Monday Net Post

By TW Contributing Editor, Ed McGrogan

Last Week's Tournaments

Allianz Suisse Open (ATP - Clay - Gstaad, Switzerland)

• Singles Final: Victor Hanescu def. Igor Andreev 6-3, 6-4.
  - Singles Semifinal: Victor Hanescu def. Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
  - Singles Semifinal: Igor Andreev def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-6, 5-7, 7-6.
• Singles Bracket

• Doubles Final: Jaroslav Levinsky/Filip Polasek def. Stephane Bohli/Stanislas Wawrinka 3-6, 6-2, 11-9.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Stephane Bohli/Stanislas Wawrinka def. Frantisek Cermak/Pavel Vizner 6-3, 6-2.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Jaroslav Levinsky/Filip Polasek def. Andreas Seppi/Simone Vagnozzi 7-5, 6-2.
• Doubles Bracket

Catella Swedish Open (ATP - Clay - Bastad, Sweden)

• Singles Final: Tommy Robredo def. Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-1.
  - Singles Semifinal: Tommy Robredo def. David Ferrer 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.
  - Singles Semifinal: Tomas Berdych def. Fernando Verdasco 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
• Singles Bracket

• Doubles Final: Jonas Bjorkman/Robin Soderling def. Johan Brunstrom/Jean-Julien Rojer 6-2, 6-2.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Johan Brunstrom/Jean-Julien Rojer def. David Ferrer/Marc Lopez 6-3, 6-4.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Jonas Bjorkman/Robin Soderling def. Simon Aspelin/Thomas Johansson 7-6, 6-2.
• Doubles Bracket

Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (ATP - Grass - Newport, Rhode Island)

• Singles Final: Fabrice Santoro def. Prakash Amritraj 6-3, 7-5.
  - Singles Semifinal: Prakash Amritraj def. Frank Dancevic 7-6, 4-6, 6-3.
  - Singles Semifinal: Fabrice Santoro def. Vincent Spadea 7-6, 6-1.
• Singles Bracket

• Doubles Final: Mardy Fish/John Isner def. Rohan Bopanna/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 5-7, 6-4, 11-9.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Mardy Fish/John Isner def. Philipp Petzschner/Alexander Peya 7-6, 4-6, 10-7.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Rohan Bopanna/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi def. Rik de Voest/Ashley Fisher 5-7, 6-4, 11-9.
• Doubles Bracket

Mercedes Cup (ATP - Clay - Stuttgart, Germany)

• Singles Final: Juan Martin del Potro def. Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-5.
  - Singles Semifinal: Juan Martin del Potro def. Eduardo Schwank 6-2, 6-4.
  - Singles Semifinal: Richard Gasquet def. Agustin Calleri 6-7, 6-2, 6-3.
• Singles Bracket

• Doubles Final: Christopher Kas/Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Michael Berrer/Mischa Zverev 6-3, 6-4.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Christopher Kas/Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Andreas Beck/Martin Fischer 6-4, 6-2.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Michael Berrer/Mischa Zverev def. Juan Martin del Potro/Eduardo Schwank (walkover).
• Doubles Bracket

Gaz de France Grand Prix (WTA - Clay - Budapest, Hungary)

• Singles Final: Alize Cornet def. Andreja Klepac 7-6, 6-3.
  - Singles Semifinal: Andreja Klepac def. Karolina Sprem 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
  - Singles Semifinal: Alize Cornet def. Greta Arn 6-1, 6-1.

• Doubles Final: Alize Cornet/Janette Husarova def. Vanessa Henke/Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-7, 6-1, 10-6.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Alize Cornet/Janette Husarova def. Andreja Klepac/Bryanne Stewart 6-2, 6-1.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Vanessa Henke/Ioana Raluca Olaru def. Veronika Kapshay/Kira Nagy 6-3, 6-2.

• Singles & Doubles Bracket

Internazionali Femminili di Palermo (WTA - Clay - Palermo, Italy)

• Singles Final: Sara Errani def. Mariya Koryttseva 6-2, 6-3.
  - Singles Semifinal: Sara Errani def. Flavia Pennetta 7-5, 6-3.
  - Singles Semifinal: Mariya Koryttseva def. Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-2, 6-2.

