After their singles victories yesterday, Marin Cilic and Ivo Karlovic teamed up to play doubles against Nicolas Lapentti and Giovanni Lapentti in Varazdin, Croatia. The Croatian twin towers proved too much for the Brothers Lapentti and surpassed the Ecuadorian team 7-6(3) 6-3 7-5 to clinch a quarterfinal spot.

The Croatians now wait for the winner of the Serbia-USA tie. Serbia and the US are still duking it out in Belgrade. The US managed to win doubles today to keep hope alive. Novak Djokovic looks to secure Serbia’s first Davis Cup quarterfinal berth on his racket tomorrow.

Saturday’s Results
R3 – M Cilic (CRO)/I. Karlovic (CRO) def. G. Lapentti (ECU)/N. Lapentti (ECU) 7-6(3) 6-3 7-5

(Image: AP)

Marin Cilic outlasted German Michael Berrer 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3 after 2 hours and 38 minutes of play in the Zagreb singles final. The 6’6” Croat blew through his matches this week to secure his spot in the final. It looked like the final would be more of the same.

Cilic secured the first set today by breaking Berrer in game five. The match tightened in the second set, and the German snuck off with it in the tiebreak. The world no. 10 secured the title when he went up 4-1 in the final set. The German gave him a scare while serving for the set, but Cilic fought off two break points and secured the game, the final set and the match.

Today’s title win is Cilic’s fifth-career title. He now has successfully defended his Chennai and Zagreb titles this year. The Croat starts off the year with a 15-1 record. He will take this week off and will play in Dubai the following week.


Championship Sunday
Singles Final
1 Marin Cilic (CRO) def. Michael Berrer (GER) 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3

Doubles Final
J. Melzer (AUT)/P. Petzschner (GER) def. A. Clement (FRA)/O. Rochus (BEL) 3-6 6-3 10-8

(Image: AFP)

Top-seed Marin Cilic looks to go two-for-two tomorrow in defending his titles this year. The Croat is having a banner year so far with a 14-1 record. The 21-year-old successfully defended his title in Chennai in January and will defend his title tomorrow in the Zagreb final. Cilic beat third-seed Jurgen Melzer in today’s first semifinal 7-6(5) 6-4.

The last player standing in his way is Michael Berrer. The German beat his compatriot, Philipp Petzschner 7-6(6) 7-5 in the second semifinal. Cilic and Berrer have never played before, but the German will have his work cut out for him tomorrow against the defending champion.

Saturday's Matches
Singles Semifinals
1 Marin Cilic (CRO) def. 3 Jurgen Melzer (AUT) 7-6(5) 6-4
Michael Berrer (GER) def. Philipp Petzschner (GER) 7-6(6) 7-5

Doubles Semifinals
J. Melzer (AUT)/P. Petzschner (GER) def. 3 M. Damm (CZE)/F. Polasek (SVK) 7-6(4) 6-4

(Image: Hrvoje Polan/AFP/Getty Images)

Marin Cilic defeated the always problematic Ivo “MC” Karlovic 7-6(6) 6-4. Karlovic rained down 24 aces on his compatriot, but the 21 year old was able to get the upper hand in the tiebreak and then obtain a break in the second set.

The world no. 10 will play Austrian Jurgen Melzer in the semifinal. Cilic leads their head-to-head 3-1, but Melzer won their last meeting in Vienna where he had the home field advantage. The tables will be turned on the Austrian tomorrow.

On the other side of the draw, German Michael Berrer upset fourth-seed Viktor Troicki in straight sets. He will advance to play Philipp Petzschner in an all-German semifinal. Petzschner rallied to beat Lukas Lacko, who just came off his upset of second-seed Ivan Ljubicic yesterday. Berrer and Petzschner have never played in ATP competition, but Petzschner does lead their head-to-head 2-1 on the challenger circuit.

