The Long and the Long Of It

Sam Querrey d. John Isner, 36 76(4) 64 

A tough day in Belgrade for the two tall drinks of unlikely tennis player as good buddies Sam Querrey and John Isner faced each other in a final for the second time this year – only to have it end much the same way. In Memphis, Isner was up a set and 5-2; today, he served for the match and even had match point at 63 54, only for an errant forehand and a subsequent failure to put it behind him to cost him the match. Does Isner have a buddy problem, or does he just have problems closing out matches? Answers on a postcard.

Anyway, from what I saw, Sam played better as the match went on and thoroughly deserved his title – which, incidentally, made him the first man to win a title on European clay since 2003. And while big John was clearly crushed, there’s no way this trophy presentation (with special guests!) won’t have cheered him up at least a little. It did me.

Who knew Nole was such a midget?!

Americans in Belgrade, Marin in Munich, F(r)ed in Estoril

So here’s the state of play. Somewhat ironically, there’ll be an all-American final in Belgrade.

 John Isner had a great win over Stanislas Wawrinka and Sam Querrey disposed of little Filip Krajinovic, in his first ATP semi-final courtesy of Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal. He lost 61 62 in front of his home crowd.

Welcome to the wonderful world of the ATP!

In Munich, Marin Cilic has somehow cobbled enough wins together to be in the final. Yes, it’s one of those weeks. He actually played really well against Marcos Baghdatis today and got better as the match went on, which is, I suppose, a good thing.

It’ll be Mikhail Youzhny facing him in the final, after Youzhny disposed of Philipp Petzchner who had knocked out the defending champion Tomas Berdych. Youzhny is up 3 -0 in the head-to-head with Cilic, by the way. I’m just saying.

And the shock of the day in Estoril was Roger Federer’s 62 76(5) loss to Albert Montanes, the defending champion, in Estoril. It was a rain-delayed day, the conditions were terrible and for whatever reason, Federer just didn’t adapt at all. It was a mystifyingly lame performance from him, although he insists he isn’t worried – his post-match comments basically added up to ‘meh, these things happen’. I was fairly impressed with Montanes, though, who didn’t let either the conditions or the unexpected lack of resistance throw him off and is now in an excellent position to defend his title.

 

Lost in the Federer shuffle, however, has been the fact that Frederico Gil has become the first Portuguese player to reach an ATP final and he’s done it on his home ground, beating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 62 57 63. Heartwarming stuff.

The Withdrawal Method: Screw You, Nature

Novak Djokovic was forced to retire against Filip Krajinovic in the quarterfinals of the Belgrade Open on Friday, and has now been forced to withdraw from the Madrid Open next week, putting his Roland Garros preparations in doubt.

Nole was suffering with allergies in Belgrade and obviously feels he’s in no shape to compete this week. Which basically sucks. Get better soon, Nole, we love you.

Nole Open Not That Much Fun For Nole

Novak Djokovic beat Fabio Fognini 64 64 for a place in the quarterfinals at his home tournament – but he doesn’t seem too happy:

“I don’t want to go into details too much, but I have some health issues that are hampering me and it’s very important for me to be fully fit, because playing on clay demands immense physical efforts. I’ve been going through a difficult period over the past couple of months. It’s springtime and I have a strong allergic reaction to pollen. It’s never been this bad and no medications are helping it,” says Djokovic.

source

Poor Nole. Allergies sound like a mild irritation, but they can be really debilitating. And I’ve never tried to play professional tennis while suffering. I can’t imagine that can be anything other than miserable.

Although …

… every cloud has a silver lining, eh?

Nole will play Filip Krajinovic next, the adorable youngster, who beat Horacio Zeballos 76(5) in the third for a huge upset win for him. This is a good thing.

Sorry, Onion, but Filip was here first.

Image is Everything: Because Nole is Pretty

You know who’s gorgeous? Novak.

No, REALLY.

Watching fireworks at the opening ceremony.

Bellygrade.

“Get your feet off the seats!”

Happy!Nole FTW.

OK, can someone tell me what this shirt says?

Is the top word “Serbia”? Damn my lack of Cyrillic.

This picture freaks me out. He’s turning the world upside down! It’s some kind of sorcery!

 Ajde.

Sunday Champs: Djokovic, Berdych, Montanes

Albert Montanes d. James Blake, 57 76(6) 60

Congratulations to Albert Montanes, who rallied from match point down to claim his second ATP title over James Blake.

