Pictures: Verdasco in latest photo shoot

Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, who is currently ranked No. 23 on the ATP World Tour, took some time out of his busy schedule to take part in a photo shoot for Spanish magazine, Fuera de Serie.

Decked out in a variety of blazers and colors for fall, Verdasco once again proved that he’s one of the most marketable players in the world.

Photos of Verdasco’s recent spread in Fuera de Serie can be seen at the link below.

Story brought to you by onthegotennis.com. Pictures via Joan Alsina.

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Murray reaches semifinals in Thailand; Nishikori ousts top seed Almagro in Malaysia

PTT Thailand Open—Bangkok, Thailand

Quarterfinal results:

No. 1 seed Andy Murray defeats Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-4; Donald Young defeats Go Soeda 6-1, 6-2; No. 2 seed Gael Monfils defeats Jarkko Nieminen 7-5, 7-6(4); No. 3 seed Gilles Simon defeats Matthias Bachinger 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2011—Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Quarterfinal results:

Marcos Baghdatis defeats No. 4 seed Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 7-6(3); No. 2 seed Viktor Troicki defeats No. 7 seed Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-4; No. 8 seed Kei Nishikori defeats No. 1 seed Nicolas Almagro 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4; No. 3 seed Janko Tipsarevic defeats No. 5 seed Nikolay Davydenko 3-1 ret.

Murray reaches quarters in Thailand; Almagro advances in Kuala Lumpur

PTT Thailand Open—Bangkok, Thailand

Second-round results:

No. 1 seed Andy Murray defeats Michael Berrer 6-4, 6-2; No. 2 seed Gael Monfils defeats Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 4-6, 6-1; Donald Young defeats No. 4 seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1 6-7(0), 7-5; Go Soeda defeats Tobias Kamke 6-2, 7-6(7).

Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2011, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Second-round results:

No. 1 seed Nicolas Almagro defeats Albert Ramos 7-6(2), 7-6(4); No. 8 seed Kei Nishikori defeats Philipp Petzschner 6-3, 4-6, 7-5; No. 5 seed Nikolay Davydenko defeats Lukasz Kubot 6-3, 7-6(2); No. 2 seed Viktor Troicki defeats Denis Istomin 6-1, 6-4.

Djokovic withdraws from Beijing

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from next week’s China Open 2011, citing a back injury he sustained at the US Open.

The top ranked Serb re-aggravated his back injury in Davis Cup action against Argentina the week after the Open. Djokovic has not set a return date on Tour, but did tell reporters that his injury was not serious. He is still entered in the Shanghai Masters event in two week’s time.

Simon reaches quarters in Thailand; Tomic beaten in Kuala Lumpur opener

PTT Thailand Open—Bangkok, Thailand

First-round results:

Tobias Kamke defeats No. 8 seed Pablo Andujar 6-0, 6-1; Go Soeda defeats Karol Beck 3-6, 7-6(0), 7-6(4).

Second-round results:

No. 3 seed Gilles Simon defeats Yen-Hsun Lu 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-4; Matthias Bachinger defeats Danai Udomchoke 7-6(5), 6-3.

Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2011—Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

First-round results:

Flavo Cipolla defeats Bernard Tomic 6-2, 6-2; Denis Istomin defeats Marinko Matosevic 6-3, 6-2.

Second-round results:

No. 4 seed Jurgen Melzer defeats Rik De Voest 6-0, 6-4; Marcos Baghdatis defeats Somdev Devvarman 7-5, 6-4; No. 7 seed Dmitry Tursunov defeats David Goffin 6-3, 6-3.

Baghdatis wins 200th career match

Former world No. 8 Marcos Baghdatis won his 200th career match at the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2011 on Tuesday, defeating Alexander Bogomolov Jr. 7-6(3), 6-4.

Reaching the finals of the Australian Open in 2006, Baghdatis has four career titles throughout his eight year career.

