Federer, Djokovic into semis

Top-seeded Roger Federer and third-seeded Novak Djokovic both clinched their spots in the semifinals at Hamburg earlier today. Federer defeated Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-3 while Djokovic beat Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-3. Federer will now face either Nicolas Kiefer or Andreas Seppi, while Djokovic will get either favorite Rafael Nadal or Carlos Moya. Seppi and Kiefer are playing right now, and Seppi won the first set 6-3 and they are on-serve in the second set.

Federer is the defending champion at Hamburg, as he beat Rafael Nadal here last year in the finals. That is Federer’s lone win over Nadal on clay, as he is 1-7 against him in his career.

After Djokovic won last week in Rome, you certainly cannot count him out this week. Beating Nadal on clay is tough to do, but Djokovic has the tools to make it happen.

Levine beats Puerta to advance

NBTA student Jesse Levine beat former French Open finalist Mariano Puerta 6-2, 6-4 on clay at the Hurricane Open Bradenton Challenger event yesterday. Puerta made a surprise run to the finals of Roland Garros back in 2005, before he lost to Nadal in four sets.

Levine is now in the semifinals will play Mexican Santiago Gonzalez. Gonzalez upset second-seeded Amer Delic in the first round, and has now played three straight three-set matches. Levine came into the tournament ranked #164 in the world, while Gonzalez is #363.

Good luck to Jesse today!

What’s up with Gasquet?

It seems as though Richard Gasquet is in a funk. After losing yesterday to Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-2 in the second round at Hamburg (the first match he played because of a bye), Gasquet has now only won one match since he reached the fourth round at Indian Wells in the middle of March. That lone win came over Kristof Vliegen at Monte Carlo a couple of weeks ago. His 1-5 record since Indian Wells includes a second-round loss at Miami (received a first-round bye), a loss to James Blake in the Davis Cup, a third-round loss to Sam Querrery on clay at Monte Carlo, a first round loss to Luis Horna at Rome, and now this more recent slide.

Currently, Gasquet is the ninth ranked player in the world, but he certainly isn’t playing like it. I know he had a blister problems during the Davis Cup, and maybe that is still lingering. Whatever the case is, he doesn’t have much time now to get his act together before the French Open starts in a couple of weeks. There will be plenty of pressure on the young man at Roland Garros, and another early exit will no doubt send the French fans into a frenzy!

Levine wins again, will face Puerta

Academy student Jesse Levine won his second round match at the Hurricane Open Bradenton Challenger event yesterday. Levine defeated fellow American Michael Yani 6-3, 6-2 to get into the quarters. His next opponent will be former French Open finalist Mariano Puerta. The Argentinean Puerta beat Victor Estrella 6-3, 6-4 to advance.

Levine said of his match against Puerta, “I like playing on clay. I think (Puerta) likes it a little better,” “That would be a pretty cool match.”  Here are a couple of good articles from the Bradenton Herald and Sarasota Herald-Tribune about Jesse.

Good luck to Jesse today!

Top-seeded Ivanovic goes down

For the first time in 2008, Ana Ivanovic lost before the third round of a tournament. Previously, her worst results came in Doha and Miami where she lost in the third round. Today, however, she fell to Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the second round at Rome. Ivanovic only capitalized on five of 19 break opportunities and she let Pironkova break her seven times. Also, Ivanovic had six double faults and only won 52% of the points on her first serve. All in all, it was not her best match.

With Ivanovic now out, the road to the title becomes easier for the likes of Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams who are both scheduled to play their second round matches today.

Blake, Berdych upset in Germany

American James Blake, seeded seventh, was beaten in the second round today at the Masters Series event in Hamburg. He lost to Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Blake had reached the quarters last week in Rome, but after this loss he will turn his attention to the French Open where he will try to avoid suffering a first round loss two straight years. Tipsarevic will face Albert Montanes in the third round.

Also getting upset was ninth seeded Tomas Berdych. He lost to qualifier?? Marat Safin 7-5, 6-4. Safin is a former two-time finalist in Hamburg, but had to qualify to get in this year. He came into the tournament ranked #89 in the world, and sporting a 6-10 record on the year. He will face either Olivier Rochus or Carlos Moya in the third round.

Also falling today was 13th seeded Tommy Robredo. He was beaten by Ivo Karlovic 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(3) in the second round. Karlovic, ranked #24 in the world, hasn’t been past the third round of a tournament since he reached the semis at Rotterdam in February. He will get a chance to reach the quarterfinals if he beats either Juan Ignacio Chela or Novak Djokovic in the third round.

Top-seeded Roger Federer, the defending champions, has taken the court today for his second round match against Jarkko Nieminen and second-seed Rafael Nadal will play later today. Despite losing last week, Nadal is still the favorite to win this tournament. His clay-court record speaks for itself, and you know he is going to want to show everyone that he is doing fine before play at Roland Garros begins.

