Wimbledon 2011: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

by Mad Professah, contributing writer 

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2011. Last year's I correctly predicted the results of 1 of 4 men's quarterfinals right before I got on a plane to London to attend the men's final. This year I correctly predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals.  

Rafael Nadal ESP (1) vs. Tomas Berdych CZE (6) Mardy Fish USA (10). Who would have thought that the last American player remaining in the draw at Wimbledon deep in the second week would be Mardy Fish? The American took out last year's Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych by exposing the 6'5" Czech mobility deficit with blistering groundstrokes into the corners and confident volleys following very big serves. Nadal was lucky to escape his meeting with Juan Martin del Potro in the 4th round but did not come away unscathed; apparently there is a foot or heel injury which is invisible to MRIs but which caused Nadal to take a 9-minute injury time-out at 6-all in the first set. The 2-time defending champion won that 1st set tie-break (despite being 0-3 down) and went on to win the match 7-6(6) 3-6 7-6(4) 6-4. Mardy has only one won set against Nadal in 5 career meetings, but all of their matches were played before Fish transformed himself by losing 30 pounds and dedicating himself to fitness. The results have been extraordinary: he is now the top rated American male and will likely be so for the foreseeable future. Unless Nadal's injury plays a factor, I still don't see Fish advancing from his first Wimbledon quarterfinal to his first Wimbledon semifinal. PREDICTION: Nadal.

Andy Murray GBR (4) vs. Feliciano Lopez ESP. The only drama in this match will be who will be the first to mention the "controversy" that one of the player's parents finds the other player attractive. Feliciano Lopez is definitely an excellent grass-court player and is unquestionably one of the most handsome players on the tour. He is in his third career Wimbledon quarterfinal, which is the furthest he has ever been in any major.  In 2011 he has already achieved a number of firsts, including having a match point against Roger Federer and defeating Andy Roddick for the first time. That being said, Murray has the hopes of a nation on his shoulders and after a surprisingly good result at this year's French Open appears to be comfortable with pressure he faces to play his best tennis in SW19. Murray has yet to lose on grass this year. He knows he could have played much better in his 2010 Wimbledon semifinal against Nadal last year and wants another chance. I think he'll get it. PREDICTION: Murray.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA (12) vs. Roger Federer SUI (3). This match should be the best of the 2011 Men's Quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Tsonga is a very good grass-court player, playing (but losing) a very good final against Murrayat the Queen's Club. Tsonga actually has a win against Federer (on hard courts) and has only played the Swiss Maestro 5 times so the career head-to-head deficit is not overwhelming. However, the fact that he will be playing Living History, the man who is in his 29th(!) consecutive major quarterfinal  and is trying to win this tournament for a record-tying 7th time must be daunting. Interestingly, since Tsonga had to play Grigor "Baby Fed" Dimitrov earlier in the tournament he may feel well-prepared to handle the real Federer on the big stage this time. Federer was able to dismiss Mikhail Youzhny in four sets after inexplicably dropping the first set tie-break after holding a 4-2 lead at the change over but he really didn't look comfortable to me despite the 6-7(5) 6-3 6-3 6-3 scoreline. Youzhny is a crafty veteran but he does not possess the firepower to really give Federer difficulties at crucial moments. Tsonga does. That being said Federer is aiming for his 27th major semifinal and 22nd major final. I believe that he will reach both. PREDICTION: Federer. 

Bernard Tomic AUS  vs. Novak Djokovic SRB (2). For the first time in 25 years one of the men's quarterfinalists is an 18-year-old, Bernard Tomic. Australians, especially his father, have been talking up Tomic's talent for years so it is impressive the youngster has matched a feat last achieve by Boris Becker. But there the similarities end. Tomic's game is like Murray 2.0 when he was 18: lots of different spins, excellent movement, full of guile and almost zero aggression.  It is not an attractive picture. Djokovic, despite only losing one match (out of 46 played!) all year long, has progressed through the draw like a ninja, silently dispatching his opponents by gliding around the court, seeming to do very little only to see the vanquished drop to the ground, defeated. He had a slight hiccup against a game Marcos Baghdatis, but one never really believed that the World's #2 was in any danger of losing. I have a very similar feeling about this match. Most likely for the second major in a row, the Top 4 players will reach the semifinals.   PREDICTION: Djokovic. 

