Barcelona: Wednesday’s Results, Thursday’s OOP

And the upsets continue, as the triple threat that is Albert Ramos-Vinolas upset Gonzo in three. It seems like Gonzo hasn’t really got off the mark this year, what with knees and earthquakes and swimming with dolphins and the burden that is his quixotic existence. Still, it wouldn’t be Gonzo if you could predict when he was going to turn up, would it? The rocky road to recovery continues to be rocky for Lleyton Hewitt, too, who lost in two sets to Eduardo “I was recently fined for tanking” Schwank.

Among those who notched up excellent wins, however, were Fernando Verdasco in straight sets over Richard Gasquet (I’m starting to think he might win this, you know – Verdasco, that is, not Gasquet; I’m not that delusional), Nose Job (three sets over Victor Hanescu – nice), and Ernests Gulbis, who managed to be slightly less of a loser than Jeremy Chardy. I call that impressive.

I also call this impressive.

Full Results

Singles – Second Round
[3] J Tsonga (FRA) d J Hajek (CZE) 63 62
[Q] A Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) d [4] F Gonzalez (CHI) 64 67(8) 63 
[5] [WC] F Verdasco (ESP) d R Gasquet (FRA) 75 63
[7] J Ferrero (ESP) d S Stakhovsky (UKR) 63 42 ret. (hamstrings)
[8] D Ferrer (ESP) d [WC] M Granollers (ESP) 75 64
[11] J Melzer (AUT) d O Hernandez (ESP) 67(4) 75 75 
E Schwank (ARG) d [12] L Hewitt (AUS) 76(3) 64
[13] T Bellucci (BRA) d V Hanescu (ROU) 62 16 75
[16] F Lopez (ESP) d D Istomin (UZB) 76(7) 75
G Garcia-Lopez (ESP) d [LL] T Gabashvili (RUS) 16 76(5) 64 
[Q] S Bolelli (ITA) d [WC] A Martin (ESP) 76(2) 76(1)
T de Bakker (NED) d [Q] D Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 76(5) 63
E Gulbis (LAT) d J Chardy (FRA) 63 62

Doubles – First Round
F Polasek (SVK) / A Qureshi (PAK) d [WC] A Martin (ESP) / F Vicente (ESP) 46 62 10-8
N Almagro (ESP) / M Lopez (ESP) d E Butorac (USA) / M Kohlmann (GER) 63 62
J Kerr (AUS) / R Lindstedt (SWE) d I Andreev (RUS) / J Chardy (FRA) 76(4) 61
C Kas (GER) / J Melzer (AUT) d [WC] G Granollers-Pujol (ESP) / A Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 63 60
J Knowle (AUT) / A Ram (ISR) d P Cuevas (URU) / F Gonzalez (CHI) 64 75

Today’s OOP is brought to you by the Jo-ness of Jo. It’s my favourite thing about him.

Monte-Carlo: Marin Labours, Verdasco and Berdych Cruise

It’s funny how a match that can seem like the most epic, fascinating struggle when you’re forced to follow a scoreboard that behaves like the universe in the time-skips episode of Futurama is a mindnumbing, error-strewn slog when you actually get to watch it. Or so I gather from the comments I’ve been reading on Marin Cilic’s exhausting three-set win over Igor Andreev today.

Like Brockian Ultra Cricket.

Marin eventually prevailed 64 in the third, but it doesn’t seem like this is going to be his year in Monte-Carlo. Again. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was also made to work hard in overcoming Nicolas Almagro.

In stark contrast, the other second-round winners today positively breezed through. Fernando Verdasco demolished Julien Benneteau with the loss of just three games, while Miami finalist Tomas Berdych went one better in a 62 60 victory over Richard Gasquet. And they’re slated to meet in the next round. Good times.

It’s on.

