Wk.42- Dimitrov's Debut

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

All three winners of the 250's this week were won by the one-handers. Aged 22, 27 and 35 they won using old school tennis which some find more entertaining than the modern baseline grind that has become so ubiquitous. Frankly, I don't mind -- it's all good. I like the long rallies as much as I like the variety the one-hander brings to the game.

Dimitrov has always been on the cusp of winning something big or breaking through. Admittedly, he has never performed well at the slams in contrast to other young guns Nishikori, Raonic, Tomic and their ilk. He has made just one third round at that level. He made it through to the third round of the French and played well to get there though he did benefit from a retirement. Unfortunately, once there Djokovic avenged his Madrid loss by dismissing the young star 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. It was very disheartening, but few could have stopped Nodjo when he was playing that well, to be fair to the Bulgarian. There are highlights of his upset victory in Madrid. I couldn't find the highlights of their French Open match which just as well really.



However, he was competitive in the Brisbane final this year as he lost to Murray 7-6, 6-4 and he did make the quarters of the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters. Nadal won 6-4 in the third in that match. He has done well recently and now that Roger Rasheed is his coach you can expect more of the same.

I am a huge fan of Haas. He deserves the German equivalent of the medal of honour. He should be Sir Tommy Haas. He is such a role model. So rarely does a slam-less player manage to inspire on such a level. The guy is thirty-five. In fact, I will quote Sports Illustrated because they sum it up perfectly:

"With his 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory against Robin Haase in the Erste Bank Open, the 35-year-old Haas became the oldest player to win two titles in a season since 37-year-old Jimmy Connors in 1989. Haas is 12 years removed from his other title at the Vienna, Austria, tournament; in 2001, he defeated the likes of Thomas Enqvist and Guillermo Canas. He was ranked 16th then and 12th now."

Haas plays Valencia next week. He is seeded second, after an out-of-form Ferrer. He could win three titles in a year. To really put that in perspective, if he wins that tournament, he will have won three more titles and been to one more final if he wins Valencia than Berdych has if Berdman crashes and burns in Basel, which he may well do as he opens with Dr Ivo. Berdych is the 28-year old world number six whilst Haas is the 35 year old number twelve.

And as for Gasquet, well he put in a typical performance, well, that was typical Gasquet. Normally when he is expected to win he fails to and we end up shaking our heads. This time was different. In an already weak field there were a lot of early upsets which left Gasquet with an enormous opportunity. He played the qualifier Kukushkin in the final and he choked. He was down a set, then down a break in the third. The old Gasquet would have crumbled quite spectacularly but this new fangled Gasquet has some kind of inner steel whereas the old Gasquet had inner tinfoil. He managed to fight back and he won not because he was physically stronger but because was mentally stronger.

Also, it is nice to note the one-handed backhand is still around. Serve-volleyers have all but died out. There are no true serve-volleyers left nowadays and the one-hander is a dying breed, too, now. Llodra, Lopez, Federer, Raonic and Isner do serve and volley, but not exclusively.



*WEEK 42 CHAMPIONS*
*MOSCOW*
S: Richard Gasquet def. Mikhail Kukushkin 4-6/6-4/6-4
D: Elgin/Istomin d. Skupski/Skupski
*STOCKHOLM*
S: Grigor Dimitrov def. David Ferrer 2-6/6-3/6-4
D: Qureshi/Rojer d. Bjorkman/Lindstedt
*VIENNA*
S: Tommy Haas def. Robin Haase 6-3/4-6/6-4
D: Mergea/Rosol d. Knowle/Nestor


