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Haas tips Isner in 5 set classic

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John Isner already cemented his reputation for being marathon man due to his record setting 70–68 in the fifth set defeat of Nicolas Mahut at 2010 Wimbledon, but he added to it Roland Garros when he fell in an epic  7-5, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-7(10), 10-8 contest to 12th seed Tommy Haas in the third round on the Bull Ring.

The 19th seeded American played his heart out, fighting off 12 match points in the fourth set. He  appeared to be on his way to victory up 4-1 in the fifth set, but Haas picked up his spirit and level and managed to break the big-serving Isner back to 4-3. Isner held a match point at 5-4 with Haas serving, but he dumped a backhand into the net in a  hotly contested rally

At that point, the 35-year-old Haas’ appeared to be more fresh– who had played another four-hour match in a victory over Ryan Harrison on Friday – and when Isner wasn’t bombing serves or crushing an occasional forehand that he could reach, it was the German who was controlling most of the points from the baseline. Finally, Haas broke the cramping Isner and then sealed the match when the American erred on a backhand.

Isner said he liked his chances going into the fifth set, but said his body began to fail him. He also gave credit to Haas

“Tommy he stayed the course, and he deserves the win,” he said. “I fought a good fight.  It was the only thing I can ask out of myself is to compete.  Even down two sets to Love, I still was fitting and it helped me.  I got it all the way back to up 4‑1 in the fifth set.  I can’t ask for a better scenario thereafter being down two sets to Love. In hindsight, probably would have been better to lose in straight sets, because I feel terrible right now.  But I’ll recover.”

Maybe so, and he will do it at home. Isner won’t stay in Europe and go right into he grass court season. He likes his mom’s home cooking so it’s likely he’ll head back  to North Carolina.  He’s unsure when his toes will first touch the grass, but he could use at least one warm-up tourney to Wimby as he has never played very well there, despite his 2010 first round heroics. Jack Sock is headed to Nottingham to play a Challenger, as is Ryan Harrison, who played fairly well in his loss to Isner.

 

Roland Garros: Ana vs. Aga, who’s the real contender?

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Roland Garros: Jack puts a Sock in Garcia-Lopez

Jack Sock won his first big Challenger title.

Jack Sock won his first big Challenger title.

Mattek-Sands back on rise, young US men make qualies noise

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Roland Garros Women: Drawn & Quartered

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1st Quarter

No. 1 Serena Williams continues her now decade-old quest to win her second French titles and her draw could be much worse, but with that said, it isn’t that simple. She opens against Anna Tatshvili, could get Caroline Garcia in R2 and Sorana Cirstea in R3, all which should be routine wins. But the she could Roberta Vinci or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in R4, which could be dicey if she doesn’t play at the top level. Depending how Angie Kerber pulls up physically, she could be Serena’s quarterfinal foe and she did best Williams last summer in Cincy, so another upset is possible. But there is plenty of talent in Kerber’s section beginning with Mona Barthel, Varvara Lepchenko and Ekaterina Makarova.

FIRST ROUND POPCORN MATCH: Caroline Wozniacki vs. Laura Robson: Wozniacki has lost five straight matches and, although Robson isn’t that comfortable on clay, she likes big matches and this is  a chance for her to blow the struggling Caro’s doors off.

 2nd Quarter

Here is Ana Ivanovic’s chance to reach her first Slam semifinal since she won the title in Paris five years ago. No. 4 Aga Radwanska leads the quarter and she’s struggling with an injury, and while No. 5 Sara Errani  has proven to be quite good on the surface she can be hit through. Ivanovic has been playing quite well (although not always against Maria Sharapova). She opens vs. Petra Martic, should be able to hit around her and then have little trouble reaching the fourth round as Julia Goerges is hurt. Then it’s either Radwanska, who may not even get there, or possibly Venus Williams, but she’s been hurt, too. So then the Serb will face Errani in the quarters, unless the Italian gets tripped up by the likes of Carla Suarez or Nadia Petrova. I’m not sure Ivanovic has had a better opportunity while in good form to reach a Slam semi since she left RG as champion.

FIRST ROUND POPCORN MATCH: Venus Williams vs. Ula Radwanska

The American has been struggling with a back injury and her autoimmune disease. While Ula has her off days mentally, when she’s on she is more than capable of winning a baseline battle on red dirt. This is an obvious so-called upset pick.

