TennisToday

Tommy Robredo Continues His Improbable Run into the Quarterfinals at French Open

French Open - Men's Fourth Round

32 Tommy Robredo d 11 Nicolas Almagro - 67(5) 36 64 64 64

Tommy has sooooooooooo earned those tears of joy.

I mean. How on earth is he into the quarters?

This was his 3rd straight match coming back from 2 set to none.

The last man to win 3 straight 0-2's was Cochet at Wimby back in 1927.

And this is a guy that started the season outside the top 100.

And if that weren't enought - he's over 30.

I did say improbable, didn't I. Beret's off to you Tommy.

This is Tommy's 4th trip to the RG quarters: 0-3.

Post match: I think that being in the quarter-finals again, it's amazing,

and also with three comebacks the way I did. I just need to enjoy it

because I think that in tennis, we need to enjoy it when we do great

things and keep focused. Because if it's possible, why not? [I could be]

one time in the semi-finals here.

***

Who has the nerve to doubt him now?

But Tommy faces a tall test next against Ferrer - H2H: 6-2/Ferrer.

But didn't we all say that about his match today?

Exactly.

Rafael Nadal Wins 8th ATP Title at Barcelona

Barcelona ATP 500 - Men's Final

2 Rafael Nadal d 4 Nicolas Almagro - 64 63

This is Rafa's 8th title at BCN - he's only lost 1 match here - 10 years ago.

This marks his 54th title and 39th on clay.

He is now 13-0 against fellow Spaniards in finals. And 10-0 against Nico.

If that weren't enough - Rafa is the only man to win 2 tournies 8 times.

And he'll be looking for an 8th in about a month at Roland Garros.

Post: I feel very happy to lift the trophy once again here in Barcelona.

It means a lot especially after the difficult year I’ve had.

But what a comeback: 6 finals in 6 tournies - winning 4 of them.

In fact, he is the tour leader is titles so far in 2013.

Talk about a big vamos.

And the point of the match - Rafa's twenner realness:

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.

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.

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.

 

Nicolas Almagro Reaches 300 Match Wins at Acapulco

ATP 500 Acapulco - Men's Second Round

3 Nicolas Almagro d Tommy Robredo - 64 76(4)

Ok, that's win #301. But better late with the props than never.

#300 was won against Mexican wild-card Cesar Ramirez in the 1st round.

There. Aknowledged. Congrats Nico.

Post match: I'm happy for the number and

I hope there will be many more [wins] to come.

I want to enjoy the moment a little but I need to keep working hard.

Vamos.

David Ferrer Wins 5 Set Thriller to Gain Semifinals at Australian Open

Australian Open - Men's Quarterfinal

4 David Ferrer d 10 Nicolas Almagro - 46 46 75 76(4) 62

Nico. Nico. Nico. He had three chances to serve this thing out.

Someone is going to not sleep well for a long time.

This is David's 2nd Aussie Sf and 5 at a Slam - he's never won one.

Post match: I try to fight every point, every game.

“I know all the players, in important moments, we are nervous.

I know that. Today I was close to lost, sure. But finally I come back, no?

About playing Novak Djokovic in the Sf's:

Novak, I think now he's recovery, sure, because his physic is unbelievable.

He's the best, I think. You know, every day is different:

the weather, the conditions.

I don't know what is going to be tonight with Tomas Berdych,

but I hope it will be a long match.

It's so hard not to like this cool cat.

David Ferrer Thru to Quarterfinals at Australian Open

Australian Open - Men's Fourth Round

4 David Ferrer d 16 Kei Nishikori - 62 61 64

David moves into his 3rd straight AO Qf and 4th overall: 1-2.

This is also the 5th consecutive Slam into the Qf's: 2-2.

He will face countryman 10 Nicolas Almagro - he's own him: 12-0.

His reward is that he'll pass Rafael Nadal and move to #4 in the rankings.

One must consider him a decent threat to win a Slam:

It is very difficult to win a Grand Slam because there are the Top 4.

In this moment, the last three or four years,

they are better than the other players.

But I am not thinking about if I have the chance to win a Grand Slam.

I am only focused with every match I will play.

Screw the humble crap - go get it.

David Ferrer winning the Aussie Open is a-ok with me.

