Sa (BRA) vs. R. Ram (USA)/B. Reynolds (USA) 7-6(10) 2-6 10-5

Sunday’s Matches:
Singles Final
1 Mardy Fish (USA) vs. Q Evgeny Korolev (RUS)

Doubles Final
1 B. Bryan (USA)/M. Bryan (USA) vs. 2 M. Melo (BRA)/A. Sa (BRA)

Watch
Singles Final - The Tennis Channel - Sunday 2:00 PM EST
Doubles Final - The Tennis Channel - Sunday 12:00 PM EST

(image: Camerasport)

Jeremy Chardy packed Marcos Baghdatis’ bags and sent him packing today in straight sets 7-6(7) 7-6(3). Actually, the match was pretty even from a statistical standpoint. It is just the Frenchman served and fought off break points a little bit better.

It looks like Chardy could be breaking through this year and could just become the fifth musketeer. The 22 year old is currently at his highest ranking of his career at number 52. This year, he reached the quarterfinals in Sydney and the finals in Johannesburg. Of the top 30 players, he has beaten David Ferrer and Igor Andreev this year. Now, he is starting to beat the players he should but just needs to start beating the top 30 players. This year, he lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Johannesburg, Novak Djokovic in Melbourne, and Richard Gasquet in Sydney.

Now, he is guaranteed, at least, a semifinal finish this week. The Frenchman will advance to the semifinals against Mardy Fish. These players have never played before in an ATP or Grand Slam.

On the other side of the draw, Evgeny Korolev defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in convincing fashion 6-2 6-2. The world no. 101 will play Belgian Christophe Rochus in the other semifinal. The two players have never played in an ATP or Grand Slam event.

Friday’s Results:
Singles Quarterfinals
1 Mardy Fish (USA) def. 6 Florent Serra (FRA) 7-6(2) 7-6(4)
7 Jeremy Chardy (FRA) def. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 7-6(7) 7-6(3)
Christophe Rochus (BEL) def. Stefan Koubek (AUT) 6-3 7-6(6)
Q Evgeny Korolev (RUS) def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 6-2 6-2

Doubles Quarterfinals
2 M Melo (BRA)/ A Sa (BRA) def. P. Petzschner (GER)/A Peya (AUT) walkover
4 E Butorac (USA)/B Soares (BRA) def. R. Bopanna (IND)/J. Nieminen (FIN) 4-6 6-3 10-8

Saturday’s Matches:
Singles Semifinals
1 Mardy Fish (USA) vs. 7 Jeremy Chardy (FRA)
Q Evgeny Korolev (RUS) vs. Christophe Rochus (BEL)

Doubles Semifinals
1 B. Bryan (USA)/M. Bryan (USA) vs 4 E. Butorac (USA)/B. Soares (BRA)
2 M. Melo (BRA)/A. Sa (BRA) vs. R. Ram (USA)/B. Reynolds (USA)

(image: Camerasports)

Anna's cousin, Evgeny Korolev defeated American Robert Kendrick in three sets. This is now his fourth win this year and brings his singles record to 4-3 for the year. Korolev will play Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the quarterfinals. The two players have only played once, where the Russian prevailed on clay in Valencia last year.

Later in the day, Korolev lost his doubles match with partner, Paul Capdeville of Chile to the Austro-German duo of Peya and Petzchner in straight sets.

Wednesday’s Results:
Singles Round of 16
Christophe Rochus (BEL) def. 2 WC Sam Querrey (USA) 6-4 6-1
Q Evgeny Korolev (RUS) def. Robert Kendrick 3-6 6-3 7-5
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) def. Gilles Muller (LUX) 5-7 6-3 6-3
8 Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) def. Stefan Koubek (AUT) 6-4 6-3

Doubles Round of 16
1 B. Bryan (USA)/ M. Bryan (USA) def. A. Fisher (AUS) / M. Mirnyi (BLR) 7-5 6-3
P. Petzschner (GER)/ A. Peya (AUT) def. I. Kunitsyn (RUS)/ M. Zverev (GER) 7-6(7) 6-4
R. Bopanna (IND)/ J. Nieminen (FIN) def. P. Capdeville (CHI) / E. Korolev (RUS) 7-6(7) 6-4

Thursday’s Schedule:
Singles Round of 16
1 Mardy Fish (USA) vs. Vincent Spadea (USA)
6 Florent Serra (FRA) vs. Mischa Zverev (GER)
7 Jeremy Chardy (FRA) vs. Andrey Golubev (KAZ)
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) vs. Dudi Sela (ISR)

Doubles Quarterfinals
1 B. Bryan (USA)/M. Bryan (USA) vs. S. Lipsky (USA)/D. Martin (USA)
3 J. Murray (GBR)/D. Vemic (SRB) vs. R. Ram (USA)/ B. Reynolds (USA)

(image: Delray Beach ITC)