A Rarity: Rafa Vs. Raja In America

by Craig Hickman

The first time they ever played a professional match, Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in straight sets right here in Miami. It was 2004, back when the Sony Ericsson Open was called the Nasdaq 100 Open (which goes directly to the point Randy made earlier: corporate sponsors come and go, place names remain the same). Second time they played a professional match? The very next year, right here in Miami, in the final, when it was still best of five. After racing out to a two-set lead, Rafa wearied (yes, there was a time when the youngster got tired on the court), choked as well (he still does that), and lost the final in five sets.

For the first time since 2005, Rafa and Raja will play a match in the United States, in the only venue where they've played a match in the United States. Rafa leads four sets to two. And while his first serve has looked shaky over the last two events (though it got him out of trouble in the opening game of the third set last night), he's clearly a better player now than he was back then. Raja, not so much. Which means Rafa is supposed to win easily right? Well, Raja got a virtual walkover yesterday afternoon when Gilles Simon retired after 3 games citing a stiff neck. Rafa was on court later in the evening and night battling Tomas Berdych to a 3-set victory. Somewhere during that match, he needed his right shoulder tended. Some might say that for Raja to defeat Rafa these days, he'll need a lot of luck. Well....

I, for one, am actually more interested in the first semifinal between Novak Djokovic and Mardy Fish. Yes, Djoke has literally been unbeatable in 2011. But he's got to lose sooner or later. And while Fish has never been able to beat the Serb in five tries, outside of the US Open, Fish has won a set in each of their three meetings in the United States, all on hard courts, one in the finals of Indian Wells three years ago. As Jim Courier always says, if you can win one set you can win two. As the last American standing in both draws, Fish will be the overwhelming crowd favorite. The daytime conditions will keep his big serve moving through the court. He'll have to play a near perfect match, though, because Djoke is playing with house money. The only player to participate in the charity soccer event for Japan relief still in the draw, he's looking more like a machine than a tennis player. Frankly, I'm becoming bored by his dominance. It would be just like Fish to end his streak, especially since so few believe he can.

Ultimately, I believe we'll have a repeat of the Indian Wells final two weeks ago. Here's hoping the way there is exciting, dramatic, and full of great tennis.

US OPEN 2010: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

By MadProfessah

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at the US Open for 2010.

Roger Federer SUI (2) vs. Robin Soderling SWE (5). The showdown everyone has been waiting for since the draw was released is this repeat from the 2010 French Open quarterfinal where the Big Swede ended Federer's streak of 23 consecutive major semifinals on a cold, wet day in Paris. Soderling has become a legitimate Top 5 player, playing in the last two Roland Garros finals (losing both). Federer's recent disappointments at majors have all come at the hands of tall, muscular, mobile players like Soderling (French Open 2010) Berdych (Wimbledon 2010) and Juan Martin del Potro (US Open 2009). It is supremely possible that this could be another addition to that string. But, I doubt it. Federer has something to prove, and like most great players hates to lose to any player twice in a row. For Federer to win he will need to play better than he did against Jurgen Melzer in the 4th Round, and he has to hope that his felicitous luck continues. PREDICTION: Federer in 4 sets.

Gael Monfils FRA (17) vs. Novak Djokovic SRB (3). The extremely gifted French player has never beaten the Serbian champion, but a lot of their matches have actually been pretty close. The annoying aspect of Monfils' game is that despite being (in Jim Courier's words) "the most gifted athlete tennis has ever produced," the 6'4" 176-pound speedster plays a defensive, counter-punching style of tennis. Monfils did well to dismiss his even more gifted French compatriot Richard Gasquet in straight sets in the fourth round (winning the last 5 games) to reach his first ever US Open quarterfinal. Djokovic has also played well, easily dismissing American Mardy Fish in straight sets.Unless New York City gets very hot and/or Monfils (does and) starts playing the way all his coaches have been begging him to play (lights out, aggressive tennis) Djokovic will be in his fourth consecutive US Open semifinal, where he would most likely face Roger Federer for the third consecutive year.  PREDICTION: Djokovic in 4 sets. 