Full Results

Singles – Second Round
[4] M Cilic (CRO) d I Andreev (RUS) 67(4) 61 64
[5] J Tsonga (FRA) d N Almagro (ESP) 76(5) 75
[6] F Verdasco (ESP) d J Benneteau (FRA) 62 61
[10] T Berdych (CZE) d [WC] R Gasquet (FRA) 62 60

Singles – First Round
[12] T Robredo (ESP) d H Zeballos (ARG) 63 63
[13] S Wawrinka (SUI) d V Hanescu (ROM) 62 64
[15] J Melzer (AUT) d P Mathieu (FRA) 63 62
A Montanes (ESP) d [16] M Baghdatis (CYP) 64 62
M Llodra (FRA) d F Fognini (ITA) 63 63
V Troicki (SRB) d L Kubot (POL) 46 62 62
F Serra (FRA) d S Robert (FRA) 76(6) 36 64
[Q] T de Bakker (NED) d E Schwank (ARG) 63 75

Doubles – Second Round
[5] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Mirnyi (BLR) d M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) 76(3) 76(7)

Doubles – First Round
N Almagro (ESP) / I Ljubicic (CRO) d P Kohlschreiber (GER) / R Lindstedt (SWE) 57 75 11-9
J Melzer (AUT) / M Youzhny (RUS) d M Cilic (CRO) / C Kas (GER) 64 76(8)

Wednesday’s OOP is brought to you by Marin Cilic’s giant … shoes.

COURT CENTRAL start 10:30 am
B Becker (GER) vs [9] J Ferrero (ESP)
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) vs F Serra (FRA)
[Q] T de Bakker (NED) vs [2] R Nadal (ESP)
P Kohlschreiber (GER) vs [3] [WC] A Murray (GBR)
M Granollers (ESP) / T Robredo (ESP) vs [WC] R Gasquet (FRA) / J Tsonga (FRA)

COURT DES PRINCES start 10:30 am
[Q] A Golubev (KAZ) vs [11] D Ferrer (ESP)
A Seppi (ITA) vs A Montanes (ESP)
[8] I Ljubicic (CRO) vs M Llodra (FRA)
D Nalbandian (ARG) vs [7] M Youzhny (RUS)
[4] W Moodie (RSA) / D Norman (BEL) vs N Djokovic (SRB) / V Troicki (SRB)

COURT 2 start 10:30 am
E Gulbis (LAT) vs [13] S Wawrinka (SUI)
[12] T Robredo (ESP) vs V Troicki (SRB)
[14] J Monaco (ARG) vs M Berrer (GER)

COURT 9 start 12:00 noon
[15] J Melzer (AUT) vs P Petzschner (GER)
D Ferrer (ESP) / M Lopez (ESP) vs [3] L Dlouhy (CZE) / L Paes (IND) – After Suitable Rest

COURT 11 start TBD
E Butorac (USA) / M Kohlmann (GER) vs G Garcia-Lopez (ESP) / S Wawrinka (SUI) – After Suitable Rest

Monte Carlo: Off-Piste

Monte Carlo always generates cool picturage … and you know how I like my pictures.

In the ever-growing list of random yet oddly inspired publicity stunts the ATP comes up with, sending Nole and Jo to visit the Oceanographic Museum in Monte Carlo has to be right up there.

Nole, Jo, and the remains of charismatic megafauna. These are a few of my favourite things.

No, really.

I love Jo’s demeanour in these photos. He’s acting like you do when you aren’t really interested at all in what you’re being shown – or are too interested in the person who’s showing you – so you concentrate hard on everything with painful politeness.

Nole, meanwhile, is the Instant Expert. I love it.

So, remember that case file I mentioned?

*adds*

Meanwhile, Rafa talked to the press …

… Marin popped up to be very serious about something …

… and Nole turned up to, well, not be:

I love how Monte Carlo is like Noleville. Except for the bit where he actually wins the tournament.

The Boys Are Back In Town

The leading lights of the Monte Carlo field got cleaned up quite nicely for the player’s party:

Those shoes. They’d better be special shoes for vulnerable knees, a la Fred Couples’ deck shoes at the weekend, because if not, there’s no excuse.

I love Jo’s serious tie.

So much happiness in this photo.

Someone’s mum ironed him a shirt between awesome blogs.

Further evidence to add to the ‘how did it take me so long to notice Tomas Berdych is gorgeous?!’ case file.

Dame Shirley f**king Bassey!

Hello, boys.

… Caption competition?