Gulbis falls in Thailand; Davydenko prevails in Kuala Lumpur

PTT Thailand Open—Bangkok, Thailand

First-round results:

Matthias Bachinger defeats Greg Jones 7-5, 6-4; Donald Young defeats Igor Andreev 7-6(6), 2-1; Simone Bolelli defeats Ernests Gulbis 7-6(5), 7-6(5); Jarkko Nieminen defeats Dominic Thiem 6-1, 4-6, 7-5; Yen-Hsun Lu defeats Joao Souza 6-2, 7-5; Michael Berrer defeats Marco Chiudinelli 7-6(4), 6-3.

Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2011—Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

First-round results:

Philipp Petzschner defeats Mischa Zverev 7-5, 6-3; No. 5 seed Nikolay Davydenko defeats Ryan Harrison 6-3, 6-2; Somdev Devvarman defeats Mikhail Ledovskikh 7-6(5), 6-4; No. 8 seed Kei Nishikori defeats Teymuraz Gabashvili 3-6 6-4, 6-1; Rik De Voest defeats Ryan Sweeting 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Lukasz Kubot defeats Lukas Rosol 6-3, 6-3; Albert Ramos defeats Mikhail Kukushkin 4-6, 6-3, 4-2 ret.

Alexandr Dolgopolov: An accessory to entertainment?

by: Nima Naderi

After a breakout season which has seen him shoot up the rankings to a career high of No. 19 this year, young Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov will have a lot of questions to answer as expectations continue to mount.

Will he remain a pocket knife player who possesses the most unorthodox set of weapons the Tour has seen in years, or will he continue to use his trick or treat style of play to dumbfound the best player’s on Tour from continent to continent?

To be honest at this point in time, I’m not quite sure.

I’ve been following Dolgopolov’s progression on the circuit for the better part of three years. I first took notice of the Kiev native after he won three Challenger titles in 2009, marking his place in the world’s top 131 by year’s end. He was certainly a breath of fresh air, but his flashy and low percentage game made it hard to pencil him in as a future top tenner. For the lack of seeing him play in the biggest events at the time, Dolgopolov appeared like he was headed in the same not-up-to-snuff direction as French high flyer Gael Monfils, and not the meat and potatoes glory that Rafael Nadal has portrayed.

But there is hope; there certainly is hope.

Dolgopolov, unlike Monfils is much more coachable. You can bounce ideas off him on a regular basis, and his easy-going demeanor has responded well to current mentor, Jack Reader. For those of you who know Reader or have seen him on TV, he’s about as laid back as they come. Mixing in a blend of comfort and knowledge for his student, Reader has worked with his Dolgopolov’s innate talents, while slowly introducing his hard-nosed work ethic.

Former Tour player Corrado Tschabuschnig, now turned Dolgopolov’s agent at Topseed, is another reason the 22-year-old could appear in a grand slam final one day. Living in Italy with his family,Tschabuschnig is not your typical agent. He stresses a more personalized approach to this clients; similarly to the repoire that Ari Gold and Vincent Chase had on the hit TV show, Entourage.

But management and coaching aside, Dolgopolov’s biggest weapon—his ability to be randomly explosive at will—can’t be taught or molded.

There’s no game plan when taking on Dolgopolov, and that can be attributed to his whacky arsenal of shots. It first starts with his sling-shot gumby-like serve. Dolgopolov throws the ball straight out of the holster and attacks it before it reaches the apex. This remains an extremely hard task to achieve, because the lower the ball toss the more upper body a player uses. But if you closely examine Dolgopolov’s motion, you will quickly notice that he gets great legs and height off the ground when he explodes up and into the ball.

With a serve that can’t be read (even by the Big Four), Dolgopolov’s ground game is also anything but conventional. His forehand uses a lot of elbow; a no-no if you open up any coaching manual, and his backhand, which can produce low net clearance and sharp angels at will, can be hit either off-the-rise or with quick-dropping slice.

