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Andy Murray Wins 3rd Title at Queens Club

Queen's Club ATP 250 - Men's Final

1 Andy Murray d 5 Marin Cilic - 57 75 63

Queen's Club becomes the 1st tourney where Andy has collected 3 titles.

He could not have asked for better Wimbledon prep.

Post match: I feel good. I'm a bit tired. Because of the weather it's been

mentally a quite draining week. I'll probably take a day off tomorrow and

start hitting on Tuesday, quite light, and get myself fresh, work on a

couple of things in the build-up to Wimbledon.

***

Andy donated his prize money to the Royal Marsden Hospital.

Where pal & tennis pro Ross Hutchins recieved treatment for Hodgkin’s.

Well done, Andy.

Lleyton Hewitt Thru to Semifinals at Queen's Club

ATP 250 Queen's Club - Men's Quarterfinal

Lleyton Hewitt d 3 Juan Martin Del Potro - 62 26 62

Someone is busy turning back the clock to his glory years.

Remember: Lleyton is a 4-time champion here: '00-'02 & '06.

At 32 he's looking to become the tournies oldest winner as well.

He'll next face the defender 5 Marin Cilic in the Sf's - H2H: 1-0/Lleyton.

The only time they played was last year at the London Games.

So Lleyton's gotta feel good about his match tomorrow...

Post match: Cilic is going to be another tough one, very similar to my

match against [Sam] Querrey yesterday and against del Potro today.

In terms of that, I have had good preparation for playing him,

but, he's the defending champ here.

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.

***

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.

***

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.

***

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.

***

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.

ATP Weekend Winners for June 17, 2012

ATP 250 Queen's Club - Final

6 Marin Cilic d 10 David Nalbandian - 67(3) 43 Def.

David was defaulted for assaulting and leaving bloodied a lines judge.

Thus handing Marin his 7th career ATP title.

Marin has been struggling with injuries of late and said post-match:

I played good today and came here to play four, five matches.

I won them and pretty comfortably in those first two or three.

I’m feeling really good & I think my form is on the spot where it should be.

***

ATP 250 Halle - Final

WC Tommy Haas d 2 Roger Federer - 76(5) 64

This is Tommy's 13th career ATP title & 1st since winning Halle in '09.

The win also gave him a near 40 spot ranking boost to #49.

This was Tommy's 3rd win over Fed - the last win was way back in '02.

Post match: I don’t have many words to say really...

Except that it is an amazing feeling to win another title in Germany.

To have somebody across the net like Roger is a real honour for me.

To have that picture with the winning trophy and Roger next to me...

Is something really special, something I’ll obviously never forget.

I’m just really happy and proud.

ATP Title Winners for July 31, 2011

Los Angeles ATP 250 Final

Ernests Gulbis d 1 Mardy Fish - 57 64 64

Ernie captures his 2nd ATP title - interstingly, both on American soil.

Heading back up: The win bumps him up 29 ranking spot to #55.

A year ago he enjoyed his highest ranking of #21.

Let's see if he can keep it going - I think he belongs in the top 20.

Ernie: It means a lot to me. It's my second title.

It gives me a huge boost in confidence.

***

Gstaad ATP 250 Final

8 Marcel Granollers d 4 Fernando Verdasco - 64 36 63

Marcel also captures his 2nd ATP title - and first since Houston in '08.

It’s very important for me because I won my first tournament in 2008...

Which was a little unexpected, and three years later I won here.

So there is a lot of work behind today and I feel amazing.

The win bumps him to a career high ranking of #33.

DomiNation: Another Spaniard winning another title.

***

Umag ATP 250 Final

2 Alexandr Dolgopolov d 4 Marin Cilic - 64 36 63

Big congrats to Alexandr on winning his maiden ATP title.

2nd times a charm: He lost his first final in February at Costa Do Sauipe.

He becomes the 6th first-time titlist of 2011.

Alex rises 5 spots in the rankings to #21 - 1 spot below his ranking high.

Alex: I was first in the rankings in Ukraine, but I hadn’t won a title...

