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David Ferrer Thru to Semifinals at the French Open

French Open - Men's Quarterfinal

4 David Ferrer d 32 Tommy Robredo - 62 61 61

Well. This was a no brainer. Poor Tommy must've been extremely pooped.

This is David's 3rd straight Slam Sf and 6th over all. He is 0-5.

Boy, if ever he had a shot at a final - this would be it.

And if that weren't enough - he is the only man not to drop a set.

David next faces Jo-Willy in the Sf's and has a 2-1 H2H against him.

Post match: I think it's quite normal [that] the crowd is going to be

supporting Jo. He's French and I am very happy he's made it that far.

I'll do everything I can to make it to the final. I have to remain focused.

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.

Tommy Robredo Wins Title at Casablanca

ATP 250 Casablanca - Men's Final

Tommy Robredo d 2 Kevin Anderson - 76(6) 46 63

It's seems to be a great time for the over 30 set in tennis.

A few weeks shy of his 31st birthday and Tommy wins a sweet title.

This is his 11th title - 10th on clay. And his 1st in more that 2 years.

It must feel good as his ranking dipped into the 400's last year.

Tommy: Today, I was pretty nervous since this is very important for me.

I really wanted to win this.

I'm very happy to win a title again after my injury. It's just great!

Those points will help me a lot in the ranking.

The goal is to arrive in Roland Garros in the best form possible.

He's not too far off from being seeded at RG.

Another good run somewhere and you just never know...

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.

Injured Tommy Robredo Tweets "Therapy" Photo

Tommy is getting his... uh... leg worked on.

Fernando Verdasco Loses in Monte-Carlo and Will Tumble Out of the Top 10

Monte-Carlo Masters 1000 - 2nd Round

Tommy Robredo d 6 Fernando Verdasco - 64 63

What on earth is happeneing to Fern?

Yikes: He is now 9-8 on the year with 5 1st match exits piled on.

As the runner-up here last year his ranking will take a hit - to #12ish.

But it will take another hit immediately if he doesn't turn things around.

He is the defending champ next week in Barcelona & a Sf'ist in Rome.

In fact, he has 1,100 points to defend thru Roland Garros.

And with the way he's been playing the last 6 months or so, I dunno...

Tommy Robredo Thru to Qf's at Indian Wells

Indian Wells ATP Masters 1000 - Fourth Round

25 Tommy Robredo d 21 Sam Querrey - 61 63

Tommy injured his groin & played one-legged for 20 minutes & still won.

Tommy moves into his 15th Masters Qf: 5-9. And 2nd straight at IW: 0-1.

As for Sam, they reported that he left all his rackets on the court.

In wrestling when you retire you leave your shoes (or something) in the ring.

Hmmmm... maybe Sam is thinking of taking a break?

The trio of Querrey/Isner/Fish have played a combined 87 Masters 1000's.

Of the 87 together they have gone to the Qf's a total of 5 times.

FIVE.

***

I took the photo of Tommy during his match at IW on Saturday.

ATP Men's Tennis Weekend Winners

We almost got a trifecta of 1st time ATP winners yesterday.

Tommy Robredo spoiled the party.

***

Johannesburg: 4 Kevin Anderdon d Somdev Devvarman - 46 63 62

Kevin wins his first ATP title & bumps his ranking to a career high of #40.

After the match he donated R5,000 to the Save the Rhino campaign.

***

Zagreb: Ivan Dodig d 8 Michael Berrer - 63 64

Ivan wins his first ATP title & bumps his ranking to a career high of #60.

***

Santiago: 6 Tommy Robredo d 8 Santiago Giraldo - 62 26 76(5)

Santiago had a match point to make it 3 newbie winners yesterday.

Tommy's win bumps him up to #31 as he heads to the Brazil Open.

Photos: Getty Images

Nicolas Almagro & Thomaz Bellucci Promote This Weeks Brazil Open

I love these promotional gimmicks and Costa do Sauipe looks quite nice.

It'll be interesting to see if Dolgopolov will continue his winning form here.

He has a good draw & is in Montanes half. Is his 1st final in the offing?

Brazil Open ATP 250 - Seeded Players

1. Nicolas Almagro - 2008 Winner

2. Albert Montanes - '04, '07, '08, '10 Round of 16

3. Thomaz Bellucci - '09 Runner-Up

4. Alexandr Dolgopolov - Debut

5. Juan Ignacio Chela - '07 Sf'ist

6. Tommy Robredo - 2009 Winner

7. Potito Starace - '07 Qf'ist

8. Victor Hanescu - '10 Round of 16

Roger Federer into Quarterfinals at Australian Open

Australian Open - Men's Fourth Round

2 Roger Federer d Tommy Robredo - 63 36 63 62

With the win Roger ties Jimmy Connors with 27 consecutive Slam Qf's.

Remarkable: In all, he moves into his 31st Slam Qf: 26-4.

Rog had a bit of a hiccup in the 2nd set - other than that he was top flight.

He improves his Aussie Open W/L to 58-7.

Rog is the only active player with more than 55 wins in at least 3 Slams.

He will play the winner of Roddick/Wawrinka - to be played later tonight.

Federer fans might prefer Andy to win that one.

As for Tommy, after a 1st round loss last year he'll get a good ranking bump.

But it was a bad day for Spaniards as Robredo, Verdasco & Amalgro all lost.