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: GRIGOR DIMITROV, BUL
...Dimitrov is now the eighth first-time winner on the ATP tour. He joins the likes of Sousa and Tomic. He beat a top five player again here but beat Ferrer this time. Dimitrov hits 22 in the world, which is a career high for him. Amazingly, he began the year ranked around 50 in the world. Dimitrov opened against Romanian Marius Copil and won against the qualifier 6-3, 6-4. He was too good for Struff in the next round, too, winning 6-1, 6-3. He put de Schepper out 4 and 2 to reach the semifinals, where he played another youngster. He and Paire played a competitive match in which Dimi out-ground Paire in three sets 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Surely Ferrer would be too strong. As it turned out, Dimitrov was too strong in the end as he came back to win his maiden title in spectacular fashion 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. He played his forehand well and he showed why the one-hander is still relevant today. Dimitrov looks like a future world number one but that was said that about Nalbandian, Malisse, and Coria, too. The same was said about Novotna, Sabatini, and Kuznetsova on the women's side to name but a few. Raw talent is rarely enough on its own to get you by in tennis but Dimitrov is slowly building the complete package. Dimitrov looks good for a few deep slam runs in the near future. It seems the younger generation is finally starting to step up, with Raonic and Dimitrov at the helm of the movement.
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RISER: RICHARD GASQUET, FRA
...After a disappointing loss to Pospisil in the opening round of Shanghai, Gasquet rebounded nicely. He doesn't traditionally do well in Shanghai, or not in the past couple of years anyway. He looks in a good position to qualify for the WTF next month. Gasquet faced nobody within the top 40 in his win but somehow still managed to make it look like a challenge. He was pushed by Donskoy but came through 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. He was too good for Gabashvilli, however, dismissing the Russian 6-3, 6-2. He then played a great return match to put out Karlovic 6-4, 7-5. His reward was a straightforward match against a qualifier. Well, it was meant to be straight forward. Basically, the Frenchman made it harder than it had to be. He came through ,despite being down a break in the third and losing the opening set, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. The Kazakh served at 4-3 in the third. Had he held, it was surely curtains for Gasquet. In a marathon game, the Frenchman prevailed then promptly held serve. Richie came through to finally win. It was a great match full of long rallies and drama.
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SURPRISE: MIKHAIL KUKUSHKIN, KAZ
...He opened his campaign with a 6-0, 6-1 demolition job against Uzbeki Usakov in the opening round of qualies. He followed this up by edging Russian Biryukov 7-6, 7-5. He then dispatched another Russian, this time Kravchuk, 6-1, 6-3. He had qualified for a 250 event. For a journeyman this is a big result in and of itself. He played another Russian in the first round of the tournament proper. He beat Bogomolov Jr. He then had a tough match up with fourth seed Dolgopolov. He only needed two sets to dismiss the out of sorts Ukrainian 6-4, 6-4. He was now in the quarters. He played another Kazakh qualifier, although Kukushkin has been seeded first in the qualies whilst Golubev had been seeded third. He was too good for Golubev and he came through 6-4, 7-6. He had so far not dropped a set and he continued that fine run by beating Seppi 6-1 in the first set of their match. The Italian wasn't done and returned the favour by handing the Kazakh a baguette. Kukushkin responded by upping his level and won through 6-1, 1-6, 6-4. He then played top-seed Gasquet and played valiantly though he still came up short.
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VETERAN: TOMMY HAAS, GER
...It may be unfair to call Haas a veteran. Below is a selection of the top ten players Haas has beaten over the years. He has spanned the years brilliantly. He is ninth in terms of titles won by an active player, as well as eighth in active finalists and seventh in semifinals. He has 15 wins, 12 finals and 62 semifinals. He is an extraordinary player. He has adapted to stay with the times but still kept his game. This week he beat Miloslav Mecir Jr. -- yes, the son of that Mecir -- 7-5, 7-6. He edged fifth seed Stepsy 7-6, 6-3. He really edged Rosol, winning 3-6, 6-4, 7-6. He bageled Rosol in the breaker, although Rosol defaulted on match point.