And everyone was talking about that a bit. It’s a good moment.

I’ll keep on working and try and get higher and higher in the rankings.

Photos: Reuters/AP

Robin Soderling Wins ATP Title in Marseille

Marseille ATP 250 - Final

1 Robin Soderling d Marin Cilic - 67(8) 63 63

Robin is on fire in '11 - this is his 3rd title in 4 tourneys so far this year.

He is 17-1 on the season - his only loss was to Dolgopolov at Aussie Open.

With Rotterdam last week this is the 1st time he's won back-to-back titles.

This is Robin's 9th ATP title & 1st time he's won more than 2 in a year.

And with this being only February one thinks he'll be adding to that title tally.

The win also solidifies his #4 ranking ahead of Andy Murray.

Robin will take a week off before the Davis Cup tie against Russia in Sweden.

Then it's off to the US swing where he'll look to continue his winning ways.

He may need to look into getting a bigger mantle soon.

Australian Open Day 8: A Quick Summary

The following are all 4th round matches.

1 Rafael Nadal d 15 Marin Cilic - 62 64 63

Much has been made of Rafa's lingering illness the last few days, well...

Rafa: Today I felt very good, no? I didn't sweat like the other days.

Today was the first day that I felt perfect physically.

There you go.

Rafa advances to his 5th AO Qf: 2-2. He lost to Murray in the Qf last year.

He has only faced 16 break points in 4 matches - losing serve just 3 times.

3 Kim Clijsters d Ekaterina Makarova - 76(3) 62

Kim has not looked terribly great in her last two matches. But still gets thru.

Ut-oh: This is Kim's 6th trip to the Qf's - a round in which she has never lost.

Kim will face Agnieszka Radwanska - Kim destoyed her in their only match.

5 Andy Murray d 11 Jurgen Melzer - 63 61 61

UNBELIEVABLE: In 4 matches Andy has lost only 22 games.

Half of the 12 sets he has played have had this score: 6-1.

Another two went to: 6-2. The rest went to: 6-3. That's all. Totally crazy.

Upside: Welcome to the top 10 Jurgen. Well deserved.

2 Vera Zvonareva d Iveta Benesova - 64 61

As we all know, Vera is looking for her maiden Slam.

Vera: The assessment? Well, I think I did pretty good overall. You know,

I started off okay, but then she was able to go 4 2 up in the first set.

I thought I was a little bit slow, a little bit passive. But then...

I was able to find the right momentum, stay a little bit more aggressive.

I kept that till the end of the match and I'm really happy about that.

7 David Ferrer d Milos Raonic - 46 62 63 64

I think a lot of people were predicting an upset here & after the 1st set...

David showed them. In the end he made 10 unforced errors in the match.

But hey, there is no denying Milos is going to be huge - SOON.

This is David 2nd trip to the Qf's: 0-1. As a reward - he get's Rafa next.

But he must think he's in with a chance - he's beaten Rafa 3 times.

12 Agnieszka Radwanska d Shuai Peng - 75 36 75

Well, we knew from the history of these 2 that is was going deep in the 3rd.

This is Agnieszka's 4th trip to a Slam Qf: 0-3.

Remember, she recently had surgery on her ankle.

Ag: Yeah, I think I should have surgery before every Grand Slam definitely.

Hey, whatever works!

Alexandr Dolgopolov d 4 Robin Soderling - 16 63 61 46 62

Shock of the tournament. Could very well go down as the upset of the year.

This, in only his 4th Slam main draw.

Vowels: Doesn't it look like he's missing a letter in both names? An E & an O.

Alex: I was on tour all the time when my father was a coach.

Then I started to play myself. It's a lot of work.

Now I'm happy something's paying off and I'm getting my goals together...

25 Petra Kvitova d 22 Flavia Pennetta - 36 63 63

This is Petra's 2nd Slam Qf: 1-0. She got to the Sf's at Wimby last year.

With a 2nd round loss her last year look for her ranking to get a nice bump.

Consolation: Flavia is seeded #1 in doubles with Gisela Dulko & still alive.

