Rotterdam Semifinals

Today the Rotterdam Semifinals are to be played.

In the first match of the day, big server Ivo Karlovic will meet Frenchman Michel Llodra. I think Karlovic is in a good form, and this is a court where he can take advantage of his serve. He is 6-3 this season. Even tough on paper, Llodra should be better in this match ( winner in Adelaide, quarterfinal in Auckland and a 12-3 season so far), and is leading 2-0 in the direct meetings, i don't think he will be able to face the Croatians serve. My guess is Karlovic will win this one.

The second semifinal will be Soderling against Gilles Simon. Soderling played great in the last 2 weeks, reaching the quarterfinals in Marseille, where he lost to Ancic in 3 sets. He defeated players like Nieminen, Gasquet, Baghdatis, Verdasco and Seppi, proving that he is in a very good form. On the other hand, Gilles Simon does not actually shine, nor at this point, nor at any point in his career. He is a constant, mediocre player. I don't think he can qualify for the final today.

Rotterdam Madhouse

If someone whould have told me that in the third round, none of the seeds whould qualify, i whould of told them to come back to Planet Earth. But maybe this is a sign that Rotterdam is on Mars or something.

The No. 1 seed, Raffael Nadal lost to Andreas Seppi 3-6 6-3 6-4 after two hours and 14 minutes of play. This result comes as a bigger surprise after seeing the match between the Italian and Llayton Hewitt in the first round, were both players played... oh well, AWFULL. Seppi saved a match point in the first round. Nadal is now at 11-3 this season.

Thomas Berdych, seed No 5 in Rotterdam and ranked No. 12 in the ATP lost against Croatian Ivo Karlovic in straight sets 6-4 6-4. This outcome was not a huge surprise, being aware of Karlovic's advantage on this type of court, but Berdych has shown some good tennis this year.

Micha Zverev is the biggest surprise of this tournament. He defeated Kohlschreiber in the first round and today managed to upsed David Ferrer, the thirth seed at this tournament 6-2 7-5. It was obvious that he played well against the German in the first round, but now it is a fact.

To "finish" things up, Michel Llodra defeated N. Davydenko today 6-3 7-5, going up to 11 matches won this season. I will come back later with thoughts about the quarterfinal matches tommorow.

Baghdatis, Youzhny and Ferrero Out

I did not expect these guys to leave the competition so early on, maybe except Baghdatis, who lost against Sweden's Robin Soderling 3-6 6-3 4-6 in one hour and 43 minutes. Baghdatis, number 21 in the ATP rankings reached the semifinals in Marseille last week, where he was defeated by Croatian Mario Ancic. Soderling hit 10 aces and converted both break points. Soderling had a 2-1 record against Baghdatis before today's contest. Soderling is heading twards a match with Jarko Nieminen (if the Finn can dispose of Fernando Verdasco, a thing i think he will do...), in a rematch of last week's first round in Marseille. Soderling won that match 6-3 5-7 7-5. Soderling is 3-1 this season while fell at 5-4.

The No. 4 seed here, Michael Youzhny, a player i was counting on to play well and reach one of the superior rounds here in Rotterdam has fallen to Jarko Tipsarevic in straight sets, in a match that i did not anticipate to go that way, while Juan Carlos Ferrero (seed No. 7) lost to qualifier Gabashvili 7-5 6-1.

In an exciting match, the tallest player in the top 100 (Karlovic) has blown out the smallest player in the top 100 (O. Rochus) 6-1 6-2.

Another match i was not expecting to turn out the way it did was Ph. Kohlschreiber's loss to qualifier Michael Zverev 7-5 7-5.

A match that was not that much of an upset for me was the Robredo - Mahut clash, won by the latter 7-5 6-4. N. Davydenko managed to get past J. Hernych in straight sets, 6-3 6-3.

Tomorrow a few matches i think will be exciting :

Mahut vs. Gabashvili : Neither one of these players cannot be considered as a great player (No. 42 and No. 132 in the ATP rankings), but both players have shown good tennis in the last 2 weeks. I think this one will go to Nicolas Mahut.

