Nice, France

by ATP Staff

 | 

19.05.2013

© Yohan Brandt/Open de Nice Côte d’AzurEdouard Roger-Vasselin was a winner on Sunday.

Ricardas Berankis knocked out eighth seed Denis Istomin 6-2, 6-2 to open main draw proceedings at the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur on Sunday. The Lithuanian won 50 per cent of his return points to break Istomin five times from nine opportunities. The two were facing off for the first time.

In the second round, Berankis will play Edouard Roger-Vasselin. The French wild card won his first set 7-5 over Alejandro Falla when the Colombian retired from their encounter with a left calf injury. Roger-Vasselin improved to 11-10 on the season, highlighted by his first ATP World Tour final appearance in Delray Beach (l. to Gulbis).

Article source: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/05/20/Nice-Sunday-Berankis-Roger-Vasselin.aspx

Dusseldorf, Germany

by ATP Staff

 | 

19.05.2013

© Laci Perenyi-Rochus Turnier GmbHDaniel Brands caused an upset on Sunday.

Fifth seed Lukas Rosol was a casualty on Sunday at the Power Horse Cup in Dusseldorf.

Rosol, who dedicated his first ATP World Tour title in memory of his late father at the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy (d. Garcia-Lopez) last month, lost to Daniel Brands 6-4, 6-3 in 69 minutes.

Brands goes onto face Jan Hajek, who saved all six break points to beat Evgeny Donskoy 6-2, 6-2 in 60 minutes.

Ivan Dodig will play second Tommy Haas in the second round. Haas has won their two previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, including two weeks ago at the BMW Open semi-finals in Munich.

Dodig won 80 per cent of his first service points and hit eight aces to beat Blaz Kavcic 7-5, 6-4 in 82 minutes on Sunday.

“I felt good on the court,” said Dodig. “At the beginning we had longer rallies, as we know each other so well, but I raised my game and won. I will play Tommy in the next round. I have played him twice this year (also Delray Beach). He has done so well, so I will have to be on top form.”

Lukasz Kubot, Guido Pella, Evgeny Korolev and Andre Ghem all qualified for the singles main draw.

Article source: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/05/20/Dusseldorf-Sunday-Rosol-Dodig.aspx

Nice, France

by ATP Staff

 | 

20.05.2013

© Yohan Brandt/Open de Nice Côte d’AzurPablo Andujar battled past Lleyton Hewitt in the first round.

Yen-Hsun Lu handed Andreas Seppi his third successive first-round defeat on Monday as he beat the Italian 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 at the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur. The sixth-seeded Italian dropped to a 14-14 match record on the season, while Lu recorded his first ATP World Tour win since reaching the second round of the Sony Open Tennis in Miami in March (l. to Youzhny).

World No. 72 Lu next faces Spain’s Pablo Andujar, who battled past wild card Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 10 minutes. The 32-year-old Hewitt was playing his first match in nearly six weeks. World No. 53 Andujar reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final two weeks ago at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Nadal) and improved to a 10-14 match record on the season.

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In an all-Argentine first-round clash, Carlos Berlocq cruised past Leonardo Mayer 6-2, 6-1 in just 59 minutes. The pair then returned to the court on the same side of the net for their first-round doubles match, losing to Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak 6-2, 4-6, 10-3.

Fourth seed John Isner will open his campaign against Robin Haase. The Dutchman defeated Australia’s Marinko Matosevic 6-1, 6-4 in 61 minutes. The 28-year-old Isner is bidding to get his clay-court season back on track, having won only one match in three tournaments since winning the Houston title (d. Almagro), and takes a 1-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head record into his clash with Haase.

Romanian Victor Hanescu prevailed against Spaniard Albert Ramos in the final match of the day, claiming a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 win after two hours and 43 minutes. Hanescu is looking to reach his third straight quarter-final, reaching this stage at the ATP World Tour 250 tournaments in Bucharest and Oeiras, and faces Spaniard Albert Montanes next.

Article source: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/05/21/Nice-Monday-Seppi-Hewitt.aspx

	WTA Rome 2013 – Serena Williams vs Victoria Azarenka Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome, Italy) – Final [1]Serena Williams of the USA vs [3]Victoria Azarenka of Belarus —– H2H – Williams leads 12-2 (Including…	From: tennisTVbg Views: 8 4 ratings
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Nice, France

by ATP Staff

 | 

20.05.2013

© Yohan Brandt/Open de Nice Côte d’AzurPablo Andujar battled past Lleyton Hewitt in the first round.

