Tomic wins in Munich; Dodig through in Serbia; Haase prevails in Estoril

BMW Open—Munich, Germany

First-round results:

(5) Bernard Tomic defeats Oliver Rochus 6-4, 6-3; Santiago Giraldo defeats Steve Darcis 6-4, 6-3.

Serbia Open 2012—Belgrade, Serbia

First-round results:

Ivan Dodig defeats Adrian Ungur 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-4.

Estoril Open—Estoril, Portugal

First-rounds results:

(6) Robin Haase defeats Simone Bolelli 6-3, 6-2; Paolo Lorenzi defeats Eduoard Roger-Vasselin 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4.

Tennis Elbow: The fifth wheel with a fifth gear

Welcome to Tennis Elbow, a new column that will look back on the week that was in the world of tennis. This week, Charles Blouin-Gascon examines the results of the 2012 Barcelona Open; where Rafael Nadal took home the hardware once again–beating David Ferrer, once again.

David Ferrer turned 30 years old on April 2, which makes him an old tennis player. And yet, he keeps at it and is playing as good as he ever has in 2012. Kudos for that.

The Spaniard has been a mainstay in the top 10 since Oct. 18, 2010, despite playing in an era where the triumvirate of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer leave only scraps for the rest of the tour.

By all measures, Ferrer has had, and still enjoys, a memorable career–but he remains a notch or two below the cream of the crop.

The tennis community was reminded of this once again in the final of the 2012 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, when Ferrer lost to Nadal by the score of 7-6 (1) and 7-5. For the fourth time in his career, Ferrer lost against his countryman at this stage of this tournament. Ouch.

This is to say that if there ever was one single match that could symbolize a player’s career, it was this one for Ferrer.

In the first set, he had five set points, but couldn’t close it out and instead was stuck in a tiebreak–which he lost rather easily. Ferrer was right there and he might have beaten Nadal if only a couple of points had gone his way. Instead, he lost in straight sets to the World’s No. 2-ranked player and the best clay court player of all time.

These things happen and Ferrer knows a thing or two about it, as he will rarely lose to opponents that are ranked lower than he is. On the flipside, the Spaniard manages to beat the Roger Federers or the Rafael Nadals just as rarely. He is a very talented player, but he will never be mistaken for an all-time great.

And really, there’s nothing wrong with that; no, not for a player who stands 5-foot-9 and 160 lbs. and who once was really just a clay-court specialist. Ferrer has understood that in today’s tennis, a player can’t depend on a single surface. If a player wants to join the elite, he needs a well-rounded game that can lead to successes on all surfaces.

Ferrer is certainly part of the elite, and it has nothing to do with him being a clay-court specialist anymore–after all, he has enjoyed his best Grand Slam results (i.e. the semifinal) at the Australian and the US Opens, not at Roland Garros.

He might be small in stature, but he has more power than you would expect. Above all, he is relentless and he’ll run you to the ground if that’s what it takes for him to win. It says something that Nadal’s straight set victory against him at Barcelona lasted two hours and 41 minutes. If you want to beat Ferrer, you’ll need to run around a lot and be able to win long rallies.

Still, Ferrer remains stuck behind the top trio on the ATP World Tour rankings. It’s no coincidence that he’s just behind Andy Murray too, because a parallel can be drawn between the two. Like Murray, the Spaniard has most of the tools necessary to become a champion–but unlike him, Ferrer isn’t afraid to go after his shots. Ferrer’s ceiling is simply lower than Murray’s, largely because he’s not as young as him.

The Valencia native is a great ATP player, but he’s not the best. This is good enough.

By Charles Blouin-Gascon

Simon captures third title in Bucharest

BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy—Bucharest, Romania

Top seed Gilles Simon captured his third career ATP title in Bucharest on Sunday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Italian Fabio Fognini.

Currently ranked No. 11 in the world, Simon raced to his 10th career title and first of this year in comfortable fashion. Breaking his opponent on five occasions, Simon served two aces and won 64 percent of his first serve points.

Fognini, who was appearing in his first career final, improved his ranking to No. 48 on the computer.

Nadal wins seventh Barcelona title

BARCELONA OPEN BANC SABADELL—Barcelona, Spain

Top seed Rafael Nadal continued his stellar clay-court season this year by capturing his seventh Barcelona title on Sunday over Spanish rival David Ferrer. Defeating his diminutive opponent 7-6(1), 7-5 for the fifth time at the event, Nadal improved to 10-0 on clay this year and 14-4 over Ferrer in lifetime meetings.

