Former French Open champion upsets No. 4 seeded Karlovic in Austria

Three ATP level tennis tournaments got underway today in Moscow, Stockholm and Vienna with all players vying to win a few more matches and earn more prize money as the 2008 season nears its conclusion. Despite not many seeded players playing on Monday in all three locations, surely there had to be at least one upset. Indeed there was an upset as Juan Carlos Ferrero (pictured) defeated Croatian No. 4 seed Ivo Karlovic in straight sets. Ferrero is a former World No. 1 and French Open champion, who currently stands ranked at No. 44 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings.

Playing at the Bank Austria-Tennis Trophy in Vienna, Ferrero stunned Karlovic, 6-4, 7-6(4), in just over 90 minutes to advance to the second round. The 6’10” beast smashed 17 aces without hitting a double fault, while Ferrero didn’t hit an ace but did unfortunately crack three double faults. Despite not hitting an ace, Ferrero was still able to hang in there in the serving department, losing only seven first serve points and earning the only service break of the match. Missing a good chunk of the season with an injury, Ferrero now owns a 19-13 record and will next face either two-time Vienna champion Ivan Ljubicic or Austrian native Jurgen Melzer for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Other winners in Vienna included No. 5 seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain who beat Romanian qualifier Victor Crivoi, 6-4, 6-4. Verdasco currently stands at No. 13 in the rankings and owns a 41-23 record. Spaniards Carlos Moya and Feliciano Lopez both won their matches today in two tiebreak sets, while Guillermo Canas defeated Italian Andreas Seppi, 7-6(2), 6-3.

In Stockholm at the If Stockholm Open, former World No. 6 Nicolas Lapentti and Japanese teenage sensation Kei Nishikori, came back from the brink of defeat to win the final two sets of their matches and advance to the second round. Lapentti edged past Ivan Navarro, 3-6, 7-6(7), 7-5, to improve to 15-16 this season, which includes a run to the quarterfinals at the Masters Series Cincinnati. Nishikori, who made a big name for himself in the tennis world after defeating James Blake to win the Delray Beach title earlier this year, stunned No. 8 seed Marcel Granollers of Spain, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, to set a meeting with former World No. 12 Dominik Hrbaty. Currently ranked at No. 396, Hrbaty has played a very limited schedule during the last couple years due to injuries but was able to win his fourth ATP level match of year after defeating Pablo Andujar, 6-2, 6-1. The Monte Carlo resident is playing Stockholm for the first time since losing here in the opening round in 1999.

In Moscow where Nikolay Davydenko has won the title the last two years, No. 2 seed and 2005 Moscow champion Igor Andreev was the only seeded player in action. After the Russian won the first set 6-2 against Yen-Hsun Lu, Andreev was given a free pass to the next round when Lu withdrew due to a right ankle injury. The win marked Andreev’s 40th win of the season. Also advancing to the second round were French players Fabrice Santoro and Jeremy Chardy, as well as Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.

ATP Kremlin Cup preview

ATP Kremlin Cup
Location: Moscow, Russia
Dates: October 6-12, 2008
Draw Size: 32
Surface: Indoor Hard
Prize Money: $1,049,000; men’s singles champion: $171,000
2007 Singles Final: Nikolay Davydenko, RUS, def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, FRA, 7-5, 7-6(9)
Official Web site: http://www.kremlincup.ru/

Top story lines:
1. Can Russian Nikolay Davydenko win his third straight ATP Kremlin Cup title?
2. Does Dmitry Tursunov have what it takes to reach an ATP final for the second straight week
3. Can last year’s runner-up reach the final this week after reaching the final at the recently completed Open de Moselle in France?

Justin’s notable first round match-ups:
1. No. 3 Mikhail Youzhny vs. Teimuraz Gabashvili
2. No. 5 Dmitry Tursunov vs. Igor Kunitsyn

Potential notable late round match:
No. 1 Nikolay Davydenko vs. No. 7 Marat Safin, Quarterfinals

Watch out for…
1. No. 2 Igor Andreev
2. No. 6 Michael Llodra

Champion prediction:
Justin: No. 1 Nikolay Davydenko

If Stockholm Open preview

If Stockholm Open
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Dates: October 6-12, 2008
Draw Size: 32
Surface: Hard
Prize Money: $713,000; men’s singles champion: $115,5002007
Singles Final: Ivo Karlovic, CRO, def. Thomas Johansson, SWE, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Official Web site: http://www.stockholmopen.se/

Top story lines:
1. After finishing his professional tennis career after this week’s tournament, how will Swedish tennis legend Jonas Bjorkman be remembered by the tennis world?
2. Can World No. 7 David Nalbandian win his second title of the year?
3. Can former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson match his 2007 If Stockholm Open results by reaching the finals again?