Andy Murray GBR (4) Sam Querrey USA (20) Stanislas Wawrinka SUI (25) vs. Mikhail Youzhny RUS (12). This is the dark horse spoiler quarter where Andy Murray went out early and loudly to the suddenly sharp other player from Switzerland. Wawrinka did very well to follow-up that big win with a strong-hearted outlasting of American Sam Querrey in 5-sets on a tough, windy day to win in just under 5 hours. Youzhny also dashed American hopes by taking out Marathon Man John Isner in the 3rd round. This will be the quiet quarter because no one expects the winner of this match to be able to win their next match and reach the 2010 US Open final. I agree, but Youzhny would be the player who could pose more questions for his future Spanish opponent. PREDICTION: Wawrinka in 3 sets or Youzhny in 4 or 5 sets.

Francisco Verdasco ESP (8) vs. Rafael Nadal ESP (1). This is a repeat of the now-legendary 2009 Australian Open Men's Semifinal where Nadal beat Verdasco in a 5-hour, 14-minute 5-sets instant classic. It's doubtful that this repeat will be as amazing as that match (very few matches in any year are). I'm sure many people would be satisfied if this match is as exciting as Verdasco's last match, where he came back from 2-sets to love down against David Ferrer and won the 5th set despite being down a service break and then 1-4 in the tie-break--winning the last 6 points of the match! Nadal is playing the best tennis I have ever seen him play, and is clearly the best player in the tournament so far (he still has not dropped serve!) but he hasn't really been tested. He has clearly had the better half of the draw and potentially will be able to reach the final of a major by only facing one Top 10 player. Verdasco has never beaten Nadal in ten attempts, but if he plays like his life depends on it, just maybe he can turn that stat around. After all, before Soderling beat Federer in France, he had lost to the Swiss player 11-times in a row. Is Verdasco how one pronounces Soderling in Spanish? PREDICTION: Nadal in 4 sets.

Cincy: Third Degree Burns.

 

There’s to be no getting around it: it would have been a consummate disaster for him not to win this one given the industrial-grade hydraulic leg-up he had received.

 

 

There were retirements: Istomin’s foot deprived us of what could have been a telling match either way (I’ve been following Dennis since he almost put Rafa out of Queens and, if you aren’t already, I suggest you do the same).

 

There were walk-overs: though for all we know, Kohls injured his shoulder falling off a bar stool in convulsive fits after viewing a scratchy DVD labelled ‘GiggleFest’ someone had sneakily slid under his hotel door overnight.

 

And he didn’t even display the sense of fair play or good breeding by “manning up” to  face a top five player now, did he?

 

Personally, I don’t think Muzz and Djoko were ever a factor last week.

 

And whose fault is it that Rafa went out to Baggy anyway? Or that “Baggy-was-as Baggy-usually-is” a mere twenty four hours later?

 

There were, believe it or not, other talking points. There’s to be no getting around that either:

 

-- Fed’s kamikaze chip-and-charges; they got him burned at the net so many times I almost expected to hear of skin grafts being applied during a carefully screened MTO. And yet he persisted. Occasionally it paid off. Some even went as far as to suggest the match went on for as long as it did because he was “trying out stuff”.

 

I doubt that very much.  Mardy was simply serving too well.

 

 

Though there’s no question he’s been experimenting and, quite evidently, has been since Toronto: those opening sets he played against Djoko and Berd were so suffocatingly swift, so intoxicating in their intensity that had he polished up any sooner, would likely have been called up for a false start.

 

Though you get a sense that none of that somewhat dismissive brilliance would have been possible were it not also accompanied by it’s evil twin: those macabre, episodes of fug we saw later - so “neuerratic” in nature they might almost have been born of a dysfunctional aura and under a full moon.