He finished this up with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory against Haase in the final. Haase serve-volleyed break point down at 4-4 in the third on his second serve. Let's just say it didn't go well, but at least it was ambitious.
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COMEBACK: DAVID FERRER, ESP
...Make no mistake, Ferrer is not playing well right now. Because he is Ferrer and because he is the consummate professional, he knows how to play and win matches when he is playing badly. And you just gotta give him Kudos for that. He out-ground Sock 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. He benefited from the withdrawal of Verdasco in the quarters. In the semifinals, Ferrer came back again to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. He was the comeback king. He was being outplayed for the first set and a half in both his matches. In a twist of fate, Ferrer dominated for the first set and half in the final and led the match. It was Dimitrov who had the big comeback to end Ferrer's grinding run, through.
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DOWN: JANKO TIPSAREVIC, SRB
When he wins a match this goes to someone else.
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1. STOCKHOLM FINAL - DIMITROV d. FERRER
...2-6/6-3/6-4. A momentous victory for the young star. He played a cracking match. He mixed up his style and didn't get down when Ferrer was dominating. He played a consistent clever match and really earned his maiden title.
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2. MOSCOW FINAL - GASQUET d. KUKUSHKIN
...4-6/6-4/6-4. Gasquet is not consistent but at least he played nice tennis. He threw in a few drop shots and some nice slices, too. He and Kukushkin exchanged baseline rallies and Gasquet very nearly lost. If he does well in Basel, he should wrap up the final WTF spot.
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3. VIENNA SF - HAAS d. ROSOL
...3-6/6-4/7-6. A bagel in the third set breaker sealed the deal for Haas, although Rosol basically gave it away.
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*VALENCIA*
=SF=
Ferrer [1] d. [7] Fognini
Haas [2] d. [4] Isner
=FINAL=
Haas [2] d. [1] Ferrer

...if the German's body can hold up, and he can survive an opener against Kohl, he should win. The opening rounds of this tournament will be fantastic. I think that there may be surprises but since I can't guess those surprises, I will just go with the seeding roughly.

This is a tough doubles to call but I have to say the Bryans defeating defending champions Peya/Soares.

*BASEL*
=SF=
Del Potro [1] d. [4] Wawrinka
Federer [3] d. [6] Nishikori
=FINAL=
Federer [3] d. [1] Del Potro

...Federer should be too good for this field. All the strength is really in the top half of the field, although Dimitrov should meet him in the quarters. I don't see Berdych doing well here somehow. He does open against Dr. Ivo and then will face Pospisil or Haase. Then Nishikori most likely.

Bopanna/Vasselin should defeat Qureshi and Rojer in the finals here. It's a strong double field, though.

If my picks are right, then Berdych, Wawrinka and Federer should pretty much seal their places at the WTF. Raonic or Haas will be an alternate with Murray's withdrawal.

Now the race for London:

Gasquet-3,120
Tsonga-3,055

That is how the race looks now. One of those two will join the other seven.

If Gasquet wins Basel, he need only get to the round of 16 in Paris to qualify because Tsonga is not playing this week and he would need to get to the final of Paris to qualify. All Gasquet needs to do is to reach the semis here and he will gather 180 points to take his total to 3,300. I feel that quarterfinal match is pivotal. If he has a 145 point lead over Tsonga, Tsonga will have a hard time reeling him in. If he makes the final, he goes to 3,420 and I think that a 475 gap would ensure qualification because to overturn that Tsonga needs to reach the final or win it. And even if he does either of those things, Gasquet just needs a quarterfinal appearance to qualify because it is very unlikely that Tsonga will win Paris though I'm not ruling it out.

If Gasquet reaches the quarterfinals, he will have a total of 3,210 which would give him a lead of 155. A fourth round at Paris would give Gasquet a lead of 245 points. That would mean Tsonga would have to make the semifinals to get through.

The odds are stacked against Tsonga.

I think Gasquet will ride the popularity he has in Basel and Paris and make back-to-back quarterfinals for a total net gain of 270 points which will take him up to 3,390. It should just barely be enough for him to qualify. If he reaches the semifinal or better in Basel, consider Gasquet qualified.

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