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Fabio Fognini into Semifinals at Monte-Carlo - His 1st at the Masters 1000 Level

ATP Masters Series 1000 Monte-Carlo - Men's Quarterfinal

Fabio Fognini d 7 Richard Gasquet - 76(0) 62

He has never even been close to a Masters 1000 Sf before.

He's played 32 M1000 main draws and has been to the 3rd round 3 times.

That's it.

His reward - he gets Novak in the semi's: 4-0.

He has taken 2 sets off of Nole including last month at Indian Wells.

And who knows how Nole's bum ankle will turn up tomorrow.

Post match: This is one of the best performances ever for me.

It's my first semi-final at a Masters 1000.

I have another opportunity to play with a great player here in the

centre court in front of so many people, special friends and family.

Rafael Nadal Survives Quarterfinal Scare at Monte-Carlo

ATP Masters Series 1000 Monte-Carlo - Men's Quarterfinal

3 Rafael Nadal d Grigor Dimitrov - 62 26 64

It may not have been pretty but Rafa's kept his quest for a 9th title alive.

Rafa just won his 45th straight match at MC and is now 20-1 for 2013.

But this match was very much one that could have gotten away from him.

Post match: I know that when you have these tough matches,

it is decisive to keep fighting. If you keep fighting, you will lose some ones,

but you will have a chance to win a lot of ones, too.

I gave that fight. Finally he had his chance, and I had my one,

and I converted. That's it. I think I played better the last couple of games.

Obviously I'm trying to find better rhythm all the time.

In my opinion, I did it in the end. It was great.

For his Rafanatics it was great.

Grigor Dimitrov into His Maiden Masters 1000 Quarterfinal at Monte-Carlo

ATP Masters Series 1000 Monte-Carlo - Men's Third Round

Grigor Dimitrov d Florian Mayer - 62 64

Baby Fed Grigor finally makes his first quarterfinal at a Masters event.

A loss tomorrow will bump him from #36 to around #25.

I say 'a loss' because he next will play the King of Clay.

About that: I know tomorrow is another point of view,

since clay court you're playing against the greatest of all time.

There's that feeling and anxiety that you want to come out and

do the best you can. I think most of all you have to keep a good composure.

Remember: He's 22 next month - the age Roger kicked off his GOAT-ness.

Rafael Nadal Powers into Quarterfinals at Monte-Carlo

ATP Masters Series 1000 Monte-Carlo - Men's Third Round

3 Rafael Nadal d 16 Philipp Kohlschreiber - 62 64

And that's 44 straight match wins at Monte-Carlo.

Nuf said.

Stanislas Wawrinka Upsets Andy Murray in 3rd Round at Monte-Carlo

ATP Masters Series 1000 Monte-Carlo - Men's Third Round

13 Stanislas Wawrinka d 2 Andy Murray - 61 62

It's not often Andy loses in under an hour but today Stan wholloped him.

Swiss brotherhood: Stan's win helped Roger get back to #2 next week.

This is his 3rd M-C Qf: 1-1. He'll next play Tsonga - I'll call that 50-50.

Post match: He's an amazing player. He's always tough to beat.

Therefore, to beat Andy that easy was a big surprise, for sure.

I'm playing really good, really strong, really confident with my game.

I know what he's looking for in his game. He's playing slow,

he's playing from the baseline, he's not putting so much pressure.

For me on clay, it's perfect.

Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray & Rafael Nadal All Advance at Monte-Carlo

ATP Masters Series 1000 Monte-Carlo - Men's Second Round

1 Novak Djokovic d Mikhail Youzhny - 46 61 64

Phew... That was a little closer than Nole might have liked.

But remember he suffered a severe ankle twist just 10 days ago.

It can't be 100% so he's lucky to be playing. Let's see how far he goes.

*** 

2 Andy Murray d Q Edouardo Roger-Vasselin - 61 64

Andy has been in M-C practicing for a week or so...

He's keen on proving himself on clay.

He's never been to a clay court final on tour.

Tho he's been to a couple Sf's here at M-C.

He got a tough draw this week so that 1st clay final may have to wait.

***

3 Rafael Nadal d Marinko Matosevic - 61 62

In the 9 years Rafa has played here he's lost ONE match.

And he's only given up EIGHT sets. These are crazy stats.

In his eight straight title runs he's not lost a set before the Sf's.

That won't change tomorrow against 16 Kohlschreiber either.