Yen-Hsun Lu handed Andreas Seppi his third successive first-round defeat on Monday as he beat the Italian 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 at the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur. The sixth-seeded Italian dropped to a 14-14 match record on the season, while Lu recorded his first ATP World Tour win since reaching the second round of the Sony Open Tennis in Miami in March (l. to Youzhny).

World No. 72 Lu next faces Spain’s Pablo Andujar, who battled past wild card Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 10 minutes. The 32-year-old Hewitt was playing his first match in nearly six weeks. World No. 53 Andujar reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final two weeks ago at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Nadal) and improved to a 10-14 match record on the season.

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In an all-Argentine first-round clash, Carlos Berlocq cruised past Leonardo Mayer 6-2, 6-1 in just 59 minutes. The pair then returned to the court on the same side of the net for their first-round doubles match, losing to Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak 6-2, 4-6, 10-3.

Fourth seed John Isner will open his campaign against Robin Haase. The Dutchman defeated Australia’s Marinko Matosevic 6-1, 6-4 in 61 minutes. The 28-year-old Isner is bidding to get his clay-court season back on track, having won only one match in three tournaments since winning the Houston title (d. Almagro), and takes a 1-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head record into his clash with Haase.

Article source: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/05/21/Nice-Monday-Seppi-Hewitt.aspx

Dusseldorf, Germany

by ATP Staff

 | 

20.05.2013

© Laci Perenyi-Rochus Turnier GmbHTobias Kamke won an all-German first-round clash with Benjamin Becker.

Sixth seed Jarkko Nieminen opened his bid to win his first ATP World Tour clay-court title on Monday with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Lukas Lacko at the inaugural Power Horse Cup in Dusseldorf. The Finn is projected to meet second seed Tommy Haas in the quarter-finals and earned his place in the second round as he broke serve five times for victory in 76 minutes.

“I feel good. I think I’m playing well,” said Nieminen. “I think I played tactically pretty smart. It’s really heavy conditions. I’m sure it wasn’t my opponent’s favourite conditions to play in, nor was it my favourite. You have to be patient, build up the points really well and not go for the winners too early.”

Nieminen goes on to face Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, who battled past Gilles Muller 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in just under two hours. World No. 65 Bautista Agut is looking to reach his first ATP World Tour quarter-final since January, when he reached his first final at the Aircel Chennai Open (l. to Tipsarevic).

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Top seed Janko Tipsarevic will meet Guido Pella in the first round after the Argentine beat fellow qualifier Lukasz Kubot of Poland 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in one hour and 45 minutes. World No. 101 Pella will look to reach his first ATP World Tour quarter-final against Tipsarevic, who has compiled an 11-10 mark on the season.

In an all-German first-round clash, Tobias Kamke defeated wild card Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-2 in 66 minutes. World No. 77 Kamke claimed his eighth win of the season and set up a second-round contest with either eighth seed Nikolay Davydenko or lucky loser Aljaz Bedene.

Brazilian qualifier Andre Ghem recorded only the second tour-level win of his 10-year professional career. The 30 year old dismissed Japan’s Go Soeda 6-4, 6-0 in 65 minutes, dropping only four points on serve in the second set. The right-hander will face third seed Juan Monaco for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Second Seeds Upset In Doubles

Second seeds Julian Knowle and Filip Polasek were edged out in the first round on Monday, falling to Ivan Dodig and Lukas Rosol 6-2, 3-6, 10-8 in 63 minutes. 

Jonathan Erlich and Dmitry Tursunov set a quarter-final clash with fourth seeds Frederik Nielsen and Andre Sa after battling past Tommy Haas and Michael Russell 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-8 in one hour and 39 minutes. 

German/Dutch duo Daniel Brands and Igor Sijsling cruised into the quarter-finals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Tomasz Bednarek and Jamie Delgado.

Article source: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/05/21/Dusseldorf-Monday-Nieminen-Kamke.aspx

Rome, Italy

by Craig O’Shannessy

 | 

20.05.2013

© Getty ImagesRoger Federer’s attacking style did not pay off this time.

Craig O’Shannessy breaks down the Internazionali BNL d’Italia final.

