France was pretty efficient in its 3-0 victory over Germany. Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra defeated Christopher Kas and Philipp Kohlschreiber.
It looked like the French team would blow out the Germans when they won the first set 6-1, but Kas and Kohlschreiber slowly worked their way into the match. The Germans then returned the favor in the third set when they won it 6-1, but Llodra and Benneteau buttoned it up in the fourth. The French duo kept it close and then broke on the Kas serve for a 6-1 6-4 1-6 7-5 victory.
France now waits for the winner of the Spain-Switzerland duel. Their opponent will most likely be Spain. This French line-up looked good this weekend and could perhaps give Spain some trouble if there are no French flake outs.
Saturday’s Results
R3 – J. Benneteau (FRA)/M. Llodra (FRA) def. C. Kas (GER)/P. Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-1 6-4 1-6 7-5
(Image: AP)
What a difference a year makes. France now leads Germany 2-0. Gael Monfils won his first Davis Cup match. He put in a solid performance against Philipp Kohlschreiber and defeated the German 6-1 6-4 7-6(5). Monfils is now 1-1 in Davis Cup play.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga then followed up Monfil’s win with another French victory over Benjamin Becker. The top-ranked Frenchman was on his way to a dominant win until he had a hiccup in the third set. In the fourth set, Tsonga was able to wrap it up with 6-3 6-2 6-7(2) 6-3 win. The victory brings the world no. eleven’s Davis Cup record to 7-0.
Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra are up for France in doubles tomorrow. The French duo has proven to be a winning combination. They will meet Christopher Kas and Philipp Kohlschreiber and could easily put France through to the quarterfinals.
France vs. Germany
Friday’s Results
R1 – Gael Monfils (FRA) def. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-1 6-4 7-6(5)
R2 – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) def. Benjamin Becker (GER) 6-3 6-2 6-7(2) 6-3
Saturday’s Match
R3 – R. Benneteau (FRA)/M. Llodra (FRA) vs. C. Kas (GER)/P. Kohlschreiber (GER)
(Images: AP)
Rafael Nadal had a sluggish start in his Thursday evening match with German Philipp Kohlschreiber but was able to still able to get into a groove by the second set. The Spaniard jumped out to a two-set lead over the 26 year old.
It looked like another straight-set win for the returning champion until he lost his opening serve in the third set. Kohlschreiber somehow took control of the set causing Nadal to fall out of sorts. Errors uncharacteristically crept into the second-seeds game, and the German managed to keep his tournament hopes alive and win the third set.
They traded breaks in the fourth set but then Nadal stepped up his game in the last two games to win the fourth set and the match. It was not pretty, but he did manage to get pass Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-2 2-6 7-5.
Nadal will play Croat Ivo Karlovic, who played at the same time and length in his third-round match with Ivan Ljubicic, in the round of 16. The Mallorcan leads their head-to-head 2-0. The two players have never met on a hardcourt surface before. Dr. Ivo and his giant serve spell trouble on Saturday.
Friday’s Results
Saturday’s Order of Play
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(Image: AFP/Getty Images/Torsten Blackwood)
Tomas Berdych started out strong in his match with German Philipp Kohlschreiber yesterday in Montreal. It looked like the seventeenth-seed would have a routine win against Kohlschreiber. The Czech instead found himself bounced out of the tournament in his Rogers Cup debut. Kohlschreiber bested the Czech 7-6(5) 6-7(9) 6-4 after almost three hours of play.
Kohlschreiber will now play Victor Hanescu in the second round. The two players have never met in ATP competition.
(Images: Denise/tennisfiend)
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)
The Germans managed to win the singles and doubles titles in Halle, Germany. Tommy Haas upset second-seed Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-7(4) 6-1. This is Haas’s first title of the year and twelfth career title. Haas has overcome injuries over the last couple of years, and the win is his first title in two years. Hopefully, this win will give the German some impetus for Wimbledon.
On the doubles side, Germans Christopher Kas and Philipp Kohlschreiber won the doubles title to top off the German titles sweep to the delight of the hometown fans. They took care of the German-Swiss duo of Andreas Beck and Marco Chiudinelli 6-3 6-4. The title is their second championship together.
