Wk.5- Back to the Grind

Hey, all. Galileo here.

Peyton Manning won a Super Bowl and has (probably) retired. We will have a new president. Serena just lost in two consecutive slams and Russia lost in the first round of the Fed Cup. The times, as Bob Dylan said so famously, are a-changing.

But for us here at BACKSPIN HQ the world keeps turning. For us the tennis tour keeps going no matter what. And this week plenty of odd stuff happened, but also plenty of the expected like top seeds triumphing. It will always be hard to go from a slam back into the grind of the ordinary every day tour but that is what we must do. And so we shall do it.

But there is a conspicuous lack of things to actually say before we dive in. All the slam stories were wrapped up nicely and few top ten players, well only one actually, were even involved this past week. It goes quiet after a slam, as you know.

Be prepared though, because February heats up week by and week before turning into March, one of BACKSPIN'S favourite months. But we are not there yet - we still have to get through two weeks that, on paper, do not give one excitement before Dubai. And then after March madness we go onto clay. And clay is where it all gets jumbled up, the sun comes out and all manner of craziness occurs.

February is a month not loved here on ATP BACKSPIN - the first month is exciting and fresh but the second one feels tired. Then March is more invigorating. Poor old February is always dour. Right, enough talking. Let’s move in the general direction of tennis.

Well, that was a dismal Super Bowl. To cheer us all up shall we look at some tennis?

=RANKINGS WATCH=
Top 32 - Garcia-Lopez dropped seven places. With Bellucci and Kohl rising 5 and two places, the Brazilian goes to 30 and the German to 32. Dolgoplov sits in the middle at 31.
Top 10 – Tsonga is at 9, Gasquet is at 10 and Raonic sits at 11. Except Raonic to rise further than the Frenchies.
Top 8 – Berdych sits at 8, just 35 points from Kei at 7. Ferrer is only 100 points ahead but Nadal is 500 above his compatriot.
Top 4 – No change. Djokovic, Murray, Federer, Wawrinka.

*WEEK 5 CHAMPIONS*
MONTPELLIER, FRANCE
S: Richard Gasquet def. Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5/6-4
D: Pavic/Venus def. Zverev/Zverev
SOFIA, BULGARIA
S: Roberto Bautista Agut def. Viktor Troicki 6-3/6-4
D: Koolhof/Middelkoop def. Oswald/Shamasdin
QUITO, ECUADOR
S: Victor Estrella Burgos def. Thomaz Bellucci 4-6/7-6(5)/6-2
D: Carreno Busta/Duran def. Bellucci/Demoliner


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: BURGOS
...He is a colourful character with the heart of a lion. Or at least that’s what the ATP says. It does take a lot of gumption to defend one's title while being in a slump. Burgos is a strange player. Adept on the baseline and tricky to deal with, he has a very straightforward game. This BACKSPINNER saw him play at Queens and he can infuriate his opponents with just how solid he is. As pointed out on here previously, the money he makes is more than the average Dominican. He can really be an ambassador for tennis and sport to that country. Ranked 56 currently but never above 40 in the world, he has gotten past the second round of a slam just once. But perhaps this successful defence can spur him on to greater things. Seeded 5th he had a good window of opportunity and he took it. He ousted Pella and Martin in straight sets to make the third round. Verdasco had lost to qualifier Olivo and the match looked easy on paper. In reality it was anything but; Burgos won 6-4, 6-7[5], 6-4 to make the semi-finals. His first SF of the year, too. With 2nd seeded Lopez retiring, he faced 7th seed Ramos in the semi-final. He dispatched him 6-2, 7-6[5] to make the final. He beat lefty Lopez in three last year and lefty Bellucci in three this. So another successful week. But now he needs to back it up. The top 40 should be his goal.
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RISER: GASQUET
...Gasquet’s back and, as you know, the Frenchman happens to always bring a smile to this BACKSPINNER’S face. Even when he loses spectacularly. Or perhaps especially when he loses spectacularly. But the backhand was very much on-song. In fact he looked much the same as always, though with a new haircut. The swashbuckling French number two was unusually composed throughout the week. He had not won a title since May of last year but in recent years he has found ways to usually win tournaments when the top seed. He did it in Moscow in 2014 against a determined Kukushkin.



