CricketWeb Tennis - Season I

[SirBloody Idiot]

ATP Masters Series Madrid (Final Preview) - May 11-17 Season I

SUNDAY PREVIEW - MORENO ATTEMPTS TO CONTINUE GIANT-KILLING RUN

WHAT'S AT STAKE -
Winner: € 360,000 and 500 ATP Ranking points
Runner-up: € 180,000 and 350 ATP Ranking points

FINALS HISTORY -
Blanco: Appearing in his 6th career ATP World Tour final...He is 5-0 lifetime in finals
Moreno: Appearing in his 2nd career ATP World Tour final...He is 0-1 lifetime in finals

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH-UPS

HEAD-TO-HEAD

(1)Daniel Páez Blanco (ESP) vs Juan Moreno (ARG)
No Previous Meetings

Blanco FastFasts:
Season I Highlights:
Winner: Vina del Mar (d Boros); Buenos Aries (d Boros); Monte Carlo (d Charles); Barcelona (d Emelio); Rome (d Boros); Q: Doha (Joaquin); 4R: Australian Open (Cowan)
Season I W-L: 35-4
Season I Titles: 5
Career Titles: 5
Date of Birth: 12 September ,1978
ATP Ranking: 3

- Blanco, 30, is making his first tournament appearance and en route to the final, defeated Peruvian qualifier José Navarro (76(2) 61); Jefferson Drake (62 63); fifth seed Darcy Cowan (60 63) and CWLand's Jamee Hancianu (64 61)
- He is appearing in his sixth ATP World Tour final, having won tournaments in Vina del Mar, Buenos Aries, Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome (defeating József Boros three times, and Henry Charles and Sanchez Emelio once in the final)
- Made the fourth round of the Australian Open before losing to Darcy Cowan (75 67 61 61)
- Made the second round of the Indian Wells Masters before losing to Jamee Hancianu (63 76), the third round of the Miami Masters before losing to eventual quarterfinalist Ivan Genov (57 63 64), and then won the Monte Carlo Masters by defeating Henry Charles (63 64) and the Rome Masters by defeating József Boros (67 63 62)
- Played a part in the Spainish side which defeated the Netherlands in the Davis Cup World Group first round. He won the second singles rubber against Cameron van der Cleer (75 62 75).

Moreno FastFacts:
Season I Highlights:
Final: Chennai (R Henson); SF: Costa do Sauipe (Altman); Dubai (Champion); Estoril (Hall); QF: Buenos Aries (Haas).
Season I W-L: 21-10
Season I Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: 6 January, 1985
ATP Ranking: 21

- Moreno, 24, is making his first tournament appearance and en route to the final, defeated Marcelo Alavos (64 61); seventh seed Illya Altman (46 64 76(6); ninth seed Sven Oxenstierna (64 75); second seed Radivoj Daneu (64 63) and Sanchez Emelio (46 64 75)
- He is appearing in his second ATP World Tour final, having lost to Rick Henson in Chennai (76 76)
- His only Grand Slam appearance, the Australian Open, saw him lose in the first round to France's Jean-Alain Depuis (57 62 61 75)
- Prior to this tournament had been defeated in the first round of ATP Masters Series events in Monte Carlo and Rome, a second round at Indian Wells (after being given a bye in the first round), and a round of 16 appearance in Miami (losing to Radek Špidla)
- Played a part in the Argentine side which lost to Chile in the Davis Cup World Group first round. He defeated Renato Varas in the first singles rubber (57 60 64 64) and then Alex Rojas in the return singles (61 62).

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

ATP Masters Series Madrid (Final) - May 11-17 Season I

Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid
Final - Madrid

Seeds
Draw - Finals
Draw - Section One
Draw - Section Two
Draw - Section Three
Draw - Section Four

Third seed Daniel Páez Blanco has leapt back into the world number two position, and closed well in sight of the number one spot after a straight sets win over Argentina's Juan Moreno in the final of the Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid. Moreno's hot streak came to an end in straight sets at the hands of the man who is still yet to lose on clay despite a number of near misses. In what seems to be a recurring trend in finals, Blanco struggled in the first set as Moreno built on the confidence which had seen him defeat three seeded players throughout the tournament - namely second seed Radivoj Daneu. But after being ahead a break early, Moreno faltered as the ever persistent Blanco barged his way back into the match with some sensational shots in the fourth game. The first set meandered to a tiebreaker, and it was there that Blanco shot ahead of his unseeded opponent; Moreno's nerves helping the third seed as he double faulted on three occasions. From there, it seemed almost elementary for Blanco as he rose in confidence and momentum to take the second set in just over half an hour to lift his third straight Masters crown 7-6(3), 6-2 and head into the French Open firm favourite.

Seeds Out: None.

 

[Simon]

no surprise there

 

[NUFAN]

Congrats Heath.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Rankings & Injuries - May 17, I

Top Fifty:

CWLanders:

Injuries:

 

[Simon]

Glad to be back in the top 3 Cwebbers. Next stop is the top 20 in the world.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

French Open Wildcard Playoff
Pickford, CWLand
Clay
ATP International Series
RR

For guys who will miss direct qualification for Roland Garros.

