Coric tests Djokovic in top match

The 11 remaining second round matches in the Monte Carlo Masters were resolved, leaving 16 players to contest the rest of the tournament.

All winners only required two sets, apart from qualifier Andreas Seppi, who ended the hopes of lucky loser in qualifying Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 4-6 6-3 7-5.

Possibly the best of the matches, though, was that between Novak Djokovic (9) and Borna Coric.

Djokovic was had an easy first round win, surrendering just a single game, but Coric offered a significantly greater challenge.

The pair provided a top class display of competitive tennis, clean ball striking throughout, including some delightful backhand exchanges

Djokovic achieved the initial edge, breaking for 3-1 in the opening set on the back of a winning backhand.

Coric answered in the seventh game, converting a chance thanks to a Djokovic errant backhand.

Novak, twice champion here, found himself in trouble at 5-5 and 15-40, but Borna donated a succession of mistakes to allow the Serb an escape and eventually a tie break resulted.

Here, Djokovic took control, moving inside the baseline to create angles which caused Coric all sorts of problems.

Seven points to two and Djokovic had a hard fought lead.

Set two was another struggle for both players with three straight service breaks.  At 3-5 and 15-40, Coric was on the verge of defeat, but he held on, and then broke Djokovic when he served for the match, saving more match points.

Coric saved a total of ten match points, but Djokovic broke in the eleventh game and served out the entertaining match 7-6(2) 7-5

Djokovic will play Dominic Thiem (5) in the round of sixteen 

Other second round results on the fourth day of main draw competition:

Rafa Nadal (1) defeated Aljaz Bedene 6-1 6-3 

He will play Karen Khachanov in the round of sixteen 

Karen Khachanov defeated wildcard Gilles Simon 6-2 6-2

Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas (15) 6-4 6-2

He will play Grigor Dimitrov (4) in the round of sixteen 

Roberto Bautista Agut (11) defeated Feliciano López 6-3 7-6(5)

He will play David Goffin (6) in the round of sixteen 

Richard Gasquet defeated Diego Schwartzman (10) 6-2 6-1

He will play Mischa Zverev in the round of sixteen 

Jan-Lennard Struff defeated Fabio Fognini (13) 6-4 6-2

He will play Sascha Zverev (3) in the round of sixteen

Kei Nishikori defeated Daniil Medvedev 7-5 6-2

He will play qualifier Andreas Seppi in the round of sixteen 

Milos Raonic (14) defeated qualifier Marco Cecchinato 7-6(5) 6-2

He will play Marin Cilic (2) in the round of sixteen 

Marin Cilic (2) defeated Fernando Verdasco 6-3 7-6(4)

France lose five in Monte Carlo

The first round of the Monte Carlo Masters has been put to bed, giving some of the top seeds the chance to take court for second round matches after an initial bye.

Five Frenchman were involved in the remaining opening round encounters, and due to the nature of the draw, we had two all French matches.

Wildcard Gilles Simon keeps coming up with surprises, and he did again, knocking out compatriot Adrian Mannarino (16) 6-3 4-6 6-2.

Mannarino will be regretting not using any of the 7 break points he had in set one, while Simon converted the single opportunity that came his way.

Although Mannarino levelled the match, it was Simon, with excellent return of serve, who controlled the deciding third and final set.

Richard Gasquet was the other French representative to delete a fellow countryman from contention.  He defeated qualifier Jeremy Chardy in two close sets 6-4 7-6(5)

The fifth man from France on court for first round action today, Benoit Paire, will return to his Swiss residence straight away, courtesy of Feliciano Lopez.  The Spaniard outlasted Paire 5-7 7-6(5) 6-4.

Finalists from last weeks 2 tournaments, Tennys Sandgren and Kyle Edmund, both lost first round battles, to Philipp Kohlschreiber and qualifier Andreas Seppi respectively.  However, seeds Diego Schwartzman (13) and Fabio Fognini (13) are safely through, even with Schwartzman dropping his first set to Guido Pella 6-0.