Henin retires from tennis

Reports from a Belgian newspaper are saying that Justine Henin will retire from the sport of tennis today. According to the article, Henin will call a press conference to announce her retirement from the game.

Henin is currently the #1 ranked player in the world, but has been in a slump for the entire year. Henin has won two Tier II tournaments this year, but she was beaten soundly by Maria Sharapova in Australia and Serena Williams in Miami. She also lost last week in Germany to Dinara Safina.

It isn’t exactly known if Henin will retire immediately, at the end of the year, or after the French Open. If she does retire immediately, it seems to come at an odd time, as she is the three-time defending champion at Roland Garros. Also, she is only 25 years old.

The one thing about Justine though is that she never really seemed to be motivated by the fame and fortune, and that is why it doesn’t really shock me to see her walk away. If she isn’t winning matches that she thinks she can win, and she isn’t happy then I definitely understand. It is funny the way things work out sometimes. Who would have thought at the beginning of the year that Henin would be playing her last year on the WTA Tour? It certainly didn’t seem like that at the end of 2007.

Whatever the case may be, I wish Justine the best of luck in whatever she decides to pursue next. She has had a wonderful tennis career and is one of the best women ever to play the game. Her heart and hustle on the court were basically unmatched by anyone else on the tour. I feel it was this, more than her wonderful groundstrokes, that enabled to her to be the best. Good luck to Justine and thank you for everything you have done for the sport.

Levine moves on

American and NBTA student, Jesse Levine, won his opening round match at the Bradenton Challenger event. Levine beat Australian lefty Carsten Ball 6-2, 6-2 and will now face either qualifier Raian Luchici or lucky loser Michael Yani in the second round.

Ball had a big serve, but Levine was able to offset that with his excellent movement and penetrating groundstrokes. He forced Ball in to making a bunch of errors and Levine dominated the rallies. All in all, it was a good win for Jesse.

Here are some photos from the match:

Krajinovic falls in opener

Sixteen-year old Academy student Filip Krajinovic lost his first round match at the Bradenton Challenger event yesterday. Krajinovic was up 4-1 in the first set before American Tim Smyczek mounted his comeback. Smyczek went on to win five straight games and took the first set 6-4. In the second set, both player held serve until Krajinovic was broken at four all. Smyczek went on to hold serve and take the match 6-4, 6-4. The difference in this match was the consistent, solid play from Smyczek. He didn’t make too many mistakes and had some nice big serves to get him out of trouble. Krajinovic showed his shot-making ability, but made far too many unforced errors in the match.

Here are some pictures of Filip.

Today, Academy student Jesse Levine will play his opener against Australian Carsten Bell. I’ll get some pictures of Jesse for you…

Monday Round-Up (05/12/08)

Here are some interesting tidbits from across the world of tennis:

• There is a 50k Challenger in Bradenton this week. A couple of the players that train at the Academy are playing in it. American Jesse Levine is the third seed and will face Carsten Ball in the opening round. Also, 15-year old Filip Karjinovic received a wild card into the tournament and plays American Tim Smyczek in the first round. Here is a good article about Filip with some quotes from Nick (from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune).
• On a side note about the Bradenton tournament, former French Open finalist, Mariano Puerta, is playing in it. If you remember, Puerta was suspended for eight years for steroids back in 2005 and then had his sentenced reduced to two years in 2006. He is currently ranked #208 in the world.
• The US Open and US Open Series are getting more coverage. Starting in 2009, ESPN and the Tennis Channel will join CBS in showing the tournaments. Under the new deal, the US Open will receive 200 hours of total coverage, an increase of over 50 hours — the most in US Open history. This marks the first time that the Series and the US Open will be carried by the same cable broadcast partner — creating a more consistent TV package for the sport. For 2008, USA Network will remain the US Open’s exclusive cable broadcaster. This is great news for the sport!
• Henin, Mauresmo, Safina all pull out. The world’s top ranked player, a former Grand Slam champion, and last week’s winner in Berlin have all withdrawn from this week’s tournament in Rome. Another bad string of pull-outs from a big tournament. Recently, we have heard Nadal, Djokovic, and Sharapova speak about the rigorous schedule, and it appears it is taking its toll once again.
• Madrid will be the site for the US vs. Spain Davis Cup semi later this year. This decision was not welcomed by the Spanish team, which said that Madrid’s 2,100-foot altitude will remove the team’s home-court advantage and they accused federation president Pedro Munoz of favoring the capital city because of sponsorship money. Seems like if the team wanted a different site because they thought it was going to help them win, you would put them there. I would think that is how it works?
• NBTA student Sachia Vickery featured on Forbes.com. After winning the Easter Bowl and Gator Bowl, the 12-year old American was featured in a list of “America’s Most Promising Young Athletes.” Congrats to Sachia!