Argentina thought it would lose this weekend without their star players of Juan Martin del Potro, Juan Monaco and David Nalbandian. Nalbandian attended the Davis Cup tie as a cheerleader because of a recent leg injury.
On the first day, Argentina was able to split the singles rubbers. Argentina then activated Nalbandian for doubles with Horacio Zeballos the following day. The pairing proved to be successful, and they beat the Swedes in straight sets. Robin Soderling then came out today and defeated Leonardo Mayer 6-2 7-6(4) 7-6(5) to level the Davis Cup tie at 2-2.
The tie would be decided in the final rubber. Argentine coach Tito Vazquez activated Nalbandian again to face Andreas Vinciguerra. The Argentine veteran took the first-two sets. The Swede cleaned up his game in the third set to keep even with Nalbandian and broke in game 10 to keep hope alive.
Vinciguerra had a lot of momentum in the beginning of the fourth set. The Argentine stomped on Vinciguerra’s momentum by breaking in game three after Nalbandian came up with a couple of huge returns and went up 2-1. Nalbandian never looked back and beat the Swede 7-5 6-3 4-6 6-4 to clinch the first-round tie for Argentina.
Team Argentina will meet Russia in the quarterfinals in July. If Russia can get back Nikolay Davydenko and Argentina can get back Juan Martin del Potro and Juan Monaco, that quarterfinal could be highly entertaining.
Sunday’s Results
R4 – Robin Soderling (SWE) def. Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 6-2 7-6(4) 7-6(5)
R5 – David Nalbandian (ARG) def. Andreas Vinciguerra (SWE) 7-5 6-3 4-6 6-4
(Image: AP)
Michael Llodra sure loves this tournament. Last year’s singles finalist and doubles champion took down top-seed Robin Soderling. The Swede can ratchet his play up at times, but today Llodra took it up a notch to surpass Soderling 7-6(2) 6-4.
The Frenchman will back on double duty tomorrow with singles and doubles tomorrow. He will play his former partner Arnaud Clement, with whom he won this title twice, for the last spot in the final in the battle of the exes.
In his singles semifinal, he will meet German Mischa Zverev. Llodra leads their head-to-head 2-0.
Friday’s Results
Singles Quarterfinals
Michael Llodra (FRA) def. 1 Robin Soderling (SWE) 7-6(2) 6-4
2 Jo-Wilfred Tsonga (FRA) def. LL Illya Marchenko (UKR) 6-3 6-4
8 Julien Benneteau (FRA) def. 3 Gael Monfils (FRA) 6-3 7-5
Mischa Zverev (GER) def. WC Guillaume Rufin (FRA) 7-5 6-7(4) 6-3
Doubles Semifinals
1 J. Knowle (AUT)/R. Lindstedt (SWE) def. R. Bopanna (IND)/J. Coetzee (RSA) 6-4 0-6 10-6
Saturday’s Matches
Singles Semifinals
Michael Llodra (FRA) vs. Mischa Zverev (GER)
2 Jo-Wilfred Tsonga (FRA) vs. 8 Julien Benneteau (FRA)
Doubles Semifinals
2 J. Benneteau (FRA)/M. Llodra (FRA) vs. A. Clement (FRA)/N. Mahut (FRA)
Saturday’s Order of Play
(Image: AP)
On Monday, Ivo “Dr. Ivo or MC Ivo” Karlovic took out 13-seed Radek Stepanek. The Czech became the first casualty of the Australian Open. The opening day was a rather harmless when compared to day two of the tournament.
Tuesday was a fragile day for seeded players. Twenty-third-seed Juan Carlos Ferrero and 25-seed Sam Querrey lost their Aussie debuts. A big stunner was 16-seed Tommy Robredo’s exit. The Spaniard is usually so consistent. Perhaps the biggest stunner of them all was eighth-seed Robin Soderling.
Columbian Santiago Giraldo (pic. left) took out Tommy Robredo. The world no. 114 did not qualify at last year’s US Open, but he was able to surpass handily the Spaniard on 6-4 6-2 6-2. Giraldo now advances Pole Lukaz Kubot in second round.