3rd Quarter

Going by bookends Vika Azarenka and Li Na, this is the toughest quarter. It’s depth is enigmatic, but it does have two players who are capable of beating Serena and Sharapova on great days. Li had a troublesome Rome and opens against Anabel Medina-Garrigues who has slowed down but is very capable on clay. Then she might have to face Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who’s been on fire, and possibly Yaroslava Shvedova who shocked her here last year. Then even if she makes it through there she could play Kaia Kanepi, Klara Zakopalova or Maria Kirilenko. She and coach Carlos Rodriquez have there work cut out for them in the first eights days.

Azarenka opens against the up-and-down Elena Vesnina, who is so unpredictable but dangerous. Alize Cornet has revived and could give her a little trouble in round 3 and then there is the possibility of playing the slumping, yet super dangerous Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli in round 4.

FIRST ROUND POPCORN MATCH: Kirsten Flipkens vs. Flavia Pennetta. Has the former Italian top 10er finally recovered from wrist trouble? If she has, then she will give the equally crafty Flipkens fits.

 4th Quarter

Defending champion Sharapova as the player to beat here. She opens against the improved Su-Wei Hsieh, may face the Canadian who idolized her — Genie Bouchard — and possibly the veteran Zheng Jie before a fourth-round tussle with Sloane Stephens, whom she rekey destroyed on dirt. Her quarter could be tough though as Jelena Jankovic, Petra Kvitova and Sam Stosur lurk. Expect the world No. 2 to get there but then have to seriously raise her level

FIRST ROUND POPCORN MATCH: Lucie Safarova vs. Jamie Hampton

Most of the young Americans have reasonable first rounds but this one could prove very tricky for the slugger against the lefthander Czech, whom has much more experience than she does. Expect a three setter, but Hampton still has to show she can pull off this type of win without suffering cramps due to  nerves.

TR Retro: Greatest WTA Match: Graf v. Seles, 1995 US Open Final

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The two great rivals lit up New York

If there was a tennis match with more historical significance and human drama than the 1995 US Open final between embittered rivals Steffi Graf and Monica Seles, it did not occur in women’s tennis during the Open era. The WTA has boasted at least 25 fantastic high-level, well-played contests between significant players since 1968, but none matched the raw emotion or electricity of the Graf-Seles Battle Royal.

It was possibly the one match in the Open Era that at the time appeared to determine who the greatest player of all time would be.

It could be argued that Seles

The Wrap, week April 21-28: Sharapova, Nadal repeat in Stuttgart, Barcelona

 

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Maria Sharapova may have been the defending champion in Stuttgart, but given what a beat down Li Na had laid on her in the Aussie Open semis, she was not the favorite to win the final. Going in, it was tossup between the Roland Garros last two champs, but Sharapova more than proved her mettle when she contested one her best matches of the season in a 6-4 6-3 victory. She served very well, both with speed and placement, and did not allow Li to attack her serve at will like she did in Melbourne. She returned aggressively and accurately and this time around it was China

Miami: First quarter has taken physical toll

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Sori soared over a hobbled Kerber.

Miami has had no discernable theme whatsoever other than that once again too many players are aching or hurt post the Aussie hard courts swing; the February Euro indoor/Middle East outdoor, Latin American clay or US indoor/outdoor outswing; and of course Indian Wells.

Miami will officially close the first quarter of the season, which is perhaps the physically most difficult portion of the year as player must roar out of the gates within two weeks and then head into Melbourne, and must conclude with two back-to-back Masters Series at Indian Wells in Miami.

The only other quarter that touches the first one in regards to physical effort is the third one, which begins on grass and ends at the US Open and also includes two Masters Series (Canada and Cincy).

The second quarter is a big test for clay courters because it ends at Roland Garros and contains two Masters Series (Rome and Madrid) and a mini Masters Series (Monte Carlo) but the surface remains the same and with grass it is the easiest one on the body.

The fall swing is less mentally taxing because it doesn’t not contain a Slam and is less physically taxing because most of the top players pick and choose where they are playing more carefully.

Indian Wells finalists Rafael Nadal (skipped Miami to rest his knee), Juan Martin Del Potro (his left wrist aches and he was upset by Tobias Kamke) and Caroline Wozniacki (took a troubling 6-2 6-4 loss to the rising Spaniard Garbine Muguruza) are all out of Miami.