Photos: Getty Images

 

6 Spaniards into the 8 Semifinal Spots on Offer in ATP 250's at Bastad & Stuttgart

And we're not even talking about the 2 in the top 10 - Nadal & Verdasco.

***

Bastad ATP 250

1 Robin Soderling vs 3 David Ferrer - H2H: 6-2

Remember Robin just won 7-5 in the 5th in the 4th Round at Wimbledon.

This is their 3rd meeting in Bastad: 1-1.

4 Nicolas Almagro vs 5 Tommy Robredo (above) - H2H: 1-0

Strange they've only met once - in Hamburg '07.

Tommy could use this win as he's having an awful year: 11-12.

Tommy did have a great win today beating Verdasco in the quarters.

***

Stuttgart ATP 250

3 Gael Monfils vs Daniel Gimeno Traver - H2H: 0-0

#17 vs #88 - Monfils should have this but... maybe a Davis Cup hangover?

4 Juan Carlos Ferrero vs 5 Albert Montanes - H2H: 5-0

JC had a wonderful South American clay court swing - 2 titles in 3 finals.

Then he fell apart on Euro clay leading up to Roland Garros.

Now he's rocking the clay again...  Where was this a couple months ago?

Wimbledon's Fallen Seeds & Notables on Day 1

The Men

Peter Luczak d 30 Tommy Robredo - 26 76(3) 62 75

Michal Przysiezny d 17 Ivan Ljubicic - 75 76(5) 63

Denis Istomin d 20 Stanislas Wawrinka - 67(5) 61 26 76(4) 63

Daniel Brands d Igor Andreev - 76(5) 76(4) 75

Arnaud Clement d Janko Tipsarevic - 63 36 64 75

The Women

Vera Dushevina d Francesca Schiavone - 67(0) 75 61

Greta Arn d 34 Kateryna Bondarenko - 76(1) 36 63

Shahar Peer d Ana Ivanovic - 63 64

Angelique Kerber d Sania Mirza - 64 61

Yung-Jan Chan d Patty Schnyder - 60 62

Karolina Sprem d Bethanie Mattek-Sands - 63 64

Photo: Reuters

Rafael Nadal (& Tommy Robredo) Lunch at the Roland Garros Players Cafeteria

Someone is carbo-loading for Zeballos tomorrow!

Hot Spanish Tennis Stars Cover XL Semanal Magazine

Guapo, guapo y guapo.

If you're a Spanish speaker you can view MAS AQUI.

Andy Roddick Reaches Semifinals in Indian Wells

7 Andy Roddick d 18 Tommy Robredo - 63 75

This is Andy's 4th visit to the semifinals in Indian Wells.

He is 0-3 in his previous semifinal matches: '05, '07, '09.

Andy is looking for his 5th Masters 1000 title & first since Cincy '06.

He will face the winner of Murray/Soderling being played now.

Photo: Reuters

Some Cool Photo's from Yesterday's Play in Indian Wells

Andy, Rafa, Caroline, Andy and Tommy - all winners yesterday.

Sadly, not Novak:

Photos: Reuters/Getty Images

  

Men's Quarterfinalists Set in Indian Wells

18 Tommy Robredo vs 7 Andy Roddick - H2H: 0-10

In fact, Roddick is 25-1 in sets over Robredo.

4 Andy Murray vs 6 Robin Soderling - H2H: 2-1

***

19 Tomas Berdych vs Rafael Nadal - H2H: 3-6

Rafa has won the last 5. Remember when this was a good rivalry?

21 Juan Monaco vs 20 Ivan Ljubicic - H2H: 1-1

Let's hear it for the old guy.

***

Photo: I took it during Rafa's practice session on Monday.

This Week the ATP Moves to Memphis, Marseilles and Buenos Aires

Marseilles ATP 250 - Top Seeded Players

1. Robin Soderling - Runner-up '04

2. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (above) - Winner '09

3. Gael Monfils - Round of 32 in '05 '06 '06 '09

4. Tommy Robredo - Round of 16 in '02

Memphis ATP 500 - Top Seeded Players

1. Andy Roddick - Winner '02 '09

2. Fernando Verdasco - Debut

3. Radeck Stepanek - Runner-up '09

4. Tommy Hass - Winner '99 '06 '07

Buenos Aires ATP 250 - Top Seeded Players

1. David Ferrer - Quarterfinalist '04

2. Juan Carlos Ferrero - Semifinalist '06

3. Nicolas Almagro - Semifinalist '07

4. Juan Monaco - Winner '07

Photo: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga by Stephan Bollinger

Tommy Robredo & Feliciano Lopez sure make a great looking doubles team!

This may just be the best looking doubles pairing in the history of man.

Shh, don't tell Verdasco.

So ok, looks don't always win.

They lost to top seeds Nestor/Zimonjic 63 64 - in Rotterdam today.

Photos: Getty Images

Weekend Winner Wrap-Up - January 10, 2010

Brisbane International in Australia

Andy Roddick d. Radek Stepanek - 76(1) 76(8)

Kim Clijsters d. Justine Henin - 63 46 76(6)

Chennai Open in India

Croatian Marin Cilic  Photo: Eurosport

Marin Cilic d. Stanislas Wawrinka - 76(2) 76(3)

Qatar Open in Doha

Nikolay Davydenko d. Rafael Nadal - 06 76(8) 64

ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand

Yanina Wickmayer d. Flavia Pennetta - 63 62

Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia

Spain's Tommy Robredo & Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez d.

Great Britain's Andy Murray & Laura Robson - 2 matches to 1