• Doubles Final: Sara Errani/Nuria Llagostera Vives def. Alla Kudryavtseva/Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6, 7-6, 10-4.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Sara Errani/Nuria Llagostera Vives def. Mariya Koryttseva/Galina Voskoboeva 6-4, 6-3.
  - Doubles Semifinal: Alla Kudryavtseva/Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Renata Voracova/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 7-6, 6-3.

• Singles & Doubles Bracket

By the Letter

T...oronto Masters (which I will be covering for TennisWorld next week) granted Marat Safin a wild card, along with Canucks Frank Dancevic, Frederic Niemeyer, and Peter Polansky.
E...merging Asian markets have been targeted by the tennis industry over the last few years.  Here's another clear signal of the sports' intentions.
N...adal's first remark in the "Odds and ends" section alone makes this recap of Wimbledon quotes worth reading.
N...ews you can use: Ever wanted to see the complete brackets for Challenger tournaments?  This page on the ATP's website is where you need to go.
I...nternational Tennis Hall of Fame's 2008 class included Michael Chang, Mark McCormack, and Eugene Scott.  The trio was inducted into the Newport, Rhode Island shrine on Saturday.
S...cotland's Andy Murray is back in the Top 10, but is skipping Indianapolis, opting to rest for the more prestigious hard court tournaments ahead.
W...imbledon men's final (Federer/Nadal III: Darkness and Light) received its best television rating in the United States since the 2000 men's final.
O...n the heels of Wimbledon's results, a number of singles and doubles players have already sealed their spots at the year-end ATP Masters Cup.
R...F hat fans should check out this recently released batch of goodies.
L...ingering injury - an unspecified one - caused Andy Roddick to pull out of a World Team Tennis match.  Saying that, I wouldn't read that much into this.
D...avid Nalbandian's disappointing 2008 continues: A right arm injury could sideline him from playing in the Olympics.

McGrogan's Heroes

ATP - Juan Martin del Potro

Very tough call this week for the men.  Juan Martin del Potro and Victor Hanescu both won their first career singles titles, Fabrice Santoro successfully defended his Newport title, and Tommy Robredo emerged from a tough draw to win his second Swedish Open in the last three years.

There are compelling reasons for each champion to be named Hero this week, but in the end, I'm going with del Potro.  The Argentinean evaded clay titans Rafael Nadal and Nicolas Almagro (who withdrew and retired from the tournament, respectively), but fought through nearly everyone else of note.

After getting by Evgeny Korolev in straight sets, del Potro then contended with a seeded player very day for the rest of the way.  First came Simone Bolleli, who's having his best year as a pro.  del Potro beat the No. 5 seed 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.  Then Philipp Kohlschrebier (No. 4) awaited del Potro in the quarterfinals.  Juan won in straight sets, 7-6, 6-3.  In the semifinals, del Potro faced countryman Eduardo Schwank, the eighth seed.  It turned out to be Juan's easiest match of the week, winning 6-2, 6-4.

The final hurdle for del Potro to clear was Richard Gasquet.  Gasquet's powerful game has been awakened since playing on grass, and he carried that confidence into the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart.  But it was ultimately del Potro who showed more confidence, and played better tennis, winning 6-4, 7-5 to claim his first career title.  He also won a Mercedes for his efforts, which Gasquet acknowledged after their match.  "I congratulate Juan Martin but he'd better be careful, it's a fast car," said Richard.

WTA - Alize Cornet

Think back to the French Open for just a minute.  (Seems like a while ago, doesn't it?)  Alize Cornet was clearly the flavor of the month (May).  The hype machine was stuck on high for this 18-year old from Nice, who headed into Roland Garros following a nice run to the finals of the Italian Open.  Other impressive clay results (finals in Acapulco, semifinals in Amelia Island and Charleston) also boosted her Q rating.

Cornet lost in the third round of Roland Garros to Agnieszka Radwanska.  It was arguably a disappointing campaign, which led to this question - would we hear about Alize again until next year's French Open (when the French hype machine would return)?  The question was answered this week, after Cornet won her first career singles title in Budapest.  Fittingly for the Frenchwoman, the tournament's official name is the Gaz de France Grand Prix.

Alize had no trouble in this Tier III event, winning every set she played.  Until the final, she won every set by a 6-3 margin or better.  Her toughest contest came at the end against Andreja Klepac, who upset top seed Agnes Szavay in the second round.  Cornet was down 5-3 in the first set, but won three of the next four games to get the match back on serve.  After winning a tiebreaker, Alize had an easier time in the second set, winning it 6-3.  And to top her week off, she also won the doubles title with partner Janette Husarova.