The resilient Maria Sharapova, who won Indian Wells, was still around as as she overcame Elena Vesnina in two very tough sets, but Angie Kerber, who reached the semis at IW, apparently is still having back trouble and was smoked by Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-0. Thne Maria Kirilenko, who played so well in reaching the IW semis, went down to Klara Zakopalova 6-2 7-6(4). Petra Kvitova, who looked great in Dubai and sort of OK in the California desert, melted once again in the heat and lost to the surging Kirsten Flipkens 6-0 4-6 6-1.

Having to win physical matches in the heat also ended up affecting the little but lethal Lauren Davis, who wore down her friend Madison Keys in a marathon and then lost to Alize Cornet in three, leaving the United States with only two out of its strong phalanx of female players left: Sloane Stephens, who advanced when Venus Williams withdrew with a back injury, and Serena Williams who punched past Ayumi Morita. Serena will face the hard hitting but up- and-down Dominika Cibulkova, while Stephens, who has not been playing well since the Aussie Open, will face a stern test in the form of Agnieszka Radwanska, who overcame Magdalena Rybarikova 7-6(5) 2-6 6-3. The Pole and defending champ hasn’t been playing great either, so this is good chance for Stephens to get back on track if she plays with enough patience and savvy, sort of like Maria Kirilenko did in besting Radwanska at Indian Wells.

Aussie Open finalist Li Na has returned and is certainly a big threat on outdoor hard courts. She downed Varvara Lepchenko 6-2 6-4 and will face the 19-year-old Muguruza, who is tall and hits a pretty big ball. Flipkens will play another talented teen, Croat Ajla Tomljanovic who upended Andrea Petkovic 0-6 6-4 7-6(1). It is not going to be easy for Petko to climb back to the top 20. With each passing comeback, on court life gets little tougher.

The ATP has three blockbusters ahead with Andy Murray and Grigor Dimitrov reliving their final in Brisbane, which was won by the Scott. Murray smoked an ill Bernard Tomic, who must now go ply his trade on clay, which will be a huge test of his so-called improved fitness. Dimitrov has played a bit better since February but he is still missing a marquee win. The 21 year old has a lot of weapons, but his point-to-point consistency is not one of them. His girlfriend, Maria Sharapova, might be able to help with that.

John Isner picked up a big mental win in besting Ivan Dodig in a third set breaker and now would take an even bigger step if he could overcome a more talented Croat, Marin Cilic. So much of that outcome of that match will be determined by the return of serve, which Cilic is a little better at. But playing at home in the southern heat, which Isner likes, should give the American the advantage.

Sam Querrey and Milos Raonic will also face off and both guys would love to grab a win here as they are in a fairly open quarter where the winner would likely play Tomas Berdych, a very good player who is better than both of them at this point, but not a guy whom they have no chance of beating. Querrey won his last meeting against Raonic at Wimbledon. Service bombs away.

Belgian David Goffin appears to be getting out of the mental funk that he fell into after choking a Davis Cup match to Victor Troicki. The highflying Goffin upended Philip Kohlschreiber 7-6(5) 4-6 6-2?and now will have to try and grind one out against Nicolas Almagro under the intense Miami sunshine. Good luck with that.

 

Mapping out Miami

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Pavlyuchenkova,, right, could use some of Lucie Safarova’s consistency

 

After she fell early at Indian Wells, Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova stayed around for the rest of the tournament and was seen practicing daily. Despite her commitment to improving, she still fell in the first round of Miami to Garbine Muguruza Blanco 4-6 6-2 6-2. Sometimes, hard work does not pay off, not if a player isn

Raise the trophy on wounded knee: Nadal triumphs at Indian Wells

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Nadal changed tactics and wore down DelPo

FROM THE BNP PARIBAS OPEN AT INDIAN WELLS – It wasn’t supposed to be this way for Rafael Nadal, but was it. Seven months of hell with his knee, rehabbing daily, unsure how it would respond, losing his rhythm, his timing, and his confidence.

He came back in Vina Del Mar at the start of February and looked at best mediocre. In the final there, Horacio Zeballos scalded him in the third set and he looked slow. But no matter, he trudged onto to Sao Paolo where on a super quick indoor court he throttled David Nalbandian in the final. He felt better, but his knee was still sore. He took a week off and then headed to Acapulco, where his movement began to improve a great deal, he gleefully slid around and he bullied compatriots Nicolas Almagro and David Ferrer to win the title

But when he arrived in the California desert, he had his doubts. During his first few days at Indian Wells he spent a fair amount of time criticizing the ATP

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