TennisToday

ATP Men's & WTA Women's Title Count for 2010

WINNER'S TODAY

Kuala Lumpur: Mikhail Youzhny (above) d Andrey Golubev - 67(7) 62 76(3)

Bangkok: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez d Jarkko Nieminen - 64 36 64

2010 MEN'S TITLISTS

SIX titles: Rafael Nadal

FOUR titles: Sam Querrey

THREE titles: Juan Carlos Ferrero

***

TWO titles: Nicolas Almagro, Juan Ignacio Chela, Marin Cilic,

Roger Federer, Mardy Fish, Michael Llodra, Albert Montanes,

Andy Roddick, Fernando Verdasco, Sergiy Stakhovsky, Mikhail Youzhny

***

ONE title: Marcos Baghdatis, Thomaz Bellucci, Juan Ignacio Chela,

 Nikolay Davydenko, Novak Djokovic, David Ferrer, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez

Richard Gasquet, Andrey Golubev, Ernests Gulbis, Lleyton Hewitt,

John Isner, Ivan Ljubicic, Feliciano Lopez, Andy Murray,

David Nalbandian, Gilles Simon, Robin Soderling, Stanislas Wawrinka,

WINNER TODAY

Caroline Wozniacki d Elena Dementieva in Tokyo yesterday - 16 62 63

2010 WOMEN'S TITLISTS

FIVE titles: Caroline Wozniacki

FOUR titles: Kim Clijsters

TWO titles: Elena Dementieva, Justine Henin, Alisa Kleybanova,

Anastasia Palyuchenkova, Aravane Rezai, Maria Sharapova,

Francesca Schiavone, Agnes Szavay, Serena Williams, Venus Williams

***

ONE title: Victoria Azarenka, Iveta Benesova, Alona Bondarenko,

Anna Chakvetadze, Alexandra Dulgheru, Julia Goerges,

Jarmila Groth, Jelena Jankovic, Kaia Kanepi, Alla Kudryavtseva,

Svetlana Kuznetsova, Kateryna Makarova, Mariana Duque Marina,

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Li Na, Tamira Paszek, Flavia Pennetta,

Anastajia Sevastova, Sam Stosur, Yanina Wickmayer, Vera Zvonareva

Photos: Getty Images

Nieminen & Garcia-Lopez to Play for ATP Title in Bangkok

Bangkok ATP 250 - Men's Final Preview

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (above) vs Jarkko Nieminen - H2H: 0-1

They played once before - six years ago in Beijing.

Giant killer: Guillermo is the 4th player outside top 10 to beat Rafa in '10.

Both guys are closely ranked - Guillermo is #53 while Jarkko is #60.

Both are looking for their 1st title on the season and 2nd in their career.

Photo: Getty Images

Rafael Nadal Loses 99th Career Match in Bangkok

Bangkok ATP 250 - Men's Semifinal

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez d 1 Rafael Nadal - 26 76(3) 63

Stat of the match: Rafa only managed to convert 2 of 26 break points.

Eh, they all lose crazy matches like this one but the death knell already?

Patrick McEnroe tweeted: Can we read something into this? Really dude?

The only thing I read is that he's packing his bags and heading to Tokyo.

This was Rafa's 99th career loss - he'll finally get to triple digits this year.

That has to be one of the slowest marches to 100 loses in ATP history, no?

For 2010 Rafa's W/L is 61-8. For his career he is 462-99.

He has Tokyo, Shanghai, Paris & London left in '10 - which will bring #100?

Rafa will open against Santiago Giraldo in Tokyo - H2H: 1-0/RN.

Photo: Getty Images

Rafael Nadal Leads Semifinalists at Bangkok ATP 250

Bangkok ATP 250 - Men's Semifinals

1 Rafael Nadal vs Guillermo Garcia-Lopez - H2H: 2-0

Not only is Rafa the top seed - he's the only seeded player left in the draw.

In 2 matches fellow Spaniard Lopez has managed to win 10 games off Rafa.

This is Rafa's 11th Sf of '10: 7-3. He is looking for his 7th title this year.

