Week 13-14: Miami [Zhijun]

[SirBloody Idiot]

Sony Ericsson Open II - Men's Singles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Radivoj Daneu is the defending champion, but lost to János Varga in the fourth round.

Zhijun Sun beat Radek Špidlá 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(6), 6-2 in the final to win his first PTA Masters 1000 final. It was his second title of Season II.

Tournament Name: SONY ERICSSON OPEN-MIAMI
Location: Key Biscayne, FL, USA
Dates: MARCH 24–APRIL 4, II (WEDNESDAY START)
Prize Money: US $3,645,000
96 DRAW/48 DRAW QUALIFYING

SITE: Tennis Center at Crandon Park
7300 Crandon Boulevard
Key Biscayne, FL 33149
SURFACE: HARD
BALL: ATP PENN BALL
WEB SITE: Sony Ericsson Open

Qualifying draw: Sunday, March 21, TBA
Main draw: Monday, March 22, Noon
Doubles draw: Wednesday, March 24, 6:00 p.m.

ATP Ranking Points
W: 1000
F: 600
SF: 360
QF: 180
R16: 90
R32: 45
R64: 25 (Seeds: 10)
R128: 10 (WC: 0)
Q: +12
Q24: 7
Q48: 0

Entry deadline: February 9, 2010
Seeding: March 22, 2010

1 Hall, Jason USA 1
2 Blanco, Daniel Páez ESP 2
3 Špidlá, Radek CZE 3
4 Daneu, Radivoj SRB 4
5 Oxenstierna, Sven FRC 5
6 Cowan, Darcy USA 6
7 Boros, József HUN 7
8 Olesen, Rasmus DEN 8
9 Altman, Illya UKR 9
10 Drake, Jefferson CDR 10
OUT Moreno, Juan ARG 11
12 Brdar, Miroslav CRO 12
OUT Charles, Henry GBR 13
14 Henson, Rick USA 14
15 Murdoch, Dwayne USA 15
16 Smeltz, Randy CDR 16
17 Varga, Zoltán HUN 17
OUT Kennedy, Davis CAN 18
19 Stewart, Oneil JAM 19
20 Amato, Carlo ITA 20
21 Micic, Danijel SRB 21
22 Benaglio, Almen SUI 22
23 Pascaul, Patrick FRA 23
24 Hurtado, Diego COL 24
25 Emelio, Sanchez ESP 25
26 Matias, Tiago POR 26
27 Champion, David AUS 27
28 Bachunelli, Antonio ITA 28
29 Mustard, Jojo FRC 29
30 Haas, Becker GER 30
OUT Hancianu, Jamee CDR 31
32 Zhijun, Sun CHN 32
OUT Vollan, Kim NOR 33
34 Davis, Heath FRC 34
35 Carter, Morgan USA 35
36 Bradley, Jason USA 36
OUT Li, Wang CHN 37
38 Genov, Ivan BUL 38
39 Andueza, Ion ESP 39
40 Joaquin, Sergio ESP 40
OUT Boyd, Wayne USA 41
OUT Orlov, Dmitry RUS 42
43 L'Estrange, Pierre FRA 43
OUT Brookes, Toby AUS 44
OUT Read, Brett FRC 45
46 Vollan, Tom NOR 46
47 Cohen, Tal ISR 47
48 Varga, János HUN 48
49 Depuis, Jean-Alain FRA 49
50 Midid, Nilikar CRO 50
OUT Vuriak, Viktor UKR 51
52 Sae-ul, Atthaphol THA 52
53 Mandonna, Paolo ARG 53
54 Donaldson, Bjorn SWE 54
55 Santos, Roberto BRA 55
OUT Maxum, Jarkko CDR 56
57 Parmentier, Yves BEL 57
58 Gorshkov, Gregor RUS 58
59 Delev, Spas CDR 59
OUT Villaneuva, Javier ESP 60
61 Cesljar, Ivan CRO 61
62 Rivers, Scotland FRC 62
63 Schmidt, Pascal SUI 63
64 Engel, Oliver LUX 64
65 Genghini, Jean-Christophe FRA 65
66 Carretero, Marc ESP 66
67 Denisov, Boris RUS 67
68 Doh, Ninteh JPN 68
69 Isaev, Denis BLR 69
70 Färkkilä, Lari FIN 70
71 Peters, Alex GER 71
72 Dorogan, Roman UKR 72
73 Li, Ming-Wang CHN 73
74 Harmel, Mark BEL 74
75 Bowenburg, Rob FRC 75
76 James, Hugh USA 76
OUT Alavos, Marcelo PAR 77
78 Brozik, Petr CZE 78
79 Buur, Kasper DEN 79
80 (Q)
81 (Q)
82 (Q)
83 (Q)
84 (Q)
85 (Q)
86 (Q)
87 (Q)
88 (Q)
89 (Q)
90 (Q)
91 (Q)
92 (WC) Bhutia, Ritwik IND
93 (WC) Bosnar, Rod AUS
94 (WC) Lee, Inmin KOR
95 (WC) Ficher, Anothy USA
96 (WC) Alderman, Charlie USA