Roger Federer adopted a vastly different game style than normal against Rafael Nadal in his 6-1, 6-3 loss in Sunday’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia final.

Federer was much more offensive in all areas of his game and while his forehand let him down finishing points (15 errors to Nadal’s seven) it was definitely a step in the right direction in trying to battle Nadal on clay on his terms.

The scoreboard was not as kind to him this time around, but his game plan was far more impressive. Many times in his 20 losses to Nadal, Federer has looked better in a match but his passive baseline strategy gave him little chance of victory. 

On Sunday he tried to dictate a lot more than usual, but Nadal’s brilliance and Federer’s own looseness proved to be the difference. 

In all four areas of the game – serving, returning, rallying and approaching – Federer attacked Nadal like we have not seen in years. Nadal responded with magnificent tennis and played one of his best matches in his comeback to thwart Federer and capture his 24th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title.

Don’t be fooled by the scoreboard; Federer’s updated game plan was absolutely correct. A lot of times in tennis you may still fail as you manufacture a new pathway, even for the elite players of the game. 

Federer won six of the first nine points of the match and served and volleyed twice in the opening game to signal his aggressiveness. The intent was correct; it was Federer’s inability to sustain the attacking success that was the problem for the Swiss.

Federer Serving
Federer served and volleyed eight times (six in the first set), winning 75% (6/8). That helped create shorter points to stop Nadal running his favourite grueling baseline patterns. Federer directed 17 serves out wide to Nadal’s backhand in the deuce court, making 10 and winning six. He also surprisingly hit seven second serves out wide, winning three of them. The tactic didn’t deliver in Rome, but it may be something that bears fruit in Paris.

In the Ad court, Federer again went out wide as his primary pattern, hitting 13 first serves there, making only six and winning four. Federer’s secondary tactic was serving down the middle, where he attempted nine, made six, but only won two points for the match. Nadal was returning like a man possessed. 

Federer Returning
Nadal dominated with his first serve, making Federer hit 86% (25/29) of backhands from his first serve. Federer is normally content to slice backhand returns to begin the point, but he came over 89% (26/29) to try and attack Nadal first. Interestingly, all four first serves directed to Federer’s forehand were body jam serves in the Ad court and Federer made four return errors, including one into the net on match point. 

Nadal didn’t drop a point on his second serve in the opening set and finished winning 72% (8/11) for the match, but it’s been a long time since Federer has shown such tenacity to turn second serve backhand returns into forehands. 

Nadal directed 100% of his 11 second serves at Federer’s backhand, but Federer ran around seven of them to upgrade to his more aggressive forehand return. In the first set Nadal hit four of his five second serves in the deuce court and Federer ran around every single one of them to hit a forehand return.  Federer ended up with seven backhand and five forehand return errors.

Federer Net Points
This was another attacking area of the game in which Federer put up big numbers. Federer finished at the net 30% (29/95) of total points, amazing for him on clay against Nadal. Federer was not about to stay back and out-grind Nadal this time around. 

Federer fans have waited a long time to see him so committed to coming forward to change the normal baseline dynamic against Nadal. Federer also hit five drop shots, all from his backhand, but could only manage to win one of those points. At least it wasn’t a 30-ball exchange with Federer getting pounded up high to his backhand deep behind the baseline. Federer won 52% (11/21) of normal approach points, which is an extremely high number coming forward in their overall rivalry.

Federer Rallying 
Federer played much bigger from the back of the court, which proved to be a double-edged sword. It was exactly the right game style needed for victory, but he could not keep the ball in the court enough to make it happen. Federer hit two forehand and two backhand winners and one huge forehand return winner to get back to deuce in Nadal’s opening service game of the second set. But he committed 31 groundstroke errors (16 backhand/15 forehand), which was more than double Nadal’s total of 15 (eight backhand/seven forehand). 

Federer’s coach, Paul Annacone, may not like the scoreboard at the end of the match, but he definitely will like the commitment from his player to take the match more into his own hands. In a lot of ways it was a nice dress rehearsal for Paris and a look at his best chance of beating Nadal should they meet at Roland Garros.

Craig O’Shannessy uses extensive tagging, metrics and formulas to uncover the patterns and percentages behind the game.

Article source: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/05/21/Brain-Game-Rome-Federer-Nadal.aspx

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