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Juan Monaco into 3rd Round at Hamburg

Hamburg ATP 500 - Men's Second Round

5 Juan Monaco d Gael Monfils - 64 64

Remember: Juan is the defending champion here.

To continue his defense he'll next play up-and-comer Benoit Paire.

Benoit won their only match - a 3-setter at Rome this year.

Pressure on: Juan will need to repeat to stay in the top 20.

John Isner is 60 points behind and will leap-frog with a loss.

Vamos Pico!

***

Pico posted this pic on Facebook from the gym at Hamburg.

Juan Monaco Wins Hamburg Title & Enters Top 10

Hamburg ATP 500 - Final

3 Juan Monaco d WC Tommy Haas - 75 64

This is Juan's 3rd title of the year, 6th of his career & 2nd at the 500 level.

Of course all of them have come on clay.

With the win he'll move into the top 10 for the first time.

Tandil: Never mind Argentina - the city of Tandil has 2 top 10-ers next week.

Monaco & Del Potro will be side-by-side at #'s 9 & 10 - doing Tandil proud.

The German Open began in 1892 - he becomes the 3rd Argentine to win.

Following in the triumphant footsteps of 2 Guillermo's: Vilas and Coria.

Post match: It's amazing [to break the Top 10], it's a dream come true.

I will always remember this great week...

Because it's very important for me and my team.

It was a big goal we had pre-season when we were practising very hard.

About the quick turn-around for the Olympics next week he said:

To change the courts is not going to be easy for me...

 But I have five days for practice to be with the guys there.

So, let’s see how it goes. This tournament will bring me big confidence and,

I’m feeling great, no injuries. So, I will try my best in London.

Juan lost in the 3rd round at Wimby so yea, we'll see.

Photo: Reuters

Verdasco & Marrero Win 4th Title of Year at Hamburg

Hamburg ATP 500 - Doubles Final

Marrero/Verdasco d Silva/Munoz De La Nava - 64 63

There is a new power couple in town.

This win will move then as a team into the doubles top 10.

And they may end up in London but not at the Olympics - the season finals.

#4: Buenos Aires, Acapulco, Umag and Hamburg.

Fern post match: I'm very happy, of course.

It's our second [ATP World Tour] 500 title of the year and...

It will help us to be close to the Top 8...

For the chance to be in London at the end of the year.

It's a very important victory for us.

We've all seen a million shirtless photos of Fern, how about one of Marrero:

Fernando Verdasco Wins Opening Match in Hamburg with New Buzz Cut

Hamburg ATP 500 - 2nd Round

8 Fernando Verdasco d Pablo Andujar - 62 63

Yowza: I mean, how do I not post this photo?

Recently Fern's dropped in ranking to #22 after a couple years in the top 10.

He didn't have a great US swing last summer so there is room for growth.

Until the US Open where he has Qf points to defend.

It'll be interesting to see if Fern can turn things around.

With 10 pounds lopped off his head he should at least be lighter on his feet.

Photo: Fern's Facebook

ATP & WTA Weekend Winners for July 25, 2010

Hamburg ATP 500

Andrey Golubev (above) d 3 Jurgen Melzer - 63 75

Golubev wins his 1st title. He becomes the 3rd first-time titlist of 2010.

He is the biggest mover inside the top 100 rankings - up 45 spots to #37.

Golubev is scheduled to play Gstaad this week - Melzer in Umag.

***

Atlanta ATP 250

6 Mardy Fish d 2 John Isner - 46 64 76(4)

Fish wins his 2nd title of '10 and 5th career title. Weight loss = results!

With this upset win Mardy jumps 14 spots to #35.

He has nearly no points to defend this summer - seeded for the US Open?

Tough break for Isner who now owns a 1-4 record in ATP finals.

***

Portoroz WTA

Anna Chakvetadze d Johanna Larsson - 61 62

This was Anna's 8th title & 1st in a million years. Ok, just over two.

In '07 Anna was ranked as high as #5 then she completely disappeared.

This win will move her back in the top 100 at #74.

As for Larsson, this was her 1st final - she will move up to #66.

An aside: I love that my spell-check had zero suggestions for Chakvetadze.

***

Bad Gastein WTA

3 Julia Goerges d 2 Timea Bacsinzky - 61 64

Julia wins her 1st WTA title in her 1st final after 4 previous Sf loses.

She jumps 23 spots to her career high ranking of #42

As for Timea - she lost the doubles final too. Tough luck.

Melzer & Golubev to Play for Hamburg ATP 500 Title

Hamburg ATP 500 Final

3 Jurgen Melzer (above) vs Andrey Golubev - H2H: 0-0

Neither player has yet to drop a set heading into tomorrow's final.

This is Jurgen's 9 ATP final and his biggest - of those 9 he has won 2.

This is Andrey's 2nd final - he is looking for his first title.

There is quite a difference in rankings: JM is #15, AG is #82.

At 29 Jurgen is having somewhat of a breakout year... Good for him.

***

Semifinal Results

3 Jurgen Melzer d Andreas Seppi - 64 62 
Andrey Golubev d Florian Mayer - 76(6) 64

Photo: Getty Images

Andreas Seppi Leads Semifinalists at ATP 500 Hamburg

Hamburg ATP 500 Semifinals

Andrey Golubev vs Florian Mayer - H2H: 0-0

Neither player has ever won an ATP level title.

In fact, between the 2 of them they've been to 3 finals: AG 0-1, FM 0-2.

***

3 Jurgen Melzer vs 7 Andreas Seppi (above) - H2H: 1-2

Melzer won the last one & their only other match of '10 easily in Rotterdam.

This is Melzer's 4th Sf on the year (0-3) - this is Seppi's 1st.

In fact, Seppi has only been to 1 other Qf this year - last week in Bastad.

Currently #70 Seppi's ranking will spike quite a bit come Monday morning.

***

Today's Results

3 Jurgen Melzer d Potito Starace - 64 61
Florian Mayer d 6 Juan Carlos Ferrero - 67(3) 62 63
Andreas Seppi d 7 Thomaz Bellucci - 76(0) 57 75
Andrey Golubev d Denis Istomin - 64 61

Upset-Minded Italians Lead Quarterfinalists at ATP 500 Stop in Hamburg

From the left ya got yer Potito Starace, Simone Bolelli & yer Andreas Seppi.

Bolilli lost yesterday but the other two Italians moved into the Qfs today.

Hamburg ATP 500 Quarterfinals

Andrey Golubev vs Denis Istomin - H2H: 0-1

Istomin is looking for his 3rd Sf of '10 (0-2), Golubev his 2nd (0-1).

6 Juan Carlos Ferrero vs Florian Mayer - H2H: 4-0

I'm pretty confident that JC will move into another final this year (2-1).

***

3 Jurgen Melzer vs Potito Starace - H2H: 1-0

Both boys come into this match with 16 match losses on the year.

7 Thomaz Bellucci vs Andreas Seppi - H2H: 0-0

Brazilian Bellucci is quietly having a breakout year & already up to #22.

*****

Today's Results

Andrey Golubev d 1 Nikolay Davydenko - 64 64
3 Jurgen Melzer d Jeremy Chardy - 75 76(4)
6 Juan Carlos Ferrero d Jarkko Nieminen - 62 36 64
7 Thomaz Bellucci d 10 Philipp Kohlschreiber - 75 64
Florian Mayer d Maximo Gonzalez - 76(1) 60
Andreas Seppi d Fabio Fognini - 64 64
Denis Istomin d WC Julian Reister - 36 63 76(3)
Potito Starace d Q Pere Riba - 46 64 64