Alternates
IN Day, Julian USA 80
IN Boniek, Zbiginiew AUT 81
IN Emsis, Ivars LAT 82
OUT Marín, Aldo PAR 83
IN Henson, Eric USA 84
IN Aksu, Emrem TUR 85
OUT Cordiero, Valter POR 86
IN Fok, Zhenyu CHN 87
OUT Quezada, Jefferson CHL 88
IN Onwye, Ross MAR 89
IN Berg, Maarten NED 90
OUT Zakov, Yordan BUL 91
IN Hainisch, Heinz AUT 92
OUT Onwye, Hayden MAR 93
IN Morkel, Haiku NOR 94
IN Puder, Oleg RUS 95
IN Navarro, José PER 96
IN Bre, Matt CDR 97
IN Maurer, Bogdan ROU 98
1 Reiter, Martin AUT 100
2 Highsmith, Oscar GBR 101
3 Rodrigues, Dênis BRA 102
4 Aguero, Fernando ESP 103
5 Ortiz, Johan COL 104

[SirBloody Idiot]

Sony Ericsson Open II - Men's Singles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Carlos Machado and Dênis Rodrígues won in the final 6-2, 6-4, against Diego Hurtado and Paolo Mandonna.

[Samuel_Vimes]

Backing Korpinen to make it through qualifying again.

[Matteh]

Mitchell'll go for the Quali approach.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Miami preview

As expected, the wear and tear of the first of the PTA Masters Series 1000 event has hit some players hard with the withdrawal of some high ranked seeds from the event. Nevertheless, the field is strong and full of exciting matchups.

Radivoj Daneu is the defending champion here in Miami, and last week suffered a big drop in fortunes as he bled 820 points and dropped all the way down to World No. 6. He's in poor form, and was perhaps fairly lucky to have made it all the way to the quarter finals in Indian Wells after being gifted an easy draw for a player of his quality. This week should see him make the fourth round at least with the likes of Schmidt, Cesljar and Matías in his section, but his form will be on the line against the likes of Oneil Stewart or Jojo Mustard in the round of 16. In the unlikely event those around him repeated their Season I performances, a fourth round exit would see Daneu slip all the way to World No. 10.

Last year he took out World No. 1 Jason Hall, and the American is in much better shape coming off an Australian Open win and a semi final in Indian Wells. His form, however, has been a little bit scratchy and will be firmly tested by a possible second round showdown with Ivars Emsis. Despite that, Hall should breeze through his section to the fourth round where a sterner test in Carlo Amato or Zoltán Varga looks likely. There looks every likelihood we could see another Hall-Radek Špidlá showdown in the semis with the big Czech player looking to atone for his third round exit in Indian Wells. There he was stunned by out-of-form German Becker Haas who surged into the quarter finals and back into the world's top thirty. They could meet again in the same round with Haas, the 27th seed, his likely opponent. Though the section is tough with sixteenth seed Rick Henson looking to rebound from last week while 23rd seed Almen Benaglio looks to build on his Indian Wells form. The winner of that section faces a brutal quarter final against the likes of Jefferson Drake, Darcy Cowan or even Björn Donaldson should the Swede capitalise on his fourth round appearance and ascent to World No. 48. Drake, at a career high World No. 9, only has third round points to defend and should improve on them following his semi final last week.

