Category Archives: ATP Tour
The Nowhere Men
Buenos Aires, Semifinals (2) Almagro d. (6) Wawrinka, 6/4 3/6 7/5 A good day of tennis will sometimes come at you from nowhere. When it occurs on the final Saturday of a slow week boasting nothing more glamorous than a … Continue reading
Filed under ATP Tour
Pinecones in a Brushfire
Marseilles, Second Round Olivetti d. (2) Fish, 6/3 3/6 6/3 Mardy Fish today lost in the second round of the Open 13 in Marseilles, having survived a bye in the first. He lost to Albano Olivetti. Casual fans will be … Continue reading
Filed under ATP Tour
The Wrong Place
I’ve always maintained that Nicolas Almagro is the best clay courter in the world until the better ones turn up. It was an uncontroversial opinion usefully illustrated during last year’s Golden Swing, as Almagro conducted a stately procession through Brazil, … Continue reading
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The Twilight of the Ponies
Rotterdam, Final (1) Federer d. (3) del Potro, 6/1 6/4 For no defensible reason, Juan Martin del Potro remains inextricably connected with Nikolay Davydenko in my mind. There are, of course, the striking physical similarities (I’m astonished Ivan Reitman has … Continue reading
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A Fine Week in Holland
Rotterdam, Semifinal (1) Federer d. Davydenko, 4/6 6/3 6/4 The last time Nikolay Davydenko took a set from Roger Federer was in the quarterfinal of the 2010 Australian Open, a notorious match that remains almost unique in the history of … Continue reading
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Worst-of-Three
Sao Paulo, Second Round (3) Verdasco d. Marti, 6/4 6/7 7/5 Fernando Verdasco, in cahoots with Rafael Nadal, last year produced what was by broad consensus the worst tennis match of 2011, at the Cincinnati Masters. They are compatriots but … Continue reading
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Empty Bleachers
Sao Paulo, First Round (Q) Andreev d. (WC) Gonzalez, 6/2 6/3 Although the chances are good that later events will run it close, the award for least surprising news of the week must so far go to Fernando Verdasco’s decision … Continue reading
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The Outward Display of Prestige
In the scheme of things, awards ceremonies mean little. That Novak Djokovic won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award tells us nothing about his 2011 season that we didn’t already know, although I suppose more people might now … Continue reading
Filed under ATP Tour, Grand Slams, ITF
Jelly Bean Platters
Montpellier, Final (1) Berdych d. (3) Monfils, 6/2 4/6 6/3 Discounting Queens – which makes green hay the week after Roland Garros, owing to a perfect storm of prestige and a cruelly short grass season – no tournament placed directly … Continue reading
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In Praise of Certainty
One year ago, Kevin Anderson’s most pressing concern was to avoid goring himself on his maiden trophy at the SA Tennis Open, a trophy that bore a suspicious resemblance to a pair of gold-inlaid impala horns attached to a hunk … Continue reading
Filed under ATP Tour