John Isner Wins ATP Title at Houston and Then Promptly Loses 1st Round at Monte-Carlo Two Days Later

ATP 250 Houston - Men's Final

5 John Isner d 1 Nicolas Almagro - 63 75

John won his 6 title and has now won an ATP title 4 years running.

Post match: I've always known I could play well on clay.

Then two days later he's across the Atlantic playing at M-C.

***

ATP Masters Series 1000 Monte-Carlo - First Round

Ernests Gulbis d w/c John Isner - 46 62 63

I'm thinking he should have pulled from this tournament.

But he asked for a wild-card and I suppose he didn't want to waffle.

Almagro (Houston runner-up) barely got out of the first round himself.

This has to be one of the toughest turn-arounds in tennis.

Rest up. This is just the start of the long European swing.

Andy Murray Wins Epic Match to Earn 2nd Miami Title

ATP Masters Series 1000 Miami - Men's Final

2 Andy Murray d 3 David Ferrer - 26 64 76(1)

Meet the new world #2. He's been there before, briefly...

This time around he'll be there quite a lot longer.

This is Andy's 9th Masters title and 2nd at Miami: '09.

Spare a thought for Ferrer - poor guy had a match point up 6-5.

Anyway, many are calling this a great match - it wasn't.

It was just a long match with neither of them playing well in the 3rd.

Andy agreed post match: I think it was an exciting match.

I don't think either of us played our best tennis.

There was a lot of breaks and ups and downs, [and] quite a lot of

mistakes from both of us. But what I did do was fight hard,

showed good mental strength to get through that match,

because it easily could have slipped away from me.

Yum, yeah. If by exciting you mean frustrating.

 

Andy Murray & David Ferrer to Play for Title at Miami

ATP Masters Series 1000 Miami - Men's Semifinals

2 Andy Murray d 8 Richard Gasquet - 67(3) 61 62

3 David Ferrer d 15 Tommy Haas - 46 62 63

Those were a couple of fun come-from-behind victories.

Much better matches than the women's Sf's - if we're being honest.

Andy is playing for his 9th Masters title and 2nd at Miami.

Between '08-'11 Andy won 2 Masters titles a year. But none last year.

Although he did manage 2 much bigger titles: the Olympics & US Open.

As for David, he's playing for his 2nd Masters title.

Remember he won his 1st at the final Masters of 2012 at Paris.

He's over 30 and playing the best tennis of his career.

Andy & David are nearly even in their 11 matches - H2H: 6-5/Murray.

They split their 2 encounters last year.

On hard courts tho it's a different story - 5-1/Murray.

I think this will be a very close and entertaining match. Alarm set.

Richard Gasquet Wins Marathon to Move into Quarterfinals at Miami

ATP Masters Series 1000 Miami - Men's 4th Round

8 Richard Gasquet d 10 Nicolas Almagro - 67(3) 75 76(3)

This is Richard's 10th Masters 1000 Qf: 5-4.

He will next face Tomas Berdych - H2H: 4-3/Gasquet.

Richard is beginning to show signs of nice improvement.

Remember: He's won 2 titles already this year.

And a trophy lift here would tie him with Rafa for most on the season.

Oh... I have gotten waaaaaay ahead of things.

 

Tommy Haas Upsets Novak Djokovic at Miami

ATP Masters Series 1000 Miami - Men's 4th Round

15 Tommy Haas d 1 Novak Djokovic - 62 64

Wow. Who on this planet saw this one coming?

I mean, Tommy is a week away from his 35th birthday.

Nole had not played his 1st ATP match when Tommy 1st played at Miami.

This is the second time in Tommy's career he's beaten a #1 player.

The first time was against Andre Agassi all the way back in 1999.

Tommy improves his Miami record to 14-11. This is his 1st Qf here.

He'll will face Gilles Simon - he has a winning record - H2H: 4-1/Haas.

Can the old guy make an improbable run to the Sf's or *gasp* final?

David Ferrer Thru to Quarterfinals at Miami

ATP Masters Series 1000 Miami - Men's 4th Round

3 David Ferrer d 13 Kei Nishikori - 64 62

Remember back in olden times when 30 was old in tennis?

David will be 31 next week and he's playing like he's in his early 20's.

I'm liking this longevity thing happening in tennis.

I mean, the 'old guy' completely dismantled his young foe today.

This is David's 3rd straight Miami Qf - he's lost the last 2 years.

But he has been a Sf-ist here twice before: '05 & '06.

