Tennis Frontier

Category: ATP Tour

Tennis Frontier News from the ATP Tour.

  • Gael Monfils Wins the Open Sud De France

    Gael Monfils Wins the Open Sud De France

    Gael Monfils

    Gael Monfils defeated fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-3 6-4, en route to winning his fifth career title at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier.

    Monfils never looked in danger of losing his service game, banging down nine aces and didn’t face a single break point during the match.

    His overall dominance was further highlighted by 34 winners to top seeded Gasquet’s 17.

    “This is unbelievable for me,” said Monfils. “I had some back problems at the beginning of the week and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to play.”

    Monfils has had a stellar start to the season, his only two defeats of 2014 coming to World No. 1 Rafael Nadal.

    [divider]

    Cover Photo: Christian Mesiano, Creative Commons

  • Cilic Defeats Haas to Win in Zagreb

    Cilic Defeats Haas to Win in Zagreb

    Marin Cilic

    Croat Marin Cilic won his fourth Zagreb title defeating top seed Tommy Haas 6-3, 6-4.

    Cilic got off to a slow start and was broken in the opening game by the 35-year-old Haas before recovering to take five of the next six games to seize control of the opening set. Haas was unable to recover and the remainder of the set played out to serve with Cilic taking it 6-3.

    The second set was closely contested with Haas having an opportunity to break for a 4-2 lead. He wasn’t able to capitalize and Cilic fought back by holding serve and then broke Haas to jump out to a 5-3 lead.

    Haas did manage to save one match point but Cilic brought proceedings to an end at the second attempt.

    The victory gave Cilic his tenth career title and first since returning from a drug suspension.

    [divider]

    Cover Photo: angela n (Creative Commons License)

     

  • Stunner Down Under – Wawrinka Wins Australian Open

    Stunner Down Under – Wawrinka Wins Australian Open

    AO ATP Winner - Stan

    Stan Wawrinka, erstwhile Swiss No. 2, shocked Rafael Nadal and the tennis world by taking the trophy in Melbourne over the world No. 1:  6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. In doing so, he became the rare player to win a Major outside of the Top 4 in what has otherwise been nearly decade of dominance by (mostly) Federer and Nadal, an ardent Djokovic, and a sprinkling of Murray.  (Oh, yes, and one by Juan Martin del Potro.)

    Wawrinka was ranked No. 8 going into the tournament, and will be No. 3 when the rankings come out on Monday. He’s spent a good deal of his career under the shadow of Roger Federer, but he has emerged into the sunshine today. He toppled the defending champion, Novak Djokovic, in the quarterfinals, and bested the top seed today, becoming the only man to beat Djokovic and Nadal in the same Slam.

    He started the match with a great calm and focus, and took the first set handily, despite not having a great first serve percentage. Then he broke Nadal at love in the first game of the second. He held for a 2-0 lead, when, on his own service game, Nadal seemed to tweak his back. He held serve, but went off the court for a medical timeout. When he came back, his movement and serve were clearly compromised. Speculation rose as to whether the Spaniard might retire. Wawrinka won the set 6-2.

    However, in the third set, Nadal loosened, while Wawrinka tightened. The Swiss had 19 unforced errors when the set was done, and had basically handed it to Nadal:  6-3.

    The fourth set was on serve until Wawrinka broke in the sixth game, but Nadal broke straight back, raising the stakes, and the hopes that it might actually go the distance. But Wawrinka found his nerve, and broke again for 5-3, then served out the match.

    Nadal had been gunning for a lot of history in this final, but it was not to be. Stan the Man, as he’s known, or the “Stanimal,” made his own bit of history today.

    Photo credit:  Marianne Bevis (Creative Commons License)

  • Nadal Bests Federer – Into the Australian Open Final

    Nadal Bests Federer – Into the Australian Open Final

    AO ATP Finalist - Rafa

    In a much anticipated semifinal, and in the 33rd meeting of their storied rivalry, Rafael Nadal once again took down Roger Federer.  The final score was 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-3.

