Indian Wells: Let the Upsets Continue

Rounding up the overnight results, time to mention a few surprising and high-profile casualties. First up, sixth seed David Ferrer, who lost in straight sets to a resurgent Ivo Karlovic.

Ferru looked somewhat out of sorts, possibly still suffering the after-effects of his feats during the Golden Swing, but I thought Karlovic actually played really well; he came up with some shots that reminded me why, a year or so ago, we were all talking about this guy.

In addition to Murray, Ferrer and Ljubicic, the men’s draw also lost Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – who’s just looked a bit dreary lately – to Xavier Malisse, and Baghdatis and Monaco to two qualifiers having good days, Somdev Devvarman and Ryan Sweeting. Yes, the men’s draw is now officially less pretty.

The women’s second round was also rocked a little bit, most notably by American wildcard Christina McHale, who beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in a pair of tiebreak sets. I’m not a huge fan of what I’ve seen of McHale’s game, but you don’t beat Sveta in straights unless you’re doing something right.

A less surprising upset was seventh seed Li Na’s loss to Peng Shuai, who’s had a good season so far and has to my eyes strongly improved on how she was playing last year. But Wozniacki, Sharapova, Stosur, Azarenka and Radwanska all won, as did Flavia Pennetta, who dispatched a bravely battling Baltacha in three sets. Boo.

Men

Singles – Second Round
[1] R Nadal (ESP) d [Q] R de Voest (RSA) 60 62
[4] R Soderling (SWE) d M Berrer (GER) 63 76(4)
[Q] D Young (USA) d [5] A Murray (GBR) 76(4) 63
I Karlovic (CRO) d [6] D Ferrer (ESP) 76(3) 63
[9] F Verdasco (ESP) d [WC] R Berankis (LTU) 75 20 ret. (back)
[11] N Almagro (ESP) d [Q] M Russell (USA) 64 64
J Del Potro (ARG) d [14] I Ljubicic (CRO) 57 64 62
X Malisse (BEL) d [15] J Tsonga (FRA) 76(6) 75
[Q] S Devvarman (IND) d [19] M Baghdatis (CYP) 75 60
[20] A Dolgopolov (UKR) d V Hanescu (ROU) 64 64
[21] S Querrey (USA) d J Tipsarevic (SRB) 64 64
[23] A Montanes (ESP) d J Nieminen (FIN) 76(5) 26 76(2)
[25] T Robredo (ESP) d M Zverev (GER) 63 36 75
[Q] R Sweeting (USA) d [27] J Monaco (ARG) 61 06 61
[28] G Simon (FRA) d R Schuettler (GER) 63 76(5)
[32] P Kohlschreiber (GER) d [Q] T Smyczek (USA) 26 62 76(6)

Doubles – First Round
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) d F Lopez (ESP) / M Raonic (CAN) 64 75
[7] L Kubot (POL) / O Marach (AUT) d G Garcia-Lopez (ESP) / A Montanes (ESP) 64 62
R Bopanna (IND) / A Qureshi (PAK) d E Butorac (USA) / J Rojer (AHO) 76(4) 64
M Cilic (CRO) / I Karlovic (CRO) d [WC] T Bellucci (BRA) / R Harrison (USA) 64 36 10-8

Women

Singles – Second Round
(1) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. (WC) Sloane Stephens (USA) 63 62
(4) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. (Q) Laura Pous-Tio (ESP) 62 62
Peng Shuai (CHN) d. (7) Li Na (CHN) 46 63 63
(8) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 64 63
(9) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. Iveta Benesova (CZE) 76(5) 64
(WC) Christina McHale (USA) d. (11) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 76(4) 76(7)
(13) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. Elena Baltacha (GBR) 64 36 64
(16) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 75 67(3) 61
(18) Nadia Petrova (RUS) d. Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) 64 76(3)
(20) Aravane Rezai (FRA) d. (Q) Zhang Shuai (CHN) 76(5) 60
(22) Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) d. Agnes Szavay (HUN) 63 75
(24) Maria Kirilenko (RUS) d. Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) 62 13 ret. (dizziness)
Dinara Safina (RUS) d. (26) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 76(2) 64
(Q) Lucie Hradecka (CZE) d. (27) Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) 46 64 64
(28) María José Martínez Sánchez (ESP) d. Simona Halep (ROU) 75 60
Urszula Radwanska (POL) d. (31) Klara Zakopalova (CZE) 63 57 62

