TennisToday

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!

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

Juan Monaco Wins ATP Title at Dusseldorf

Dusseldorf ATP 250 - Men's Final

3/WC Juan Monaco d 6 Jarkko Nieminen - 64 63

Now that's how you turn around a dismal season - you win a title.

His 8th - 7 of them on clay. And 1st of 2013.

Hopefully this will give him a jolt of confidence for Roland-Garros.

Juan has a very tricky draw right from the start.

He's got Gemino-Traver first up and is headed toward Cliic and Tsonga.

And if he can get past all of them he's likely to face Federer in the Qf's.

I'm exhausted just typing that!

Post match: It's the best preparation. I've had a great week here,

playing a couple of good matches. Especially today I played really well.

So I will look forward to keep playing this way in Paris.

Juan Monaco Reaches Semifinals at Dusseldorf

Dusseldorf ATP 250 - Men's Quarterfinal

3/WC Juan Monica d Tobias Kamke - 63 64

Pico reaches a Sf for only the second time this year.

So far he hasn't been backing up his points from last season.

And he's staring down 4th round points from the French Open 2012.

I just hope he stears clear of his BFF's (Rafa) draw.

At least until the quarters.

Nicolas Almagro Moves into Semifinals at Barcelona

Barcelona ATP 500 - Men's Quarterfinal

4 Nicolas Almagro d 7 Juan Monaco - 63 75

Nico reaches his 4th Sf on the season: 1-2 and 3rd Sf here at BCN: 0-2.

He'll play a very winnable foe in Philipp Kohlschreiber - H2H: 4-3/Nico.

But... Nico leads 3-1 on clay. I've got a good feeling...

Post match: I've felt great during this week and I'm going to fight

to reach my first final here in Barcelona.

Davis Cup 2013 Quarterfinal Results

Serbia d USA: 3-1

Major props to Ilija & Nenad for that stunning upset of the Bryan Bros.

I don't think anybody saw that coming.

It's been 20+ years since a #1 has played Davis Cup on US soil.

Boise got him. And then Nole twisted his ankle in his 2nd match.

Hope he's not too hobbled to play Monte-Carlo.

Argentina d France: 3-2

This was the only tie this weekend that went to a 5th rubber.

Berlocq's epic upset of Simon turned him into the unlikely team hero.

I hope he bought up all those newspapers.

Czech Rep. d Kazakhstan: 3-1

Bleh.

Finally Lukas Rosol has something else to talk about.

Canada d Italy: 3-1

This was the other tie with an insane doubles rubber - 15-13 in the 5th set.

Canada had never advanced to the Qf's before. Why stop there?

Their Sf will pit them against Serbia - in Serbia. Hmmm.

Rafael Nadal Enjoys a Winning Start to his Comeback at Vina Del Mar

ATP 250 Vina Del Mar - Men's Doubles First Round

Rafael Nadal & Juan Monaco d 2 Cermak & Dlouhy - 63 62

Phew. Rafa's singles return begins today.

Juan Monaco posted the pic (watch prominent!) with the caption:

Very happy to play next to my friend Rafa at his return.

Rafa post match: It was a great feeling to play again and

I'm very happy for doing it with a friend like Monaco in a great atmosphere

that we had on the court. In doubles the effort is always less [taxing];

we will see how it goes in singles and how my physical condition is.

I chose this tournament because it is the perfect time and surface.

Trust me - the Twittersphere went nuts with his return yesterday.

Juan Monaco into 2nd Round at Olympics

Olympics - Men's First Round

9 Juan Monaco d David Goffin - 64 61

Juan is 1-1 at the Olympics as he one betters his result in Beijing.

Juan is having a career year - making 4 finals, winning 3.

And he's enjoying his 2nd week as a top 10 player.

About representing Argentina at the Games:

I’m used to playing Davis Cup and I’m so proud to represent my country.

It’s always a pressure, [but] it’s amazing, a great time.

It’s different to what we usually do on the tour.

I’m enjoying it a lot and I’m very happy to be on the Argentine team.

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

Juan Monaco into ATP Hamburg Final

Hamburg ATP 500 - Semifinal

3 Juan Monaco d 1 Nicolas Almagro - 36 63 64

Second straight Sunday final - he lost Stuttgart last week to Tipsarevic.

This is his 4th final on the year: 2-1 and 15th of his career: 5-9.

Win or lose tomorrow he will move past Fish to a career high of #13.

Juan is inching ever closer to that top 10 goal.

Post match: I played a great match to beat Almagro...

The top seed and a Top 10 player.

I’m very happy about that and getting through to the final.

He'll face the old man, Tommy Haas in the final - H2H: 3-1/JM.

