Monday, April 13, 2015

Wk.14- Murray Married, Hillary Heroine and Jack's Back


Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

Murray got married.



Sock won on clay.



Djokovic has overtaken Nadal for weeks at number one. He got 142 and can now look to McEnroe's total of 171 or so.

In Backspin HQ we have a non-tennis floor. You have to go sideways for a furlong, then up a bit in the elevator, then- well it's confusing but there is such a floor. On that floor there is an office dedicated to politics. It's between sports and history. And above one of the desks is this picture.



ATP BACKSPIN would like to endorse Hillary Clinton. It's not worth anything but the official stance of ATP BACKSPIN is that Hillary is our woman. This is one of the greatest Presidential announcements there may ever be.



If this wasn't a tennis blog, this post would just be paragraphs and paragraph all about how amazing Hillary is. But I digress. Still, this introduction should be dedicated to her. And now that it has been, the rest of the post can begin...



*WEEK 14 CHAMPIONS*
HOUSTON, USA
S: Jack Sock d. Sam Querrey 7-6(9)/7-6(2)
D: Berankis/Gabashvili d. Huey/Lipsky
CASABLANCA, MOROCCO
S: Martin Klizan d. Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-2/6-2
D: Junaid/Shamasdin d. Bopanna/Mergea


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Martin Klizan

...The way Klizan plays is like a hybrid of Verdasco and Nadal. A big serve is complimented by a forehand with a huge amount of work and pace on it. He has a game that can disrupt any player on any surface. With a serve like that, even grass should be no problem. He barely made it through round one. He beat Brown 6-5, 5-6, 7-6[5]. He got by Almagro 6-4, 7-6[3] in what was an excellent performance. He had a big comeback in the next round, bouncing back to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. Beating someone 6-0 in a semi-final anywhere takes some doing. In the final, he cleared out Traver 6-2, 6-2 and barely broke a sweat. Klizan looks now to Monte Carlo where he plays Troicki first up. He should win that. He will be playing the role of dark horse for the rest of the year. He has that kind of a game which could see him dumped out in the first round or get him to the semi-finals of a slam.
=============================
RISER: Sam Querrey
...Querrey is yet another example of someone with a lot of talent having a smaller career than expected. Others in this category include Gasquet, Tsonga [actually anyone French] and even Murray. How has Murray won only two slams and never been world number one? He's a better player than that. Querrey once served ten aces in a row. I serve ten aces in a year if I'm lucky. He also has a great forehand and a surprisingly good backhand. He should be a top ten player. He should be challenging for titles every week. But he isn't and it's a mystery.
The Californian benefited from a Matosevic retirement in the first round before beating Johnson 6-1, 4-6, 6-0. The American then put paid to Lopez's hopes as he beat out the Spaniard 4 and 1. He won a three set war against Verdasco before finally running out of steam in the final.
The American as ever hovers somewhere around the 30 mark, but he is a better player than the rankings indicate.
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SURPRISE: Teymuraz Gabashvili & Ricardas Berankis
...Alternates is a phrase which means there was no qualifying tournament so we found some guys from the singles and put them in.
Lajovic/Delbonis nearly had the pair but the Europeans won 4-6, 6-2, 19-17. Next they beat the Bryans [defending champions] 7-6[7], 7-5. After beating the top seeds, they eliminated the third seeds. Lindstedt/Melzer were no match and went down 3 and 4. They also proved to be too good against Huey/Lipsky and won 6-4, 6-4. This was their maiden doubles trophy. Alternates is a nice term. It should be used every time the phrase lucky loser would be used. Sometimes, you don't lose but you do get beaten. Alternates is the perfect phrase.
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FRESH FACE: Austin Krajicek
...He won a challenger this week. It is the second he has ever won. He made the quarterfinals last time but went three better this time. He beat players like Falla to win the event. He is now ranked 121 and still pretty fresh faced. Backspin will continue to mention him. And when he makes his big break, Backspin will say I told you so.
.=============================
DOWN: The Bryans
...The Bryans have been rubbish this year. When you're the best, you set ridiculous standards for yourself and your future self. The Bryans have lost their form and they have lost their magic, too. Could the Bryan lose the top ranking for the first time since...since...for a while.
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UPSET: Lamine Ouahab
...Ouhab ousted top seed Garcia-Lopez in one of the biggest upsets of 2015. The Moroccan has little ATP experience but was still able to sweep to a 6-3, 6-3 victory. GGL will win a title this year. He will also make a run at the French again. Other than that, it's hard to make too many predictions.
=============================

Five things I liked this week...
1 - If Djokovic finishes with more weeks at number one -- but no French Open titles -- is he greater than Nadal? Each week a new dimension is added to the GOAT argument
2 - We’re on clay now. The Twitter and other social media accounts of players were interesting to follow.
3 - First ever Indian women's tennis number one. That's pretty special.
4 - Baseball season has started and my team are doing better than Todd's team. So Ha! [Ed.Note: That's for sure! But it's a 162-game schedule. :)]
5 - The Fed Cup is back. Now that's a special competition.


1. CASABLANCA SF – Klizan d. Dzumhur 4-6, 6-4, 6-0
...Klizan was down 6-4, 4-2. He recovered and never looked back, winning ten games on the trot. Klizan is now 3-0 in singles finals and 3-0 in doubles finals, which is pretty impressive. He has now won a title on the two main surfaces on the tour. Klizan then finished the job with a dominating 6-2, 6-2 rout of Gimeno-Traver in the final.
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2. HOUSTON SF - Querrey d. Verdasco 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
...Querrey outlasted clay court expert Verdasco over the course of three sets to advance to the final. Querrey could not simply serve through the Spaniard and so had to use other methods to win. He used his forehand well and, more importantly, showed the grit needed to win through.
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3. HOUSTON FINAL - Sock d. Querrey 7-6, 7-6
...In an all-American final, Sock outlasted Querrey over two breakers, winning them 11-9 and 7-2. It was the first all-American final since 2002. Sock rises to 34 in the world. If he can get a top 30 seeding before the U.S. Open [a slam he has won as a junior] he could be a serious threat there.
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*MONTE CARLO*
=SF=
Nadal [3] d. [1] Djokovic
Federer [2] d. [4] Raonic
=FINAL=
Nadal [3] d. [2] Federer

...Nadal has a point to prove. Would anyone pick against him? Federer has a fairly simple draw, especially considering how much form Wawrinka has lost. Don't rule out a surprise player making it to the semi-final. Still, Raonic does perform well here.




Casey Dellacqua again lost to Bencic. She now falls down to 44 in the singles rankings but she would still be seeded at lower level tournaments.
Dellacqua's loss with Jurak to Mirza/Hingis is a historical one. The WTA has its first Indian number one. This country is well in excess of two billion people. And yet only now does it have its first women's world number one. Casey rose six places to 31 in the world in doubles. She may well play in the Fed Cup in s-Hertogenbosch. Yes, that is misspelled.

Thanks all and visit WTA BACKSPIN please.

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posted by Todd.Spiker @ 11:28 PM 

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