Doubles – Second Round
(WC) Jankovic/Pavlyuchenkova (SRB/RUS) d. (1) Dulko/Pennetta (ARG/ITA) 75 75
(4) King/Shvedova (USA/KAZ) d. Grandin/Uhlirova (RSA/CZE) 67(4) 63 107
(8) Mattek-Sands/Shaughnessy (USA/USA) d. Kops-Jones/Spears (USA/USA) 64 63

OOP

Stadium 1 (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Mello vs. Isner
2. ATP: Roddick vs. Blake
3. Sara Errani vs. Kim Clijsters (NB 14.30hrs)
4. ATP: Andreev vs. Federer
5. ATP: Golubev vs. Djokovic (NB 19.00hrs)
6. Dominika Cibulkova vs. Vera Zvonareva (NB 20.30hrs)

Stadium 2 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Francesca Schiavone vs. Alizé Cornet
2. ATP: Davydenko vs. Wawrinka
3. ATP: Harrison vs. García-López
4. Jelena Jankovic vs. Julia Goerges (NB 16.30hrs)
5. ATP: Fish vs. Raonic
6. ATP: Cilic/Karlovic vs. M.López/Nadal

Stadium 3 (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Gasquet vs. Cuevas
2. Ana Ivanovic vs. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova
3. ATP: Becker vs. Bellucci
4. ATP: Benneteau vs. Melzer
5. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Shahar Peer

Court 7 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Marion Bartoli vs. Andrea Petkovic
2. ATP: Berdych vs. Kubot (NB 12.00hrs)
3. Chan/Zheng vs. Hantuchova/A.Radwanska
4. ATP: Murray/Murray vs. Isner/Querrey
5. ATP: Marrero/Verdasco vs. Erlich/Ram
6. ATP: Bhupathi/Paes vs. Aspelin/Knowle

Court 8 (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Troicki vs. Tomic
2. ATP: Chela vs. Petzschner
3. Schiavone/Stosur vs. Azarenka/Kirilenko (after suitable rest)
4. Kaia Kanepi vs. Yanina Wickmayer
5. ATP: Lindstedt/Tecau vs. Knowles/Mertinak

Court 4 (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Giraldo vs. Llodra
2. ATP: Granollers/Robredo vs. Dlouhy/Hanley
3. Huber/Petrova vs. Kondratieva/Voracova
4. ATP: Cilic vs. Serra
5. ATP: Gulbis vs. Lu

And Nobody Died.

Congratulations to Gisela Dulko and David Ferrer, who took home the trophies in Acapulco this weekend.

I have to say, I did not call Gisela standing there with that trophy as she’s been uninspiring in singles recently, but maybe that Australian Open win (and no. 1 ranking) in doubles with Flavia Pennetta, although presumably that’s not the new love that Clijsters was referring to. She beat sixth seed Arantxa Parra-Santonja 63 76(5) in the final.

As for the men’s side, I’m absolutely gutted that I missed David Ferrer’s final against Nicolas Almagro (it was on at like five in the morning!). Almagro was going for the Golden Swing sweep, having already won in Santiago and Buenos Aires, while Ferru was the defending champion and it appears to have been kind of a classic:

If you didn’t watch that, Ferru won 76(4) 67(2) 62, and he was pretty happy about it.

That’s a 500 and a Grand Slam semifinal and it’s still February. Or as I’m now thinking of it, Ferruary.

Anyway, they also looked cute in hats.

 

 

ATP Week Ahead: Acapulco, Dubai, Delray Beach

Acapulco

500, David Ferrer defending; draw here.

Top 8 seeds: David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco, Nicolas Almagro, Stanislas Wawrinka, Albert Montanes, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Juan Monaco, Juna Ignacio Chela

Points of interest: How about a first-round meeting between Thomaz Bellucci and Fernando Verdasco? There’s also the question of how new kid on the block Milos Raonic, due to play Carlos Berlocq in the opening round, will respond after his astonishing last couple of weeks – and on a different surface too. And, you know, Ferru.