 

“Cincy Tennis”, on the other hand, was a whole lot more straightforward. Where he might once have swung he sliced, where he might once have shanked he held back. And when he did deem it appropriate to end the rally, did so knowing he could end it on his terms either with either a very dressy drive volley at the net or a more routine forehand belted crisply from the back of the court.

 

I like what what I’m seeing – whether or not and however we choose to credit Annacone’s involvement is, at this stage, almost irrelevant.

 

 

 

 

-- Fish lost this on a single break deep in the final set. The previous two sets went to lengthy tie breaks. Fed wasn’t holding back one bit. All of which speaks volumes for a guy everyone seems so keen to hurl pejorative shit at (myself inc.).

 

It’s completely disingenuous to suggest that the match went on for as long as it did because of Fed’s ambivalence at his own play – almost as disingenuous as it is to harp on about Fed’s crappy breakpoint conversion rate without once giving a nod to the Mardy serve.

 

So now, if you don’t mind, I intend to give that nod.

 

And now, if you don’t mind, I intend to go back to hurling pejorative shit.

 

-- ARod posted back to back wins over Djoko and Sod. Ok, so it didn’t end the way he wanted (he only narrowly avoided a final set bagel against Fish)  and he really should have known better than to come down on the ump in the way he did – an act that is now as hammy as it is bedraggled.  But his last comparable spell was back at IW/Miami.

 

All things considered, an uplifting week not least in terms of his #9 ranking. That’s right, that great American rankings crisis was….not quite the subprime credit crunch we thought it was.

Federer Defends Cincinnati Title Over Fish

Roger Federer won his first non-major final of the year after losing 3 finals in a row (on 3 different surfaces: Madrid to Rafael Nadal, Halle to Lleyton Hewitt and Toronto to Andy Murray) in Cincinnati on Sunday over American Mardy Fish. The title was his 53rd overall, tying Bjorn Borg on the all-time list at 5th. It was Federer's 17th ATP Masters series title, tying Andre Agassi but still one behind Nadal's 18.

Federer has now won the Cincinnati title in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010. Next year it will become a combined male-female 8-day event (immediately following simultaneous men's and women's tournaments in Toronto and Montreal).

The match with Fish was a close, high-quality 3-set affair featuring 2 tiebreaks, one break of serve and only 6 breakpoints between the two players. The final score was 6-7(5) 7-6(1) 6-4. In the first set, Federer had 4 breakpoints and failed to convert any of them due to brilliant serving by Fish. Federer faced one breakpoint in the second set but was able to get through to a tiebreak. In the first set tiebreaker Federer held a 5-4 lead, but Fish played a brilliant point to even the breaker at 5-all and Federer played a loose point to be down 6-5. Fish won the first set on a service winner. In the second set tiebreaker Federer was much sharper, jumping to a quick 4-1 lead and never looked in danger of losing that breaker. The only break in the match came in the 9th game of the third set where, for once, after facing a break point Fish was unable to make a first serve and eventually lost the breakpoint and the game, and eventually the match when Federer served it out pretty easily on his second match point.

Four Times In A Row

Reuters

That's how many times each Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick have now defeated their Cincinnati Masters quarterfinals opponents to face-off in the first all-American semifinal at this event since Andre Agassi defeated Andy in a third-set breaker six years ago.

You may recall the year before that Andy and Mardy met up in the finals and played one of the best matches of 2003. Mardy lost in a third-set breaker and fell to the eventual US Open champion without ever even dropping his serve.

Yesterday, he almost did the same. Andy Murray, one of the best returners in the game, so some say, wasn't able to breakthrough in three sets, so when he forced a third-set breaker, I wasn't sure if Mardy would be able to come through. But he fought like a pit bull and pulled out the victory.

Reuters

Novak Djokovic simply can't stand the heat and so, once again, Roddick had his way with him. It really wasn't a match at all.

If you listen to the propagandists and even some of the readers of this blog, you'd think Roddick has never been out of the top 10 for even a week since he first arrived there 8 years ago (he has) and that American men's tennis is totally in the toilet.