It was a tough ask for Blake, who had already done well earlier in the day to finish his match against Davydenko and come out with the win. Incidentally, is he still working with Barker? I didn’t see him around this week.

Tomas Berdych d. Mikhail Youzhny 64 46 76(5)

Great result for Berdych. He’s making a fricking habit of beating guys I like in finals. I might bold his name on my hate list. And that’s serious business.

Priss.

Novak Djokovic d. Lukas Kubot 63 76(0)

Did anyone really expect a different result? Surprised how close the scoreline was, anyway. But well done to Nole on winning the inaugural Nole Open. And I’m not being THAT sarcastic. Look how happy he is.

BRAAAAAAAAAAAINS.

Seriously, he’s dead behind the eyes.

Is that trophy a mirror or a gateway to another dimension?

Estoril, Munich, Belgrade Finals

First up, congratulations to Yanine Wickmayer of Belgium (a.k.a. the Belgian Sharapova … apparently), who won her first WTA singles title in Estoril when she defeated Ekaterina Makarova 75 62.

She played a solid, focussed match and seeing someone get their first title is always lovely. Well done, Yanine.

Unfortunately rain messed up the rest of the day’s play in Estoril. The first ATP finalist is Albert Montanes, who beat Capdeville 3 and 4. The second semifinal was rained off with Blake a set down but a break up on Davydenko, so it’s all still to be decided.

In Munich, both semifinals went to 3 sets, but Youzhny and Berdych – somewhat predictably – managed it in the end over local wildcard and hitherto total unknown Brands, and Chardy respectively.

And at the Nole Open, all our worst fears have come true.

HE WILL EAT YOUR BRAINS.

NB: All the above was crafted while massively drunk and is probably not true.

Friday Results: Munich, Estoril, Belgrade

Yeah, I’m combining the men into one post. You know why? They weren’t as interesting as the women today, and that’s the fact of the matter. You want equal column inches, then you be equally compelling and watchable. I can’t be having with this New Age equal-rights-for-the-ATP nonsense.

Oh yeah, and pretty much everyone I wanted to win today … didn’t.

Estoril

Makarova beat Groenefeld fairly straightforwardly for her second straight final, where she will play the Belgian Sharapova (apparently) after Peer was forced to retire after three games. And on the ATP side; Blake won, Gilles lost. Are you getting the ‘today sucks’ theme yet?

An apt pictorial representation of Gilles’ season thus far.

Singles – Semifinals
(6) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) d. (8) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) 63 61
Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. (7) Shahar Peer (ISR) 30 ret. (right foot injury)

Doubles – Semifinals
(3) Kops-Jones/Spears (USA/USA) d. Coin/Pelletier (FRA/CAN) 36 75 103
Fichman/Marosi (CAN/HUN) d. Diatchenko/Dzehalevich (RUS/BLR) 64 46 107

Singles – Quarter-finals
[7] A Montanes (ESP) d [1] [WC] G Simon (FRA) 57 64 76(4) – saved 1 M.P.
[2] N Davydenko (RUS) d [6] M Fish (USA) 64 63
[4] J Blake (USA) d [8] F Serra (FRA) 64 61
P Capdeville (CHI) d O Hernandez (ESP) 46 61 64

Doubles – Semi-finals
E Butorac (USA) / S Lipsky (USA) d [3] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK) 63 63
[4] M Damm (CZE) / R Lindstedt (SWE) d W Moodie (RSA) / D Norman (BEL) 64 46 10-7

Munich

Thanks for nothing, Marin. At least Chardy’s pretty. What’s your excuse, Rusty Potatoes?

Singles – Quarter-finals
J Chardy (FRA) d [2] M Cilic (CRO) 36 75 64
[4] T Berdych (CZE) d [WC] L Hewitt (AUS) 46 63 76(4)
M Youzhny (RUS) d [7] P Mathieu (FRA) 75 36 63
[WC] D Brands (GER) d P Starace (ITA) 64 11 ret. – right hamstring

Doubles – Semi-finals
[2] A Fisher (AUS) / J Kerr (AUS) d [4] R Bopanna (IND) / T Parrott (USA) 76(2) 64

Belgrade

At the Nole Serbia Open, Karlovic, Seppi and Nole all progressed to the semis. In even LESS interesting news … can someone explain to me how Kubot is still in the tournament? Seriously?

