Columbian Santiago Giraldo defeated American wildcard Vincent Spadea 6-2 6-3. Today's win brings his year-to-date record to 4-3. The 22 year old, who turned pro four years ago, is off to a respectable start this year.

The current world no. 98 will advance to play Jeremy Chardy in the next round. Chardy took out in straight sets Xavier Malisse, who has been playing pretty well of late.

Giraldo and Chardy have never played each other before in ATP competition. The Frenchman is not having the greatest start this year. His record is currently 2-5 for the year, so their second-round match could be an interesting one tomorrow.

Tuesday’s Results
Singles First Round
2 Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Philipp Petzschner (GER) 6-3 7-6(3)
3 Benjamin Becker (GER) def. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 6-3 1-6 6-0
4 Jeremy Chardy (FRA) def. Xavier Malisse (BEL) 6-3 7-6(5)
6 Florian Mayer (GER) def. Q Nick Lindahl 6-4 6-1
7 James Blake (USA) leads Taylor Dent (USA) 6-1 3-6 5-3 (to continue Wednesday)
Mischa Zverev (GER) def. 8 Michael Russell (USA) 6-4 3-6 7-5
Leonardo Mayer (ARG) def. Q Kevin Anderson (RSA) 7-6(7) 7-6(2)
Ernests Gulbis (LAT) def. Q Ryan Harrison (USA) 6-4 7-6(5)
Robin Haase (NED) def. Q Robert Kendrick (USA) 7-6(4) 7-6(0)
Mardy Fish (USA) def. Christophe Rochus (BEL) 5-7 6-3 3-3 RET.
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) def. Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) 6-3 6-4
Daniel Brands (GER) def. WC Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) 3-6 6-3 6-2
Santiago Giraldo (COL) def. WC Vincent Spadea (USA) 6-2 6-3

Wednesday’s Order of Play

(Image: Denise/tennisfiend)

Jeremy Chardy opened the draw for himself after sending the second-seed Fernando Verdasco packing in Memphis on Tuesday. Today, a stomach illness forced him to withdraw during his second-round match with Slovakian Lukasz Lacko.

Lacko will now head to a quarterfinal meeting with Philipp Petzschner. The German leads their head-to-head 1-0.






Thursday’s Results
Singles Second Round
1 Andy Roddick (USA) vs. Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) 7-6(2) 6-4
5 Tomas Berdych (CZE) def. Michael Russell (USA) 3-6 6-3 6-2
8 Sam Querrey (USA) def. Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 6-4 6-0
Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. Xavier Malisse (BEL) 6-4 6-4
Lukasz Lacko (SVK) def. Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 7-6(4) 2-1 ret. (stomach illness)

Doubles Quarterfinals
2 M. Fish (USA)/M. Knowles (BAH) def. S. Huss (AUS)/J. Levinsky (CZE) 4-6 6-3 10-4
WC S. Lipsky (USA)/D. Martin (USA) def. E. Butorac (USA)/R. Ram (USA) 4-6 7-6(5) 10-7
R. Hutchins (GBR)/J. Kerr (AUS) def. M. Kohlmann (GER)/J. Nieminen (FIN) 6-2 6-4
J. Isner (USA)/S. Querrey (USA) def. L. Mayer (ARG)/D. Sela (ISR) 7-6(6) 6-4

Friday’s Order of Play

(Image: Ron Angle/Regions Morgan Keegan Championships)

Juan Martin del Potro puts Tandil on the map (NYT)

Jeremy Chardy replaces Gilles Simon for Davis Cup (ESPN)

Juan Carlos Ferrero will replace Rafael Nadal for Spain’s Davis Cup semifinal (Fox Sports)

Nadal's pull out gives Israelis hope (Jerusalem Post)

Rafael Nadal admits 2009 year has been unlucky. I suspect a certain someone possesses a voodoo doll (Live Tennis)

2009 and Nadal’s injuries (USA Today)

Dmitry Tursunov will have ankle surgery. He could miss four to six months (Sacramento Bee)

Tennis is becoming more brutal (NYT)

Goran Ivanisevic will play Andrei Pavel in his last match (Croatian Times)

Fernando Verdasco had an easy time with Paul Cuevas today in New Haven. He beat the Chilean 6-0 6-3 after 49 minutes of play. Next up for the Spaniard is Italian Andreas Seppi, who he happens to be 4-0 against. Hopefully for Verdasco, there are no surprises for the second-seed tomorrow.