Consider this. Two Americans beat two European top-four players for the fourth time in the row to get to this place.

I'm going to say that again: Two Americans beat two European top-four players for the fourth time in the row to get to this place.

Carry on.

US Open Series Champ

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Mardy Fish won his second consecutive title with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) victory over John Isner at the Atlanta Tennis Championships. Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram took the doubles title.

The last set of the singles final was the only tennis I was able to see all week. Apparently it was a sauna on the court. Isner, who really can't stand the heat, looked like he picked up where he left off in that indescribable Wimbledon first round match. Fish played the last stretch of the match with the renewed confidence of a winner and found his way to another title.

David Nal-Davis-Cup-Ian

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Argentinian player David Nalbandian celebrates after winning against Russian player Mikhail Youzhny on July 11, 2010, during their quarterfinal match of the Davis Cup World Group in Moscow. Nalbandian won 6-7, 4-6, 3-6.

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He can't seem to play anywhere else anymore. I can't even remember the last time I've seen him hit a tennis ball at an ATP event, yet here he is doing what he does in Davis Cup once again:

Winning.

Russian team players haven't exactly been in the mood for great tennis of late, but still: DaVEED led Argentina to a victory over Russia in Davis Cup in Moscow.

Mardy Fish added a grass court title to his resume in Newport, completing the career, all-surface title holder list with only his fourth career title.


AP

And Rafael Nadal was in South Africa to witness his nation's history-making performance in the World Cup.

I watched a bit of it. Given that my mate is from the Netherlands and we have a visitor from the Netherlands interning on the farm, it's safe to see I flew solo in the field for most of the day yesterday.

Depressed, they emerged after the final ready to sow fall crops. Carrots, beets, scallions, leeks, lettuce, rutabagas, celeriac, sugar peas, and more carrots. They were quite industrious.

Had to break the news to the mate, after the fact, of course, that while I couldn't exactly cheer for Spain, I didn't see the Netherlands winning their first World Cup title in South Africa. Karma and all that.

But that's an essay for another blog and another time.

Back in Davis Cup, France kicked Spain squarely in the teeth. Guess the Spanish team was somewhere else...

Folie de Grandeur. Men’s Tennis I’m looking at YOU.

No I mean it.

Amelie began coaching Michael Llodra at Queens last week (yes, I know), but she may as well have been cringing over the entire ATP top ten.

Congratulations to Rusty and Querrey for making good in a week when order, reason and good old common sense seemed to fail us.

Actually, I excuse both Rafa and Roger. Their loss last week is not quite the cause for the Requiem Mass some are now undertaking. It certainly doesn’t seem to me to warrant anything more than a half-raised eyebrow.

Nadal got to the quarters, seized up with a hamstring problem against a grass court specialist playing in his own words “the best match of his career”. Hardly surprising given the season he’s just had – perhaps even a blessing in disguise. Besides, it’s a hamstring problem – not the knees – read not a Code Red. Nothing a ten day fishing stint in Majorca can’t fix.

Half Raised Eyebrows.

Federer’s loss to Hewitt, breaking as it does a 15 match winning streak against him and a winning record at Halle that dates back to 2003, is….concerning. It’s also just another instance of his less polished record outside of the Slams. Whether you think that’s because “he doesn’t care” (laughable notion), or is more prone to the unforgiving three-set format, or is simply less attuned to winning these tune-up events, the results speak for themselves. For my part, I defer exercising my right to get more “up in arms” about it for when the same thing starts happening at Slams.

Four other reasons why my arms aren’t up:

1) Federer had his worst clay court season in 6 years, even though in my mind he was playing, during parts of it, better than he was in 2008.

2) For what its worth, I do believe he found his form in Madrid in a final where both he and Nadal moved around like two-bit drunkards, performing at about 70%.

3) The loss in RG? NO ONE beats Sod in that form (see Sod’s first law).

4) Yet, despite all this, he still made the finals of the first grass court event of the season in the same week that no other top ten player even managed a semi.

Eyebrows still only half raised .