Photos: Reuters/Getty Images

Australian Open Day 6: A Quick Summary

The following are all 3rd Round matches.

5 Andy Murray d Guillermo Garcia-Lopez - 61 61 62

Utter and complete demolition of the Spaniard. Outclassed from first ball.

Andy moves into his 13th Slam 4th round: 6-6.

He'll next play 11 Jurgen Melzer - H2H: 4-0/AM.

3 Kim Clijsters d Alize Cornet - 76(3) 63

Kim wins even though playing spotty tennis.

And this is how Alize celebrated her 21st birthday.

This is Kim 7th trip to the Aussie Open 4th round: 5-1.

Incredible: She has also advanced to 23 Slam 4th rounds: 17-5.

4 Robin Soderling d Jan Hernych - 63 61 64

Ok Robin, where have you been hiding those abs? Someone call Armani!

Heads-up: Robin hasn't dropped a set and is on fire so far in 3 matches.

In fact, Robin hasn't dropped a set yet this year!

15 Marin Cilic d 20 John Isner - 46 62 67(5) 76(2) 97

Marin is trying to get to the Sf's for a 2nd straight year.

He'll next take on 1 Rafael Nadal - a player he beat pretty badly 2 years ago.

Will Marin be the one to stop the Rafa Slam?

Photos: Reuters/Getty images

Marin Cilic Loses 1st Round Match at Chennai

Chennia ATP 250 - 1st Round

Kei Nishikori d 2 Marin Cilic - 46 76(0) 62

Great win for Kei. Remember, Cilic was the defending champion in Chennai.

So last year Marin's 1st 3 tournies were incredible:

Winning Chennai, Sf's at the Aussie Open and then winning in Zagreb.

The slump continues: After Zagreb he only appeared in 5 tour Qf's: 2-3.

He's ranked #14 - but that's gonna tank if he doesn't turn his play around.

Fast.

Top 8 Seeds in Action Tomorrow at Paris Masters 1000

All 8 are in action in the 3rd round tomorrow in Paris.

1 Roger Federer vs Radek Stepanek - H2H: 9-2

2 Novak Djokovic (above) vs Michael Llodra - H2H: 1-0

3 Andy Murray vs 13 Marin Cilic - H2H: 4-1

4 Robin Soderling vs Stanislas Wawrinka - H2H: 1-2

5 Tomas Berdych vs 10 Nikolay Davydenko - H2H: 1-8

6 Fernando Verdasco vs 12 Gael Monfils - H2H: 0-1

7 David Ferrer vs Jurgen Melzer - H2H: 3-1

8 Andy Roddick vs Ernests Gulbis - H2H: 2-0

5 of the 8 are playing for 3 spots in London. All could be settled tomorrow.

DVR set. Gonna be a long day tomorrow!

Photo: Getty Images

Nikolay Davydenko Wins 400th ATP Match in Beijing

Beijing ATP 500 - Men's Second Round

4 Nikolay Davydenko d Marin Cilic - 75 75

In winning today Nikolay enters the 400 club - his career W/L is 400-243.

He is the 8th active player with at least 400 ATP match wins.

25 of those 400 have come this year including a title in Doha.

He is ranked #6 - but has a lot of points to defend down the homestretch...

Remember, he won at Shanghai & the tour finals last year. 

He will next play John Isner - H2H: 2-0/ND.

Photo: AP

David Nalbandian Leads Semifinalists at DC ATP 500

In watching Nalbandian last night - he looked a lot thinner.

Washington DC ATP 500 - Semifinals

8 Marcos Baghdatis vs Xavier Malisse - H2H: 0-0

Once the tour moved to grass Xavier has been winning a lot more.

Since Queens Clubs he's 13-5 - with 2 Sf showings: 0-1.

This is Marcos' 4th Sf of '10: 2-1. He won Sydney in January.

He has put together a healthy looking W/L this year: 30-17.

It's almost twice the number of match wins he enjoyed last year.

And the reason he's #25 and moving up on Monday.

***

4 Marin Cilic vs WC David Nalbandian (above) - H2H: 0-1

That win was back in '06 - in a Davis Cup blowout.