Spaniards Verdasco & Almagro Both Need 5 Set to Advance to 2nd Round at Australian Open

Australian Open - Men's First Round

22 Fernando Verdasco (above) d David Goffin - 63 36 46 63 64

10 Nicolas Almagro (below) d Steve Johnson - 75 67(4) 62 67(6) 62

Boys. Boys. Boys. Get it together. Ferrer can't carry Spain all by himself.

Fern lost in the 1st round last year and Nico in the 4th round.

So hey, Fern is already earning points.

Too bad that Hopman Cup title is an exhibition.

Oh and in more awesome Fern news he joined Instagram: @feverdasco7.

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.

***

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.

***

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.

Rafael Nadal & David Ferrer Set Semifinal Clash at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Men's Quarterfinals

2 Rafael Nadal d 12 Nicolas Almagro - 76(4) 62 63

6 David Ferrer d 4 Andy Murray - 64 67(3) 63 62

Spain will have it's top 2 players battle for a spot in the RG finals.

***

This is Rafa's 7th RG Sf: 6-0 and 19th at a Slam: 15-3.

He becomes the 6th man to notches 50+ match wins at Roland Garros:

Vilas (56), Federer (54), Lendl (53), Agassi (51), Pietrangeli (50).

Post match: The numbers say that I am playing well.

The red clay-court season was great, probably one of the best ...

Very happy.

***

This is David's 1st RG Sf and 3rd at a Slam: 0-2.

Post match: It was a very tough match & I'm happy.

It was in important moments that I played better than him (Murray).

***

2 Rafael Nadal vs 6 David Ferrer - H2H: 15-4/RN

Rafa is 12-1 on clay - David's 1 came back in '04 before Rafa was Rafa.

Interesting to note that David has a 2-1 lead on Rafa in Slam matches.

They have played twice this year and Rafa won them both in straight sets...

Tho 3 of those sets Rafa won with a 7 in the score.

Rafa on David: His game bothers everybody...

He is one of the best players in the world, on every surface.

David on Rafa: (Nadal) is the best player on claycourts in history and...

I will have to fight & play my best tennis to beat him.

And of course living in California NBC will eff this up for me.

Photos: Getty Images

Nicolas Almagro into Quarterfinals at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Men's Fourth Round

12 Nicolas Almagro d 8 Janko Tipsarevic - 64 64 64

This is Nico's 3rd trip to the RG quarterfinals: 0-2.

Interestinly, Nico has yet to drop a set at this tournament.

With a 1st round loss last year he may sneak into the top 10 next week.

Post match: I'm very happy. I think I played great tennis today.

The day was a little bit cloudy, but now it's really sunny for me.

[The] win is one of the best moments of my career and I want to enjoy [it].

He will probably face Rafa next who is up a set as I write this.

Tough task.

Photo: FFT

Janko Tipsarevic & Nicolas Almagro to Meet in the 4th Round at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Men's Third Round

8 Janko Tipsarevic d 29 Julien Benneteau - 63 75 64

12 Nicolas Almagro d Leonardo Mayer - 64 61 62

This is Janko's 1st trip to the 4th R at RG.

And in his 33rd Slam this is only his 4th time to a 4th R: 1-2.

This is Nico's 3rd trip to the 4th R at RG: 2-0.

And in his 31st Slam this is his 6th time to a 4th R: 2-3.

Janko and Nico have never played.

Nico has yet to drop a set. Janko lost a set to Querrey in the 1st round.

Also noteworthy: The Serb now has a 7 match winning streak on clay.

This has all the makings of a great encounter.

ATP & WTA Weekend Winners for May 26, 2012

WTA Brussels - Final

1 Agnieszka Radwanska d Simona Halep - 75 60

This is Aga's 10th WTA title and 3rd on the 2012 season.

She has lost to only 8 matches this year - 6 of them to Victoria Azarenka.

Aga is the #3 seed heading to Roland Garros.

And yep, you guessed it - she's in Vika's half of the draw.

But she'll have to get by Venus Williams in a possible 2nd round match.

And former champ Svetlana Kuznetsova in a possible 3rd rounder.

Yikes.

***

ATP 250 Nice - Final

3 Nicolas Almagro d Q Brian Baker - 63 62

Nico wins his 12th ATP title and 2nd of 2012 - both on clay.

He heads to Paris as the 12th seed. And zero points to defend.

There is definately upward movement in the rankings to be had here.