---

The Hypo Group Tennis International
Pörtschach, Austria
Clay
ATP International Series
Sgl: 32

WHAT'S ON OFFER -
R32: 0 pts / € 3,470
R16: 15 pts / € 5,850
QF: 40 pts / € 9,200
SF: 75 pts / € 17,450
RU: 120 pts / € 31,000
W: 175 pts / € 59,100

APPEARING -
Rasmus Olesen, Henry Charles, Danijel Micic, Jason Bradley and more!

---

ARAG ATP World Team Championship
Düsseldorf, Germany
Clay
World Team Cup
RR

WHAT'S ON OFFER -
Prize pool of US $1,500,000

QUALIFICATION -
The eight nations whose top two male players have achieved the highest combined placings in the men's world rankings as of April 5, I.

TEAMS -
USA
Serbia
CWLand
China
Hungary
Croatia
Spain
Germany

APPEARING -
World number one Jason Hall will look to find form after his second round exit in Madrid as he joins Morgan Carter and Wayne Boyd in the top seeded American outfit. Miroslav Brdar leads the charge for sixth seed Croatia, alongside Nilikar Midid and Adem Tadić.

Final stop ahead of the French Open! Roy Daniels will rest after playing a string of tournaments over the past few weeks. We need three/four volunteers to play the World Team Cup; the top ranked players will get preference. Out of the world top ten, currently only Hall, Daneu and Brdar will play after disappointing performances in Madrid.

 

[ripper868]

Send Maxum to Austria, pretty sure he is not ready to represent CWLand

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

I'll play the Team Tournament assuming it doesn't affect me into the French and the run after the French on the grass. If I have to sit out a grass event because of the teams tourny then I'll sit out the Teams. (if that makes sense)

 

[Mister Wright]

Mustard was planning to rest. But is more than happy to play in the team cup.

 

[David]

If I can go to Austria that would be grand.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Actually, something I forgot. It should've been done a while ago, but wasn't. Guys who will miss out on direct qualification for the French Open (say 110+) can apply for the CWLand wildcard playoff. It is part of our reciprocal arrangement with France who will get a wildcard for the CWLand Open later this year.

So Korpinen and Maxum can revise their plans if they wish.

 

[NUFAN]

At first I thought I needed a rest, but everyone in the top 50 has played more matches then me.

So Bowenburg is going to play in Austria, most likely through the qualifying rounds.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Was my win ever in doubt against such as chump as Wang-Wang. Guess I had to actually try in that game, but my distraction tactics at the start of the tie breaker may have done the job; telling him I was straight down the pub after the game and would indulge in slagging off my government. Oooh yeah!

Tales from the Changing Room

Iain O'Brien's cricket blog brings you the inside track from the tennis courts thanks to inside correspondant, Heath Davis. When Heath can be bothered, he'll be giving you the inside track on what happens behind the scenes at some of the world's greatest tennis tournaments. Over to Heath.

Hey guys. [insert bland, inoffensive comment about CWLand Tennis Administration here]. I know over the last week I've been slumming it with Rob Bowenburg, but this has given me a chance to reflect on some of the events of the past couple of months.

Its important to remember that tennis players are not automatons, and we enjoy a joke as much as the next person. The camaraderie between the players can verge on the semi-ghey on occasions, but we try and keep things on the right side of normal. One thing that we do to build up this sense of community is give each other nicknames of our own making.

When I give a fellow player a nickname, I use the "Six Degrees of Separation" method.

For example, take a star player like Jefferson Drake. Each step, you take the most obvious link, and from Drake the obvious leap is to Duck. Most nickname creators would stop there, but its just a bit too obvious for my liking. So from there I go to Donald, right. Still a bit too obvious, so move to the next step, I've gone for Sutherland in this case. Donald Sutherland. Right, so from there, I've moved onto generic 70s Sixties Rockers, Sutherland Brothers and Quiver. Getting there, getting there. Whose most famous song was Arms of Mary. So I call Drake "Mary".

For another example, Sven Oxenstierna is called the "Ox" commonly. That's obviously step one, an Ox is pretty much like a Buffalo. Ok, so from there I go to Nenah Cherry's classic hit, Buffalo Stance. Cherry featured on Pulp's album This is Hardcore. Pulp were from the City of Sheffield where Mary, Queen of Scots was held as a prisoner for 14 years, so I call Oxenstierna "Mary".

There seem to be a few flaws to iron out in my nickname making process to be honest.

 

[Johnners]

Delev to rest please.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

I think Smeltz will do better than the Ox at the team cup. Will sit out if he wants to play.

 

[David]

Actually, something I forgot. It should've been done a while ago, but wasn't. Guys who will miss out on direct qualification for the French Open (say 110+) can apply for the CWLand wildcard playoff. It is part of our reciprocal arrangement with France who will get a wildcard for the CWLand Open later this year.

So Korpinen and Maxum can revise their plans if they wish.

I will take up on this crazy wild card scheme.

 

[Nate]

Read to Austria thanks.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Scotland to Austria.

 

[Jamee999]

I'll rest after my Madrid run, please