    This was the most anticipated of their recent matches. While Nadal is the world No. 1, and has the prohibitive edge in their head-to-head, Roger Federer was looking resurgent, with a new racquet and a new coach, Stefan Edberg. He had dropped only one set, against Andy Murray, going into the semifinal.  Nadal, for his part, was sporting a grotesque blister on his racquet hand, and had had a couple of unimpressive rounds against Kei Nishikori and Grigor Dimitrov. And while a semifinal is unusual for their rivalry, it suddenly became again one of those rubber-meets-the-road matches between them. Novak Djokovic, the defending champion, was out. The bottom-half of the draw has produced a new finalist in Stanislas Wawrinka. With Federer the all-time leader in Major titles, at 17, and Nadal pressing, with 13, the match took on heavyweight significance in their rivalry, for the first time in a few years.

    In the first set, Federer pressed, and capitalized on net play. They stayed on serve, and got to a tiebreak, which was where Nadal started to break away. Federer never had a break point in the first set.

    Nadal broke in the fifth game of each of the subsequent sets, and that was all he needed. While it did provide flashes of past brilliance, it fell short of the desired additional volume to their series of classics.

    [divider]

    Photo credit:  Marianne Bevis (Creative Commons License)

  • Australian Open Day 12 Federer/Nadal Semifinal Schedule of Play / Scores: Friday, January 24

    Australian Open Day 12 Federer/Nadal Semifinal Schedule of Play / Scores: Friday, January 24

    [Scores added as known.]

    Rod Laver Arena — 3:00 P.M.    

    Mixed Doubles – Semifinals
    Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) / Matthew Ebden (AUS) d. Sania Mirza (IND) (6) / Horia Tecau (ROU) (6) — 2-6, 6-3 [10-2]

    Not Before: 4:00 P.M.

    Women’s Doubles – Final
    Sara Errani (ITA) (1) / Roberta Vinci (ITA) (1) d. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) (3) / Elena Vesnina (RUS) (3) — 6-4, 3-6, 7-5

    Not Before: 7:30 P.M.

    Men’s Singles – Semifinals
    Rafael Nadal (ESP) (1) d. Roger Federer (SUI) (6) — 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-3

    [divider]

    Margaret Court Arena

    Mixed Doubles – Semifinals
    Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) / Daniel Nestor (CAN) d. Jie Zheng (CHN) / Scott Lipsky (USA) — 6-3, 6-1

    Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis

  • Federer Defeats Murray to Set Up Nadal Semifinal Clash

    Federer Defeats Murray to Set Up Nadal Semifinal Clash

    Brisbane - Federer

    Roger Federer advanced to the Australian Open semifinals after defeating Britain’s Andy Murray 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 in 3 hours and 20 minutes in Rod Laver Arena.

    A revitalised Federer dominated the first two sets and much of the third where he served for the match at 5-4 before Murray gatecrashed the party to break serve and force the set into a tiebreak. The fourth seeded Scot made the most of the opportunity and went on to win the tiebreak after Federer squandered two match points.

    The momentum shift was short-lived as Federer regrouped to take the fourth and final set breaking Murray in the eighth game.

    Federer will now face old nemesis Rafael Nadal in the semifinal.

    “I’m looking forward to it,” he smiled when asked about renewing hostilities with the Mallorcan World No. 1. It is the first meeting at a Major of the two tennis greats since they met in the semifinals at Melbourne in 2012.

    [divider]

    Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis

  • Australian Open Day 11 Semifinals Schedule of Play / Scores: Thursday, January 23

    Australian Open Day 11 Semifinals Schedule of Play / Scores: Thursday, January 23

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    [Scores added as known.]

    Rod Laver Arena — 11:00 A.M.    

    Men’s Doubles – Semifinals
    Eric Butorac (USA) / Raven Klaasen (RSA) d. Daniel Nestor (CAN) (8) / Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) (8) — 6-2, 6-4

    Not Before: 1:30 P.M.

