Wk.15- Bon Voyage, Hard Courts

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

It is time for us to wave goodbye to America, to hard courts and to the lottery of big titles. We now cross the Atlantic over to Europe, to the clay and to a place where every big title has already been won for all intents and purposes, unless of course they have painted the courts a funny color.

Verdasco waved in the change with his first title since April 2010, in which he beat a player who no longer even plays [Barcelona over Soderling], and his first final since July 2013 where he lost to Berlocq in Bastad. After going 0-6 in his past six finals, and 2-8 in ten, he improved to 6-13 for his career. He and Petra Kvitova have similar game styles and what looks to be a similar career trajectory, except Ferver is as likely to win a slam as Kvitova is to win another. The seeds in both tournaments did not perform, it should be noted. None of the top two seeds made it past the second round whilst only five of sixteen matched their seeding.



*WEEK 15 CHAMPIONS*
HOUSTON, TEXAS USA
S: Fernando Verdasco def. Nicolas Almagro 6-3/7-6(4)
D: Bryan/Bryan d. Marrero/Verdasco
CASABLANCA, MOROCCO
S: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Marcel Granollers 5-7/6-4/6-3
D: Rojer/Tecau d. Bednarek/Dlouhy


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: GARCIA-LOPEZ, ESP
...The flashy, yet underrated, GGL won his third title and made his sixth final last week. The ninth-best Spaniard, ranked 38, had a tough draw but gritted it out and came through anyway. On form, he is playing just about the best out of the Spanish contingent. Spain have 14 players in the top 100, France 12 and the USA 9. Together they make up about a third of the players in the top 100. GGL needed two breakers to edge Kukishkin in his opener but had it easier against Berlocq in the second round. He beat out-of-form third seed Paire in two very tight sets to set up a final with qualifier supremo Baena. He was pushed to the limit, but not beyond it, as he finally prevailed 6-4 in the third. He then out-ground Granollers in three long sets. With the title win he moves up 15 spots to 38. I think the rest of the ATP tour would quite like him to be seeded for the upcoming big events. I would hate to land GGL in the opening round of the French. Nadal, of course, is the exception as he owns Spaniards.
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RISER: ALMAGRO, ESP
...The varied Spaniard, fourth best in Spain and twentieth in the world, once again made a clay final. He has lost his last four in a row, but he has made a final every year since 2006. He has also made the French Open quarters in 2008, '10 and '12. That means he is due a quarter this year.
Anyway, this year he has made just one title, to add to his 21, all of which are on clay. Almagro faced three Americans before the final, which he lost to his compatriot in straight sets, and conceded just 11 games to them, though Querrey did withdraw with a pinched nerve or muscle in his back. Almagro has been like the invisible man all season long, but finally announced himself with this run. Now that the clay season is here, he will be less anonymous. I remember one match he played against Rafa at the French. He played out of his skin good. He served big and he spanked that forehand. He pummeled the ball on every shot. He could not have played a better match. He did not get a set. Rafa beat him in two breakers 7-2 and 7-3 before winning the last set 6-4. He gave Rafa the most trouble all tournament. If he could recapture that, he would be very dangerous.
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SURPRISE: CARBALLES BAENA, ESP
...Yes it is a Spanish sweep this week. The 21 is the kind of player who -- as Robbie Koenig so perfectly put it -- never has clean socks. He has won a couple of futures tournaments, but this tournament gave him his first win on the ATP, then his second, then his third. But it would not give him his maiden final. He beat the talented but very wayward Belgian Goffin in the first round with surprising ease. Goffin is now a qualifier whereas before he was consistently in the top fifty. Goffin wasn't even the top seed in the qualies. He has fallen far. In fact, at age 23, he has had a career pretty much already. Anyway, Baena then beat talented #5 seed Sousa in three epic sets to advance to the quarterfinals, undefeated on the ATP tour. He then eased past Kuznetsov before finally being stopped by eventual winner GGL.
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FRESH FACE: CARBALLES BAENA
...see above.
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VETERAN: MONACO, ARG
...Monaco, ranked consistently in the top ten not two years go, is now down at 41 and has lost a lot of form and battled with injury, too. His first final was in Casablanca, though he played in Houston this year. Back in 2005, when he made that final, he wasn't to know just how good a career he would have and that seventeen more finals would follow. He has a slam quarterfinal and two Masters semifinals to go with his eight titles. He has even beat Nadal before. He has had quite the career. Unfortunately, he is not Venus Williams. He does not have that great fashion sense she has or that longevity. He turned thirty-three weeks ago and I fear he may have just started to walk down the hill. One title in the past year is not good enough.
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DOWN: SIMON, FRA
...He did not organise and so, instead of being seeded tirid, had to go through qualies. He was pushed to three by players well below his standard then crashed out in the opening round. That is a poor week in my books.
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UPSET: BROWN, GER
...Kudos to the German for beating Isner and doing so by winning a tiebreak. Isner is god-like in tiebreaks.
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1. HOUSTON 2nd Rd. - BROWN d.ISNER
...6-4/6-7/7-6. The German-born ex-Jamaican with British roots scored his first win over a top tenner in the historic city of Houston. Even better, he did it by playing his brand of tennis. He hit a couple of... in fact, never mind. Just watch this.
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2. HOUSTON QF - QUERREY d. BROWN
...6-3/6-7/6-3/. It didn't last. Both Querrey and Isner are surprisingly competent on the clay. The games may not look it, but they sure work on the dirt. Querrey made his first semi of the year and things may finally be looking up for him.
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3. CASABLANCA Final - GARCIA-LOPEZ d. GRANOLLERS
...5-7/6-4/,6-3. .GGL slowly improved and wore down Granollers as the match wore on. The Spaniard with the one-handed backhand beat the Spaniard with two hands in a classic three-set clay duel. There were long rallies, longer rallies and very long rallies because it is important to have variety.
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4. CASABLANCA SF - GGL d. BAENA
...6-2,/6-7/6-4. The Spanish qualifier just fell short but he had a great tournament nevertheless. He Had oppurtunities to scrape through, but he was denied by GGL.
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5. HOUSTON 1st Rd.- A.GONZALEZ d. BAGHDATIS
...4-6/6-2/6-1. . The retirement of Bagman seems an inevitability with every loss.
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*MONTE CARLO (MASTERS)*
...Well, it's the first Clay Masters of the season. The sun is shining ,and my picking just became infinitely easier.

=SF=
Nadal [1] d. [11] Robredo
Federer [4] d. [2] Djokovic
=FINAL=
Nadal [1] d. [4] Federer [in straight sets- they will be mopping up the blood on the court afterward I'm afraid]

...The clay season is young and I dare to dream. Robredo is fab on the clay and I back him against Raonic and Wawrinka, too. Federer plays well here traditionally, as does Djokovic, but Fed is a better clay courter. Nadal will not drop a set here.

Thanks all and visit WTABACKSPIN please.

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