The Apotheosis of Adorable

Ovaries on red alert …

Why yes, that is Jo cuddling some sort of wallaby-type animal. In a fluffy blanket.

You may now die.

D Cup: WTFrance?

Seriously. First of all we have them looking kind of cool and sophisticated and sexy at the official dinner:

Then a mere matter of days later, we have … I don’t even know how to describe this. What are they doing? Why are they doing it? All I know is that it appears to be happening in the showers:

And that Richie dropped the soap.

(photos & humour courtesy of crystaleyesd)

D Cup: France 3, Germany 0

Congratulations to la belle France. And I do mean exactly that. They were probably the most attractive squad of any nation playing this weekend and will be picspammed accordingly.

In amongst that lot: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet, Gilles Simon, Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra. Easily the nation with the greatest strength in depth (aside from Spain, obviously), they’ve all too often suffered meltdowns and embarrassing defeats in the past. But it was plain sailing this weekend, after Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga pulled off singles victories against Philipp Kohlschreiber and Benjamin Becker on Friday to put France 2-0 up.

… ably supported from the bench by Gasquet and Gilles, of course:

With Arnaud Clement not on the squad, it was up to Davis Cup debutante Julien Benneteau to partner Michael Llodra in today’s doubles and he was really impressive. Apart from a third-set wobble, the pair fairly cruised against a German pair who never looked like winning.

After they finally closed the match out at 75 in the fourth, the whole team celebrated awesomely. I’ll just let the pictures tell the story …

OK, that was a lot of pictures. But come on, how often do you get to see all these guys so happy? You carry on with your bad selves, Team France. They’ll meet either (probably) Spain or Switzerland next, so they’d better enjoy it while they can …

R1 – G.MONFILS (FRA) def. P.KOHLSCHREIBER (GER)
6-1  6-4  7-6(5)
R2 – J.TSONGA (FRA) def. B.BECKER (GER)
6-3  6-2  6-7(2)  6-3
R3 – J.BENNETEAU / M.LLODRA (FRA) def. C.KAS / P.KOHLSCHREIBER (GER)
6-1  6-4  1-6  7-5

And Kolya, and Jo …

More pain for the top seeds in Dubai today. Literally, after Kolya was forced to retire with a wrist injury, trailing indistinguishable German Michael Berrer 6-3.

And Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lost to Ivan Ljubicic in straight sets in a match that I’m bloody glad I didn’t watch.

Not all bad news, though. Marin may look like he was constructed out of pipecleaners and wet spaghetti with no particular care taken during the process (and I love it, before the hatemail starts), but he’s holding up surprisingly well despite it, managing to beat Stefan Koubeck in straights; Baggy took care of Somdev Devvarman, and Nole meandered to a victory over compatriot Troicki, 62 in the third.

Serious business.

Not.

Nice nips though.

Full results

Men’s Singles – Second Round
[2] N Djokovic (SRB) d V Troicki (SRB) 36 64 62
J Tipsarevic (SRB) d [3] A Murray (GBR) 76(3) 46 64
M Berrer (GER) d [4] N Davydenko (RUS) 63 ret. (left wrist)
I Ljubicic (CRO) d [5] [WC] J Tsonga (FRA) 75 63
[6] M Cilic (CRO) d [Q] S Koubek (AUT) 62 76(6)
[7] M Youzhny (RUS) d [Q] B Phau (GER) 76(2) 64
J Melzer (AUT) d T Robredo (ESP) 63 75
M Baghdatis (CYP) d [Q] S Devvarman (IND) 63 36 61

Men’s Doubles – Quarter-finals
S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) d [3] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Mirnyi (BLR) 64 64

Men’s Doubles – First Round
F Lopez (ESP) / T Robredo (ESP) d [1] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) 63 36 10-7
A Clement (FRA) / R Lindstedt (SWE) d [WC] R Bopanna (IND) / A Qureshi (PAK) 57 76(5) 10-8
[4] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK) d [4] N Davydenko (RUS) / I Kunitsyn (RUS) W/O (Davydenko – left wrist)