[Honorable Mention goes to Sara Errani, who like Cornet, won her first career singles title in Palmero - and won the doubles title as well.  Stiff competition this week.]

Tennis Theatre

At age 36, Fabrice Santoro is still winning titles and still hitting trick shots:

This Week's Tournaments

• TV Schedule

Austrian Open (ATP - Clay - Kitzbuhel, Austria)

• Singles Bracket
• Doubles Bracket
• Website

Dutch Open Tennis (ATP - Clay - Amersfoort, The Netherlands)

• Singles Bracket
• Doubles Bracket
• Website

Indianapolis Tennis Championships (ATP - Hard - Indianpolis, United States)

• Singles Bracket
• Doubles Bracket
• Website

Studena Croatia Open (ATP - Clay - Umag, Croatia)

• Singles Bracket
• Doubles Bracket
• Website

Bank of the West Classic (WTA - Hard - Stanford, United States)

• Singles & Doubles Bracket
• Website

Gastien Ladies (WTA - Clay - Bad Gastien, Austria)

• Singles & Doubles Bracket
• Website

Beyond the Bracket

Last week in this space, I gave my immediate reaction to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s Wimbledon final, aka, The Match.  It was the greatest display of tennis I’d ever seen, and afterwards, I rushed to get my thoughts down on (electronic) paper.  Memorable moments in life come infrequently, and pass you by seconds later.  So I typed away, wanting to recall this event years down the road.  But I had some reservations about writing the piece – would it be too cliché, or more worryingly, was I simply jumping to conclusion about this?

In the week that has passed since The Match, I feel that my decision has been justified.  The momentum from Wimbledon still hasn’t completely died down, and everyone has been talking about what happened.  And remember, we’re talking about Americans and tennis here – akin to oil and water in the media.

I knew the ripple effect from The Match was going to be big.  But it wasn’t until I saw Roger Federer and Nadal dueling at net on the cover of Sports Illustrated that I realized how significant it was.  When Sarah Thurmond, Associate Editor extraordinaire at TENNIS, alerted the office about this development, I was shocked.  I never even considered that SI might devote its cover to tennis – the last time was when Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon in 2004.  (The last male to grace the cover of SI was Andre Agassi in 1999.)

Then Sarah, enlightening as always, mentioned something else that caught my interest.  What if Rafael Nadal was named SI "Sportsman of the Year?"

I can hear the screams of the Federer fans now.

As crazy as it may sound, Nadal could have even more going for him than Federer did in the last four years (during which time he's been unceremoniously denied the honor).  He’ll have to win the U.S. Open to merit consideration, but if he can, he clearly deserves to be named "Sportsman of the Year."

Nadal’s win – excuse me, mastery – at Roland Garros this year was something not seen at a Slam since Federer made a similar mockery of the 2007 Australian Open field.  But while Federer has had some very dominating victories at past Wimbledon’s, he’s never obliterated an opponent in a final quite as thoroughly as he was demolished by Nadal in Paris.  In fact, not many players have been so spanked - not in the entire history of Grand Slam tennis. And Roger hasn’t been able to topple Rafa, the master of the surface, on his “home” court. Roger has often looked overmatched on the red dirt.  Rafa holds this trump card.

While we’re talking about Nadal’s season, don’t forget that he reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, had another nearby unbeatable run on clay for the fourth year in a row, and could add more honors at the Summer Olympics.

But knowing SI, this will be meaningless - unless Nadal wins at Flushing Meadows.  So brace yourselves for a  "Sportsman of the Year" cover showcasing the New York Giants, Tom Brady, Paul Pierce, or Tiger Woods instead.  And I suppose it may not happen, anyway, even if Rafa wins three Slams.  But if Nadal accomplishes a Grand Slam triple, it would be a disgrace if SI gave the award to someone else, given the nature of the achievement.

[P.S. I pleaded my case for Federer last year.  Didn't work out so well.]

if... grass court tournaments used white tennis balls, would you disapprove?  The color contrast seems better for viewers, and after playing with them myself, I'm in favor of it.  It would add to the "history" quotient as well, which always scores points with me.