Five second round matches were played, all of these featuring seeds:

Sascha Zverev (3) defeated Gilles Muller 4-6 6-3 6-2

Grigor Dimitrov (4) defeated qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert 

3-6 6-2 6-4

Dominic Thiem (5) took two hours forty minutes to defeat Andrey Rublev 5-7 7-5 7-5

David Goffin (6) defeated qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(4) 7-5

Mischa Zverev joined his brother in the third round by upsetting Lucas Pouille (7) 2-6 6-1 7-6(3).

The losses of Pouille and Herbert completed a bad day for France - two winners and five vanquished (2 at the hands of fellow countrymen)

Tomorrow will see the first appearance of the top two seeds Rafa Nadal (1) and Marin Cilic (2).

Fed Cup and Monte Carlo Masters

Wins last Sunday for:

Steve Johnson in Houston

Pablo Andújar in Marrakech 

Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in Bogotá 

Elise Mertens in Lugano 

This week the ATP Tour is concentrated on the first clay court Masters 1000 tournament for 2018, Monte Carlo.

The top players are assembled in Monaco, less world number two, Roger  Federer, who is skipping the entire clay court season.  

Other top ten players missing are Juan Martin del Potro, Kevin Anderson and John Isner.

The top seven seeds have first round byes, and so does lucky loser from qualifying - Guillermo Garcia-Lopez - who takes the place in the draw vacated by Pablo Carreno Busta, a late withdrawal.

While the men are playing games in the French Riviera, the WTA Tour is having a break, allowing the Fed Cup to take centre stage this weekend.

However, a second tier WTA event is taking place - the Biyuan Cup Zhengzhou Women’s Tennis Open in Zhengzhou, China.

The Monte Carlo Masters has started, with 14 of 24 first round matches completed.  Of those, only five went the three sets, including Kei Nishikori’s victory over Tomas Berdych (12).  A tough draw for Berdych, considering Kei is a former regular in the top ten, as high as four.

Mainly injury has forced Nishikori down the rankings, and having to play seeded opponents so early in tournaments.

Novak Djokovic (9) is, together with Federer and Murray, in a select group of highly decorated players whose careers have been hijacked in recent years by injury.  Novak’s comeback has been far from ideal - certainly not the ultra smooth recovery ride experienced by Roger.

He has begun his Monte Carlo run without any drama, though, ditching qualifier Dusan Lajovic 6-0 6-1.

Life potentially becomes tougher from here for the Serb star - he has Borna Coric in the second round, then likely Dominic Thiem (5) in the round of sixteen. Thiem was 0-5 h2h against Djokovic until he sunk him in the quarters at Roland Garros last year in straight sets. If Novak survives Thiem, he should have Rafa Nadal (1) to face in the quarters.

The Fed Cup has reached the semi final stage and these are the line ups for the weekend:

Germany v Czech Republic (3) indoors on clay at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany 

Nominated players include:

Germany 

Julia Goerges ranked 11

Angie Kerber ranked 12

Tatjana Maria ranked 61

Czech Republic 

Karolina Pliskova ranked 6

Petra Kvitová ranked 10

Barbora Strycova ranked 26

France (4) v USA (2) indoors on clay at the Arena Du Pays D’Aix in Aix-en-Provence, France

Nominated players include:

France 

Kiki Mladenovic ranked 20

Pauline Parmentier ranked 122

Amandine Hasse ranked 204

USA

Sloane Stephens ranked 9

Madison Keys ranked 13

CoCo Vandeweghe ranked 16

It remains disappointing that top ten player Caroline Garcia still won’t put her hand up to play for her country (France).  Instead she only wants to play for her individual glory and France will subsequently struggle in the semis, depending on Mladenovic to carry the huge load as she did against Belgium in the quarters

Edmund and Gasquet in Marrakech final

Marrakech:

