Olympic Tennis: Order of play for Wednesday August 1, 2012

The order of play for Day 5 action at the 2012 Olympic tennis event can be found at the link below.

Link: Order of play.

Tsonga outlasts Raonic in epic; Djokovic, Murray reach third-round at Olympics

Olympic Games—London, England

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga poured in a memorable performance at the Olympics on Tuesday, outlasting Canadian Milos Raonic 6-3, 3-6, 25-23 to reach the third-round.

In a match that lasted three hours and 56 minutes (over three hours alone for the third set) Tsonga broke through in 48th game of the third set after falling then rebounding to send a lob over Raonic’s head.

Overcoming 23 aces, Tsonga hit 17 aces of his own during the pair’s first meeting.

The world No. 6 will next face either Juan Monaco or Feliciano Lopez.

Elsewhere, No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic breezed into the third-round after dismissing Andy Roddick 6-2, 6-1. In a match that featured pin-point serving and returning by the Serb, Djokovic hit 14 aces, won 86 percent of his first serve points, struck 34 total winners and broke serve on four occasions.

Needing 54 minutes to prevail, Djokovic improved to 4-5 against Roddick in lifetime meetings. The former Wimbledon winner will next face Lleyton Hewitt for a place in the quarterfinals. Hewitt dispatched Marin Cilic 6-4, 7-5.

Home-country hero Andy Murray faced little adversity as he reached the third-round with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Jarkko Nieminen.

Never showing signs of losing his momentum, Murray won 69 percent of his net points and never surrendered his serve during the one hour and one minute match. The Brit will next face Marcos Baghdatis. The Cypriot blew past Richard Gasquet, 6-4, 6-4.

Other winners on the day included Kei Nishikori, who defeated Nikolay Davydenko 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Wednesday’s action at the Olympics will feature Roger Federer and John Isner.

Blake upsets Andujar at Citi Open

Citi Open, Washington D.C., U.S.A.

First-round results:

James Blake defeats (5) Pablo Andujar 4-6, 6-2, 6-2; Florent Serra defeats Brian Baker 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Leonardo Mayer defeats Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-6(5), 7-6(8); (6) Jeremy Chardy defeats Edouard Roger-Vasselin 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.

Olympic Tennis: Order of play for Tuesday July 31, 2012

The order of play for Day 3 action at the 2012 Olympic tennis event can be found at the link below.

Link: Order of play.

Federer, Roddick and Raonic advance at Olympic Games

Olympic Games—London, England

Top seed Roger Federer breezed into the third-round of the Olympic Games on Monday by defeating Frenchman Julien Benneteau, 6-2, 6-2.

Struggling to dismiss Benneteau during the third-round of the Wimbledon Championships earlier this month, Federer needed 58 minutes to record his fourth career victory over the Frenchman. Striking seven aces and hitting 24 winners, Federer never allowed Benneteau a break point opportunity during the contest.

Aiming to win his first ever Gold Medal singles title, Federer will next face either Gilles Muller or Denis Istomin for a quarterfinal berth.

Elsewhere, No. 11 seed Nicolas Almagro was also an early second-round winner on Monday, defeating Alexander Bogomolov Jr. 6-2, 6-2.

In first-round matches that were carried over from Sunday because of rain, Andy Roddick, Milos Raonic, Lleyton Hewitt, Feliciano Lopez, Richard Gasquet, and Marcos Baghdatis were all victorious.

Tuesday’s action in London will feature Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, David Ferrer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Tennis Elbow: The Olympic Dream

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 wonders how much historical weight the Olympic tournament should carry.

The 2012 London Olympic Games got underway this weekend to the tune of the $42-million opening ceremony on July 27. Until August 12, all athletes will vie for a medal in their respective sport.

And that includes tennis, where these Olympics feel a little bit like Wimbledon part deux. Indeed, the Olympic tournament is played at the same pristine All England Club that hosts every year the Wimbledon Championships. Both the men and women will crown their world champion who will reign supreme on the sport for the next four years, until the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games crown another two, and so on and so forth…

Well, not really. In tennis, a Roland Garros title still means much more than a gold medal. But should the Olympic tennis tournament matter and mean something–anything?