Friday’s Results
Singles Quarterfinals
1 Marin Cilic (CRO) def. 7 Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 7-6(6) 6-4
3 Jurgen Melzer (AUT) vs Ilya Marchenko (UKR)
Michael Berrer (GER) def. 4 Viktor Troicki (SRB) 6-4 6-3
Philipp Petzschner (GER) def. Lukas Lacko (SVK) 6-7(1) 6-2 6-2

Doubles Semifinals
A. Clement (FRA)/O. Rochus (BEL) def. B. Becker (GER)/R. Schuettler (GER) 6-3 1-6 10-3

Saturday's Matches
Singles Semifinals
1 Marin Cilic (CRO) vs. 3 Jurgen Melzer (AUT)
Michael Berrer (GER) vs. Philipp Petzschner (GER)

Doubles Semifinals
3 M. Damm (CZE)/F. Polasek (SVK) vs. J. Melzer (AUT)/P. Petzschner (GER)

Saturday’s Order of Play

(Image: PBZ Zagreb Indoors)

Top-seed Marin Cilic made a rather impressive premiere in his 6-2 6-2 rout of Czech Jan Hajek after just 56 minutes of work. Seventh-seed Ivo Karlovic advanced after just 38 minutes when his opponent, Croat Antonio Veic retired with an ankle injury.

Ivan Ljubicic was not so lucky. The second-seed had to put in a little more work in his meeting with Arnaud Clement. He beat the French veteran 7-6(4) 6-3 after 96 minutes of play.

Wednesday's Results
Singles First Round
1 Marin Cilic (CRO) def. Jan Hajek (CZE) 6-2 6-2
2 Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) def. Arnaud Clement (FRA) 7-6(4) 6-3
7 Ivo Karlovic (CRO) def. WC Antonio Veic (CRO) 4-5 RET. (left ankle)

Singles Second Round
3 Jurgen Melzer (AUT) def. Oliver Rochus (BEL) 6-2 6-3
4 Viktor Troicki (SRB) def. Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 7-5 7-5
Ilya Marchenko (UKR) def. WC Ivan Dodig (CRO) 6-4 6-2

Doubles First Round
3 M. Damm (CZE)/F. Polasek (SVK) def. J. Levinsky (CZE)/M. Zverev (GER) 6-7(4) 6-3 10-8
B. Becker (GER)/R. Schuettler (GER) def. WC M. Draganja (CRO)/L. Zovko (CRO) 7-6(7) 26 10-4
M. Kohlmann (GER)/A. Peya (AUT) def. J Murray (GBR) / J Murray (GBR) 2-6 7-6(1) 10-7

Thursday’s Order of Play

(Image: Reuters)

Goran Ivanisevic will begin his coaching career by taking charge of the current world no. 10 and fellow Croat Marin Cilic. Cilic’s former coach, Bob Brett is not available, so the 2001 Wimbledon champ has taken over his duties.

The 21 year old is taking the tennis world by storm and has shot up the rankings from 22 last year to his current and best position of world no. 10. Cilic won two titles and a quarterfinal appearance at the US Open last year, where he lost to the eventual winner Juan Martin del Potro.

The young Croat started this year out great by successfully defending his title in Chennai and advancing all the way to the semifinals at the Australian Open. Ivanisevic was brought on to specifically prepare Cilic for Wimbledon this year. Cilic's best performance at the All England Club is a fourth-round appearance, so an improvement there would be a coup.

It is a good choice for the Cilic camp. We shall see if it proves to be fruitful soon enough.

(Image: Tribune Media)

Marin Cilic could be problematic for Andy Murray (Times Online)

Tennis great Alastair Martin dies (UPI)

Australian up-and-comer Bernard Tomic draws fire for criticizing the scheduling at the Australian Open (Reuters)

Tomic is also in the market for a new coach. He is looking at Brad Gilbert and Darren Cahill. If there is a god, he will pick Gilbert. Gilbert has been terrorizing American television audiences for years with his crack “analysis.” I have been praying for someone to hire him for years (Tennis)

Richard Gasquet has a new coach (Tennis)

In more Tomic news, Lleyton Hewitt is not on board for his rival's bid on the Australian Davis Cup team. The rivalry continues (The Australian)

Rafael Nadal answers some rather frisky questions from his fans (Herald Sun)

It looks like Laura Robson has moved on from Marat Safin (Daily Online)

Speaking of Safin, there is a rumor of a Safin love child (Open Court)

Andy Murray took out Rafael Nadal 6-3 7-6(2) 3-0. Murray was in the lead when Nadal retired in the third set with more of his dreaded knee problems. With the retirement, Murray secured his spot in the semifinals.