Quarter finals

Pablo Andujar defeated qualifier Alexey Vatutin 6-4 5-7 6-3

Joao Sousa defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-2 4-6 6-1

Richard Gasquet (4) defeated Gilles Simon 6-2 7-6(4)

Kyle Edmund (2) defeated wildcard Malek Jaziri 6-2 6-1

Semi finals 

Pablo Andujar defeated Joao Sousa 6-4 6-4

Kyle Edmund (2) defeated Richard Gasquet (4) 6-3 6-4

Houston:

Semi finals 

Steve Johnson (6) defeated Taylor Fritz 

Fritz annoyed Johnson in set one by saving eight of the ten break points gathered efficiently by the sixth seed.  It wasn’t quite enough to prevent Johnson from taking the lead though, 7-5 the scoreline.

Set two saw solid serving from both players, and no service breaks occurred.  

Fritz managed to win the tie break 7-4 and force a deciding set.  Johnson quickly switched the momentum and raced through set three and won a spot in the final 7-5 6-7(4) 6-2.

He will play Tennys Sandgren (8) who defeated Ivo Karlovic in two tie break sets 7-6(4) 7-6(2)

Bogotá:

The remaining quarter final

Dalila Jakupovic defeated Magda Linette (2) 6-3 3-6 6-1

Semi finals 

Anna Karolina Schmiedlova defeated Ana Bogdan (7) 6-3 6-2

Lara Arruabarrena (5) defeated Dalila Jakupovic 6-1 6-2

Lugano:

Wildcard Stefanie Voegele defeated qualifier Tamara Korpatsch 6-4 6-3

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Camila Giorgi 6-3 6-0

Qualifier Vera Lapko defeated Kirsten Flipkens 6-4 7-6(4)

Elise Mertens (2) defeated Mona Barthel 6-4 5-7 7-6(0)

Semi finals 

Aryna Sabalenka defeated wildcard Stefanie Voegele 6-4 6-2

Elise Mertens (2) defeated qualifier Vera Lapko 6-1 4-6 6-4

Voegele beats Cornet in Lugano

Rain destroyed any chance of play in Marrakech, and so the remaining quarter finals will be played on semi final day, together with the semi finals, weather permitting.

In Bogotá, the second round was completed, and three of the four quarter finals played, the other again forced to the next day by the conditions.

No surprises in the second round contests, and the quarter final results were:

Ana Bogdan (7) defeated qualifier Daniela Seguel 6-1 6-1

She will play Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the one semi final

Anna Karolina Schmiedlova defeated wildcard Emiliana Arango 6-1 1-0 (retired)

Lara Arruabarrena (5) defeated Johanna Larsson (3) 6-1 6-3

Dalila Jakupovic will battle Magda Linette (2) for the second semi final spot tomorrow, the winner to play Lara Arruabarrena

Lugano will require all quarter finals to be played on semi final day after the second round was finalised.  Three seeds departed (leaving only one in the quarter finals), and four of the seven matches went the distance.

The longest was between Switzerland’s wildcard Stefanie Voegele and France’s Alize Cornet (6).

Cornet controlled the opening set, returning the Swiss serve effectively and breaking twice for a 6-2 lead.

Voegele was the more efficient in set two, creating a massive ten break points, converting two and levelling proceedings at 2-6 7-5.

With momentum still with her, Voegele rode the wave through the decider, and won the day 2-6 7-5 6-3.

Quarter finals will be:

Qualifier Tamara Korpatsch v wildcard Stefanie Voegele

Camila Giorgi v Aryna Sabalenka

Kirsten Flipkens v qualifier Vera Lapko

Mona Barthel v Elise Mertens (2)

Houston had already lost second seed Sam Querrey, and the quarter finals saw the exit of John Isner (1), Jack Sock (3) and Nick Kyrgios (4).

This left the semi finals as follows:

Steve Johnson (6) v Taylor Fritz 

Ivo Karlovic v Tennys Sandgren (8)

3 Top Seeds eliminated

It doesn’t seem to pay being shouldered with a number one seeding this week.

