Janko Tipsarevic just defeated Radek Stepanek in a marathon Davis Cup match. Tipsarevic won 5-7 6-4 6-4 4-6 9-7. However, it was not without incident as Stepanek didnt shake hands at the end of the match and their were some choice words said.
Davic Cup tie is now 1-1.
Janko Tipsarevic has just confirmed that he will be playing for Serbia in the 2012 Power Horse World Team Cup in Dusseldorf.
Nations Confirmed For 2012
SERBIA
Janko Tipsarevic
Viktor Troicki
Nenad Zimonjic
CZECH REPUBLIC
Tomas Berdych
Radek Stepanek
GERMANY
Florian Mayer
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Petzschner
Mardy Fish v. Tobias Kamke- Enjoying by far the best year of his career, Mardy Fish will be looking to make a deep run in the 2011 US Open. In the first round he will be facing Tobias Kamke from Germany. Kamke will be no light task as the speedy Germany possesses an all around game with no overwhelming weaknesses. Kamke generates a ton of racket speed off both sides and will be looking to dictate play from the baseline by taking the ball early when given the opportunity. With this being said, Fish will undoubtedly have to work but should be able to make it through unscathed.
Prediction:Fish in 3
Roger Federer v. Santiago Giraldo- This first round match is about as lopsided as it gets. Giraldo is a defensive baseliner from Colombia who does not have any weapons to threaten Federer and really prefers the Clay courts to which his style of play is much better suited. Federer should be able to use this match to build form for the rest of the tournament. I don’t see any possible way for Federer to lose this match barring an injury.
Prediction: Federer in 3
Ryan Harrison v. Marin Cilic- This is an extremely intriguing matchup. You have the young American upstart in Ryan Harrison looking to breakthrough in a major for the first time and accelerate his already inclining career path. In contrast, Marin Cilic is attempting to regain the form that cemented his spot in the top 10 and spurred him to an Australian Open semifinal in 2010. Cilic has not won a grand slam match this season and this match very well could lead to his completion of a “grand slam”- losing in the first round of all four majors. Look for Harrison to relentlessly attack the Cilic forehand as it contains a lot of wrist action and is prone to breaking down. Overall, I think Harrison plays a more reliable, gutsy, confidence driven game and at this moment is in a better spot in his career despite being ranked lower.
Prediction: Harrison in 4
Gael Monfils v. Grigor Dimitrov- This is an absolutely fantastic first round match between quite possibly the future of men’s tennis in Dimitrov and arguably the most electrifying player on tour in Monfils. Dimitrov is surely going to give Monfils everything he can handle and really make him work hard to earn his passage through to the 2nd round. This match will really be predicated on whether the passive or aggressive Monfils shows up. If Monfils chooses to camp back 2 miles behind the baseline and retrieve with his exceptional defensive abilities, he really is not setting himself up with the best chance to win. Dimitrov has incredible shot making ability and if he is on, playing defensive is simply not going to work out for Monfils. If Monfils chooses to play more offensively, this could be a slugfest. I expect Monfils will draw substantial confidence from his performance against Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati and in the end find a suitable balance between offense and defense that will be too much for Dimitrov to counter.
Prediction: Monfils in 4
Ivo Karlovic v. Fernando Gonzalez- Many people might be surprised to find out that Fernando Gonzalez in fact still does play tennis being he has only played 6 tour level matches this season. Plagued by a knee injury in the first half of 2011, Gonzo faces a formidable challenge in the big serving Croatian. I really see this match as one that is going to be very difficult for Gonzalez to win. Only having played one hard court match this summer, Gonzo is lacking match play and there is no worse player to try to develop rhythm against than Karlovic.
Prediction: Karlovic in 4 (expect a few tiebreakers)
Kohlschreiber v. Stepanek- Stepanek has enjoyed greater success on the American hard courts than Kohlschreiber this summer and leads their head to head 4-1. Kohlschreiber is a personal favorite of mine but unfortunately the craft and finesse of Stepanek will prove too much for the German.
Prediction: Stepanek in 4 tight sets
Other Matches:
Malisse v. Granollers- Toss up match. Neither player has won a hard court match this summer and Granollers has not even played in a hard court tournament. This is a tough call, but I am going to say the X-man in five unentertaining sets.
Prediction: Malisse in 5
Monaco v. Seppi- This could be a long, drawn out match as both of these guys prefer to grind it out from the baseline. Monaco definitely has a greater ability to turn defense into offense and pull the trigger.
Prediction: Monaco in 5
Rounding off Day 1…
Montanes over Kukushkin in 5, Ferrero over Andujar in 3, Dolgpolov over Gil in 3, Petzschner over Ramos in 3, Fognini over Zeballos in 5, Llodra over Hanescu in 3, Tipsarevic over Gensse in 3, Nishikori over Cipolla in 3, Gasquet over Stakhovsky in 3, Haas over Dasnieres De Veigy in 5, Troicki over Falla in 4, Berdych of Jouan in 3, Anderson over Soeda in 3
Upsets: Sela over Bellucci in 4, Jaziri over De Bakker in 5
Radek Stepanek has performed amazingly well and has found a way to win the ATP Tour title in Washington.
Stepanek was a little lucky as Mardy Fish had to withdraw from the tournament, but he had a string of very solid wins, including the final where he beat Gael Monfils 6-4 6-4 to take the title.
This is Stepanek’s fifth title and his first ATP 500 win. At 32, he is the oldest player in the top 100.
Nicole Vaidisova was one of the most talked about players on the WTA tour, not just for her good looks but also her results. She had reached the Semifinals of the French Open at the age of 16, then in 2007 won her way to the Semifinals of the Australian Open, and the Quarterfinals of the French Open and Wimbledon, while bowing out of the U.S. Open in the 3rd round. She racked up 6 Sonny Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles, plus two ITF Women’s Circuit singles titles, earning over $2.7 million.
It looked like a promising career as she ended 2007 ranked 12th in the world. But she went into a slump and her ranking began to plummet. In 2008 she ended the year ranked 41, and 2009 she dropped to 186. In 2009 she lost in the 1st round of the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. She didn’t even play in the U.S. Open. What happened?
It seems Vaidisova is now content just to watch fiancé Radek Stepanek play tennis, instead of playing tennis herself. Instead of preparing for the upcoming Sony Ericsson Open, Vaidisova was wrapped in a blanket sitting in the stands at the Sunrise Tennis Club cheering on her fiancé, Radek Stepanek, the top seed at the BMW Tennis Championship Challenger last Wednesday evening.
“I’m just a tennis fan,” said Vaidisova, 20, who refused to confirm reports that she has turned down a wild card into the Sony, is retired and will marry her 17th-ranked compatriot. “You can talk to Radek.” However, the Czech Daily Report has quoted her stepfather and former coach Alex Kodat as saying she is, “fed up with tennis.” “Her agent told me last week. She’s fed up with tennis and that’s understandable. She started very young,” Kodat said.
Vaidisova, who is now ranked 216, is no longer listed among the active players on the Sony Ericsson WTA web site. Meanwhile Stepanek admitted that the two will be married, but left the retirement issue to his fiancée. “We are getting married,” said Stepanek, who finished 2009 a career-best 12th. “It’s great to have her by my side supporting me. It means so much to me. “This [retirement] question is for her. If she wants to say something then she would say it.”
So it would appear Vaidisova has turned her love of tennis into love for a tennis player. Her heart, which had been given to tennis for a short time, has now been given away to Stepanek. Instead of serving up love games on the court, she will be serving up love off the court. If that’s where her heart is, I’m all for her. Go Vaidisova!