David is playing in only his 5th tourney of the year & 1st Sf.

He's been to 2 Qf's and has won all 3 Davis Cup matches this year.

David is looking to advance to his 21st career ATP final: 10-10.

Marin had a great January - 2 ATP 250 titles & Sf at Aussie Open.

Since, he has lost a lot of matches & has only been to 2 Sf's: 1-0.

At the least this should be a great match.

***

Quarterfinal Results

Xavier Malisse d 1 Tomas Berdych - 64 36 62
8 Marcos Baghdatis d 3/WC Fernando Verdasco - 76(3) 64
4 Marin Cilic d Janko Tipsarevic - 76(4) 64
WC David Nalbandian d 13 Gilles Simon - 36 62 63

Photo: Getty Images

No Americans Through to DC ATP 500 Quarterfinals

Andy Roddick (above), Mardy Fish & John Isner all tried yesterday - all failed.

This is the 1st time in the Open Era no Americans in Qf's in DC.

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Washington, DC ATP 500 Quarterfinals

1 Tomas Berdych vs Xavier Malisse - H2H: 1-1

They split matches back in 2006. Berdych is a much deffierent player now.

Malisse beat Isner 76(5) in the 3rd last night.

3/WC Fernando Verdasco vs 8 Marcos Baghdatis - H2H: 0-0

They've both been on tour for so long it's surprising they haven't played.

Fern is looking for his 6th Sf on the year - Marcos, his 4th.

4 Marin Cilic vs Janko Tipsarevic - H2H: 4-0

Janko tweeted that he didn't get back to his hotel til 2:30AM - factor?

Add to that the H2H and it's not looking too good for Janko.

Marin went 3 last night too (d Fish) - but Janko got the latest start of all.

Stupid rain.

13 Gilles Simon vs David Nalbandian - H2H: 0-0

Again, surprised these two haven't played one another before.

No idea what to expect from these comeback kids...

A sign: Gilles sure crushed Roddick (63 63) last night.

Photo: AP

Top Men's Players take to Practice Courts at Wimbledon

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has played only twice at Wimbledon. Best: 4th round '07.

Marin Cilic has played W 3 times - best result: 4th round '08.

Andy Murray has played 4 times - best result: semifinal last year.

Nikolay Davydenko has played 8 times - best result: 4th round '07.

Nice to see him back after a wrist injury laid him off for a bit.

Photos: Wimbledon's Facebook page

Roger Federer & Robin Soderling Set Up Rematch of '09 Roland Garros Final

1 Roger Federer d 20 Stanislas Wawrinka - 63 76(5) 62 - 4th Round

Aw Stan man - you had some great chances to take that 2nd set. Blown.

Roger moves into his 24th straight Slam Qf. He has not lost any of those 23.

Lifetime he is 23-2 in Qf matches - his 2 losses were way back in 2001.

***

5 Robin Soderling d 10 Marin Cilic - 64 64 62 - 4th Round

Robin moves into his 2nd straight RG Qf - last year he reached the final.

He Tweeted afterward: Great day today. This one was big for me!!!!

***

1 Roger Federer vs 5 Robin Soderling - H2H: 12-0

That includes the final a year ago & a tight US Open match last summer.

This is easily the most attractive of all the potential quarterfinals this year.

That '0' in their H2H sure looks big...

Robin was a giant killer last year - can he do it again?

Roger's #1 ranking is at stake - if he loses this match & Rafa takes the title.

Photos: Getty Images

Sunday's ATP Winners: Albert Montanes in Estoril, Mikhail Youzhny in Munich & Sam Querrey in Belgrade

Estoril ATP 250

4 Albert Montanes d Federico Gil - 62 67(4) 75

The defending champ defends - beating Roger Federer along the way.

Ranked #34 - he is only the 7th highest ranked Spaniard - now that's deep.

This is Albert's 4th career title and not surprisingly they've all come on clay.

He'll play Ernests Gulbis in the 1st round in Madrid on Tuesday. H2H: 2-1/EG.