Order of Play

CENTRE COURT start 2:00 pm
J Melzer (AUT) vs [6] M Cilic (CRO)
J Tipsarevic (SRB) vs [7] M Youzhny (RUS)
Not Before 7:00 PM
I Ljubicic (CRO) vs [2] N Djokovic (SRB)
M Baghdatis (CYP) vs M Berrer (GER)

COURT 3 start 2:00 pm
C Kas (GER) / D Norman (BEL) vs [4] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK)
A Clement (FRA) / R Lindstedt (SWE) vs [2] L Dlouhy (CZE) / L Paes (IND)
Not Before 5:00 PM
F Lopez (ESP) / T Robredo (ESP) vs J Tipsarevic (SRB) / V Troicki (SRB) – After Suitable Rest

Dubai, Dubai!

… never seemed so strange. Anyway, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga got a bit of a let-off today when compatriot Michael Llodra (who picked up his Marseilles title a matter of days ago, lest we forget) abruptly retired after a tight first set which Tsonga took 11-9 in the tiebreaker.

A speedy recovery to Llodra, and a whispered “WHOO!” to Jo.

And speaking of people who I’d rather watch than other people, Marin Cilic played his first match since Belgrade today, beating Arnaud Clement 62 64.

In JMDP’s absence, I’ll take all the lanky, awkward adorableness I can get. In the spirit of which, check out this video. There are a few moments of my-limbs-are-too-long-for-this-world Marin magic. And frankly, it’s worth it for Jason Goodall’s overblown commentary and rampant redefinition of words like ‘eager’ and ‘delighted’. (Thanks to rachael for the link.)

Results

Men’s Singles – First Round
[4] N Davydenko (RUS) d F Serra (FRA) 67(5) 64 61
[5] [WC] J Tsonga (FRA) d M Llodra (FRA) 76(9) ret. (left hamstring)
[6] M Cilic (CRO) d A Clement (FRA) 62 64
[7] M Youzhny (RUS) d L Lacko (SVK) 67(3) 76(5) 61
J Tipsarevic (SRB) d A Seppi (ITA) 76(4) 75
M Berrer (GER) d S Stakhovsky (UKR) 64 76(3)
T Robredo (ESP) d J Benneteau (FRA) 62 61
[Q] S Devvarman (IND) d M Chiudinelli (SUI) 64 75
[Q] B Phau (GER) d [WC] M Ghareeb (KUW) 30 ret. (back)

Men’s Doubles – First Round
S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) d N Djokovic (SRB) / D Vemic (SRB) 64 63
J Tipsarevic (SRB) / V Troicki (SRB) d F Serra (FRA) / G Simon (FRA) 76(4) 60
C Kas (GER) / D Norman (BEL) d I Ljubicic (CRO) / J Melzer (AUT) 64 76(4)

Order of Play

CENTRE COURT start 2:00 pm
M Berrer (GER) vs [4] N Davydenko (RUS)
V Troicki (SRB) vs [2] N Djokovic (SRB)
Not Before 7:00 PM
[3] A Murray (GBR) vs J Tipsarevic (SRB)
[5] [WC] J Tsonga (FRA) vs I Ljubicic (CRO)

COURT 1 start 2:00 pm
[Q] S Koubek (AUT) vs [6] M Cilic (CRO)
Not Before 4:00 PM
[Q] B Phau (GER) vs [7] M Youzhny (RUS)
N Davydenko (RUS) / I Kunitsyn (RUS) vs [4] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK)
[WC] R Bopanna (IND) / A Qureshi (PAK) vs A Clement (FRA) / R Lindstedt (SWE)

COURT 3 start 2:00 pm
T Robredo (ESP) vs J Melzer (AUT)
M Baghdatis (CYP) vs [Q] S Devvarman (IND)
[1] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) vs F Lopez (ESP) / T Robredo (ESP)
[3] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Mirnyi (BLR) vs S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS)

ATP Week Ahead: Buonos Aires, Marseilles, Memphis

Buonos Aires

Draw here.

Top Seeds: David Ferrer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Nicolas Almagro, Juan Monaco

Marseilles

Draw here.

Top Seeds: Robin Soderling, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Tommy Robredo

Memphis

Draw here.

Top Seeds: Andy Roddick, Fernando Verdasco, Radek Stepanek, Tommy Haas