Though Verdasco had an easy time today, some seeds did not fare as well. Philipp Petzschner and Andreas Beck lost. Ninth-seed Nicolas Almagro -- who has struggled after the South American clay-court season this year -- lost to German Bjorn Phau 2-6 6-3 7-5. Tenth-seed Jeremy Chardy went down in a three setter against compatriot Florent Serra.

The shocker of the day was third-seed Tommy Robredo who lost to Jose Acasuso 3-6 7-5 7-6(5). Those Argentine veterans (Canas, Acasuso) are always trouble, and they strike at the most inopportune time. Acasuso now advances to play Igor Kunitsyn tomorrow. The two players have never met in ATP play.


(Image: Denise/tennisfiend)

Jeremy Chardy has the Ps number. He defeated the pair with Gilles Simon in the first round last week in Cincinnati. This week, he and Fabrice Santoro defeated Travis Parrott and Filip Polasek 6-4 3-6 10-7 in their New Haven debut. It’s déjà vu all over again. Let's hope the Ps do not have to lock horns with Chardy & Company in the early rounds next week.

Chardy and Santoro now get to wait for winner of tomorrow’s Butorac/Coetzee-Soares/Ullyett match.

(Images: Denise/tennisfiend)

City: New Haven, CT, USA
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Championship Points: 250
2008 Singles Champion: Marin Cilic
2008 Doubles Champions: Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa

Marin Cilic will not defend his title this year. Nicolay Davydenko is the top-seed and the one to beat in this tournament. He has a good draw and should be able to advance into the quarterfinals. Sam Querrey, who has been playing well, could give him trouble there.

In the semifinals, the Russian could possibly meet Tommy Robredo, Jeremy Chardy or Mardy Fish. Their quarter of the draw is probably the most competitive of all the quarters.

Second-seed Fernando Verdasco anchors the other side of the draw. The last-minute wildcard should have no trouble getting through his quarter. The Spaniard could possibly meet Igor Andreev in the semifinals. Andreev has a good quarter and could go far if there are no surprises.

It should be a good week and good warm up for the US Open.

Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles

(Image: Elsa/Getty Images)

Jeremy Chardy and Gilles Simon took out doubles specialists Travis Parrott and Filip Polasek. After losing the first set, they rallied to win the second-set tiebreak. They then saved match point in the third-set tiebreak to surpass the American-Slovakian team 4-6 7-6(3) 12-10. The French duo will now face the Polish team of Mariusz Frystenberg and Marcin Matkowski.

(Images: Denise/tennisfiend)

Jeremy Chardy has improved greatly over the last year. It would have been nice to see him go further in the draw, but the Frenchman had the unfortunate task of drawing third-seed Andy Murray in the second round.

Unfortunately for the Frenchman, there would be no surprises yesterday. The Scotsman triumphed over the Chardy 6-4 6-2. Murray now awaits the winner of the Monfils-Ferrero match.

(Images: Denise/tennnisfiend)

Jeremy Chardy bested Lu 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 in his Montreal debut yesterday. Lu gave the Frenchman some trouble in the first set, and Chardy aided matters with his errors. Fortunately for Chardy, he was able to get his act together and close out the match for the win.

The Frenchman now advances to play Andy Murray in the second round today. Chardy will really have his hands full with the Scotsman.The two players have never met in ATP competition.

(Images: Denise/tennisfiend)

Fifth-seed Jeremy Chardy defeated Mikail Youzhny in Gstaad today. He was able to get passed the Russian 6-3 5-7 6-3. The Frenchman will play another Russian, Igor Andreev in the quarterfinals. Chardy leads their head-to-head 2-1 with the Frenchman winning the last two matches.

(Image: AP)

City: Gstaad, Switzerland
Surface: Outdoor Clay
Championship Points: 250
2008 Singles Champion: Victor Hanescu
2008 Doubles Champions: Jaroslav Levinsky and Filip Polasek

Stanislas Wawrinka, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Igor Andreev, Victor Hanescu, Jeremy Chardy, Nicolas Kiefer, Feliciano Lopez and Paul-Henri Mathieu are the top-seeds at this tournament. This week could be a good opportunity for top-seed and hometown favorite Stanislas Wawrinka to win his first title this year, but Jeremy Chardy has been hot of late. We shall see how it all shakes out this week.

Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles

(Images: Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad)

Nikolay Davydenko took this week's title in Hamburg (SkySports)

Robby Ginepri won the Indy title this week (Miami Herald)

Tommy Haas and Juan Carlos Ferrero are ranked 20th and 34th respectively. Some order is restored (ATP)

Roger Federer is now the father of twins (Huffington Post)

Rafael Nadal is set to return in time for Rogers Cup. Yeah! The ATP needs him desperately, as the tour is pretty dull without him (Rafael Nadal)

Richard Gasquet has been cleared of charges and will return to the tour (ESPN)

Jeremy Chardy won his first career title at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. Jeremy! Jeremy! (Mercedes Cup)

Rober Soderling captured the Swedish Open title. A Parrott-less, Filip Polasek recovered from the swine flu and won the Swedish doubles title with Jaroslav Levinsky. Polasek also made it to the final in this week's Hamburg doubles final (Swedish Open)

Spain, Croatia, Israel and the Czech Republic advanced into the Davis Cup semifinals (Davis Cup)

Roger Federer took the Wimbledon title, broke Pete Sampras' record and retained the ATP No. 1 ranking from an injured Rafael Nadal (Wimbledon)

(Image: Mercedes Cup)

Veteran Tommy Haas was able to expel the French up-and-comer Jeremy Chardy in a pretty good win at 7-5 6-3 4-6 6-4. Chardy tried to turn his luck around in the fourth set, but Haas was able to hold on for the win and get off of the court in a timely fashion.

Haas advances to the round of 16. It is his first good run at a grand slam since his quarterfinal appearance at the US Open in 2007 and his first round-of-16 appearance in a grand slam or Master Series event this year. The 31 year old battled a shoulder injury last year that caused him to miss the US and French slams. His ranking dropped to a low of 86 this year, as a result, after starting out the 2008 season ranked 12th in the world.

The current ATP world no. 63 will play Roger Federer next. Federer is currently 8-2 over Haas and is on six-consecutive winning streak -- the last two victories were walkovers -- over the German. The last time Haas beat Federer is in 2002 in the round of 16 at the Australian Open.



(Image: FFT)

Jeremy Chardy celebrates his victory over Simone Bolelli. He bested the Italian 6-2 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-1. The Frenchman advances with compatriots Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga into the next round, where he will play Tommy Haas.

(Image: FFT)

Jeremy Chardy had a pretty easy time in his first round match with Thiago Alves. He prevailed 6-2 7-6(10) 6-3 in just under two hours of match play. The Frenchman advances into the second round to play Spanish qualifier, Pablo Andujar. The two players have never met in ATP competition.

(Image: FFT)

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)

It was a rough day for the seeds and the German players. Mikhail Youzhny sent third-seed Nicolas Almagro packing, and Jeremy Chardy ousted sixth-seed Nicolas Kiefer. On the doubles side, the Czech pair of Jan Hernych and Ivo Minar upset the top-seeds Mike and Bob Bryan. The Bavarian audience also witnessed three German singles players go down.

All was not so bad for the Germans. The German doubles pair of Michael Kohlmann and Alexander Waske defeated Italian Simon Bolelli and German Christopher Kas 6-4 4-6 10-8. They will play Hernych and Minar in the quarterfinals.

Second-seed Marin Cilic restored order by giving German Philipp Kohlscheiber a nasty beating 6-0 6-4 after 77 minutes of play. The Croatian is in the hunt for his third title of the year and will play Jeremy Chardy in the round of 16. The two players have never met in ATP competition.

On the other side of the draw, seventh-seed Paul-Henri Mathieu held it down against German Denis Gremelmayr 6-1 6-4. Mathieu will meet Youzhny in the round of 16. Youzhny is currently 3-0 over the Frenchman in their head-to-head match-up.