Nadal will drop to the third or fourth spot in the rankings next week since he will lose points for not successfully defending his title this year. Let’s hope the former no. 1 gets better to defend the rest of his titles this year. Poor thing.

On the other side, Marin Cilic upset Andy Roddick 7-6(4) 6-3 3-6 2-6 6-3 after 3 hours and 50 minutes of play. This is the Croat’s first grand-slam semifinal appearance of his short career.
Cilic will now face Andy Murray in the first semifinal on the men’s side. Murray leads their head-to-head 3-1, but the 6’6” Croat won their last meeting at the US Open in the round of 16.

The outcome of this semifinal is not a forgone conclusion. On paper, Murray should win. He has the experience, and he has been playing well these last two weeks. The Scotsman has come up short in the grand slams, and it is beginning to look like a mental block. It is a just matter of whether Cilic can turn it up to another level and upset another top player or if Murray can overcome his grand slam jitters. It’s a toss up.

Tuesday's Results
Singles Quarterfinals
5 Andy Murray (GBR) def. 2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6-3 7-6(2) 3-0 RET. (right knee)
14 Marin Cilic (CRO) def. 7 Andy Roddick (USA) 7-6(4) 6-3 3-6 2-6 6-3

Doubles Third Round
I. Karlovic (CRO)/D. Vemic (SRB) def. 5 L. Kubot (POL)/O. Marach (AUT) 2-6 7-6(11) 7-6(4)

Doubles Quarterfinals
1 B. Bryan (USA)/M. Bryan (USA) def. E. Butorac (USA)/R. Ram (USA) 7-5 4-6 7-6(2)
M. Kohlmann (GER)/J. Nieminen (FIN) def. F. Gonzalez (CHI)/I. Ljubicic (CRO) 4-6 6-1 2-0 RET. (Ljubicic: right thigh)

Wednesday’s Matches
Singles Quarterfinals
1 Roger Federer (SUI) vs. 6 Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
3 Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)

Doubles Quarterfinals
2 D. Nestor (CAN)/N. Zimonjic (SRB) vs. A. Clement (FRA)/J. Erlich (ISR)
3 L. Dlouhy (CZE)/L. Paes (IND) vs. I. Karlovic (CRO)/D. Vemic (SRB)

Wednesday’s Order of Play

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Marin Cilic upset fourth-seed Juan Martin del Potro 5-7 6-4 7-5 5-7 6-3 after 4 hours of 38 minutes of play. The young Croat finally beat del Potro, who was 2-0 over the fourteenth seed. His quarterfinal appearance this week will match his best grand slam performance at last year’s US Open, where he lost to Juan Martin del Potro.

Now, the Croat will play Andy Roddick next, who was able to overcome Fernando Gonzalez in five sets. They are currently 1-1 in head-to-head action with Cilic winning their last meeting in 2008 in Toronto. It would be nice to see the Croatian youngster make it to the semifinals.

Sunday’s Results
Singles Round of 16
2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) def. Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-4
14 Marin Cilic (CRO) def. 4 Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) 5-7 6-4 7-5 5-7 6-3
5 Andy Murray (GBR) def. John Isner (USA) 7-6(4) 6-3 6-2
7 Andy Roddick (USA) def. 11 Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) 6-3 3-6 4-6 7-5 6-2

Doubles Third Round
1 B. Bryan (USA)/M. Bryan (USA) def. 17 J. Melzer (AUT)/P. Petzschner (GER) 7-6(1) 6-4
2 D. Nestor (CAN)/N. Zimonjic (SRB) def. P. Marx (GER)/I. Zelenay (SVK) 6-4 6-2
Arnaud Clement (FRA)/J. Erlich (ISR) def. J. Brunstrom (SWE)/J.J. Rojer (AHO) 6-3 0-6 7-5

