Nadal Wins His Fourth Title at the Madrid Open

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal is back in title-winning form…

The 27-year-old Spanish tennis star, currently ranked No. 1 in the world, won his fourth Madrid Open title on Sunday after Japan’s Kei Nishikori was forced to retire their match with an injury when trailing 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 in the men’s final.

Nishikori’s powerful groundstrokes helped him win the first set against the Nadal, who couldn’t find a way to counter his opponent.

Nadal slowly worked his way back into the match and broke Nishikori twice in the second set to even the match.

But Nishikori was in obvious discomfort in the third, even receiving treatment on his lower back during a medical timeout, before calling it quits.

Nadal recovered from two recent quarterfinal round losses on clay to win his second title on the surface this year. He began his clay court season with a quarterfinal loss to David Ferrer in the Monte Carlo Masters. He was also stunned by Nicolas Almagro in the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open.

Almagro Beats Rafael Nadal for the First Time to Reach Barcelona Open Semifinals

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

For the first time in his career, Nicolas Almagro has taken down Rafael Nadal…

The 28-year-old Spanish professional tennis player beat his compatriot on Friday in a hard-fought, three-set quarterfinal match at the Barcelona Open, ending the World No. 1’s 41-match winning streak at the tournament.

Nadal was looking for his ninth title in Barcelona but lost a week after going out in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters to David Ferrer.

Nadal, widely considered the greatest clay-court player of all time, hadn’t lost in Barcelona since his debut as a 15-year-old in 2003, although he missed the tournament in 2010. He had not dropped a set here since the 2008 final.

Almagro, ranked No. 20 in the world, converted his second match point, smashing a forehand down the line for his first career victory over Nadal on the 11th try.

“I had a lot of opportunities in the second set,” Nadal said. “I didn’t take advantage of break points, so credit goes to him.”

After failing to convert any of his five break points in the second set, Nadal missed a return in the tiebreaker to give Almagro a 6-5 lead. Almagro followed up with a crosscourt forehand winner to level the match and end Nadal’s streak of 44 straight sets at the tournament.

Both players were steady on serve until an exchange of breaks made it 4-4 in the third, and Nadal then sent a shot long to be broken again and give Almagro a chance to serve for the match.

Nadal set up two straight chances to break back, but hit a forehand long and then sent a smash into the net with Almagro out of position.

Nadal then saved the first match point when Almagro’s backhand flew wide. But Almagro used a serve-and-volley to save a third break point of the game before Nadal’s long return set up the second match point.

“This is an important win for my career,” said Almagro, who celebrated wildly. Almagro will face Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo in Saturday’s semifinals after Philipp Kohlschreiber retired with an injury while trailing 6-4, 4-3.

Delbonis Defeats Albert Montanes to Reach the Brazil Open Semifinals

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

There’s no crying for Argentina’s Federico Delbonis, only cheering…

The 23-year-old professional tennis player soundly defeated Spain’s Albert Montanes in just over an hour to advance to the Brazil Open semifinals.

Delbonis, currently ranked No. 61 in the world, beat Montanes in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

He’s now one win away from reaching the second ATP tournament final of his career as he continues his quest to win his first career title.

Delbonis will next face either home-crowd favorite Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil or Martin Klizan of Slovakia.

Meanwhile, it wasn’t such a positive experience for his fellow countrymen…

Top-seeded Tommy Haas came back to defeat Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals.

Haas broke Zeballos’ serve twice in a row in the decisive set to close the match and take a step closer to his second final of the year.

Haas will next play Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, who reached his first ATP semifinal with an upset 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 6-4 win over fourth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina.

“Lorenzi has been around for a long time so this is a goal I’m sure he has been waiting to achieve for a lifetime,” Haas said. “He has nothing to lose and is going to try to go one more and get to his first ATP tour final. He is a dangerous player. I’m going to have to try to play some of my best tennis.”

The 114th-ranked Lorenzi broke Monaco’s serve to go up 4-3 in the final set and held on to close the match in 2 hours, 34 minutes at the Ibirapuera Arena.

The 32-year-old Italian squandered a match point before losing the second set, but was in control in the third to pick up the win in the ATP 250 tournament in South America’s biggest city.

Lorenzi served 12 aces en route to his first pro semifinal after five career quarterfinal losses.

“I’m very happy to finally break through to the semifinals,” Lorenzi said. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities before but was never able to come up with the victory at this stage. For sure this is one of my greatest weeks on the tour.”

The 43rd-ranked Monaco was trying to win his 200th clay-court match. He is the fifth-highest winner on the surface, behind Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Nicolas Almagro.

Monaco had a set point in the first set but couldn’t capitalize on it.

“It was a very close match, he had his chances in the first set and I had mine in the second, it was very difficult,” Lorenzi said.

Nadal, the defending champion, is not playing at the clay-court tournament this year. He chose to play at the first edition of the Rio Open, which he won last week.

Ferrer Reaches Fifth Straight Quarterfinals at the Mexican Open

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

David Ferrer has extended his quarterfinals appearance streak at the Mexican Open.

The 31-year-old Spanish tenista, the tournament’s top seed, defeated his compatriot Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (1), 6-2 on Wednesday to advance to his fifth-straight quarterfinals at the Mexican tournament.

Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4.

Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Ferrer Wins Third Consecutive Title at Argentina’s Copa Claro

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It’s the power of three for David Ferrer…

The 31-year-old Spanish tennis player, who defeated his compatriot Nicolas Almagro in the previous round, has claimed his third straight title at Argentina’s Copa Claro tournament.