Wednesday’s Results
Singles Second Round
2 Marin Cilic (CRO) def. Philip Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-0 6-4
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) def. 3 Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 6-4 7-6(8)
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) def. 6 Nicolas Kiefer (GER) 6-4 7-6(8)
7 Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) def. Denis Gremelmayr (GER) 6-1 6-4

Doubles First Round
J. Murray (GBR)/P. Vizner (CZE) def. P. Petzchner (GER)/A. Peya (AUT) 6-4 3-6 17-15
M. Kohlmann/A. Waske (GER) def. S. Bolelli (ITA)/C. Kas (GER) 6-4 4-6 10-8
J. Hernych (CZE)/I. Minar (CZE) def. 1 B. Bryan/M. Bryan 1-6 6-2 11-9

Doubles Second Round
2 A. Fisher (AUS)/J. Kerr (AUS) def. E. Gulbis (LAT)/I. Kunitsyn (RUS) 7-5 7-6(3)

Thursday’s Matches
Singles Second Round
Simone Bolelli (ITA) vs. Potito Starace (ITA)
Andreas Beck (GER) vs. Tomas Berdych (CZE)
Julien Benneteu vs. Daniel Brands (GER)
Theimo De Bakker (NED) vs. Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)

Doubles Second Round
R. Bopanna (IND)/T. Parrott (USA) vs. J. Cerretani (USA)/J. Chardy (FRA)
J. Hernych (CZE)/I. Minar (CZE) vs. M. Kohlmann (GER)/A. Waske (GER)
J. Murray (GBR)/P. Vizner (CZE) vs. D. Gremelmayr/D. Meffert (GER)

Thursday’s Order of Play

(Image: Matthias Huber)

Juan Monaco emerged victorious over Jeremy Chardy 6-2 7-5 after 99 minutes of play. It was a pretty solid win despite the Frenchman having near home-field advantage. Monaco jumped all over Chardy’s serve and broke early thereby taking the crowd out of the equation. He then cruised to a straight-set victory in spite of a late Chardy run in the second set.

The victory marks a sort of comeback for the 25-year-old Argentine, who has suffered from a series of injuries late last year and early this year. He retired from a first-round match in Mexico and missed Indian Wells this year. The Argentine was ranked 14th last February and has slipped to his current ATP world rank of 60. He was in good form today, and hopefully he will be back in the mix this year.

Up next for Monaco is Tommy Robredo in what could be a grunge match of the Buenos Aires final. Robredo is currently playing well this year and leads their head-to-head matchup 2-1.

(image: AFP/GettyImages)

The second day of the tournament was a good day for the Germans. Bjorn Phau, ATP world number 77, upset Mardy Fish 6-3 5-7 6-3. In the next round, Phau will play Scoville Jenkins. The two players have never met in an ATP event.

Veteran player Tommy Haas had a routine win over countryman Denis Gremelmayer 6-3 6-3. Haas, who celebrated his 31st birthday a few days ago, will play the sixth seed Marcel Granollers. The two players have never played in an ATP event, though Haas won the title in 2004.

It was not the best day for the American singles players. The top seeds James Blake and Mardy Fish lost. Fifth seed Sam Querrey pulled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury. Fellow American, Amer Delic replaced Querrey and then lost to Chilean Paul Capdeville after winning the first set.

Taylor Dent, John Isner and Scoville Jenkins won their matches after losing the first set and then rallied to win in three sets. On the doubles side, the reliable Bryan brothers won their match against Jeremy Chardy and Brian Dabul 7-6(5) 6-3.

The last Argentine player left in the singles draw, Guillermo Canas dealt Blake his loss 6-4 6-4. This is the Canas’ second win this year. He will play Evgeny Korolev in the next round. In 2007, Canas came out on top in their only meeting.

The lone Frenchman in the tournament, Jeremy Chardy took no time defeating Jesse Levine 6-3 6-0 after 61 minute of work. He will meet Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the second round. The two players have never met in ATP play. On paper, Chardy should have no trouble with the Spaniard.