    Women’s Singles – Semifinals
    Na Li (CHN) (4) d. Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) (30) — 6-2, 6-4

    Women’s Singles – Semifinals
    Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) (20) d. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) (5) — 6-1, 6-2

    Not Before: 7:30 P.M.

    Men’s Singles – Semifinals
    Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) (8) d. Tomas Berdych (CZE) (7) — 6-3, 6-7(1), 7-6(3), 7-6(4)

    [divider]

    Margaret Court Arena — Not Before: 12:30 P.M.

    Men’s Doubles – Semifinals
    Lukasz Kubot (POL) (14) / Robert Lindstedt (SWE) (14) d. Michael Llodra (FRA) (13) / Nicolas Mahut (FRA) (13) — 6-4, 6-7(12), 6-3

    Mixed Doubles – Quarterfinals
    Sania Mirza (IND) (6) / Horia Tecau (ROU) (6) d. Julia Goerges (GER) / Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) — 6-3, 6-4

    Mixed Doubles – Quarterfinals
    Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) / Daniel Nestor (CAN) d. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) / Leander Paes (IND) — 6-3, 6-3

    Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): pasukaru76

  • Australian Open Day 10 Quarterfinals Schedule of Play / Scores: Wednesday, January 22

    Australian Open Day 10 Quarterfinals Schedule of Play / Scores: Wednesday, January 22

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    [Scores added as known.]

    Rod Laver Arena — 11:00 A.M. 

    Women’s Singles – Quarterfinals
    Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) (20) d. Simona Halep (ROU) (11) — 6-3, 6-0

    Women’s Singles – Quarterfinals
    Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) (5) d. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) (2) — 6-1, 5-7, 6-0

    Not Before: 2:00 P.M.

    Men’s Singles – Quarterfinals
    Rafael Nadal (ESP) (1) d. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) (22) — 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(7), 6-2

    Not Before: 7:30 P.M.

    Men’s Singles – Quarterfinals
    Roger Federer (SUI) (6) d. Andy Murray (GBR) (4) — 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-3

    Mixed Doubles – Quarterfinals
    Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) / Matthew Ebden (AUS) d. Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) (2) / Rohan Bopanna (IND) (2) — 7-5, 6-3

    [divider]

    Margaret Court Arena — Not Before: 12:30 P.M.

    Men’s Doubles – Quarterfinals
    Michael Llodra (FRA) (13) / Nicolas Mahut (FRA) (13) d. Leander Paes (IND) (5) / Radek Stepanek (CZE) (5) — 6-2, 7-6(4)

    Women’s Doubles – Semifinals
    Sara Errani (ITA) (1) / Roberta Vinci (ITA) (1) d. Kveta Peschke (CZE) (4) / Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) (4) — 6-1, 6-4

    Mixed Doubles – Quarterfinals
    Jie Zheng (CHN) / Scott Lipsky (USA) d. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) (5) / Bruno Soares (BRA) (5) — 3-6, 6-4 [10-7]

    [divider]

    Show Court 2 — Not Before: 12:30 P.M.

    Women’s Doubles – Semifinals
    Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) (3) / Elena Vesnina (RUS) (3) d. Raquel Kops-Jones (USA) (8) / Abigail Spears (USA) (8) — 7-5, 3-6, 6-3

    Men’s Doubles – Quarterfinals
    Lukasz Kubot (POL) (14) / Robert Lindstedt (SWE) (14) d. Max Mirnyi (BLR) / Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) — 6-4, 5-7, 6-2

    Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): skamaica

  • Wawrinka Stuns Djokovic in 5 Set Thriller

    Wawrinka Stuns Djokovic in 5 Set Thriller

    Stanislas Wawrinka

     

    Stanislas Wawrinka produced the performance of his career to stun defending champion Novak Djokovic and march into the semifinals of the Australian Open.  The pair had met in two Majors last year with Djokovic triumphing in five sets on both occasions.  This time, the Swiss World No. 8 was not to be denied.