Oh, and there’s always the question of whether everyone will make it out alive, particularly after this.

Dubai

500, Novak Djokovic defending; draw here.

Top 8 seeds: Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych, Mikhail Youzhny, Ivan Ljubicic, Viktor Troicki, Marcos Baghdatis, Ernests Gulbis

Points of interest: This was the first title Novak had ever defended in his career, but he’s got a tough road to make it a third year in a row; starting off with Michael Llodra, match-tough from Marseilles.  In contrast, Federer’s quarter looks rather lightweight. Keep an eye out for an unseeded Nikolay Davydenko lurking about, and note the first-round meeting of qualifier Grigor Dmitrov and Richard Gasquet. Battle of the Baby Feds …

Delray Beach

 

250, Ernests Gulbis defending (or not, given that he’s opted to go and lose in the first round of Dubai instead); draw here.

Top 8 seeds: Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey, John Isner, Kevin Anderson, Janko Tipsarevic, Benjamin Becker, Adrian Mannarino

Points of interest: Another American hard court tournament in spring, another brace of Americans, none of whom (with the exception of Roddick, who is clearly ill and may or may not play) particularly impressed last week in Memphis. But there’s a lot of interest in this draw: Dudi Sela, due for a rematch with Roddick; Julien Benneteau and Ivo Karlovic, both making their way back from injury, starting off with Ivan Dodig and Janko Tipsarevic respectively; former champion Kei Nishikori; and of course Delpo, Delpo, Delpo and Delpo, who will be playing Richard Berankis in the first round. Fair warning: he will probably lose to Berankis, who’s an infuriating bundle of counter-punching energy. Unfair warning: if he does, I’m cliffing myself.  

Rafa Slammed.

Or: I owe Ferru and possibly Slams an apology.

David Ferrer d. Rafael Nadal, 64 62 63

I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to be eating my shoes or my hat or my feet right now, but along with many of you, this was not the result I expected to wake up to after staying up late to catch Murray-Dolgopolov and assuming I could get my shuteye in during a routine Nadal win. Even when I got woken up by a text message saying “I’m really frightened for Murray now!”, I assumed the sender meant that Nadal had performed more terrifyingly than usual, and decided to snore some more. Once I finally woke up and saw the result, I decided to watch the match back to see what exactly happened.

I watched it and came to the following conclusion: well done Ferru. And well done Nadal.

As you have no doubt heard by now, Nadal was undoubtedly injured. I couldn’t see exactly what happened, but something happened to his left leg in the second game (clarified later as a muscle tear), and although he managed to regain the service break he’d lost, he called the trainer immediately. As he left the court for evaluation, he looked over to his box, raised his eyebrows, and shook his head. Serious, his face said. And Nadal can say more with his face than just about anyone.

From that point on, his movement was clearly somewhat compromised and the match was there to be taken. That’s not to downplay the achievement of David Ferrer, who played about as well as I’ve seen him. Put the vast majority of players on court with a Nadal who can still run, and still hit, and wants this win about as much as he’s ever wanted anything, and there’s a pretty good chance that Nadal will manage to gut it out. Ferrer shut his friend’s predicament out of his mind and shut Nadal ruthlessly out of the match, then paid tribute to him as a gentleman and a friend. It was about as impressive a display of tennis and sportsmanship as I’ve ever seen, a rare combination of competitive intensity and grace, and a second Slam semi-final is a just reward.

Also, he’s hot.

A clearly crushed Nadal refused to discuss the extent of his injury in his presser:

I had a problem during the match, in the very beginning. […] After that, the match was almost over. So that’s what I can say. But you know what, for me is difficult come here and speak about. In Doha I wasn’t healthy. Today I have another problem. Seems like I always have problems when I lose, and I don’t want to have this image, no? I prefer don’t talk about that today. If you can respect that, will be a very nice thing for me. Thank you.

source

Of course, as Jon Wertheim puts it, “he can take the high road, but we can’t.” The speculation over the extent of Nadal’s injury and its possible effects is likely to rage for some time and unfortunately tends to overshadow Ferrer’s win. But the encouraging thing for Nadal fans is that … well … it’s not the knees. It’s not tendonitis, it’s not chronic. It’s really unfortunate, but if there’s anybody that can take this on the chin and come back, it’s Nadal. He’s done it before.