***

Not quite as ready to absolve the rest of the “top ten” from tennis purgatory.

Since Muzz lost at Oz he appears to have joined Djoko in a rut of disillusionment whose only distinguishing feature is it’s ability to produce a string of “nearly-man” results. Just about enough to maintain a ranking but not nearly enough to keep you relevant.

Both of them right now, in fact, seem to occupy a no-man’s land of the top ten: neither threatening the top, nor standing in the way of those that do.

Marin and A-Rod are more perplexing. When Roddick took off the early part of the clay season for what sounds like a second honeymoon with his Misuss, he got, what I thought at the time, was a disproportionate amount of flak for it. Sela, unfortunately for A-Rod, gave what’ll likely be a once-in-a-lifetime performance at Queens that lead to him being termed “Baby Reeshie”.

Not quite sure how that works, but it also means Roddick enters Wimbledon with the least amount of matches he’s likely ever had.

As for Marin I’m pretty sure now that at some point , he’ll come through as “this year’s Delpo” – just don’t be surprised if he takes until next year to realise it. He’s certainly taking the more torrid, torturous route.

At RG, I suspect, he was simply unlucky to run into Sod. Who promptly murdered him. Which might explain his loss here this week – hard to string two wins together if you’re not a shadow but a mere chalk outline of yourself.

(Photos: AFP/Getty)

Lawn Champions

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Li Na of China celebrates with the trophy after defeating Maria Sharapova of Russia in the Women's Singles final during the AEGON Classic Tennis at the Edgbaston Priory Club on June 13, 2010 in Birmingham, England.

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AP

Australian Lleyton Hewitt kisses the trophy after he won the final match against Switzerland's Roger Federer at the Gerry Weber Open ATP tennis tournament in Halle , Germany, on Sunday, June 13, 2010. Hewitt won 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.

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Sam Querrey of US holds the trophy after winning his match against Mardy Fish of US, 7-6, 7-5 during the final singles match on the seventh day of the AEGON Championships tennis tournament at Queen's Club, in west London on June 13, 2010.

Americans In London

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Mardy Fish and Sam Querrey emerged from a strong field as the last two men standing at the AEGON Championships, Queen's Club. The clay season gave us an All American final in Europe and now the grass season repeats the endeavor. Querrey won the match on clay. Can he repeat on the lawns and beat Fish for the first time?

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Across the Channel, Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt will face off in their first ever grass court final. Federer always plays Halle, Hewitt always played Queen's until this year. What's old is new. Does Hewitt have a chance to win their 25th meeting and end a 15-match losing streak?


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Back in Birmingham, Li Na will face Maria Sharapova to crown the first grass court titlist of the WTA this season. Will Maria exact revenge against the woman who sent her packing in the semis here a year ago?

Face Of The Day

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Retired French tennis player Amélie Mauresmo turned coach watches the match between Mardy Fish of U.S and Michael Llodra of France, during their quarterfinal singles match on the fifth day of the AEGON Championships tennis tournament at Queen's Club, in west London on June 11, 2010.

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Singles - Quarterfinals
[8] F Lopez (ESP) d [1] R Nadal (ESP) 76(5) 64
[7] S Querrey (USA) d X Malisse (BEL) 63 75
M Fish (USA) d [12] M Llodra (FRA) 64 64
R Schuettler (GER) d [14] D Sela (ISR) 75 64

Singles - Third Round
M Fish (USA) d [3] A Murray (GBR) 64 16 76(2)

Doubles - Quarterfinals
[1] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d [5] M Fish (USA) / M Knowles (BAH) 64 62
N Djokovic (SRB) / J Erlich (ISR) d [2] W Moodie (RSA) / D Norman (BEL) 46 76(6) 10-3
K Beck (SVK) / D Skoch (CZE) d [6] R Lindstedt (SWE) / H Tecau (ROU) 63 76(3)
[8] J Benneteau (FRA) / M Llodra (FRA) d A Golubev (KAZ) / D Istomin (UZB) 64 61