Championship Sunday
Singles Final
WC Tommy Haas (GER) def. 2 Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6-3 6-7(4) 6-1
Doubles Final
C. Kas (GER)/P. Kohlschreiber (GER) def. A. Beck (GER)/M. Chiudinelli (SUI) 6-3 6-4
(Images: Gerry Weber Open)
Tommy Haas rallied to beat Phillip Kohlschreiber 2-6 7-6(5) 7-6(3) in a 132-minute, all-German matchup. It is a good win for Haas since he has been plagued with injuries over the last couple of years. The German has been healthy this month, and the results are starting to show.
Haas has now booked a spot in the Halle final. This is his first final in two years. His last final appearance was in Memphis in 2007, where he eventually beat Andy Roddick for the title. He now awaits the winner of the Djokovic-Rochus match.
(Image: Philipp Guelland/AFP/Getty Images)
The Germans are playing on their home soil in Halle, Germany. To the delight of the hometown fans, the Germans won every match they played in today. There are currently seven Germans still active in the draw.
Wildcard Mischa Zverev saved two match points before rallying to upset fifth-seed Tomas Berdych. Philipp Kohlschreiber took out sixth-seed Dmitry Tursunov. Another wildcard, Benjamin Becker upset countryman and eighth-seed Rainer Schuettler.
The biggest upset of the day was the Tommy Haas victory over fourth-seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He triumphed over the Frenchman 6-3 7-6(3
) after 79 minutes of play. The current ATP world no. 41 has struggled with injuries, and his ranking dropped to no. 87 last March. Over the last month, he is looking like he has recovered and is back in shape. Last week, Haas made it to the round of 16 at Roland Garros, where he eventually lost to Roger Federer.
Haas now advances to the quarterfinals to play fellow German Mischa Zverev. The two players have never met in ATP competition.
On the doubles side, Nicolas Kiefer and Mischa Zverev defeated Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki in dominate fashion 6-1 6-1. They head to the semifinals and await the winner of the Gicquel/Tsonga-Beck/Chiudinelli match.
(Images: PMK)
City: Halle, Germany
Surface: Outdoor Grass
Championship Points: 250
2008 Singles Champion: Roger Federer
2008 Doubles Champions: Mikhail Youzhny and Mischa Zverev
Roger Federer will be on hand to defend his title fresh off of his French Open win. The tournament should be interesting, as Novak Djokovic, Fernando Verdasco and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will round out the draw.
Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles
Monday's Order of Play
(Image: Gerry Weber Open)
Tommy Robredo is surprisingly the last Spaniard left in the draw. Robredo helped the Spanish cause today by taking out German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4 5-7 7-6(4) 6-2. The Spaniard now continues into the quarterfinals to play fifth-seed Juan Martin del Potro.
Del Potro is looking fierce of late and took out Frenchman and Musketeer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets. The 19 year old currently leads Robredo 1-0 in their career matchup. Their face off on Wednesday should be a good one.
(Image: FFT)
An inanimate Novak Djokovic was bounced out of the French Open today by German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-4 6-4 after 2 hours and 21 minutes of play. Djokovic was sluggish and could not make any adjustments. Kohlschreiber, to his credit, played a solid and efficient match. The German did not give Djokovic any errors or blips that might allow the Serb to get back into the match.
The defeat is a lost opportunity for Djokovic to cap off his European clay-court season. He was able to turn around his uninspiring start of the season into a solid clay-court season. The Serb was the second-best player on clay this year, and the loss now puts this progress back into inconsistent territory. The French Open draw gave Djokovic an excellent opportunity to play Nadal in the final, and a chance to gain on Roger Federer and Andy Murray in points. Djokovic is actually capable of winning another grand slam title and moving up in the rankings, but bad decisions and self-sabotage continue to impede him from doing so.
His first problem is that he has never taken care of his fitness. That is the real difference between the top-tier players and everyone else. Federer and Nadal already had the physical fitness, and Murray and Verdasco worked hard in the off-season, which is paying off now. Djokovic addressed this by hiring a new fitness coach over a month ago, but he is already at a disadvantage from the others.