Monday’s Matches
Singles Round of 16
1 Roger Federer (SUI) vs. 22 Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)
3 Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. Lukasz Kubot (POL)
6 Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) vs. 9 Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) vs. 26 Nicolas Almagro (ESP)

Doubles Third Round
3 L. Dlouhy (CZE)/L. Paes (IND) vs. J. Isner (USA)/S, Querrey (USA)
11 S. Aspelin (SWE)/C. Kas (GER) vs. F. Gonzalez (CHI)/I. Ljubicic (CRO)
M. Kohlmann (GER)/J. Nieminen (FIN) vs. Simone Bolelli (ITA)/A. Seppi (ITA)

Monday’s Order of Play

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(Image: AP/John Donegan)

Juan Martin del Potro and Marin Cilic triumphed in their second-round matches last night. The previous night, 20-seed Mikhail Youzhny staved off Richard Gasquet in an almost five-hour battle. On Wednesday, del Potro and Cilic found themselves in a similar situation.

Del Potro had the unfortunate task of drawing James Blake. The Argentine is currently battling a wrist injury that has made his playing status questionable leading up to the tournament. Blake, who is the current world no. 45, has battled injuries last year and returned to the tour more fit this year. Blake’s ranking is a misnomer. Plus, the hardcourts are his favorite surface.

Despite these obstacles, the Argentine was able to withstand 81 winners from Blake to beat the American 6-4 6-7(3) 5-7 6-3 10-8 after 4 hours and 17 minutes of play. The fourth-seed will now play German Florian Mayer in the third round. Their head-to-head is one match apiece, with del Potro winning in their last meeting in last year’s Aussie Open.

Meanwhile on center court, fourteenth-seed Marin Cilic received a serious challenge from Aussie up-and-comer Bernard Tomic in their second-round night match. After trading sets, the 21-year-old Croat pulled it out in the final set. He surpassed the 17-year-old Aussie 6-7(6) 6-3 4-6 6-2 6-4 after 3 hours 48 minutes of play.

Cilic did not get off of the court until the early morning. He now gets treat of having to turn around and play nineteenth-seed Stanislas Wawrinka, who played earlier and two hours less than Cilic. Wawrinka leads their matchup 4-1. The Croat did win their last meeting a couple weeks ago on the hardcourts of Chennai.

Wednesday’s Results

Thursday’s Order of Play

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Rafael Nadal looked a lot better today after living dangerously earlier this week. He put in a pretty solid performance against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and surpassed the defending champion 7-5 7-5 in under two hours of play. Nadal’s win not only allowed him advance into the semifinals, but it also assisted his compatriot Fernando Verdasco in qualifying for the year-end tournament while dashing Tsonga’s hopes at the same time.

Nadal advances to play a familiar foe, Novak Djokovic, who surpassed the troublesome Robin Soderling 6-4 1-6 6-3. These two players have not played each other since Cinicinnati in August where Djokovic came out on top. Nadal leads their head-to-head overall 14-5.

Djokovic has played the better in the last couple of weeks, while it looks like Nadal maybe coming into a late surge. It is hard to tell who might be tops tomorrow, but it will be a heck of a match to watch.

Gael Monfils and Radek Stepanek will play in the second semifinal matchup tomorrow. Stepanek benefited from Juan Martin del Potro’s retirement over an abdominal strain. Ay, Dios mio! Monfils overcame a one set deficit to upset Marin Cilic 3-6 6-4 6-4. La Monf leads his head-to-head with Stepanek 2-1.