Justin’s notable first round match-ups:
1. No. 1 David Nalbandian vs. Bobby Reynolds
2. No. 7 Albert Montanes vs. Thomas Johansson

Potential notable late round match:
No. 3 Jarkko Nieminen vs. No. 6 Jose Acasuso, Quarterfinals

Watch out for…
1. No. 4 Robin Soderling
2. Kei Nishikori

Champion prediction:
Justin: No. 1 David Nalbandian

Bank Austria-Tennis Trophy preview

Bank Austria-Tennis Trophy
Location: Vienna, Austria
Dates: October 6-12, 2008
Draw Size: 32
Surface: Indoor Hard
Prize Money: $674,000; men’s singles champion: $139,500
2007 Singles Final: Novak Djokovic, SRB, def. Stanislas Wawrinka, SUI, 6-4, 6-0
Official Web site: http://tennistrophy.bankaustria.at/

Top story lines:
1. Without the return of defending champion Novak Djokovic, can 2007 runner-up Stanislas Wawrinka go one step further and win the title?
2. Can red-hot Argentine player Juan Martin Del Potro continue his incredible tennis in Vienna
3. Does 2004 Vienna champion Feliciano Lopez have any shot at going deep in a star-filled field that includes seven of the Top 20 players?

Justin’s notable first round match-ups:
1. No. 4 Ivo Karlovic vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero
2. Ivan Ljubicic vs. Jurgen Melzer

Potential notable late round match:
No. 2 Fernando Gonzalez vs. No. 8 Gael Monfils, Quarterfinals
No. 3 Juan Martin Del Potro vs. No. 6 Fernando Verdasco, Quarterfinals

Watch out for…
1. No. 6 Tommy Robredo
2. No. 7 Gilles Simon

Champion prediction:
Justin: No. 3 Juan Martin Del Potro

Berdych wins AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships by defeating Del Potro

Ninth-seeded Czech star Tomas Berdych (pictured) easily dismantled fifth-seeded Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro, 6-1, 6-4, on Sunday afternoon to win the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo. Once ranked in the Top 10 in 2007, Berdych won his first title since winning the Halle title in 2007.

Despite a low first serve percentage that got only as high as 57 percent, the Czech citizen that calls Monte Carlo home, smashed 11 aces compared to none by the 20-year-old Argentine. Despite a bad first serve percentage, Berdych was still able to only surrender four points on his first serve, while he was also able to break serve on three occasions, while Del Potro couldn’t break throughout the match despite three opportunities.

Currently ranked No. 27 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, Berdych won his first title of the year and fourth overall in his young career. This week caps off a remarkable week of wins for the 23-year-old who recorded victories earlier in the week over No. 2 Andy Roddick, No. 3 Fernando Gonzalez and No. 9 Tommy Robredo. Berdych has now won 13 out of his last 16 matches against opponents from Argentina. Berdych improves to 32-19, which includes semifinal performances at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami and at last week’s Thailand Open in Bangkok.

Talking the media after his match about his last two tournaments in Asia, Berdych said:

“I was really looking forward to these two tournaments (Bangkok and Tokyo) because last year I made two semifinals here and in Bangkok. So it's really nice to play here, everything is going well, I like these two places and I hope I'm going to be here next year because I like the place very much."

Putting together 29 wins in his last 30 matches before losing this afternoon, Del Potro was looking to become the first player since Sjeng Schalken in 2000 to win titles in his first five ATP final appearances. Del Potro currently owns four titles this year that ranks him second behind Rafael Nadal who has won eight titles. Despite falling to 38-10 on the season, Del Potro will move up to No. 9 in the rankings that will be released on Monday morning.