For the 1st time this season he is scheduled to play 3 straight weeks.

Following Bangkok he will play at Tokyo ATP 500 & Masters 1000 Shanghai.

The knees must be feeling pretty good.

***

Jarkko Nieminen vs Benjamin Becker - H2H: 2-2

Their H2H for '10 is in Jarkko's favor 2-1, including a win last week in Metz.

All 3 matches this year have been fairly tightly contested.

Both are the same age, both ranked in the 60's & both have 1 career title.

This is Jarkko's 2nd Sf of '10: 1-0 and Benjamin's 3rd: 0-2.

So which one will lose to Rafa on Sunday?

Combined they've taken 1 set off Rafa in 6 matches: Jarkko, Barcelona '06.

Photo: Getty Images

Shirtless Sexy Fernando Verdasco Goes Kick Boxing in Bangkok

Fern got a kick boxing lesson from the '08 Olympic champion.

He opens play in Bangkok tomorrow against Benjamin Becker - H2H: 4-1/FV.

 

Now Fern, about that haircut we discussed... Can we get on that already.

Photos: Getty Images

Rafael Nadal Plants a Tree in Thailand

Today Rafa attended an anti-global warming project called 'One Million Trees for the King' in a tree planting ceremony at a veterinary hospital in Hau Hin.

 

Rafa plays his 1st match on Thursday in Bangkok with Q Ruben Bemelmans.

They've never played before. Bemelmans' career ATP W/L is 2-4.

His win today was his 1st match win at the tour level this year.

Ranked #195 this is the 3rd lowest ranked player Rafa has faced this season.

 

One wonders how big these tennis players' carbon footprints really are...

Rafa might need to plant a few more trees.

Photos: Reuters & Getty Images

Juan Martin Del Potro Loses 1st Match in Return to Tour

Bangkok - Men's Singles First Round

Olivier Rochus d 5 Juan Martin Del Potro - 76(7) 64

Two tight sets folks against a crafty veteran. Hey, I'd call that a good loss.

Who would expect DelPo to return and storm the field? Not I.

Give him time.

Post-match: The most important thing today was my wrist – and it’s perfect.

Welcome back.

Fernando Verdasco Arrives in Bangkok for ATP 250

Dude. That jacket. So not good. Hey, didn't you recently take a Twitter poll about whether or not you should get a haircut? I thought we in favor of the cutting won. Let's get on that. Oh, and I'm really loving your Vicki Lawrence suitcase - very cool!

Fern left a very sweet mesage on his Facebook page for his Thai fans: I am happy to come back to Thailand again. The Thai people are very kind and I love Thailand. One reason why I decided to come here is because of my lovely Thai fans that have posted and chatted with me on Facebook. I’d like to thank all my fans and hope you come and cheer me at the venue.

8th ranked Fernando is seeded 2nd in Bangkok and received a first round bye - he will face the winner of Mischa Zverev/Benjamin Becker in his opening match.

Juan Martin Del Potro is all Smiles in Return to Tour

Look who's back. Finally.

DelPo arrives in Bangkok to play only his 2nd tournament of the year.

After his 3rd round loss at the Aussie Open he had wrist surgery.

It kept his off the tour for 8 months.

He was unable to defend his US Open title & has slipped to #35.

This time a year ago he was ranked #5.

Good news: Most of 2011 will be nothing but adding points.

His first match in Bangkok will be against Olivier Rochus.

He's seeded 5th & could face Rafa in a blockbuster Qf showdown.

Welcome back.

Photo: AP

Rafael Nadal and the Monks of Hau Hin

These monks sure like their tennis stars, I seem to remember Maria Sharapova visiting them not long ago. Today Rafa offered alms to the monks of Hua Hin, a Thai beach resort town outside of Bangkok. Rafa is the top seed (duh) at the Thailand Open and will open against a qualifier in the first round.

Photos: Reuters

Rafael Nadal's Royal Suite in Bangkok is Yummy

Wow, this is a far far far cry from the flea bags I'm used to...

Photos: InterContinental Facebook Page