Ferrer defeated Italy’s Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-3 Sunday on the outdoor clay courts in the Argentine capital.

It was the 21st ATP singles title for the tournament’s top-seed Ferrer.

Second-seeded Fognini was playing his fifth consecutive clay-court final since the French Open.

The Italian won the final a week ago in Chile for his third tour singles title.

Ferrer, currently ranked No. 4 in the world, had previously won three consecutive titles at one other tournament, New Zealand’s Heineken Open in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Ferrer Defeats Nicolas Almagro to Reach Copa Claro Final

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

David Ferrer is thisclose to a three-peat…

The 31-year-old Spanish tennis player defeated compatriot Nicolas Almagro 6-4-62 in Saturday’s semifinals at Argentina’s Copa Claro to reach the finals.

Ferrer, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, improved his FedEx ATP Head2Head advantage over Almagro to 15-0 with the win.

The two-time defending champion prevailed in 86 minutes, saving six of seven break points faced while converting on four of his own. Almagro secured his lone break of serve to open the second set but was unable to maintain the early lead.

Ferrer, ranked No. 5 in the world, will look to overturn a seven-match losing streak in ATP World Tour finals when he faces Italy’s Fabiio Fognini in the finals, with his most recent title coming in Buenos Aires last year.

He’s also seeking to extend the string of Spanish dominance in the Argentine capital, with four different Spaniards having hoisted the trophy since 2009.

A win in the final would give Ferrer his third three-peat on the ATP World Tour, after winning three consecutive titles in Acapulco (2010-12) and Auckland (2011-13).

Meanwhile, Fognini rallied from down a set and a break to defeat third-seed Tommy Robredo 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday, booking a spot in the Copa Claro final.

Ferrer Advances to Semi-Finals at Argentina’s Copa Claro

Posted on February 15, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

David Ferrer is one step closer to reaching 21…

21 ATP tournament titles, that is.

The 31-year-old Spanish tenista beat his compatriot Albert Ramos 6-1, 6-2 on Friday to reach the semifinals of the Copa Claro tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Ferrer, the two-time defending champion in Buenos Aires and this year’s No. 1 seed, is hoping to win his 21st ATP tournament.

Second-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy and No. 3 Tommy Robredo of Spain are also into the semifinals, and they’ll face each other on Saturday.

Fognini, who won the ATP event last week in Chile, advanced Friday by defeating Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-4, 6-3.

Robredo won his match against Robin Haase of the Netherlands. Robredo won the first set 6-1, and Haase retired with an injury after falling behind 2-0 in the second set.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal pulled out of the tournament with a back injury but will play next week in the Rio Open in Rio de Janeiro.

Nadal Named the Top Seed at the Australian Open

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It comes as little surprise… But Rafael Nadal has been listed as the top seed at the Australian Open, which gets underway on Monday at Melbourne Park.

The 27-year-old Spanish tennis star, currently ranked No. 1 in the world, recently extended his points lead over Serbia’s Novak Djokovic after clinching the title at the Qatar Open.

Djokovic, the defending champion, is the No. 2-seeded man, followed by David Ferrer, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer at sixth.

The other Latino seeds include Spain’s Nicolas Almagro at No. 13, Spain’s Tommy Robredo at No. 18, Spain’s Feliciano Lopez and No. 27 and Spain’s Fernando Verdasco at No. 32.

On the women’s side, Serena Williams has been made the top seeds at the Australian Open.

Defending champion Victoria Azarenka is No. 2, followed by Maria Sharapova, Li Na, Agnieszka Radwanska and former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in sixth.

The only Latina to earn at ranking at this year’s Australian Open is Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro at No. 16.

The 32 seeds were only altered twice from the rankings, both because of injuries. No. 29-ranked Jurgen Melzer is not playing due to a left shoulder injury and Maria Kirilenko, who would have been seeded 18th, has a left knee injury.

Nadal Extends His ATP Rankings Lead Over Novak Djokovic

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It looks like Rafael Nadal isn’t planning to give up his recently reacquired World No. 1 ranking anytime soon…

The 27-year-old Spanish tennis star has increased his points lead over Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the recently released ATP rankings, due to his victory at the Qatar Open over the weekend.

Nadal won his first title of the season and 61st of his career at the tournament over the weekend after defeating France’s Gael Monfils 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2.

The win expanded Nadal’s lead over Djokovic, the world No. 2, while Spain’s David Ferrer kept his hold on the No.3 spot.

Nadal has 13,130 points, while Djokovic has 12,260 points.

Britain’s Andy Murray comes in at No. 4 and Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro is No. 5 in the world.

The world’s top tennis players are gearing up for the Australian Open, the tennis season’s first Grand Slam event, which begins on January 13.

Nadal defeats Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Third place is the charm for Rafael Nadal…

The 27-year-old Spanish tennis star bounced back after a disappointing loss in the semifinals to compatriot David Ferrer, defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight-sets at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Nadal posted a 7-6, 6-3 win in the tournament in third plae.

According to RafaelNadalFans.com, the current World No. 1 will play his first official tournament in Doha this week, which will be his sixth appearance at the venue.

Nadal will look to stay atop the ATP rankings, when he returns to the Australian Open, which begins on January 13 in Melbourne.

Two weeks before the start of this year’s Australian Open, Nadal withdrew from the tournament citing a stomach virus. His withdrawal subsequently saw him drop out of the ATP’s Top Four for the first time since 2005.

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