Elsewhere, the big news was Sven Oxenstierna setting up an 820 point buffer in the world's top 4 with his biggest title win yet. Now seeded No. 4, the Ox must defend quarter final points from last season and might face a scare in his section. Compatriot Heath Davis is in poor form but looms large in the third round, before a rematch with Danijel Micic or a tough affair against twelfth seed Miroslav Brdar. With Špidlá protecting semi final points following his season I win over the Ox, the World No. 4 could feasibly move into the world's third spot should Špidlá perform poorly this fortnight.

Finally, World No. 2 Daniel Páez Blanco returned from injury last week unconvincingly as he was taken to three sets by Alex Peters and then bested by Donaldson in the third. He needs that match practice to survive an awkward draw on one of his less favourite surfaces - 30th seed Zhijun Sun could provide headaches in the third round while Randy Smeltz and Patrick Pascaul are difficult fourth round opponents.

QF Prediction:
Hall def. Olesen
Špidlá def. Drake
Oxenstierna def. Murdoch
Stewart def. Blanco

SF Prediction:
Špidlá def. Hall
Oxenstierna def. Stewart

Final Prediction:
Špidlá def. Oxenstierna

He might not have been so successful last week, but I fancy Radek Špidlá to bounce back furiously here in Miami. Hall hasn't been playing brilliantly lately and might not have enough in him following three tough weeks, while he should be too good for other opponents. It is always a risk betting on the Indian Wells champ to back it up, but Oxenstierna looked as good as he has in many months last week and should be riding high. He has an 0-5 record against Špidlá, though, and I don't think he'll improve it.

[Samuel_Vimes]

It's back!!!

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Predictions:

Drake to pee on Špidlá's chair in-game.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Sony Ericsson Open - Men's Qualifying

• East CWLander Martti Korpinen has qualified for his second PTA Masters Series 1000 tournament in as many weeks with a 6-0, 6-4 thrashing of local hopeful Jimmy Holland. The World No. 122 had to fight through the first round of qualification as he met Croatia's Stipo Vučemilović, but seemed to gain confidence from his 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-3 win over the resilient European. Holland, meanwhile, had made light work of eleventh seed Gjorgji Dinov in his first round match as he breezed to a 6-1, 6-2 victory. But that ominous form was nowhere to be found against Korpinen as the eighteenth seed serve-and-volleyed effectively and played solid tennis to surge into the main draw in just over an hour. While in Indian Wells he was bundled out by wildcard entrant Waylon Jones, Korpinen will hope to bounce back in his winnable first round showdown with Ivan Češljar of Croatia.
• Fellow CDR player Mat Mitchell was unable to recreate his form from a fortnight ago (yeah... fortnight.) as he was edged out by fourteenth seed Václav Zeman. In a hot contest between two in form players, it was the left-handed Czech player who played the best tennis when he needed to as he continues to ascend up the rankings to where he should be with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win.

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Nice work, Korpse. Good to see Murphy S'ua make the main draw too.

[SirBloody Idiot]

For the record, doubles:

Top Half
Bottom Half

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Just need to find Jojo and we can get this **** on the road!

[Samuel_Vimes]

B Miller (WC) <--- art imitates life

[SirBloody Idiot]

Sony Ericsson II
PTA Masters Series 1000 - 1st Round (Wednesday) - Miami, FL - Hard (Outdoors)

Men's Singles
Seeds
Finals
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Section 6
Section 7
Section 8