Robin Soderling lost to world no. 113 Marcel Granollers (pic. right) of Spain. The Spaniard rallied to eventually kneecap Soderling 5-7 2-6 6-4 6-4 6-2. The 23 year old will meet Columbian Alejandro Fallo in the next round.
Soderling’s departure now opens his quarter of the draw and gives Spaniard Nicolas Almagro a good shot at the round of 16. The 26 seed has never made it to the round of 16 in a grand slam on hardcourt. He did make it to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in 2008, which is his best grand slam result to date.
Tuesday’s Results
Wednesday’s Order of Play
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(Images: AP/Andrew Brownbill, AP/Shuji Kajiyama)
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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(Images: AP)
City: Stockholm, Sweden
Surface: Indoor Hard
Championship Points: 250
2008 Singles Champion: David Nalbandian
2008 Doubles Champions: Jonas Bjorkman and Kevin Ullyett
Defending champion, David Nalbandian is still off the tour and recovering from surgery, so he will not defend his title this year. Robin Soderling, Tommy Haas, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Juan Monaco, Andreas Beck, Benjamin Becker, Albert Montanes and Feliciano Lopez are the top seeds at this tournament.
The top-seed Robin Soderling will try for his first title in Stockholm. The hometown favorite is enjoying his most successful year and is probably the favorite for the title. None of the top tier players are competing, so all of his threats will not be around to keep the title away from him.
The title is not a foregone conclusion for the Swede. Tommy Haas could easily stand in his way. The German, who had a good summer this year, returns from the tour after battling injury at the end of the summer. If he is good form, it could spell trouble for Soderling.
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Thomaz Bellucci, Ernest Gulbis and Grigor Dimitrov round out the draw in what should be a good week.
Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles
Monday’s Order of Play
(Image: If Stockholm Open)
Feliciano Lopez knocked off sixteenth-seed David Ferrer in the second round, and today he took out ninth-seed Robin Soderling 7-6(4) 6-3. The Spaniard's semifinal appearance is his best showing in a Masters event or grand slam EVER. The current world no. 41 will play against his friend and top-seed Rafael Nadal in a lefty showdown tomorrow.
Lopez will have his work cut out for him, as Nadal has beaten him four-consecutive times. Anything is possible since Lopez did beat Nadal once in 2003. It should be a good match tomorrow.
On the other side of the draw, Novak Djokovic held off Gilles Simon 6-3 2-6 6-3 in probably the best match of the tournament -- the second best was Blake-Nadal. Nikolay Davydenko defeated Radek Stepanek 6-1 4-6 6-1. Djokovic and Davydenko will now face off in the other semifinal tomorrow. The Serb leads this matchup 2-1. It what should be another good match tomorrow.
(Image: Phillipe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images)
Feliciano Lopez stretches it out during his victory over Jurgen Melzer 5-7 7-6(3) 6-1. This is the Spaniard’s best result in an ATP tournament this year. Lopez will now meet Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals. They have not played in three years, but Lopez leads their head-to-head 3-2. It would be nice to see the Spaniard pull off the upset tomorrow.
(Image: Eugene Hoshiko/AP)
City: Montreal, Canada
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Championship Points: 1000
2008 Singles Champion: Rafael Nadal
2008 Doubles: Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic
Rafael Nadal is back on tour and will defend his title. This tournament everyone will get a chance to see how fit the Spaniard is. Hopefully, the Mallorcan champ is back in fine form because I missed watching him beating up on everyone.
Again this tournament will be between the top four. Between the top four, they have won all of the Masters titles this year. It should be interesting to see if someone else can break up their monopoly.
Of late, Nikolay Davydenko and Andy Roddick have had the hot hand and are always dangerous. It is only a matter of time until Juan Martin del Potro breaks through. Tommy Haas has had a great summer, but we shall see if he is still holding up since he has played a lot of tennis in the last month. Robin Soderling has had a good spring and summer, but he injured his elbow this past week.
It should be a good tournament this coming week. Hopefully, someone else steps up and shakes up the tournament up this year.
Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles - TBD
Tournament Evils (formerly Tournament Malfeasance)
8 Gilles Simon (FRA) vs. Frank Dancevic (CAN)
10 Fernando Verdasco (ESP) vs. Feliciano Lopez (ESP)
13 Gael Monfils (FRA) vs. Marat Safin (RUS)
14 Marin Cilic (CRO) vs. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)
David Ferrer (ESP) vs. Viktor Troicki (SER)
Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) vs. Igor Andreev (RUS)
Sunday's Order of Play
(Image: Getty Images)
Defending champion Juan Martin del Potro had a scare today. He had to rally to beat Lleyton Hewitt 4-6 6-3 7-6(2). The Aussie pushed the 20 year old to the wire, but the Argentine was able to wrap up the match in the tiebreak.
Del Potro will now see Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals. The two players are even at 1-1 in their head-to-head matchup. This will be another must-see match. Hopefully, it is televised.
(Image: AP)
City: Washington, D.C., USA
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Championship Points: 500
2008 Singles Champion: Juan Martin del Potro
2008 Doubles: Marc Gicquel and Robert Lindstedt
Second-seed Juan Martin del Potro will defend his title. This year, he will have stiff competition from Andy Roddick and Robin Soderling. The Argentine could have his hands full with Robin Soderling, who currently has the hot hand on tour, in the quarterfinals.
Top-seed Andy Roddick has a good draw. Luckily for him, all of the real threats are on del Potro’s side of the draw. In addition to Soderling, Fernando Gonazalez could get the hot hand this tournament. The Chilean has a good quarter of the draw could cruise into the semifinals.
Roddick should not take his draw for granted, as he has some real sleepers on his side of the draw. Tomas Berdych is perfectly capable of surprising people and putting together a run. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga returns to the tour after taking a break after Wimbledon. He has struggled this year, but he can turn his season around at anytime.
It should be a good tournament and a taste of things to come in the run up to the US Open.
Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles
Sunday's Order of Play
(Image: Getty Images)
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)
Federer won the French Open by beating Robin Soderling 6-1 7-6(1) 6-4. The win now gives him his long-awaited career grand slam and he ties Pete Sampras’ record of 14 career grand slams.
(Image: FFT)
Fernando Gonzales has advanced to the semifinals by upsetting third-seed Andy Murray 6-3 3-6 6-0 6-4 after two hours and fifteen minutes of play. Gonzales has quietly gone through the draw and has now clocked in his best performance at Roland Garros -- he made it to the quarterfinals in 2003 and last year.
Gonzales will now meet Robin Soderling in the semifinals. The Chilean is 4-3 against the Swede and has won their last four meetings. Soderling has turned up his play in the last few days, so we will see if he can keep it up against Gonzalez.
(Image: FFT)
In a stunning event, Rafael Nadal lost to Robin Soderling in the fourth round 6-2 6-7(2) 6-4 7-6(2). It is Nadal’s first loss at Roland Garros ever, and snaps his 30-consecutive match wins and also denies him of his historic, fifth-consecutive championship title at the tournament. His and Djokovic’s losses now opens the tournament draw dramatically for a lot of people. Federer just might win the title that has alluded him for years.
Nadal has no excuses for his loss, except that he did not play well:So was my fault, and more than ‑‑ well, sure, he did well. He did very well, but I didn't ‑‑ yeah. I think I didn't play my best tennis. And I didn't play not my best tennis, no? I didn't play my tennis, and for that reason I lose. That's it.
Poor thing.The Spaniard will be 23 this Wednesday, and there will be plenty of time for more grand slams.
I congratulate him and keep working hard for the next tournament.
(Image: FFT)
An action shot of Rafael Nadal in his win over former world no. 1 Lleyton Hewitt. The Aussie gave him no trouble, and Nadal disposed of Hewitt 6-1-6-3 -6-1 in under two hours of play. Nadal will meet Robin Soderling next, and I am sure it will be a repeat of this.
(Image: FFT)
The German doubles team of Nicolas Kiefer and Mischa Zverev saved one match point to eventually beat Robert Lindstedt and Robin Soderling 7-6(4) 4-6 13-11. The win gave the Germans a 2-1 victory over the defending Swedish champions.
They have now booked their place in the finals. The Germans will host the Serbians, so it should be good times tomorrow.