    Djokovic got off to a flying start by breaking Wawrinka twice to secure the opening frame 6-2. The Swiss finally made a breakthrough at 3-3 in the second set, capitalizing on a break point opportunity by unleashing a monstrous backhand that just clipped the line. The remainder of the set went with serve, allowing Wawrinka to level the match. It was the first set Djokovic had dropped during the entire tournament.

    An inspired Wawrinka broke twice in succession early in the third set to wrestle control of the match. He served it out and now the pressure was on his Serb opponent to match his intensity.

    The fourth set was a tightly contested affair before Djokovic broke the Wawrinka serve in the ninth game after coming back from 40-0 down.

    In common with their last three meetings at Grand Slam tournaments, this was going to a fifth and final deciding set.

    Both players had opportunities in the fifth and traded early breaks. The defining moment came at 7-8 on the Djokovic serve where the Serb shepherded a volley out of the court for Wawrinka to break and take the match in a nail-biting finish.

    [divider]

    Cover Photo: karlnorling, Creative Commons License

  • Australian Open Day 9 Quarterfinals Schedule of Play / Scores: Tuesday, January 21

    Australian Open Day 9 Quarterfinals Schedule of Play / Scores: Tuesday, January 21

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    [Scores added as known.]

    Rod Laver Arena — 11:00 A.M.    

    Women’s Singles – Quarterfinals
    Na Li (CHN) (4) d. Flavia Pennetta (ITA) (28) — 6-2, 6-2

    Women’s Singles – Quarterfinals
    Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) (30) d. Ana Ivanovic (SRB) (14) — 5-7, 7-5, 6-2

    Not Before: 2:30 P.M.

    Men’s Singles – Quarterfinals
    Tomas Berdych (CZE) (7) d. David Ferrer (ESP) (3) — 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4

    Not Before: 7:00 P.M.

    Men’s Singles – Quarterfinals
    Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) (8) d. Novak Djokovic (SRB) (2) — 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7

    Men’s Doubles – Quarterfinals
    Daniel Nestor (CAN) (8) / Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) (8) d. Alex Bolt (AUS) / Andrew Whittington (AUS) — 6-2, 7-6(1)

    [divider]

    Margaret Court Arena — Not Before: 1:00 P.M.

    Mixed Doubles – Round 2
    Jie Zheng (CHN) / Scott Lipsky (USA) d. Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) (1) / Alexander Peya (AUT) (1) — 2-6, 7-6(5) [10-5]

    Women’s Doubles – Quarterfinals
    Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) (3) / Elena Vesnina (RUS) (3) d. Andrea Hlavackova (CZE) (7) / Lucie Safarova (CZE) (7) — 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(4)

    Women’s Doubles – Quarterfinals
    Sara Errani (ITA) (1) / Roberta Vinci (ITA) (1) d. Cara Black (ZIM) (6) / Sania Mirza (IND) (6) — 6-2, 3-6, 6-4

    Not Before: 5:00 P.M.

    Women’s Doubles – Quarterfinals
    Kveta Peschke (CZE) (4) / Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) (4) d. Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) / Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO) — 7-5, 4-6, 6-4

    [divider]

    Show Court 2 — Not Before: 2:00 P.M.

    Women’s Doubles – Quarterfinals
    Raquel Kops-Jones (USA) (8) / Abigail Spears (USA) (8) d. Shahar Peer (ISR) / Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP) — 6-4, 6-0

    Men’s Doubles – Quarterfinals
    Eric Butorac (USA) / Raven Klaasen (RSA) d. Treat Huey (PHI) (12) / Dominic Inglot (GBR) (12) — 6-7(3), 7-6(6), 6-4

    Mixed Doubles – Round 2
    Julia Goerges (GER) / Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) d. Andrea Hlavackova (CZE) (4) / Max Mirnyi (BLR) (4) — 6-3, 6-4

    Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Rexness