Although the contest was a straight set encounter, Ferrer’s grit and determination extended the two sets to two hours and 40 mintues. After a neck-to-neck first set which featured one break of serve by either player, the second set saw a total of five breaks of serve by the two road-runners.

Striking four aces in total, Nadal also won 62 percent of his first serve points and 55 percent of his second serve points.

Ferrer, who was aiming to win his fourth title of the year, fell 28-5 on in 2012. The 30-year-old Valencia native had previously lost to Nadal in three Barcelona finals and one semifinal.

Both Nadal and Ferrer will next see action at the Madrid Masters in Spain in two weeks time.

ATP singles draws for Munich, Belgrade and Estoril

The ATP World Tour singles draws for Munich, Belgrade and Estoril can be found at the links below. Tsonga will lead the way in Munich; Pablo Andujar will be the top seed in Belgrade, and Juan Martin del Potro will head the field in Estoril.

Link: Munich singles draw.

Link: Belgrade singles draw.

Link: Estoril singles draw.

Simon to face Fognini in Bucharest title

BRD NASTASE TIRIAC TROPHY—Bucharest, Romania

Semifinal results:

Fabio Fognini defeats Attila Balazs 6-3, 6-1; (1) Gilles Simon defeats Matthias Bachinger 7-5, 6-2

Nadal reaches seventh Barcelona final to face Ferrer

BARCELONA OPEN BANC SABADELL, Barcelona, Spain

Top seed Rafael Nadal reached his seventh career Barcelona final on Saturday in Spain, crushing Davis Cup teammate Fernando Verdasco, 6-0, 6-4.

Never losing a set to Verdasco on clay, Nadal continued his dominate play by saving four break points and breaking serve on four occasions. Winning 83 percent of his first serve points, Nadal struck two aces and one double fault during his 13 career victory against Verdasco.

Entering the event off of his eighth straight title in Monaco, Nadal will take a 13-4 head-to-head record over David Ferrer in the final. Ferrer needed two tough sets to dismiss hard-serving Canadian Milos Raonic, 7-6(2), 7-6(5).

Raonic, who served 15 aces, couldn’t break the Spaniard’s serve in seven tries. By contrast, Ferrer was also unable to break Raonic’s delivery, but managed to elevate his game in both tiebreakers.

Trailing Nadal 0-4 in Barcelona matches, Ferrer will attempt to win his fourth title of the year on Sunday. Nadal will be attempting to capture the 48th title of his illustrious career.

Top seed Gilles Simon reaches semifinals in Bucharest

BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy—Bucharest, Romania

Quarterfinal results:

Matthias Bachinger defeats Daniel Brands 6-4, 6-1; (1) Gilles Simon defeats (7) Lukasz Kubot 3-6, 6-1, 6-3; Fabio Fognini defeats (6) Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4.

Nadal, Ferrer reach semifinals in Barcelona; Raonic upsets Murray

Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain

Top seed Rafael Nadal improved to 8-0 on clay this year after dismissing No. 5 seed Janko Tipsarevic 6-2, 6-2 at the Barcelona Open on Friday.

Taking one hour and 24 minutes to advance, Nadal struck two aces to end the match and capture his third career victory over the Serb. Attempting to win his seventh title in Barcelona, Nadal will next face either Fernando Verdasco or Kei Nishikori.

Elsewhere, Milos Raonic picked up the biggest win of his career with a 6-4, 7-6(3) victory over No. 2 seed Andy Murray.

Pounding 14 aces by his world class opponent, Raonic won 84 percent of his first serve points, and broke the Scot on two occasions. Improving to 21-4 on the season, Raonic will next face David Ferrer for a place in Sunday’s final.

Not losing a set in four matches this week, Raonic will take a 0-3 lifetime record against his Spanish opponent on Saturday. Ferrer needed nearly three hours to dismiss compatriot Feliciano Lopez, 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 6-3.

Ferrer, never a winner in Barcelona, has lost in the finals on three occasions.

Simon wins in Bucharest; Troicki, Baghdatis fall

BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy—Bucharest, Romania

Second-round results:

(1) Gilles Simon defeats Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-2; (7) Lukasz Kubot defeats Marius Copil 6-3, 6-3; Fabio Fognini defeats (5) Marcos Baghdatis 7-5, 7-6(4); Matthias Bachinger defeats (4) Viktor Troicki 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2); (6) Andreas Seppi defeats Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-2, 6-3.

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