Friday's Round Robin Results
Argentina Beat Russia 3-0
Fri - Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) def. Evgeny Korolev (RUS) 6-3 3-6 6-3
Fri – M. Gonzalez (ARG)/J. Del Potro (ARG) def. E. Korolev (RUS)/D. Tursunov (RUS) 2-2 Ret’d (Korolev - left ankle)
Thu - Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) def. Igor Andreev (RUS) 6-3 7-6(3)
Germany Beat Sweden 2-1
Fri - Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) def. Andreas Vinciguerra (SWE) 6-1 6-2
Fri - N. Kiefer (GER)/M. Zverev (GER) def. R. Lindstedt (SWE)/R. Soderling (SWE) 7-6(4) 4-6 13-11 - Saved 1 M.P.
Thu - Robin Soderling (SWE) def. Rainer Schuettler (GER) 6-0 6-0
USA Beat France 2-1
Thu - Sam Querrey (USA) def. Gilles Simon (FRA) 7-5 6-3
Thu - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) def. Robby Ginepri (USA) 3-6 6-2 6-4
Thu - M. Fish (USA)/S. Querrey (USA) def. J. Chardy (FRA)/G. Simon (FRA) 2-6 6-4 10-7
Serbia Beat Italy 2-1
Fri- Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) def. Francesco Piccari (ITA) 6-2 6-3
Fri – N. Zimonjic (SRB)/V. Trocki (SRB) def. F. Piccari (ITA)/A. Seppi (ITA) 6-0 7-6(5)
Thu - Andreas Seppi (ITA) def. Viktor Troicki (SRB) 6-1 6-4
Saturday’s Order of Play
(Images: Getty Images)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga rallied to overcome a set deficit to beat Andreas Vinciguerra (SWE) 4-6 6-3 6-4. He gave France a lead over Sweden. Unfortunately, Gilles Simon lost his robin match against Robin Soderling 4-6 6-2 6-0. France is now tied with Sweden at 1-1.
France should do well this tournament since it has the most talented team in the competition, but you never know with them.
Round Robin Matches
Russia Ties Italy 1-1
Evgeny Korolev (RUS) def. Andreas Seppi (ITA) 6-4 6-4
Simone Bolelli (ITA) def. Stanislav Vovk (RUS) 7-6(1) 6-2
Argentina Leads Serbia 1-0
Juan Monaco (ARG) def. Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) 6-4 7-6(8)
USA leads Germany 1-0
Sam Querrey (USA) def. Rainer Schuettler (GER) 2-6 6-4 6-2
France Ties Sweden 1-1
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) def. Andreas Vinciguerra (SWE) 4-6 6-3 6-4
Robin Soderling (SWE) def. Gilles Simon (FRA) 4-6 6-2 6-0
(Image: ARAG ATP World Team Championship)
Most of the seeded players advanced easily. The top-three picked apart their opponents and got off the court quickly. Fifth-seed Juan Martin del Potro and twelfth-seed Fernando Gonzalez made it through after dropping their first sets. Both rallied and won their matches to advance into the next round.
The seeded casualties were eight-seed Gilles Simon and fifteenth-seed Marin Cilic. Both were victims of qualifiers Mischa Zverev and Juan Monaco respectively. Zverev is officially troublemaker of Rome. If he upsets Federer tomorrow, he will be troublemaker of the year.
Novak Djokovic gave Tommy Robredo drubbing at 6-1 6-1 after 63 minutes of play. Djokovic is definitely back to form, which is bad news for Roger Federer and Andy Murray. His improvement makes the race for number two more up for grabs.
If Djokovic was back to form, then Rafael Nadal was in super-form. He met up with the crotchety, Swede Robin Soderling. The last time these two played, Soderling ended up doing this. Fast-forward two years later, the score looks like this: 6-1 6-0.
Do not tell me Nadal did not remember the Swede’s little episode. This was beyond a beatdown. It was a kneecapping, and the Spaniard took no mercy on Soderling. After his match of shame, I doubt the Swede will be doing Nadal impressions any time soon. This is truly the beauty of Nadal.
(Image: AP)
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