Men's Doubles
Seeds
Finals
Top Half
Bottom Half

• Rapidly rising West CWLand hope Scotland Rivers continues to impress as he bounced back from a shock second round exit in Sunrise with a strong showing against Petr Brožik. Brožik, whose ranking has shot up 31 places this season, made the semi finals in Sunrise last week but could not handle the aggressive style of Rivers. The Westerner is building a following and it easy to see why as he cooly slotted a forehand winner past the Czech player to snatch a break of service in the second game of the first set. While Brožik recovered well with some good serving, he could not get the break he needed as Rivers' big wind up forehand continued to produce good results for the World No. 54. After taking the first set 6-3, Rivers suffered an early setback in the second as he fell a break down after his backhand failed him when down a break point. But he clawed that break back as Brožik served for the set to level it at 5-5. With both players holding, the set was tiebreak bound and it was Rivers who got the big jump on his lower ranked opponent and held on all the way to the second round with a 6-3, 7-6(2) win. He now plays eleventh seed Dwayne Murdoch who worked his way back into form in Sunrise last week by taking the title. In the semis, he also beat Brožik 6-3, 6-4 to atone for his second round exit in Indian Wells.

• The singles of career of Morocco's Ross Onwye continues to flounder as he was taught a tennis lesson by the unassuming East CWLander Matt Bre. Bre, ranked No. 83 in the world, surprisingly came in as underdog with the bookies with many expecting Onwye to make the most of his doubles form that saw him claim the doubles title with his brother in Indian Wells. But there was none of that form on show here as his ranking continues to plumet following another early exit. Bre, however, looked very good as he made few errors in comparison to his opponent in a 6-2, 6-1 mauling. He might find trouble in his second round clash with Indian Wells singles winner Sven Oxenstierna who is unlikely to make anywhere near the amount of errors as Onwye and will control the play in much the same way Bre likes to do.

• The other CWLander in action was qualifier Martti Korpinen who made the most of a winnable first round clash with Croatia's Ivan Češljar. Although Češljar is ranked No. 73 in the world, he's no more than a middling player with a lanky frame and a distinct lack of physical presence. Korpinen, meanwhile, makes up for his physical attributes with smarts and aggressiveness as he regularly came to the net to cause Češljar all sorts of difficulties. While the serve and volley style seems to be the missing link in the top 100, Korpinen gave the crowd something new to watch as his busy game earned two first set service breaks and conceded no break points. While Češljar lifted in the second, he couldn't get a look on the Korpinen serve as the World No. 122 continued his push to the top hundred with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-4 win. He now plays 25th seed Tiago Matías who is coming off a third round appearance in Indian Wells despite playing most of his best tennis on the clay.

• Seeded players out: None.

[Mister Wright]

Great to see this back!

[SirBloody Idiot]

Sony Ericsson II
PTA Masters Series 1000 - 1st Round (Thursday) - Miami, FL - Hard (Outdoors)

Men's Singles
Seeds
Finals
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Section 6
Section 7
Section 8

Men's Doubles
Seeds
Finals
Top Half
Bottom Half

• While last week he was playing in the quarter finals of a PTA Masters Series 1000 tournament, this week Spas Delev was out in the first round as he was beaten in three sets by Austria's Heinz Hainisch. The World No. 53 was a hot favourite to win his first match in Miami, and it was obvious why this was as he blitzed the Austrian 6-1 in the first set. But that dominance was quickly cut down as Hainisch took a break of serve against the complete run of play to set up a 4-1 lead in the second set. While Delev had opportunities to draw closer, he could not convert them as the Sunrise semi finalist seemed to regain his form from last weekend to capture the second set 6-3. It all came down to the decider, and in a tense affair neither player was able to get the decisive break. But as the match looked destined for a tiebreaker, Delev gave Hainisch two match points with a rare backhand error. It was all Hainisch needed as he converted his first thanks largely to the top of the net to advance to the second round 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a stunning reversal of fortunes.

• There were no such incidents for Rob Bowenburg as he looked good in a straight sets victory over World No. 1 doubles player Ralph Robinson. The 23-year old American is starting to produce some singles results that many expected considering his brother Ryan was a former Wimbledon champion, but he only stayed in this match by virtue of his serve. Bowenburg, meanwhile, looked lively when returning and patiently waited for hiss opportunities to break. He only did it twice, but he made those times count as he set up a round of 64 showdown with Zoltán Varga on the back of a 6-4, 7-5 win.

• Seeded players out: None.