Wk.31- Bye-Bye for Now, Clay

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

Marcel Granollers won his third clay title and improved to 4-2 in finals, which includes a win at a 500 event. He beat Juan Monaco there just as he did in Kitzbühel. This time, however, he lost the first set to love before winning the next two in a big comeback. He had a fairly easy route to the semis with top seeded Kohlschreiber going down to Leonardo Mayer, which opened up his section. He and Robin Haase played a tight entertaining match in which the Spaniard triumphed 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, but he did win the breaker to love.

Meanwhile, the big-serving Americans, one from South and North America, specifically, engaged in a bizarre match littered with breaks. Juan Martin del Potro came through against John Isner 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. He has appeared at the Citi Open four times and he has won three times (2008-09, '13) with the lone loss coming in 2007 to Odesnik. He reached five titles in 2008, winning four, five in 2009, winning three, but missed 2010 with an injury. He won two titles from three finals in 2011 and four from five in 2012. So far this year, he is 2-1. Overall he is 15-6. He also has one doubles title which came in Atlanta.

Isner finally lost his winning streak, but he has confidence back and he was even returning better than usual this week. With a good draw, he could make the quarters at the US Open. I think he is a player that none of the top seeds would want to face early, especially Nadal.



*WEEK 31 CHAMPIONS*
WASHINGTON, D.C. USA
S: Juan Martin del Potro def. John Isner 3-6/6-1/6-2
D: Benneteau/Zimonjic d. Fish/Stepanek
KITZBUHEL, AUSTRIA
S: Marcel Granollers d. Juan Monaco 0-6/7-6/6-4
D: Emmerich/Kas d. Cermak/Dlouhy


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Juan Martin del Potro, ARG
...The fiery, if quiet and restrained off court, Argentine blazed brightly on the courts of Washington this past week. Seeded one, he met his seeding with aplomb as he lost only one set on his title run. He edged Harrison 6-1, 7-5 and Tomic 6-3, 6-3. He was classy in beating the in-form South African Kevin Anderson 7-6, 6-3 and then he had a tough match against the eternal -- he will still be playing when I'm buried deep in the cold cold ground -- German Tommy Haas. I am hoping Haas cracks the top ten because that would be an incredible Cinderella story. Anyway, the Argentine won the 500 title and it looks as if he will or could be a favourite for the US Open. If he makes deep runs in Cincy and the Rogers Cup, then I think it would be plausible, at least.
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RISER: Marcel Granollers, ESP
...Like the Spanish Inquisition and Invisible Man -- my that was a memorable show -- nobody saw Granollers coming. He beat Mate Pavic in two sets and then went through against a clearly struggling Horacio Zeballos when the Argentine quit at 0-6, 0-2 down. After that, he dismissed Mayer 3 and 1 before engaging in a mighty tussle with Haase. He won the opening set break 7-0 and finally came through 6-4 in the third after going down 6-3 in the middle set. He followed this up with a 0-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory over Monaco. His ranking has risen to 36 and if he can put together even a couple of decent results at the Masters he should be seeded for the Open.

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SURPRISE: Robin Haase, NED
...A repeat win for Haase in the surprise award. Last week I said he could make the top fifty if his results keep doing well, and he is now 62 in the world after this semi. A third round in Toronto, Cincy and the Open will be hard to do, but if he achieves it then he may hit the top fifty. He beat Guillaume Rufin and Daniel Brands without dropping sets before coming from behind to beat Fernando Verdasco. Despite a tight loss to Granollers, this and last week's success is the beginnings of what could be a successful comeback for Haase.
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VETERAN: Philipp Kohlschreiber, GER
...The German has been as high as 26 before but is currently hovering around the twenty mark. He has won four titles and he even reached the quarters of Wimbledon last year. He turns 30 this October and he has been around for a while. He plays a lovely style which he can apply to any surface, but he especially likes grass or clay. He is part of a strong German presence in both the men's and women's game currently along with Lisicki, Kerber, Haas, Brands, Goerges, Barthel and others.
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COMEBACK: Marcel Granollers, ESP
...Mentally speaking, it is extremely difficult to come back from losing the opening set to love. You have to really focus and concentrate but also you have to try to not get too down. Staying positive is a must and coming back to win 0-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the final of an ATP even really is an incredible feat.
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NEW FACE: Dominic Thiem, AUT
...The French Open boys finalist of 2011 is finally starting to build up a career. The righty beat Andrey Kuznetsov and Jurgen Melzer in straight sets before finally succumbing to Albert Montanes, respectively, 6-4, 6-3. A 250 quarterfinal is a good springboard for bigger and better things.
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DOWN: Kei Nishikori, JPN
...He beat Jack Sock 7-6, 6-2 after a bye to get through to the third round. Unfortunately, he got dangerous Marcos Baghdatis, who ended up beating him 6-1, 6-2. For a top fifteen player, losing 6-2, 6-2 is unacceptable. I don't know how someone could lose that badly, either. Marcos doesn't really possess a big serve and so it stands out as a poor performance.
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1. Kitzbuhel Final - Granollers d. Monaco
...0-6/7-6/6-4. I have already talked about this match, but it was an incredible final with a lot of drama. In fact, in a way, it felt a little like the Coria/Gaudio final back in 2004. It really knocks you down mentally to win a set 6-0 but then lose the match and it wil be interesting to see how badly it has affected his confidence.
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2. Washington QF - Isner d. Baghdatis
...6-7/6-4/6-4. This was a high quality match and it took all Isner had to dispel the challenge of the Cypriot. Baghdatis is still around and still dangerous but he appears to be on a decline now and whether or not it is reversible remains to be seen.
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3. Kitzbuhel SF - Monaco d. Montanes
...7-5/7-5. A nice tight three-setter involving high quality rallies and a lot of great shots, too.
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*MONTREAL, QUEBEC CAN*
=QF=
Djokovic [1] d. [7] Gasquet
Nadal [4] d. [10] Haas
Ferrer [3] d. [5] Berdych
Murray [2] d. [6] Del Potro
=SF=
Djokovic [1] d. [4] Nadal
Murray [2] d. [3] Ferrer
=FINAL=
Murray [2] d. [1] Djokovic


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