And with Roger and Rafa not playing he should make it 3 Sf's.

He will next play the Juergen Melzer - H2H: 6-2/Ferrer.

A battle of over-30 year olds. Get use to it y'all.

***

Photo: David and girlfriend at the Miami players party.

Andy Murray Moves into 4th Round at Miami

ATP Masters Series 1000 Miami - Men's 3rd Round

2 Andy Murray d 29 Grigor Dimitrov - 76(3) 63

The Scot is still in the hunt to add a 2nd Miami title ('09) to his resume.

Remember: He was runner-up to Novak last year.

There he is with hot-right-now DJ Calvin Harris. My question is...

Who knew Calvin was so tall?

Or is he doing the Tom Cruise and standing on a box?

 

Janko Tipsarevic Snaps Losing Streak at Miami

ATP Masters Series 1000 Miami - Men's 3rd Round

7 Janko Tipsarevic d 28 Kevin Anderson - 46 76(5) 60

This is the 1st time he's won back-to-back matches since the Aussie Open.

In fact, since the AO he's lost his 1st match in 4 straight tournies.

Historically Janko has been to the Qf's twice at Miami: '08 & '12.

So he hasn't yet protected his ranking points just yet.

And he'll have a tough one in the 4th round against Gilles Simon.

Simon carries a winning head-to-head into that match - H2H: 6-2/Simon.

If anything Janko must be pleased to snap that losing streak tho.

Adje!

Arnaud Clement Watch: He's in Miami Bitch

And he's blowing kisses at me thru the TV. Oh heeeeeey.

Novak Djokovic Wins Opener at ATP Miami 2013

ATP Masters Series 1000 - Men's 2nd Round

1 Novak Djokovic d Lukas Rosol - 61 60

Novak was off the court in under an hour - 53:20.

Remember: Rosol was the clown that took out Rafa at Wimby last year.

Hat trick alert: Nole is going for 3 in-a-row and a 4th title at Miami.

Post match: It is a great start. After Indian Wells, I tried to rest.

There are different conditions here, but tonight was perfect for tennis.

I enjoyed every moment of it and I love this court.

He's also loving the beach romping with his pup.

***

Photo: Pinched from Nole's Facebook page.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Feliciano Lopez and ATP Stars Giving Dolphin Love

You know the tour is in Miami when these Dolphin Harbor pics show up.

Lucky ass damn dolphin.

Rafael Nadal Wins ATP Title at Indian Wells

ATP Masters Series 1000 Indian Wells - Men's Final

5 Rafael Nadal d 7 Juan Martin Del Potro - 46 63 64

Rafa came from a set and a break to notch a record 22nd Masters title.

This also marks a milestone as this was his 600th match victory.

Winning his 3rd title at Indian Wells ('07 & '09) moves him back up to #4.

But that will be temporary as he's not going to defend Sf points at Miami.

This was also his 1st hard court title since October 2010 at Tokyo.

Rafa's 4 tournament comeback swing sure was a success.

He made the final of all 4, winning 3 of them: Sao Paulo, Acapulco & IW.

And suddenly -poof- he's the tour leader in titles won.

This is the best start to a season he's ever enjoyed: 17-1.

We will next see him at Monte-Carlo where he is the 8-time defender.

Post match: A lot of things happened the last seven months, [so]

to be back here and to have this very heavy trophy with me is amazing.

Beating three Top 10 players and winning a title like this is just something

unbelievable for me. I'm very, very happy and very emotional.

Your Rafaholics were too. Trust.

Shirtless Sexy Fernando Verdasco Warm Up at indian Wells

Jus' cuz.

You're welcome ladies and gays.

Novak Djokovic into Semifinals at Indian Wells

ATP Masters Series 1000 Indian Wells - Quarterfinal

1 Novak Djokovic d 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - 63 61

In under an hour y'all.

Nole has won his last 3 tournies: Tour Finals, Aussie Open and Dubai.

He is looking for his 3rd title here ('08, '11) and a 4th final.

He will need to get thru 7 Juan Martin Del Potro - H2H: 8-2/Novak.

Novak has taken their last 4 meetings - he's won 9 of their last 10 sets.

Post match: I tried to pay attention to my game.

I really didn't care about how my opponent felt. I just tried to focus on

the job I needed to do, and my performance was really good.

I served really well and used the shots around the court well,

and that's what matters for me.

I'm looking forward to a Nole/Rafa final. Make it happen boys.