Doubles - Second Round
[6] R Lindstedt (SWE) / H Tecau (ROU) d M Lopez (ESP) / R Nadal (ESP) W/O (Nadal - right hamstring)

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Halle

Singles - Quarterfinals
[1] R Federer (SUI) d P Kohlschreiber (GER) 75 63
[8] L Hewitt (AUS) d [WC] A Beck (GER) 76(0) 61
P Petzschner (GER) d L Lacko (SVK) 64 63
B Becker (GER) d [WC] M Zverev (GER) 76(4) 60

Doubles - Semifinals
S Stakhovsky (UKR) / M Youzhny (RUS) d [1] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK) 36 63 11-9

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Birmingham

Singles - Quarterfinals
(1/WC) Li Na (CHN) d. (Q) Kaia Kanepi (EST) 64 62
(2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. (Q) Sesil Karatantcheva (KAZ) 62 64
(Q) Alison Riske (USA) d. (3) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 67(5) 64 63
(4) Aravane Rezai (FRA) d. (5) Sara Errani (ITA) 76(2) 75

Singles - Third Round
(1) Li Na (CHN) d. (13) Angelique Kerber (GER) 46 63 75
(5) Sara Errani (ITA) d. Marina Erakovic (NZL) 76(5) 64
(Q) Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. Michelle Larcher de Brito (POR) 62 62

Doubles - Quarterfinals
(1) Huber/Mattek-Sands (USA/USA) d. Pelletier/Senoglu (CAN/TUR) 61 61
(2) Black/Raymond (ZIM/USA) d. Rodionova/Rodionova (AUS/RUS) 63 62
Grandin/Spears (RSA/USA) d. (4) Chuang/Govortsova (TPE/BLR) 75 36 10-6

Doubles - First Round
(1) Huber/Mattek-Sands (USA/USA) d. (WC) Robson/Watson (GBR/GBR) 64 64
(2) Black/Raymond (ZIM/USA) d. Erakovic/Tanasugarn (NZL/THA) 67(3) 75 10-5
(3) Hsieh/Kudryavtseva (TPE/RUS) d. Dzehalevich/Poutchek (BLR/BLR) 61 64
(4) Chuang/Govortsova (TPE/BLR) d. Ditty/Savchuk (USA/UKR) 63 63
Pelletier/Senoglu (CAN/TUR) d. (WC) Keothavong/South (GBR/GBR) 76(3) 63
King/Shvedova (USA/KAZ) d. Czink/Errani (HUN/ITA) 76(1) 63
Rodionova/Rodionova (AUS/RUS) d. Borwell/Kops-Jones (GBR/USA) 16 64 10-6

Now that's what I call a TV schedule: LA QF Preview

Haas v Safin

Not a problem if I start with the biggest and baddest draw ticket first, is it?

It's not the biggest title in the world, but a win here will set both of them up well and proper ahead of the Open.

With the success Tommy had at Wimbledon, and with it being Marat's swansong, most will I believe like me, be backing Marat. Who's not done anything of note since Wimbledon last year. And who's probably the only guy on tour that's got more fans locked in one of those collective global good-will seances, than Ernie has.

It could happen, couldn't it? Yes it could. Mind you he could also edge past Tommy and go out in the very next round to someone like Dudi Sela. Which would be pants, if you don't mind my putting it like that.

Ok I'll do it. *Deep Breath* Marat in three. Must.Not.Do.Pants.

Sela v Querrey

If Dudi gets through this one it'll only be to put paid to Marat. I'm going to regret saying that, no?

Having said that, he's down a set to Querrey as we speak.

Sam's had a mildishly interestingish kind of year. Little surprised he lost that match against Ginepri last week. But I can't see him losing this one.

Sam in two.

Isner v Ball

Dunno Don't Care.

Isner should get through this in straights seeing as I know absolutely nothing about Ball, and seeing as I'm guessing Isner is probably twice his height.

Fish v Mayer

Still Dunno, definitely don't care.

Mayer fought his way past Ouanna (of RG-fame) and Kunitsyn to get to this point. If you're at all interested.

Oh I dunno, Fish in three?