Tuesday’s Results
Singles First Round
Guillermo Canas (ARG) def. 1 James Blake (USA) 6-4 6-4
Bjorn Phau (GER) def. 2 Mardy Fish (USA) 6-3 5-7 6-3
4 Jeremy Chardy (FRA) def. LL Jesse Levine (USA) 6-3 6-0
6 Marcel Granollers (ESP) def. Brian Dabul (ARG) 2-6 6-4 6-1
Paul Capdeville (CHI) def. Amer Delic* (USA) 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 6-1
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) def. 7 Diego Junqueira (ARG) 6-0 6-2
Tommy Haas (GER) def. Denis Gremelmayr (GER) 6-3 6-3
WC John Isner (USA) def. Q Michael Russell (USA) 4-6 6-3 6-2
WC Taylor Dent (USA) vs. Marcos Daniel (BRA)
Sergio Roitman (ARG) def. Agustin Calleri (ARG) 6-3 6-3
Q Scoville Jenkins (USA) def. Q Alexander Peya (AUT) 0-6 6-4 6-3
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) def. Q Giovanni Lapentti (ECU) 1-6 6-0 6-2
*Replaces 5 seed Sam Querrey (USA)

Doubles First Round
1 B. Bryan (USA)/M. Bryan (USA) def. J. Chardy (FRA)/B. Dabul (ARG) 7-6(5) 6-3
2 A. Fisher (AUS)/J. Kerr (AUS) def. J. Melzer (AUT)/A. Peya (AUT) 3-6 6-4 10-7
J. Cerretani (USA)/D. Norman (BEL) def. 4 S. Huss (AUS)/R. Hutchins (GBR) 7-5 7-6(6)
J. Levinsky (CZE)/P. Vizner (CZE) def. M. Gonzalez (ARG)/S. Roitman (ARG) 6-1 6-4

Wednesday’s Matches
Singles Second Round
3 Jurgen Melzer (AUT) vs. Wayne Odesnik (USA)
4 Jeremy Chardy (FRA) vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)
WC John Isner (USA) vs. Paul Capdeville (CHI)
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) vs. Sergio Roitman (ARG)

Doubles First Round
3 L. Arnold Ker (ARG)/M. Damm (CZE) vs. J. Levine (USA)/R Sweeting (USA)
D. Gimeno-Traver (ESP)/D. Junqueria (ARG) vs. S. Lipsky (USA)/D. Vemic (SRB)

Double Second Round
1 B. Bryan (USA)/M. Bryan (USA) vs. J. Isner (USA)/T. Parrott (USA)
J. Blake (USA)/Mardy Fish (USA) vs. J. Cerretani (USA)/D. Norman (BEL)

Wednesday’s Order of Play

(image: Aaron M. Sprecher/ROCC)

City: Houston, Texas, USA
Surface: Outdoor Clay
Championship Points: 250
2008 Singles Champion: Marcel Granollers
2008 Doubles Champions: Ernest Gulbis/Rainer Schuettler

Marcel Granollers will be on hand to defend his title. James Blake, Mardy Fish and Lleyton Hewitt will also be there. The tournament is on clay, so there will probably be no trouble from them. Look for Jeremy Chardy to cause a little bit of trouble in the top part of the draw. Also, there is always a possibility that Guillermo Canas could awake from his tennis slumber and surprise someone.

Ernest Gulbis and Rainer Schuettler will not defend their title. The Bryan Brothers, Fisher/Kerr, Ker/Damm and Huss/Hutchins will all be in the mix. Parrott/Polasek are having a good year, but Filip Polasek is not playing in the tournament. Travis Parrott is instead teamed up with the big, serving John Isner. This pairing could be interesting.

Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles

Monday’s Matches
Qualifying Third Round
Donald Young (USA) vs. Scoville Jenkins (USA)
Michael Russell (USA) vs. Filip Krajinovic (SRB)
Alexander Peya (AUT) vs. Jesse Levine (USA)
Amer Delic (USA) vs. Giovanni Lapentti (ECU)

Singles First Round
3 Juergen Melzer (AUT) vs. Robert Kendrick (USA)
8 Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) vs. Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP)
Wayne Odesnik (USA) vs. Kevin Anderson (RSA)
Evgeny Korolev (RUS) vs. Leonardo Mayer (ARG)

Doubles First Round
D. Martin (USA)/S. Querrey (USA) vs. J. Isner (USA)/T. Parrott (USA)
J. Blake (USA)/M. Fish (USA) vs. A. Delic (USA)/R. Kendrick (USA)

Monday’s Order of Play

(Image: Emily Jaschke)