Friday’s Results
Singles Quarterfinals
2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) def. 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 7-5 7-5
3 Novak Djokovic (SRB) def. 9 Robin Soderling (SWE) 6-4 1-6 6-3
13 Radek Stepanek (CZE) def. 5 Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) 4-0 ret. (abdominal strain)
15 Gael Monfils (FRA) def. 12 Marin Cilic (CRO) 3-6 6-4 6-4

Doubles Quarterfinals
1 D. Nestor (CAN)/N. Zimonjic (SRB) def. C. Kas (GER)/P. Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-3 7-6(3)
7 M. Fyrstenberg (POL)/M. Matkowski (POL) def. 2 B. Bryan (USA)/M. Bryan (USA) 6-4 7-6(7)
M. Granollers (ESP)/ T. Robredo (ESP) def. S. Aspelin (SWE)/P. Hanley (AUS) 6-3 6-7(3) 10-7

Saturday’s Matches
Singles Semifinals
2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. 3 Novak Djokovic (SRB) – 8 AM ET
13 Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs. 15 Gael Monfils (FRA)

Doubles Semifinals
1 D. Nestor (CAN)/N. Zimonjic (SRB) vs. 8 F. Cermak (CZE)/M. Mertinak (SVK)
7 M. Fyrstenberg (POL)/M. Matkowski (POL) vs. M. Granollers (ESP)/ T. Robredo (ESP)

Saturday’s Order of Play

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One-half of the Czech-Davis-Cup terror duo, Tomas Berdych knocked off twelfth-seed Marin Cilic, who had been playing fantastic over the last couple of months. He bested the Croat 7-6(8) 3-6 6-4. As I was saying yesterday, Spain better heed the warning and take these two seriously. As I digress . . .

Berdych will play Marat Safin in the second-round. Safin leads Berdych 2-0 in their head-to-head match up. Both wins come last year on clay. The big Russian’s final session has not gone well and deteriorates rapidly as he reaches the end of his career, so this could be Berdych’s opportunity to win one before Safin retires.

(Image: Andy Wong/AP)

Tomas Berdych beat Marin Cilic 6-3 6-3 3-6 4-6 6-3 after 3 hours and 48 minutes of play. Berdych pulled out the win in another long match to put the Czechs in the lead at 2-0. After just two matches, these two teams have clocked in almost ten hours of play. The Croatians are now going to have to dig deep if they want to turn this deficit around.

(Image: Hrvoje Polan/AFP/Getty Images)

Juan Martin del Potro won the battle of the 20 year olds in yesterday’s quarterfinal. He rallied to beat Croat Marin Cilic 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-1. The world no. 6 advances to the semifinals and posts his best grand-slam performance to date. With the win, del Potro will also move up a spot to world no. 5 next week.

The Argentine awaits the winner of the Nadal-Gonzalez match. It might be awhile since rain delays prevented that match from completing last night, and it is supposed to rain throughout the day today.

(Image: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Sixteenth-seed Marin Cilic upset second-seed Andy Murray 7-5 6-2 6-2. It is best grand slam showing to date and his first breakthrough win of his career. Cilic started out the year strong with titles in Chennai and Zagreb but faded this year. The Croat picked a mighty fine time to turn things around.

Cilic will now meet Juan Martin del Potro in the quarterfinals. It will be the battle of the 20 year olds on Thursday, so it should be another good matchup. At this point, del Potro and Rafael Nadal need to send the Croat some flowers for taking out the second biggest obstacle out of the tournament.

As for Murray, he is still young and has time, but there is something about the grand slams where he just flakes out. I still think he had a great opportunity at Wimbledon and this week. I am not going to pile on because the guy is going to be skewered in the British press in the coming weeks.

In other action, Fernando Gonzalez and his forehand took out Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6 6-3 7-6(3) 6-3. Del Potro won the battle of the Juans by taking out Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 6-3 6-3. The Argentine is looking good, so I definitely can see him in the final. The tournament brackets are starting to shape up nicely and interestingly.

(Image: Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

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)

Tommy Haas and Juan Carlos Ferrero both upset seeded players to advance into the second week of Wimbledon. Both players have had problems with injuries and have not consistently played on tour over the last couple of years. Now, it seems both players have put together runs that have now moved them into the round of 16.

Tommy Haas concluded his epic match with eleventh-seed Marin Cilic by upsetting the Croat 7-5 7-5 1-6 6-7(3) 10-8 after 4 hours and 28 minutes of play over two days. The last six games of their match were played today.