Tursunov wins title at Open de Moselle in France

Fifth-seeded Russian and World No. 32 Dmitry Tursunov (pictured) was victorious this afternoon against fourth-seeded French star Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-6(6), 1-6, 6-4, to win the title at the Open de Moselle in Metz, France. The title was the California based Russians second title of the year and fifth overall career title.

After serving for the first set at 6-5, Tursunov was able to remain focused enough to pull out the first set in a tiebreak. In the second set, he became extremely sloppy and had a lot of unforced errors, as the Frenchman broke serve on three occasions during that set. In the fifth game of the final set, the 25-year-old was able to break serve to go up 3-2 and eventually closed out the match 6-4, to win in just under two and a half hours.

"In the second set he had a lot of chances to attack my second serve and he was successful in doing that," said Tursunov. "As I was two breaks down, Paul-Henri was playing with a lot of confidence. Today there wasn't a big difference. I can't say that I was better than him. He could have broken me as well in the third set."

Tursunov improves to 33-19 on the season, including a 25-12 on hard courts. The Moscow born star becomes the first Russian to ever win the Open de Moselle in its six years of existence.

Currently ranked No. 24 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, Mathieu was looking to win his fifth career title and his first since winning the Gstaad title in 2007.

"I couldn't do much in the final set," said Mathieu. "He broke me and I couldn't break him which cost me the match. It's tough to lose a match like that. I think that I have to improve two or three things. It's still a good week for me. I hope that I'll win a tournament soon."

Had Mathieu won today’s championship match, he would have joined Gilles Simon, Michael Llodra, Fabrice Santoro and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as the fifth ATP singles title winner from France. After today’s heartbreaking loss, Mathieu drops to 29-24 on the season.

Berdych beats Roddick in Tokyo to set up Finals match against Del Potro

Juan Martin Del Potro continued his outstanding tennis results by edging No. 4 seed Richard Gasquet, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, in the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo to advance to the finals. No. 9 seed Tomas Berdych (pictured) also advanced to the finals by shocking No. 2 seed Andy Roddick in a three set thriller.

Del Potro smashed 14 aces and only three double faults, while losing only 8 points on his first serve throughout the match. Gasquet hammered 13 aces, while hitting three double faults. The key statistic that stands out from the roughly two-hour match was that the Argentine broke serve on four occasions, while Gasquet was only able to break serve twice. Del Potro earned his 29th win in his last 30 matches, including four singles titles since losing at Wimbledon. Those titles were captured in Stuttgart, Kitzbuhel, Los Angeles and Washington.

"I told myself to keep fighting until the end and I would get a chance to break him which happened in the last game," said Del Potro. "I am very tired, we played a long match with long points but I am very happy to have beaten such a good player and to be in another final. I will have time to rest and recover before the final."

Due to his performance this week in Tokyo, Del Potro is guaranteed to break into the Top 10 in the South African Airways ATP Ranking for the first time in his career. He will move up from No. 12 to No. 9 when the rankings are released on Monday morning. The Argentine is attempting to become the first player to win his first five singles titles on the ATP Tour since Sjeng Schalken accomplished it in 2000. Ironically enough, Schalken won his fifth title at this event eight years ago.

Gasquet was attempting to reach his 12th career ATP singles final with the most recent one happening in July when he lost to Del Potro in Stuttgart. The 22-year-old Frenchman falls to 30-20 on the season.

In the semifinal from the lower portion of the draw, Berdych upset Roddick, 6-7(3), 7-5, 7-6(3), in a match that lasted two hours and thirteen minutes. Despite Roddick hitting 25 aces compared to Berdych’s 17 aces and winning one more point than the Czech Republic native, the World No. 27 was able to come back from a 3-5 hole in the final set, while Roddick had a chance to win the match on his serve. The owner of three career ATP singles titles, Berdych is looking to win his first title since winning the 2007 Halle title against Marcos Baghdatis. Berdych’s record on the year is now 31-19 after the victory. Roddick, the China Open winner last week and owner of 26 career ATP titles, falls to 44-14 on the year.

"It is disappointing and frustrating as I think I had the match in my hands twice and let it slip away from me," said Roddick.

Roddick, who will next play at the Masters Series Madrid in two weeks, will stay at No. 6 in the ATP 2008 Race standings for a spot in the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. Berdych will most likely miss out on making the year-end tournament, but currently has an outside chance now being only 133 points behind No. 8 James Blake after this week’s strong performance.