Munich ATP 250

2 Mikhail Youzhny d 1 Marin Cilic - 63 46 64

Youzhny has played three finals this season - today he finally bagged one.

Youzhny collects his 6th title and 1st since winning in Moscow last year.

Last Jusly he was ranked #70 - since then he has quietly moved up to #15.

He will face Lukas Lacko in the 1st round in Madrid. H2H: 1-0/MY.

Belgrade ATP 250

3 Sam Querrey d 2 John Isner - 36 76(4) 64

Two American's. On European clay. Contesting a final. What are the odds?

At the beginning of the week John & Sam were ranked #'s 21 & 22.

Sam's win will leapfrog him over John into the top 20.

This is Sam's 4 career title and second of 2010 following his win in Memphis.

Both Sam and John will open against a qualifiers this week in Madrid.

The pic above: Novak (right) is 6'2" and is the short one in the pic!

Photos: Reuters/AP

Marin Cilic & Mikhail Youzhny to Play for Munich Title

Tomorrow's Final

1 Marin Cilic vs 2 Mikhail Youzhny - H2H: 0-3

Both boys have 5 career titles - one will make it 6 tomorrow.

Youzhny has quietly been putting together a solid 2010 and is ranked #15.

This is his 3rd final this season - he has yet score the victory.

Marin is looking for his 3rd title this year.

*****

Semifinal Results

1 Marin Cilic d 5 Marcos Baghdatis - 36 62 63

2 Mikhail Youzhny d Philipp Petzschner - 75 76(5)

Photos: Reuters/AP

Marin Cilic Leads Semifinalists at Munich ATP 250

Tomorrow's Semifinals

1 Marin Cilic vs Marcos Baghdatis - H2H: 1-0

They played in Miami in March - Cilic won in straights.

Marin is looking to win a 3rd title this season - it'd be the most on the year.

2 Mikhail Youzhny vs Philipp Petzschner (above) - H2H: 1-0

Mikhail has been to two finals this season - losing both.

To make a 3rd he will face a partisan home crowd as they cheer their Philipp.

*****

Quarterfinal Results

1 Marin Cilic d 6 Nicolas Almagro - 64 67(2) 62

That is almost a surprising result.

2 Mikhail Youzhny d Jan Hajek - 61 63

Mikhail is in the throes of a good year.

Philipp Petzschner d 3 Tomas Berdych - 16 63 64 

And the defender is out.

5 Marcos Baghdatis d 4 Philipp Kohlschreiber - 63 64

Sorry guys - you only get one Philipp with 2 P's in the semis.

***

Photo: Philipp Petzschner - Getty Images

ATP Preview: Men's 4th Round Played in Miami Today

Some great matches coming up on Tennis Channel today.

Of particular interest: Nadal/Ferrer Federer/Berdych Soderling/Gonzalez.

Stadium Court Today:

8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs 12 Juan Carlos Ferrero - H2H: 1-0

6 Andy Roddick vs Benjamin Becker - H2H: 3-0

4 Rafael Nadal vs 15 David Ferrer (above) - H2H: 8-3

1 Roger Federer vs 16 Tomas Berdych - H2H: 8-1

Grandstand Court Today:

33 Nicolas Almagro vs 27 Thomaz Bellucci - H2H: 0-0

13 Mikhail Youhzny vs Mardy Fish - H2H: 1-1

5 Robin Soderling vs 9 Fernando Gonzalez - H2H: 4-4

7 Marin Cilic vs 10 Fernando Verdasco - H2H: 2-2

Photo: Getty Images

This Week the ATP Moves to Indian Wells

Indian Wells Masters 1000 - Top Seeded Players

1. Roger Federer - Champion '04 '05 '06

2. Novak Dojokvic - Champion '08

3. Rafael Nadal - Champion '07 '09

4. Andy Murray - Finalist '09

5. Nikolay Davydenko - 4th Round '07

6. Robin Soderling - 3rd Round '06 '07

7. Andy Roddick - Semifinalist '05 '07 '09

8. Marin Cilic - 3rd Round '09

Photo: I took it of Roger practicing in Indian Wells last year.