A Dolgopolov match wouldn’t be complete without his favored drop-shot. Attempting the shot in some less-than-favorable-positions, Dolgopolov cuts the ball on the outside corner to give it more of a check when it hits the court. For more on that shot, checkout out this beauty against Nadal in Madrid last year.

So, with a platform for the unknown hovering over his career, and an easygoing persona to play on the biggest stages available, can Dolgopolov become more than just an accessory to entertainment?

We saw him push eventual US Open winner Novak Djokovic to a superlative driven first set tiebreaker in New York, but we also witnessed why Dolgopolov may never win a big title. When the chips were down, Dolgopolov didn’t hold back. While that may not be a bad formula to live by, there is a time and place to pull back and play with control. It took Djokovic six set points to win that marathon tiebreak, but he did it with patience and margin. Djokovic alluded to going for his shots more at the Open this year as the primary reason for his success this season, but even the dominant Serb knows when to hold back.

Over the weekend in Metz, France, where Dolgopolov was vying for this second title in 2011 after claiming his first in Umag earlier this summer, his go-for-broke style once again cost him against top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals. Leading Tsonga 3-1 in the opening set, Dolgopolov didn’t play to hold his lead; instead, he tried to light up the stat sheet a dozen more times and lost his advantage and then the match.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: Why change a game that currently stands at No. 19 in world? Why change a game that already has a cult following and is so different and refreshing? Or better yet: Why go against your nature as a player and do something that you’re not comfortable with?

The answer lies in that age old question: What are a player’s long term goals?

With the current brand of tennis that Dolgopolov chooses to play, he will likely have a career like the aforementioned Monfils or the enigma that was Marcelo Rios. Both possess extraordinary ability, but lack the overall wherewithal and seriousness that all slam winners and Hall of Fame recipients embody.

Would it be selfish to say from a fan’s perspective that Dolgopolov could remain happy if he never won a big title or a slam, but continued to play his unique game style?

There’s no question that Dolgopolov is like no other player on Tour, and trust me he is well aware of that praise. He knows that he doesn’t play like Robin Soderling, and that he doesn’t engage in 35 ball rallies like David Ferrer. But I’m guessing that Dolgopolov enjoys how he goes about his business, and he’d like to be remembered for that more than anything else.

We’re not all meant to be grand slam winners or have a signature watch, and most of us will never strike any of the bizarre shots that Dolgopolov comes up with on a regular basis.

I for one would like to see Dolgopolov hoist a major trophy before his playing days are done, but I would also be quite content if he stayed just the way he is.

Let’s hope he’s on the same page.

—Nima

Dimitrov advances in Thailand; Baghdatis bests Bogomolov Jr. in Malaysia

PTT Thailand Open—Bangkok, Thailand

First-round results:

Grigor Dimitrov defeats No. 5 seed Ivan Dodig 6-2, 7-5; Danai Udomchoke defeats No. 6 seed Fabio Fognini 6-4, 3-6, 6-2; No. 7 seed Robin Haase defeats Kittipong Wachiramanowong 6-3, 7-6(1).

Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2011—Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

First-round results:

Marcos Baghdatis defeats No. 6 seed Alexander Bogomolov Jr. 7-6(3), 6-4; No. 7 seed Dmitry Tursunov defeats Paul Capdeville 6-2, 2-6, 6-1; David Goffin defeats Matthew Ebden 6-4, 7-6(4).

Tsonga banks Metz title

Top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won his first title of 2011 on Sunday at the Moselle Open in Metz, France. Defeating No. 4 seed Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3, Tsonga captured his 6th career title and third career victory over the Croatian.

Striking 14 aces in total, Tsonga won 86 percent of his first serve points, and broke Ljubicic on two occasions.

Currently ranked No. 10 in the world, Tsonga pocketed € 72,600 in prize money, and 250 ATP World Tour points. Tsonga is currently ranked No. 7 in the race to the World Tour Finale in London.

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