This week featured one big event on each tour (ATP 500 Barcelona and WTA Premier Stuttgart) along with one smaller event (ATP Bucharest and WTA Marrakech) on each side.
We saw a legend stumble for the 2nd straight week at a tournament he usually dominates, a certain candy connoisseur win yet another Porsche in her garage, and a couple of young guns win their first clay court titles. Let’s get to it.
This week’s finals:
-ATP Barcelona: #17 Kei Nishikori def. #65 Santiago Giraldo 6-2 6-2
-WTA Stuttgart: #9 Maria Sharapova def. #12 Ana Ivanovic 3-6 6-4 6-1
-ATP Bucharest: #16 Grigor Dimitrov def. #43 Lukas Rosol 7-6(2) 6-1
-WTA Marrakech: #71 Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor def. #101 Romani Oprandi 6-3 3-6 6-3
ATP Barcelona: Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell
Rafael Nadal had not lost in Barcelona since his FIRST time playing the tournament, in 2003.
In the quarterfinals, he was set to face Nicolas Almagro, a fellow Spaniard who he has absolutely owned in their previous meetings. Rafa owned their head-to-head record 10-0. In fact, Nico had only won two previous SETS in their ten meetings.
Now he’s won four. Almagro took out Nadal 2-6 7-6(5) 6-4 for a spot in the semifinals.
Just last week, it was David Ferrer breaking a streak Nadal had on him, when he finished off Nadal in straight sets in the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo. Rafa had won their 17 matches on clay. Has the King Of Clay lost his touch, or for a better term, footing? Probably not, and as of now he’s still the favorite at Roland Garros. No one’s beat him in a best of five match on clay this year, have they? It’s too soon in the season to make any assumptions about any sort of decline.
Rafa losing is always going to headline a clay event, but Barcelona had several nice results for players you should keep an eye out for. Kei Nishikori won his first clay title when he took out Santiago Giraldo in the final. If Kei can stay healthy, who knows how far he can climb this year? Looking quite promising.
A LOT of Notable Upsets:
#80 Dominic Thiem def. #32 Marcel Granollers 3-6 6-3 6-2 in 2nd round
#71 Jurgen Melzer def. #21 Jerzy Janowicz 6-4 7-6(1) in 2nd round
#51 Albert Montanes def. #22 Aleksandr Dolgopolov 7-6(5) 6-3 in 2nd round
#55 Teymuraz Gabaskvili def. #6 David Ferrer 6-4 6-2 in 2nd round
#65 Santiago Giraldo def. #13 Fabio Fognini 6-0 4-0 ret’d in 2nd round (Oh Fabio)
#20 Nicolas Almagro def. #1 Rafael Nadal 2-6 7-6(5) 6-4 in QF
#65 Santiago Giraldo def. #20 Nicolas Almagro 7-5 6-3 in SF
WTA Stuttgart: Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
Maria Sharapova may need to build another garage.
The 27-year-old won her 3rd straight title in Stuttgart, which comes with a brand new Porsche. Maria even buckled up when she drove her new car onto the clay after she took out Ana Ivanovic in three sets.
It may be hard to remember now, but there actually was a time when Sharapova called herself “a cow on ice” regarding her movement on clay. However, “Claypova” is now a reality. Maria is THE best clay-courter outside of Serena. To me there’s no question about that. She put together an outstanding week in a loaded field, beating five top-30 players on her way to the title.
Ivanovic played a great tournament as well. She took out Lisicki, Goerges, Kuznetsova, and Jankovic on her way to Maria, and even raced out to a *5-0 lead in the opening set of the final.
Ivanovic did take the 1st 6-3, but when she blew a *3-1 lead in the 2nd, she did exactly what we’ve seen her do so often. She disappeared. Ana is a great frontrunner, but when Sharapova improved her level, Ivanovic didn’t try anything to change the flow of the match. It’s been a common pattern in the last few years. Shows you why Sharapova has an 8-2 advantage over Ana in their head to head.
Stuttgart continues to be one of the most fun tournaments on the WTA. With only 32 players in the main draw, the cutoff was 29! Insane that had Daniela Hantuchova, ranked 30th, had wanted to play this tournament, she would have been in the qualifying draw.