Following the demise of Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the second round in Marrakech, Tatjana Maria (1) was eliminated from the second round in Bogotá by qualifier Daniela Seguel, ranked 6-3 6-1.

Kiki Mladenovic (1) exited Lugano even earlier, dismissed in her first outing by qualifier Tamara Korpatsch, ranked 176, 7-6(5) 3-2 (retired).

The one too seed alive is John Isner, maintaining his form from winning the Miami Masters 1000 title.  He had no trouble defeating Henri Laaksonen 6-4 6-2, after a first round bye.

Others through to the quarter finals are:

Steve Johnson (6) who defeated fellow American Frances Tiafoe 6-3 6-4

He will play another compatriot John Isner in the final eight

Jack Sock (3) who defeated Horacio Zeballos 6-4 6-4

He will play Taylor Fritz in the final eight 

Taylor Fritz who defeated Ryan Harrison (7), in another all American clash, 3-6 6-0 6-3

Ivo Karlovic will play Nick Kyrgios (4) in the final eight 

Tennys Sandgren (8) will play Guido Pella in the final eight

Marrakech quarter finalists include only two seeds:

Qualifier Alexey Vatutin v Pablo Andujar 

Nikoloz Basilashvili v Joao Sousa 

Gilles Simon v Richard Gasquet (4)

Wildcard Malek Jaziri v Kyle Edmund (2)

Lugano lost seeds Anett Kontaveit (4) and wildcard Sveta Kuznetsova (5) in the first round, joining Mladenovic on the way out. The one player through to round three is Aryna Sabalenka, who eliminated Polona Hercog 6-3 6-1.  Weather has plagued the event, and tomorrow’s schedule includes seven second round matches and four quarter finals

In Bogotá, weather also has intervened, only allowing two second round matches to be completed, Tatjana Maria losing, and Johanna Larsson (3) knocking out qualifier Valentini Grammatikopoulou 4-6 6-4 6-4.

Querrey early Houston casualty

In Marrakech, Philipp Kohlschreiber (3) lost in a major upset as the last three first round matches were completed.

Algerian born (but now representing Morocco) Lamine Ouahab, a veteran like Kohlschreiber, and currently ranked 617 (career high 114 in 2009), won in three sets 2-6 6-0 7-6(3).

Top seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas joined Philipp in the departure lounge following one of the four second round battles decided.  His conqueror was qualifier Alexey Vatutin, ranked 160, 7-6(4) 6-2

Two quarter finals are set, one an unseeded affair, the other an all French tussle between Richard Gasquet (4) and Gilles Simon.

Houston lost Verdasco (6) in round one, but the bigger shock was Sam Querrey (2) exiting in the second round, after a first round bye.  

Guido Pella couldn’t touch the American’s big serve in set one, as Querrey won all points on his first serve, and seven of eleven on his second delivery.  The set was over 6-2 and Sam was on schedule for an easy victory.

However, despite poor first serve percentages for both players, the second set provided no breaks and a tie break was required.  Pella won through 7 points to 4 and the match was going the distance.

Pella’s first serve percentage was even worse (38%) in the decider, yet he won a greater share of points on his serve than Querrey.

Ultimately both players achieved a single break, and the match hung on another tie break.

Pella controlled this one again 7-3, and upset the crowd.  More importantly he upset Sam Querrey 2-6 7-6(4) 7-6(3).

In another second round match, wildcard Nick Kyrgios (4) needed to go the distance to eliminate Bjorn Fratangelo 6-7(2) 6-1 6-2

In Bogotá the first round is complete, and seeds to fall are

Veronica Cepede Royg (4) - defeated by wildcard Emiliana Arango, 17 years old and ranked 510, 6-0 2-6 6-4

Alison Riske (6) - defeated by Dalila Jakupovic 6-2 6-2

Ajla Tomljanovic (8) - defeated by qualifier Renata Zarazua 1-6 6-4 7-6(6)

Progress in the Lugano tournament is slow, with only 9 first round matches complete at this stage