Proveded he avoids the 'win a title 1 week/lose early the next' curse.

He's seeded to meet Tipsarevic in the 4R & Nadal in the Qf's.

***

WTA Strasbourg - Final

2 Francesca Schiavone d WC Alize Cornet - 64 64

This is Fran's 5th WTA title.

And her first since winning Roland Garros in 2010.

Speaking of... she'll play Kimiko Date-Krumm in the 1st round.

They have a combined age of 70-something.

Possibly the oldest match we'll see all year.

Fran is also in the Petra Kvitova/Li Na quarter.

Mardy Fish Finally Wins Back-to-Back Matches this Year - At Miami

ATP Masters Series 1000 Miami - Third Round

8 Mardy Fish d 28 Kevin Anderson - 64 63

Mardy bitched about not playing the stadium court here and at IW.

You gotta win matches bub. Today was a good start.

It's the first time Mardy has won back-to-back matches all year.

He'll next face 12 Nicolas Almagro - H2H: 2-0/MF.

And guess what? It's being played on the Grandstand tomorrow.

It's a nice court Mardy. Deal.

Photo: Getty Images

ATP's Weekend Arm Raisers for Feb 26, 2012

ATP 250 Buenos Aires - Final

1 David Ferrer d 2 Nicolas Almagro - 46 63 62

And that's title #13 in a solid career and his 2nd on the year - so far.

David moves his H2H over countryman Nicolas to 9-0.

He'll continue the Golden Swing of South America at Acapulco this week.

ATP 500 Memphis - Final

Jurgen Melzer d 4 Milos Raonic - 75 76(4)

This marks the 4th time Jurgen has lifted an ATP trophy.

He had a remarkable seed-toppling week also downing 1 Isner & 3 Stepanek.

Moving up: The win bumps him 19 placed to #19.

No rest: Jurgen is playing singles and doubles at Delray Beach this week.

I'm exhausted just typing these 4 sentences.

ATP 250 Marseille - Final

4 Juan Martin Del Potro d Michael Llodra - 64 64

DelPo bags career title #10 on the ATP tour.

He will not defend his title at Delray Beach opting instead to play at Dubai.

He's (rightfully) back playing with the big boys.

Photos: Reuters, AP, Reuters

Nicolas Almagro Upset at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - First Round

Lukasz Kubot d 11 Nicolas Almagro - 36 26 76(3) 76(5) 64

Complete shocker.

Nico came in here as the 3rd or 4th best clay courter of the year.

I just do not like when these contenders play the week before a Slam.

Remember, he just won the title in Nice on Saturday.

We should have been talking about Nico in the second week.

Like I said: Complete. Shocker.

Photo: Reuters

Caroline Wozniacki, Nicolas Almagro & Andrea Petkovic All Tournament Winners Today

Brussels WTA

1 Caroline Wozniacki d 8 Shuai Peng - 26 63 63

Title #16.

Could this be a bit of foreshadowing? This was her first title on red clay.

She will play twice her age Kimiko Date Krumm 1st R at Roland Garros.

Heading for a certain showdown with Sam Stosur in the Qf's.

***

Nice ATP 250

3 Nicolas Almagro d Victor Hanescu - 67(5) 63 63

This is Nico's 10th career title & 3rd of the year - all on clay.

He must be considered a player who will make a decent run at RG.

Nico will open against Lukasz Kubot & is in the Murray/Melzer quarter.

***

Strasbourg WTA

2 Andrea Petkovic d 1 Marion Bartoli - 64 1-0 ret.

Petko wins her 2nd title and first in nearly two years.

She is certainly a dark horse in Paris.

She will begin her Roland Garros play against Bojana Jovanovski.

She is in the Clijsters/Sharapova quarter.

Nicolas Almagro: Welcome to the Top 10

Attention must be given to Nico for entering the top 10 for the first time.

He was pushed into the top 10 by his Sf showing in Barcelona last week.

At #10 this week he is the 3rd ranked Spaniard - behind Nadal and Ferrer.

Nico turned pro in '03 and has captured 9 titles - all on clay.

2 of those titles came this year in Costa do Sauipe & Buenos Aires.

At 25 years-old Nico has earned nearly 5 million in prize money.

He's taking this week off and will head to Madrid after reaching the Sf in '10.

Well done Nico.