The second horrible decision is to change his racket at the end of last season. It took him about six months to get used to the new racket. In the meantime, he could not control his shots. This affected his confidence, and his play suffered the early part of the season. The inconsistent results allowed Andy Murray to overtake the Djokovic for the three spot.
The final bad decision is to participate in his family’s tournament in Serbia the week before the French Open. Nadal complained about the scheduling of the Madrid Masters, which did not give him the preparation he would have liked for the French Open -- that tournament took place two weeks before Roland Garros. The other top-six players took the week prior to Roland Garros off. It seemed like this was another sketchy decision, but Djokovic looked like he might get away with
it. Today, it caught up with him.
Djokovic is also not helped by the self-sabotage that seems to pop up at inopportune moments. Last year’s Wimbledon, he was hot on the heels of Nadal and threatened to overtake Nadal’s two spot. Marat Safin managed to bounce the Serb out of the tournament in the second round. At the Australian Open this year, he was positioned to take Federer’s second spot. Instead of defending his title, the Serb ended up retiring in the quarterfinals due to heat exhaustion. This week, he was looking to put himself in a good spot to stay in contention with Murray and Federer, but that opportunity has gone out of the window.
Djokovic’s team needs to make better decisions in terms of his tennis career. It seems like they jump on every short-term decision rather than looking at the long term. Is more important to make five million dollars for changing rackets or sticking with what is working and having more consistent results? Is it more important for him to play in a small, local tournament right before the French Open or giving him some rest that might put him in contention of the title?
(Images: FFT)
Today was a cooler day than other two days. Play was suspended for two hours due to a rain delay. Most of the matches were completed, but the Clement/Tursunov and Santoro/Rochus matches were not completed due to lack of light and will finish tomorrow. The winners of both of these matches will play each other, so there will be no rest advantage.
Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin del Potro and Tommy Robredo advanced in straight-forward fashion. Djokovic only played two sets after Nicolas Lapentti had to pull out after spraining his left ankle. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advanced but dropped a set in a tricolor battle with compatriot Julien Benneteau.
James Blake was the only top-seeded casualty of the day. This was no surprise since he has been struggling, in general, of late. He is also part of the latest incarnation of no-clay-playing Americans. The deadly combination resulted in a first-round boot out of Roland Garros this year.
The surprise of the day was Juan Carlos Ferrero’s win over Ivan Ljubicic. Ljubicic had been playing well over the last couple of weeks, and Ferrero has been struggling for years with injury and lack of play. The former French Open champ and current world no. 103 upset Ljubicic 2-6 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-3 after three hours and 17 minutes of play.
Ferrero will meet German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second round. Kohlschreiber leads their head-to-head matchup 2-1. His wins come courtesy of the hardcourts of Auckland for the last two-consecutive years. Ferrero’s victory came at Roland Garros three years ago.
(Images: FFT)
France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Team Germany at the Player's Night at the ARAG World Team Championship in Dusseldorf, Germany.
(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)
The Germans are off to a good start. Nicolas Kiefer rallied to defeat Ernest Gulbis 2-6 6-3 6-2 after 92 minutes of play. The Latvian youngster has shown promise in previous years. Gulbis continues to struggle this year and recently fired his coach.
As for Kiefer, he now advances to play Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, who handled Evgeny Korolev pretty easily. The two players have never met in ATP competition. It will be the battle of the veteran versus the youngster.
The other German Philipp Kohlschreiber, who won the singles and doubles titles in 2007, advanced over compatriot Bjorn Phau after Phau had to retire due to a hand injury. He awaits the winner of the Cilic-Kindlmann match.
Sunday Results
Singles First Round
Nicolas Almagro (ESP) def. Jan Hernych (CZE) 6-3 6-4
Doubles First Round
E. Gulbis (LAT)/I. Kunitsyn (RUS) def. P. Starace (ITA)/M. Vassallo Arguello (ARG) 6-3 6-4
Monday Results
And The Qualifiers Are . . .