Then he's off to proudly represent Argentina at the London Games.

Photo is from Juan's Facebook page.

ATP & WTA Weekend Winners for July 15, 2012

Good week for top seeds as 5 of 6 tournies were won by the top dog.

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Umag ATP 250: 2 Marin Cilic d 4 Marcel Granollers - 64 62

The 23 year-old Croat won his 8th title and 2nd on the season.

He went one further this year as he was the runner-up last year.

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Bastad ATP 250: 1 David Ferrer d 2 Nicolas Almagro - 62 62

David picked up his 16th title, 2nd at Bastad & 5th on the season.

All this and he's still stuck at #5 in the rankings.

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Newport ATP 250: 1 John Isner d W/C Lleyton Hewitt - 76(1) 64

This is John's 4th title and 1st of the season.

This is the 1st time he has ever defended a title.

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Stuttgart ATP 250: 1 Janko Tipsarevic d 2 Juan Monaco - 64 57 63

Janko earned his 3rd career ATP crown and 1st of the season.

He is now 3-6 in finals.

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Stanford WTA: 1 Serena Williams d LL Coco Vandeweghe - 75 63

Serena won her 43rd WTA title, 4th on the year and 2nd at Stanford.

This is also the 2nd straight Sunday with a title following Wimbldeon.

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Palermo WTA: 1 Sara Errani d 8 Barbora Zahlavova Strycov - 61 63

Sara won her 6th WTA title and 4th of the year.

She is the 1st Italian to win 4 titles in a single season.

Juan Monaco into Semifinals at Stuttgart

ATP 250 Stuttgart - Quarterfinals

2 Juan Monaco d Q Pavol Cervenak - 61 75

Juan posted this photo from Stuttgart to his Facebook page captioned:

Taking a little rest at the players room after my today victory!

Juan is in the hunt for his 3rd title this year: Vina del Mar & Houston.

Juan is currently ranked a career high of #14...

And inching ever closer to the top 10 - a major goal of all players.

Those 4 ranking spots are going to be crazy tough to make up...

Nearly 500 points separate him from #10 Almagro.

That's a lot of distance but not impossible - he's a decent summer away.

We're pulling for him.

Rafael Nadal into Quarterfinals at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Men's Fourth Round

1 Rafael Nadal d 13 Juan Monaco - 62 60 60

Two games. And Juan is a clay court specialist in the top 20. Yikes.

That's not a very nice way to treat a friend!

Post match: It's hard to dominate a friend so easily.

But you can't let your guard down.

Playing your best is the best way to respect him.

Rafa improves his RG W/L to a staggering 49-1.

He has not lost a set on RED clay this year - that's 42 sets folks.

And thru the 1st 4 rounds he's lost the fewest games in all his title runs:

2005 - 38, 2006 - 49, 2007 - 33, 2008 - 22, 2010 - 34, 2011- 53, 2012 - 19.

He is 33-1 on clay against the 3 players left in his half of the draw.

Sheesh, it's hard to see Rafa not gaining an historic Roland Garros title #7.

Photos: top from the FFT, bottom from Reuters.

Weekend Winners for April 15, 2012

ATP 250 Houston - Final

4 Juan Monaco d 2 John Isner - 62 36 63

Juan wins his 5th career title and 2nd of the 2012 season.

In the effort he has matched his ranking high of #14.

He is a clay court specialist with very few points to defend this clay swing.

If Juan plays his balls right he could quite well be a top 10 player by June.

That quest will begin this week at Monte-Carlo.

ATP 250 Casablanca - Final

3 Pablo Andujar d 7 Albert Ramos - 61 76(5)

Pablo wins his 2nd ATP title - both coming at Casablanca ('11).

The win propels him 19 spots to a ranking of #39 - one short of his high.

He will pop-over to Monte-Carlo this week where he's never played before.

He also has no matches to defend in Madrid and Rome.

If Pablo plays his balls right he could find himself seeded at Roland Garros.

WTA Copenhagen - Final

2 Angelique Kerber d 1 Caroline Wozniacki - 64 64

Ang wins her second WTA title - both coming this season.

She enjoys a rankings bump up to #14.

Ang prevented Caro from a hat-trick of titles at Copenhagen.

Caro seems to be, well... slipping.

She was #1 just a few months ago - she's currnetly ranked #6.

WTA Barcelona - Final

7 Sara Errani d 3 Dominika Cibulkova - 62 62

Sara wins her 4th WTA title and 2nd on the 2012 season.

As a result of her efforts she enjoys her highest ranking of #28.

She also took the doubles title yesterday with Roberta Vinci.