Nadal vs Tursunov. It is interesting that these 2 player did not meet before, despite the fact that both players have been in the top ATP players for a while now. Nadal is playing his first match since the loss against Tsonga at the Australian Open. He looked good, but Tsonga was just great. Tursunov is a player i never knew how to predict. For instance, this year he won at Sydney, facing some tough opponents (Wawrinka, Gasquet, Grosjean, Santoro and Guccione), but afterwards lost in Melbourne against Sam Querrey, before losing to young Victor Troicki in the Davis Cup. To win a match against Nadal you have to be consistent and self-confident, because it is going to be a fight, and i don't think Tursunov is up to the task.

Berdych vs Ljubicic. This is a match made to be played indoors, both players being great in these conditions. Ljubicic started well this season, reaching the semifinal at Doha, but then lost all 3 matches at Kooyong before losing to Dutch player Robin Haase in the first round at the Australian Open. Berdych on the other hand has proven to be a consistent player. He does not defeat great players but does not lose against modest ones. His ranking may be a bit high in my opinion (12 in the ATP ranking), but i still think he will win this one.

Rotterdam : Week 8 / 2008

This week we will have a great tournament to watch : with 11 out of the top 20 players in the ATP, and more than 800 000 EURO in prize money, this one is set to be a good tournament.

Michael Youzhny is the defending champion in Rotterdam, and seed No 4. The Russian does not seem to have a difficult preview before the Quarterfinals, where it's possible for him to meet Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero (No. 7 seed).

The No. 1 seed in Rotterdam is Spaniard Raffael Nadal. This side of the draw seems to be one of the toughest, with player like Dmitry Tursunov (Nadal's opponent in the first round), Llayton Hewitt, Andreas Seppi, Nieminen, Verdasco and Baghdatis (the No. 8 seed and Marseille semifinalst). This Quarterfinal is the toughest on to predict, because there are a lot of good players, and most of them are on a good streak.

Another tough Quarterfinal to predict is the one in wich No. 3 seed, David Ferrer and seed No. 5, Berdych are involved. Ferrer will meet Ljubicic in the first round, in a match i think the Spaniard will win. A player to watch right here is German Phillip Kohlschreiber. He has a 10-2 record this year, showing a good tennis so far. Also present in this part of the draw is big server Ivo Karlovic, who will meet Oliver Rochus in the first round. I personally am considering a Berdych - Ferrer semifinal, but Kohlschreiber and Ljubicic are not to be underestimated.

The easiest quarterfinal to predict should be the lower one. Andy Murray is the No. 6 seed, and i don't think he will have too many problems reaching the quarterfinal, where i think he will meet Nikolai Davydenko, the second seed here in Rotterdam.

In the first round, the most exciting matches should be Soderling - Baghdatis (Both players played well in Marseille last week), Youzhny - Tipsarevic (i think Youzhny will win this one), Berdych - Ljubicic (Ljubicic is leading 2-1 in the head to head, but he is not in a great streak, Berdych is my favorite), Hewitt against Seppi (Hewitt is starting to play better, while Seppi is not that great at the moment) and Robredo against Mahut in a match that i think is open-ended, Mahut showing some good tennis last week in Marseille.

Murray Captures Fifth Career Title In Marseille

Andy Murray has captured his fifth career title in Marseille today after defeating Croatian Wild Card Mario Ancic 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 54 minutes. The match had a great rhythm, with both player taking turns at the lead of the set, but Murray broke at 4-3 for him in the first and in the second hand faced a 1-3 situation, but managed to win 5 out of the next 6 games to win the title in Marseille.

Murray will now return to the top 10 players in the ATP, after winning his second title this year. His record is 10-1 this year, losing his only match against Australian Open finalist Wilfred Tsonga.

As a personal note, i find the Englishman as one of the players that will play at the Shanghai Master Series Final at the end of the year. He has shown great improvement over the last season, and he would of been higher in the rankings if not for the injuries he sustained. He is a star on the rise.

I would like to conclude 2 things after this tournament in Marseille :
1. Mario Ancic is back after having a few health problems that kept him away from the court for more than 6 months. It remains to be seen weather is worthy to regain his top 10 ranking this season.
2. Jo-Wilfred Tsonga does not seem to maintain the level of tennis displayed in Melbourne, but the next few weeks will prove if he just had "the Melbourne syndrome" or if he is truly a great player.