Another interesting occurrence was in the original draw, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic were matched up in the FIRST round. After a reshuffle when a couple of seeds dropped out, they were placed in separate quarters. They eventually ended up making it through to face each other in the semifinals! So interesting how much draws affected the points each of those players gained this week.
Notable Upsets:
#102 Alisa Kleybanova def. #6 Petra Kvitova 6-2 7-6(3) in 2nd round
#29 Svetlana Kuznetsova def. #5 Simona Halep 7-5 7-6(4) in 2nd round
Other Notable Results:
#12 Ana Ivanovic def. #14 Sabine Lisicki 6-1 6-3 in 1st round
#16 Carla Suarez-Navarro def. #7 Angelique Kerber 7-5 6-4 in 2nd round
#9 Maria Sharapova def. #3 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 6-3 in QF
#12 Ana Ivanovic def. #8 Jelena Jankovic 6-3 7-5 in SF
ATP Bucharest: BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy
Like girlfriend, like boyfriend?
Their matches were simultaneous, but very different. Grigor Dimitrov always looked like the best player in the field, and rolled to a straight set victory over Lukas Rosol in the final. Dimitrov didn’t even drop a set on his way to his very first title on a clay.
Grigor continues to become more and more reliable to take care of the lower-ranked players. He used to be a player who wasn’t so consistent, but the young Bulgarian keeps making leaps and bounds in 2014. Top 10 by the end of the year? Definitely a possibility if he stays at this level.
Notable Upsets:
#79 Jiri Vesely def. #48 Jeremy Chardy 7-6(3) 6-0 in 1st round
#118 Adrian Ungur def. #29 Vasek Pospisil 5-7 6-2 6-1 in 1st round
#50 Robin Haase def. #15 Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 6-3 in 2nd round
#61 Carlos Berlocq def. #35 Andreas Seppi 6-0 2-6 7-6(4) in 1st round
WTA Marrakech: Grand Prix de Sar La Princesse Lalla Meryem
What a random tournament.
You’d think with Stuttgart being so difficult to get into, let alone win, more women would be playing this small event in Morocco. 30th ranked Daniela Hantuchova was the top seed, and only three other players in the top-40 played here.
However, it turned out to be 71st-ranked Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor who raised the trophy on Sunday. She took out 101st-ranked Romani Oprandi in a three-set final.
Honestly not much to say about this tournament. We’ll have to see if either of the finalists build off this positive result in their next few events. All the seeds in the field will probably be disappointed with blowing a great chance for a title and valuable rankings points.
Notable Upsets:
#79 Patricia Mayr-Achleitner def. #36 Elina Svitolina 7-6(2) 3-6 6-2 in 1st round
#246 Beatriz Garcia-Vidagany def. #47 Francesca Schiavone 6-3 6-2 in 1st round (yikes)
#101 Romani Oprandi def. #30 Daniela Hantuchova 7-5 3-6 6-3
RANKINGS WATCH: This Week’s Big Movers
ATP:
Kei Nishikori (Barcelona Title) +5 to #12
Ernests Gulbis (Barcelona SF) +3 to #20
Santiago Giraldo (Barcelona SF) +18 to #47
Dominic Thiem (Barcelona QF) +10 to #71
Janko Tipsarevic (Hasn’t played this season) -11 to #105
Nick Kyrgios (Savannah Challenger Title) +20 to #151
WTA:
Jelena Jankovic (Stuttgart SF) +1 to #7
Angelique Kerber (Stuttgart R16) -1 to #8
Garbine Muguruza (Marrakech SF) +5 to #37
Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor (Marrakech Title) +21 to #50
Francesca Schiavone (Marrakech 1R) -18 to #47
Romani Oprandi (Marrakech Final) +23 to #78
What a long, wild, fun week of tennis around the world. The clay season is well underway, and we’ve seen many surprises along the way. This week we have two small events, one WTA International-ATP 250 joint event (Oeiras) and one ATP 250 on its own (Munich).
You may be too busy to watch all the action, but no worries, we’ve got you covered. Follow along on twitter @Around_ThePost and come back next week for a full recap!
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