The German will meet Igor Andreev on Monday. Andreev leads their head-to-head 1-0, but it was a Davis Cup match on clay in 2007. Haas has played well since Roland Garros and went on a tear during the grass-court season. Their rematch should be an exciting one.

Juan Carlos Ferrero ended up getting into the other exciting match today with tenth-seed Fernando Gonzalez – even though Boris Becker kept calling him Francisco if you were watching it online. Ferrero upset the Chilean 4-6 7-5 6-4 4-6 6-4 after 3 hours and 1 minute of play.

Gonzalez, who is known for his big forehand and serve, pummeled Ferrero throughout the match. Instead of relinquishing the match to Gonzalez, Ferrero went for his shots and managed to outmaneuver his opponent on the court. Gonzalez rained down 24 aces on the Spaniard and held his serve easily, but Ferrero took care of his serve and broke when he needed to.

Ferrero will now meet play Gilles Simon in the round of 16. Surprisingly the two players have never played in ATP competition. Both players are playing well, so it should be a good one.

(Images: AFP)

There are quite a few today:

Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) def. 10 Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) 4-6 7-5 6-4 4-6 6-4
24 Tommy Haas (GER) def. 11 Marin Cilic (CRO) 7-5 7-5 1-6 6-7(3) 10-8
20 Tomas Berdych (CZE) def. 12 Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 6-2 6-3 6-2
23 Radek Stepanek (CZE) def. 16 David Ferrer (ESP) 7-5 7-5 3-6 4-6 6-4

(Images: AP, AP, AFP/Getty Image, AP)

Marin Cilic and Tommy Haas are locked in an extremely close match that will be finished tomorrow. Haas took the first-two sets and was cruising to victory until Cilic rallied to win the next two sets. I watched the last set, and the two players were in quite the shootout. Try to watch this match tomorrow, because it should be quite the finale.

(Images: Julian Finney/Getty Images, Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images)

Preview: BMW Open
City: Munich, Germany
Surface: Outdoor Clay
Championship Points: 250
2008 Singles Champion: Fernando Gonzalez
2008 Doubles Champions: Michael Berrer and Rainer Schuettler

Fernando Gonzales was set to defend his title this year but has pulled out of the tournament. He sprained his ankle in his Roman quarterfinal match with Juan Monaco. He did play in the semifinal against Rafael Nadal, but his ankle was still sore. The Chilean was playing well and would have been the odds on favorite this year.

The withdrawal now opens the draw. Marin Cilic, the second seed, should be the favorite, but he is not as proficient on clay as some of the others. He should have a good shot at the semifinals, but I would not be surprised if he was tripped up in the earlier rounds.

Lleyton Hewitt is back on tour after taking a break from the tour after his first round loss in Monte Carlo. He did win on clay in Houston and should have no trouble getting to the quarterfinals. From there, he could meet Andreas Beck or Mischa Zverev in the quarterfinals, and I think the Aussie might lose that battle. It is a shame these German upstarts have to play each other in the first round. They are both looking to breakthrough and what better time than in front of an eager German audience. Berdych is also in this quarter and could do well.

Julien Benneteau now breathes a sigh of relief, as he was scheduled to play Gonzalez in the first round, but now plays a lucky loser. Clay is not really his surface, and I would not be surprised if someone tripped him up in the early rounds. His portion of the draw is now the least predictable.

The main beneficiary of the Gonzalez withdrawal is Nicolas Almagro. He is an excellent clay court player and the most proficient in the tournament, but has not had a great year. He did successfully defend his title in Mexico, but his European clay season has been a disaster. This could be a good opportunity for another title and build some confidence for Madrid. His only problem is Mikhail Youzhny, who he could meet in the second round. If he can pass the Russian, he has a pretty good shot at the title.


Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles

Tournament Malfeasance
Andreas Beck (GER) vs. Mischa Zverev (GER)
Nicolas Kiefer (GER) vs. Ernest Gulbis (LAT)
Evgeny Korolev (RUS) vs. Jeremy Chardy (FRA)

Monday’s Order of Play

(Image: Getty Images)