Posting a picture of Kubot would only encourage him in his sinister plans for world domination.

Singles – Quarter-finals
[2] I Karlovic (CRO) d [Q] F Cipolla (ITA) 63 63
[4] A Seppi (ITA) d M Daniel (BRA) 64 75
[LL] L Kubot (POL) d K Vliegen (BEL) 76(6) 63
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) d [5] V Troicki (SRB) 63 62

Doubles – Quarter-finals
[2] L Kubot (POL) / O Marach (AUT) d [WC] N Ciric (SRB) / D Savic (SRB) 64 36 10-8
R Wassen (NED) / I Zelenay (SVK) d [4] S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) 64 64
M Granollers (ESP) / S Ventura (ESP) d [3] S Huss (AUS) / R Hutchins (GBR) 76(4) 16 10-7
[WC] M Djokovic (SRB) / D Madjarovski (SRB) vs J Brunstrom (SWE) / J Rojer (AHO)

OOPsydaisy: Rome, Estoril, Munich, Belgrade

Rome

Stadio Pietrangeli (from 11.00hrs)
1. Hsieh/Peng vs. Senoglu/Shvedova
2. Kuznetsova vs. Azarenka (NB 13.30hrs)
3. Safina vs. V.Williams (NB 16.00hrs)
4. Hantuchova/Sugiyama vs. Llagostera Vives/Martínez Sánchez

Estoril

Central (from 11.15hrs)
1. Groenefeld vs. Makarova
2. ATP: Fish vs. Davydenko (NB 13.55hrs)
3. ATP: Serra vs. Blake (NB 16.15hrs)
4. ATP: Damm/Lindstedt vs. Moodie/Norman

Centralito (from 11.30hrs)
1. Peer vs. Wickmayer
2. ATP: Hernández vs. Capdeville (NB 13.00hrs)
3. ATP: Simon vs. Montañés
4. ATP: Butorac/Lipsky vs. Cermak/Mertinak

Court 1 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Diatchenko/Dzehalevich vs. Fichman/Marosi
2. Coin/Pelletier vs. Kops-Jones/Spears

Belgrade

CENTRE COURT
12:00 noon K.Vliegen (BEL) vs L. Kubot (POL)
 
Not before 2:00 PM F. Cipolla (ITA) and I. Karlovic (CRO)
 
A. Seppi (ITA) vs M. Daniel (BRA)
 
Not before 8:00 PM N. Djokovic (SRB) vs V. Troicki (SRB)
 
M.Djokovic (SRB)/D.Madjarovski (SRB) vs J.Brunstrom (SWE)/J-J.Rojer (AHO)
 
SHOW COURT 1
1:00 PM R.Wassen (NED)/I.Zelenay (SVK) vs S.Aspelin (SWE)/P.Hanley (AUS)
 
Not before 2:00 PM S.Huss (AUS)/R.Hutchins (GBR) vs M.Granollers (ESP)/S.Ventura (ESP)

5:00 PM N.Ciric (SRB)/D.Savic (SRB) vs L.Kubot (POL)/ O,Marach (AUT)

Munich can be found here.

Belgrade Results: Doubles Briefly Interesting

You know, I’m trying to be interested in this tournament. It feels somehow imperialistic not to be interested. But I’m just not, you know, that much. Some people won, some people lost, Cips – who has been dubbed as “a surprise of the tournament” in the vaguely adorable vernacular of the official website – did the former …

Ice Cips.

But the real surprise of the day came in the doubles, where no. 1 seeds Nestor and Zimonjic lost to Djokovic (not that one) and Madjarovski. Kind of embarrassing, hmmm?

Congratulations, Marko Djokovic. You now have your very own YFB tag. It will probably never be used again.

Singles – Second Round
[2] I Karlovic (CRO) d B Dabul (ARG) 64 76(5)
[4] A Seppi (ITA) d L Mayer (ARG) 64 61
M Daniel (BRA) d [6] I Ljubicic (CRO) 64 63
[Q] F Cipolla (ITA) d [7] A Clement (FRA) 16 64 62

Doubles – First Round
[WC] M Djokovic (SRB) / D Madjarovski (SRB) d [1] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) 76(2) 26 10-6
[2] L Kubot (POL) / O Marach (AUT) d J Tipsarevic (SRB) / V Troicki (SRB) 64 61
M Granollers (ESP) / S Ventura (ESP) vs S Querrey (USA) / S Roitman (ARG)