Ferrer meanwhile will play Andy Murray in the semifinals after Muzz beat Dolgopolov in a scrappy four-set performance. In the interests of not jinxing or giving myself a stress-induced heart-attack, I’m just going to sort of pretend Murray doesn’t exist for now. OK?

Pleasepleasewinthisthingohgodyouwon’tbutpleasepleasedo.

Spaniard on Spaniard.

All is set for the fifteenth meeting between Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer. Imagine my excitement.

Rafa, wearing what for him is a distinctly baggy shirt, looks to be recovered from his fever and put in probably his best performance of the tournament so far in defeating Marin Cilic 62 64 63. He didn’t play his best, but he really didn’t have to; it was businesslike more than anything, not expending too much energy and giving Marin enough rope to hang himself (these days, a tennis racquet).

It’s a step forward for Marin to have won three consecutive matches to get this far, but his performance today was a perfect example of everything that’s bedevilled his game for the last 12 months; lack of first serves, lack of confidence, lack of confidence and lack of confidence. He consistently managed to get to 30 or deuce on Rafa’s serve, but from there only got three break points which he couldn’t convert, and he didn’t help his cause by getting irritated by Rafa’s slow pace of play, which will never change despite getting twice warned by the umpire. He wasn’t anywhere near good enough today.

David Ferrer was too good for young Canadian qualifier Milos Raonic, who took the first set but couldn’t sustain the red-hot quality of play that has got him through the tournament so far. Hurt by a lack of first serves, he was predictably outsteadied by Ferru, who played well and was sweet to him at the net.

I really wish I could muster some excitement about Nadal-Ferrer in the quarterfinals, but there’s a reason that Ferrer’s not won since 2007, and as well as he’s playing right now, I don’t see that changing.

Enjoy happy Ferru while it lasts.

Lone Wolf.

Berankis got bounced, Tomic was trounced, but ladies and gentlemen, there is a single young gun left alive after Milos Raonic defeated Mikhail Youzhny 64 75 46 64.

This was Milos’ sixth win in Melbourne this year, since he played through qualifying, and it showed. He’s riding a huge wave of confidence right now and with his huge serve and aggressive game, it’s a lethal combination. It wasn’t the best match from Youzhny, but he played pretty well and with a little faltering from Milos, he would have been right back into it. But Milos came right back fighting after he dropped the third set, and closed it out beautifully. Incredibly impressive.

It’s also great that we’re getting to find out a bit more about him – for example, that his uncle is the vice-president of Montenegro. Yes, the country. Reportedly he’s made a recent move to base his training in Barcelona, and has been working specifically on staying calm on the court (something he’s done with great success in his last few matches). I definitely recommend his presser.

Raonic’s next opponent will be Ferru, who took care of Berankis in straight sets. I thought the short Lithuanian would have trouble against him, as you don’t out-baseline Ferru, but Milos’ entirely different style has a chance. Not a big chance, on Ferru’s current form, but a chance.

The Withdrawal Method: Ferru Out of Hamburg

David Ferrer has been forced to withdraw from Hamburg with a shoulder injury. Which is annoying.

To compensate, have some belated video (thanks kefuoe) from Bastad, where they like to shoot their interviews really, really close up:

And some bonus tongue. Never say I don’t give you anything.

Gael Monfils has also withdrawn from Hamburg due to the ankle injury suffered during the Stuttgart final.

Image is Everything: D Cup Quarter-finals

Because nothing generates quite so much fantastic photoage as Davis Cup. You know it to be true.

sorry but ive to say i fcking won davis cup!omg

Pretty sure I could snap him like a twig. A twig.

Marin’s left arm makes a desperate bid for freedom.

Get the man a Big Mac, a big drink and a big vuvuzela.

“Did I leave the gas on …?”

This is not the face I’ve missed.

This is the face I’ve missed.

Put it away, Nole. Or I will come to Serbia and show you where to … never mind.

“Mr. President. What the hell.”

Nothing beats a good old-fashioned Serbian love huddle.

Eduardo Schwank looking in no way ridiculous.

Eduardo Schwank being no way ridiculous.

Kind of impossible to dislike Gael when he finds himself on this planet long enough to win a big match.