Gasquet moves to 13-12 in finals, meaning he is 9th amongst active players. He is ahead of Tsonga and Wawrinka. In finals he is 8th, joint with Del Potro. And in active semi-finals he is eighth. Expect him to move up the rankings in those statistics. In his last ten finals he is 7-3. He has 426 wins and don’t forget that Bronze Olympic medal. It is quite the career, almost Hall of Fame worthy. He avoided the upset [remember that phrase] this past week, beating Gulbis and Baghdatis 6-4, 6-4 to make the semi-finals. There he was battered by Brown for a set and a half but didn’t panic and came back to win 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. In the final he cooly closed out Mathieu 7-5, 6-4. Another solid week and another great result for the Frenchman.
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SURPRISE: KLIZAN
...Brown having a semi-final run and then blowing it is hardly surprising. Though it is impressive he got up 6-1, 3-0 on Gasquet in 35 minutes but still blew it. But we have talked so much about Paris and Ecuador. We have not looked into Sofia. In February the tour is stretched - it can be difficult to have three strong events simultaneously. There is a women’s event coming up in Brazil and the top seed is barely inside the top 50. Frequently events have one or two premier players and then the seeds fall away in terms of quality. Look at Memphis. After Nishikori is Johnson and that’s a big drop off. Sofia is the weak link this week, but Klizan showed some of the old magic. He dismissed Lazov, a Bulgarian, for the loss of just three games. He needed a third set breaker to overcome Rosol but, strangely, cruised against Seppi and beat the Italian 6-4, 6-3. Klizan is beautifully unpredictable and that would prove to be the case in the semi-final. He lost 7-5 in the third to Troicki, unable to produce anymore third set tricks. To describe him as a poor man’s Verdasco isn’t entirely inaccurate but we learned our lesson from calling Dimitrov ‘baby Fed’.
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VETERAN: MATHIEU
...Mathieu, like Cornet, has had two careers almost. Both were very good players and then had a break before having a mini renaissance. Paul-Henri’s finest moment perhaps came at the French where Rafa edged him 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in what was an absolute gem. The match also included Nadal’s bizarre banana mishap. Highlights of the match are below. The 34-year old was once ranked as high as 12 and had a string of fourth round appearances at the majors. Inconsistent career results plagued him throughout his career and the promising junior seemed to literally disappear for years at a time. Still, as he edges closer to hanging up the rackets, this BACKSPINNER hopes he has many more runs like this one. The way he dismissed Paire was particularly impressive. The old fire burns still.


Highlights 2006 Nadal vs Mathieu by rolandgarros
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FRESH FACE: ZVEREV
...Mischa is stepping up once again. It’s another positive result. At only 18 he is world number 70. By year's end he will be in the top 50. That is a safe prediction. Gutting out a tough three set win over Vanni followed by a straights sets dismissal of Cilic is more evidence of his rising. A doubles final with his brother is also positive. He will make his first final this year, but what surface will it be on?
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DOWN: CILIC
...Every week, except in New York and other select tournaments, Cilic is abysmal. It’s just a horrible slump he is in. He is one of the worst slam champions ever. He doesn’t have the clay court specialist excuse Coria had. And Coria really was limited off the dirt but he still won on carpet and hard. Cilic needs to get his act together or get out. He has proven he is too good to simply be making up the numbers. With all his weapons and firepower he went down to Zverev in two breakers 7-4 and 7-1. On indoor hard courts with that serve he lost a tiebreaker 7-1. Now how is that possible?
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UPSET: LORENZI
...You can tell Lorenzi has been aching to get back onto clay. Like a landlubber aboard a vessel or a penguin on grass, you know he is not on his preferred surface when on the hard-courts. Sure he’ll do fine there but, really, he wants to get back onto the dirty stuff. He wants to grind, to rally extensively and do crafty things. He hit 25 aces on the way to beating Tomic 6-7[5], 7-5, 6-3. Now Tomic did miss chances and he didn’t fight but this was the Italian’s victory. He earned it. Seeded 6th, the 34-year old rose to 52 in the rankings. His highest is 49. Surely he can crack that.
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Notes from the week...
1 – Federer is having knee surgery. We wish our number three all the best and hope to see him before the clay swing!
2 – Del Potro is coming back to Delray Beach. He has told fans to be patient, but he can do this

3 – The Fed cup is funny in that is it usually of the same quality as the Davis. Usually joint events have a better men’s or women’s event. But part of the magic of the Fed/Davis is that they are of the same quality. But the women’s needs more than eight participants in the world group and also needs to change up the format.
4 – The French crop coming up on both sides is very promising and is complemented by some great veterans. Could they have a decent medal haul at the Olympics?
5 – Dustin Brown will always be a mystery. But he may be one of the most enjoyable players to watch.