Thiemo De Bakker (NED) def. Marco Crugnola (ITA) 4-6 6-1 6-2
Dieter Kindlmann (GER) def. Stephane Bohli (SUI) 6-2 6-4
Alexander Peya def. Lamine Ouahab (ALG) 6-4 6-2
Sascha Kloer (GER) def. Amer Delic (USA) 7-5 4-6 7-6(0)
Singles First Round
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) def. Ivo Minar (CZE) 6-3 7-6(5)
Nicolas Kiefer (GER) def. Ernest Gulbis (LAT) 2-6 6-3 6-2
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) def. Bjorn Phau (GER) 6-2 2-1 Ret’d
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) def. Evgeny Korolev (RUS) 6-3 6-3
Doubles First Round
WC D. Gremelmayr (GER)/ D. Meffert (GER) def. Alt P. Marx(GER)/F. Moser (GER) 3-6 6-3 10-1
4 R. Bopanna (IND)/T. Parrott (USA) def. N. Almagro (ESP)/S. Prieto (ARG) 6-4 5-7 10-8
Tuesday’s Matches
Singles First Round
2 Marin Cilic (CRO) vs. Q Dieter Kindlmann (GER)
4 Tomas Berdych (CZE) vs. Q Sascha Kloer (GER)
5 Rainer Schuettler (GER) vs. Q Thiemo De Bakker (NED)
7 Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) vs. LL Lamine Ouahab (ALG)
8 Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) vs. Potito Starace (ITA)
WC Andreas Beck (GER) vs. Mischa Zverev (GER)
Martin Vassallo Arguello (ARG) vs. Denis Gremelmayr (GER)
Q Alexander Peya (AUT) vs. Julien Benneteau (FRA)
WC Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) vs. Philipp Petzschner (GER)
WC Daniel Brands (GER) vs. Stefan Koubek (AUT)
LL Stephane Bohli (SUI) vs. Simone Bolleli (ITA)
Doubles First Round
2 A. Fisher (AUS)/J. Kerr (AUS) vs. Alt M. Crugnola (ITA)/C. Haggard
N. Kiefer (GER)/M. Zverev (GER) vs. J. Cerretani (USA)/J. Chardy (FRA)
Tuesday’s Order of Play
(Image: dpa)
The Spaniard did not play particularly well but did enough to move on. He will play Roger Federer, who beat Fernando Gonzalez today in three sets, in the quarterfinals. Federer leads their matchup 2-0. If Verdasco is going to win tomorrow, he is going to have to step up his game.
(image: AP)
Fernando Gonzalez decisively beat James Blake 7-5 6-1 in 65 minutes of play. The Chilean will advance to play Roger Federer in the next round.
Fernando Verdasco, in all his super-fauxhawk glory, beat Richard Gasquet handily 6-3 6-2. The Spaniard will play Philipp Kohlschreiber in the next round. Kohlschreiber currently leads their head-to-head 3-1. Their last meeting was in Austria in 2008 where Kohlschreiber won in straight sets. Verdasco is now a different player, so I am sure the German's advantage will begin to fade.
The day was not a total loss for Gasquet. He did win in doubles with Swiss partner Stanislas Wawrinka. The duo will play Fernando Gonzalez and Tommy Robredo in the quarterfinals.
Former world no. 3, Ivan Ljubicic upset Gilles Simon 6-3 7-6(3). The 
current world no. 74 has struggled 
of late, and this win puts an end to three-consecutive, first-round losses. Ljubicic awaits the winner of the Tsonga-Andreev match.
Tommy Robredo beat Marin Cilic 7-5 7-6(2). The Spaniard ousted the Croat, who has won two ATP titles already this year. Robredo has been on a hot streak of late by winning two South American titles last month. Now on hardcourts, he advances to play Andy Murray into the round of 16. Robredo currently leads their head-to-head 2-0.
(images l-r, l-r: AP, Jeff Gross/Getty Images, Jeff Gross/Getty Images, AP)
After being out with an injury, Nicolas Kiefer is back in action and beat Julien Knowle and Jurgen Melzer of Austria with partner Philipp Kohlschrieber, who replaced Christopher Kas. They won 6-3 7-6(6) 3-6 6-4 and have now placed Germany in the driver's seat with 2-1 lead.
Rainer Schuettler is scheduled to play Melzer tomorrow, and Kohlschreiber will play Koubek. There is a possibility that Kiefer will replace Schuettler since Schuettler did not play well on Friday.
(image: GEPA)
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