Tipsy wants a cuddle. No-one on this earth can blame him.

They shoot horses, don’t they?

Premature celebrating.

Yeah, Youzh better run.

Having beaten Spain at tennis, France take them on at the art of the manly hug. And win.

Have him caramelised and sent to my room.

Nole Major and Nole Minor.

Look who showed up to ‘help’.

“I’m a little lamb who’s lost in the woods …”

Kolya contemplates the many tragedies of life.

Shamil contemplates finding another job.

You’re not helping.

Homoerotic celebrations: must try harder.

D Cup: France 5 – 0 Spain

Bad news for Spain? Fairly comprehensive Davis Cup humiliation for the reigning champions. Good news for Spain? Pretty sure nobody in Spain noticed. Bad  news for France? None. They were awesome.

A fantastic team effort from Les Bleus, starting off with Gael Monfils playing the kind of tennis that makes him almost impossible to not warm to against David Ferrer for two sets on Friday. Then, being Gael Monfils, he was distracted by something shiny, and lost the next two.

It looked very much like Ferru, five-set Davis Cup warrior that he is, would pull off another amazing comeback, and in some ways he perhaps deserved to. He certainly put in around 90% of Spain’s effort this weekend. However, Gael raced ahead in the fifth and even Ferru breaking serve as Monfils served for the match couldn’t get it done.

I missed the Llodra-Verdasco match but I wasn’t completely surprised by the result; Llodra has put in some great Davis Cup performances (albeit in doubles), can drive any player to distraction on his day, and Verdasco has been having a torrid time of it lately. Still a huge upset win for Llodra, who at 30 seems to be playing some of his best tennis lately.

This set up a fairly mouthwatering doubles clash between Benneteau/Llodra and Lopez/Verdasco, both great doubles teams that have delivered for their countries in the past. For two and a half sets it wasn’t much of a contest, though, as Bendra came out absolutely on fire; energetic, aggressive and intense. By contrast, Verdasco at times seemed hardly in the match and his serve wasn’t making much of an impact (I’ve not been keeping up with the injury latest there, but it looked to me like something was up). A sudden and inspired fightback at 4-2 down in the third kept Spain in it and the fourth was closely contested, especially after Spain saved three break points on Lopez’s serve. Crucially, a double-fault from Verdasco gave France the lead in the tiebreak and Benneteau served it out. Then came one of the most gleeful celebrations I’ve ever seen.

This is why we stalk them at Queens.

Both teams appeared more than a little hungover for today’s dead rubbers, with Gilles Simon and Julien Benneteau defeating Nicolas Almagro and Feliciano Lopez in straights. But it’s kind of understandable, given that this is the first time since 1932 that France have beaten Spain in Davis Cup – and without their highest-ranked player in Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, too. They will host Argentina in September and have a great chance of making it to the finals.

Hence the ritual jumping around in the showers.

As for Spain … well, they’ve won the last two. It’s only fair that someone else should have a go. I have to credit Ferru, though; not just because it felt like he was the only player who really showed up for this tie on that side, but because after the last dead rubber was done and the others exited as quickly as possibly, he stuck around to congratulate the French and sign autographs for the fans on his way out.

Pictured: class.

R1 – G.MONFILS (FRA) def. D.FERRER (ESP)
7-6(3)  6-2  4-6  5-7  6-4
R2 – M.LLODRA (FRA) def. F.VERDASCO (ESP)
6-7(5)  6-4  6-3  7-6(2)
R3 – J.BENNETEAU / M.LLODRA (FRA) def. F.LOPEZ / F.VERDASCO (ESP)
6-1  6-2  6-7(6)  7-6(5)
R4 – G.SIMON (FRA) def. N.ALMAGRO (ESP)
7-6(4)  7-6(7)
R5 – J.BENNETEAU (FRA) def. F.LOPEZ (ESP)
7-6(3)  6-4

Wimbledon Day 7: There’s No Ferru Like a Five-set Ferru

Because even when he comes out on the wrong end, as he did today to Robin Soderling, the images make it all worth it.

Robin, meanwhile, having dropped his first sets in the championships so far and looking for the first time less than invulnerable, goes on to face Rafa Nadal. Best of luck with that, Robin.

You’re going to be needing that.