1. Quito Final - Burgos d. Bellucci 4-6, 7-6[4], 6-2
...Bellucci blew chances to give the Dominican his second title in Quito along with a 10-0 record at the event. He also fell to 0-2 against the wily vet. In sunny and windy conditions the Brazilian could not quite take control. He is once more showing promise and rising up the ranks and another final is a great step.
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2. Sofia QF - Troicki d. Klizan 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
...Troicki won this epic break-fest by lieu of having a slightly better second delivery. In the last set there was only the one break but it proved to be the most important one of all. It was a long grueling epic played on tough hard-courts. The kind that ruins knees. But Troicki was too solid, particularly on return, and he triumphed. But the positive signs are there for both men.
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3. Montpelier Final - Gasquet d. Mathieu 7-5, 6-4
...Gasquet and his compatriot had a break-fueled match in which the one-hander used his variety to great effect. He has become so good at gutting matches out and not panicking. He knows how to hang around like he didn’t before.
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4. Sofia Final - Bautista Agut d. Troicki 6-3, 6-4
...In the match-up between the top two seeds, Agut improved to 2-4 in hard court finals but 4-4 overall. He is 2-0 this year and those are all excellent numbers. He just has too much from the baseline for even Troicki. Both men play a similar, physical game but the Spaniard's higher level of consistency and better tactical mind gave him the win. This was their first meeting. Troicki slipped to 3-6 in finals with most of his 9 coming in Sydney.
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*Rotterdam*
=SF=
Gasquet [1] d. [6] Bautista-Agut
Monfils [5] d. [7] Paire
=FINAL=
Gasquet [1] d. [5] Monfils

...Most of the bigger names here lack form. Gasquet, coming off a win in Montpellier, will do well here. Agut is in better form than Goffin and will make a good run. Cilic and Simon are both impossible to predict currently. Monfils and Paire should play out an entertaining semi-final. But Gasquet is, unbelievably, too solid for them.

*MEMPHIS*
=SF=
Nishikori [1] d. [4] Querrey
Johnson [2] d. [3] Young
=FINAL=
Nishikori [1] d. [2] Johnson

...At this former 500, Nishikori should again prove triumphant. Seeded first, he has no real competition and is the thrice defending champion. Querrey has won the singles and doubles here. He should roll to the semi-finals. The seedings should hold but someone like Becker could easily make a run here. Kei is a big fish in a puddle here.

*BUENOS AIRES*
=SF=
Nadal [1] d. [5] Thiem
Ferrer [2] d. [3] Tsonga
=FINAL=
Nadal [1] d. [2] Ferrer

...Vilas won this eight times from ten finals back in the 70s and early 80s. Since 2009 only Spaniards have won here. With Nadal and Thiem seeded 1 and 2 here that should continue. On clay, Thiem has the advantage over Isner but neither are a match for even this shadow of Rafa. On clay Ferrer should have too much for the Frenchman, but that isn’t certain. What is certain is a Nadal victory and a successful defence of the title.

Well, Kiki and Garcia are the future of the French Fed Cup and it is likely a bright future. They host the Netherlands, who upset the Russians - but this BACKSPINNER is getting ahead of himself. Giorgi beat Mladenovic 1-6, 6-4, 6-1. But then Garcia and Kiki both beat Errani in straight sets on the indoor clay. Giorgi went down routinely to the brunette Pastry, which gave France a 3-1 victory. In the dubs, Gladenovic triumphed 1 and 0 against Errani, a former number doubles number one. She must have been sick at the sight of them. Garcia and Kiki have records in the competition of 6-3 and 8-2, respectively. Against the Netherlands, why not play on grass? It would surely throw them off and both of the Pastries can play on the stuff. Her next stop is probably Dubai, but of course this BACKSPINNER could be wrong.



That could well soon turn into...




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