It’s tough to say, but let’s go with ‘not much.’ The Olympic Games unfold only once every four years, but that’s not what is most noteworthy. Rather, it’s that the Olympic tennis tournament in its current form is so recent. The sport was included in the Olympics from 1896 to 1924 (i.e. but not in 1904 for the women), and it was then thrown out after the 1924 Paris Games.

The sport came back much later, at the 1988 Seoul Games. Finally, professional tennis players could compete. That means there have only been seven Games where professional tennis players have been allowed to compete in the Open era–that makes this a very small sample.

That said, this still means that there have been seven gold medalists. On the men’s side, the list is fascinating–Miloslav Mecir, Marc Rosset, Andre Agassi, Yevgeni Kafelnikov, Nicolas Massu, and Rafael Nadal in that order. From that list, Agassi and Nadal are players with a lasting resume, and maybe you can add Kafelnikov to that group. But the others are middling players that had a few highlights. This year in London, one of the top players will probably win gold–judging by recent history on the ATP World Tour, Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic are much more likely to add their names to this list than, say, Milos Raonic is. But still, the list remains modest.

Interestingly, the women’s list is much less odd–Steffi Graf, Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams, Justine Henin-Hardenne, and Elena Dementieva. Other than the Russian champion from Beijing, these champions are players who dominated the WTA Tour for some period of time. Of course, if recent history holds, the 2012 London tournament is wide open as seems to be every tournament on the WTA Tour.

Also, because the Olympics happen only once every four years, not every player might get the chance to compete at his peak. Not only have very few of the greatest players in the history of the sport have had the opportunity to partake in the event, but few can do it at their peak.

Finally, this Olympic tournament makes even more busy a calendar that is already just about at capacity–so busy already, in fact, that the Citi Open is currently held in Washington, D.C. This year, Philipp Kohlschreiber pulled out of the Olympic tournament because he made it all the way to the final of the bet-at-home Cup Kitzbühel tournament that ended a day after the beginning of the Olympic tournament. Oops.

Interestingly, perhaps Kohlschreiber’s decision shows where the players’ priorities really are–there’s no prize money at the Olympic Games and there never will be. Tennis is one of a few Olympic sport where professionals are allowed to compete, and the amateur dream of the Olympics is long gone when the Roger Federers and Maria Sharapovas compete, and when corruption runs rampant within the International Olympic Committee. But that’s all I’ll say on that topic.

It seems like the Olympics are little more than a footnote. For some, it can serve as the icing on the cake to cap off an all-time career while it’s the crown jewel of other players who might have enjoyed a little less success. That’s to say that the Olympic tennis tournament doesn’t mean much–but you can still watch it.

Follow Charles Blouin-Gascon on Twitter @CeeeBG

Querrey wins third career title in LA over Berankis

Farmers Classic, Los Angeles, U.S.A.

No. 2 seed Sam Querrey captured his third career Farmers Classic title on Sunday in Los Angeles, California, defeating first-time ATP World Tour finalist Ricardas Berankis 6-0, 6-2.

Needing only 52 minutes to claim the victory, Querrey won 77 percent of his first serve points, struck eight aces and broke serve on five occasions. Never losing his serve against his Lithuanian opponent, Querrey won his seventh career title and will likely see his ranking sore to No. 37 in the world on Monday. The American is currently ranked No. 57 in the world.

Berankis, who is currently positioned at No. 141 on the computer, should see his ranking hit No. 103 come Monday.

Djokovic, Murray secure second-round places at Olympics

Olympic Games—London, England

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic and home-country hero Andy Murray both scored opening round victories at the Summer Olympics in London on Sunday.

For Djokovic, his first-round encounter was pushed to three sets by talented Italian Fabio Fognini. Losing the first set in a rain interrupted tiebreak, Djokovic bounced back to take the match 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-2.

Improving to 3-0 against Fognini in lifetime meetings, Djokovic needed one hour and 52 minutes to set up a second-round meeting with either Andy Roddick or Martin Klizan.

Elsewhere, Wimbledon finalist Murray was efficient in dismissing former top 10 player Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-3 on Center Court.

Riddled by double faults, Wawrinka’s usual rock-solid game was picked apart by Murray’s deep groundstrokes. Hitting 20 winners and eight aces, Murray improved to 7-4 against the Swiss No. 2.

The Brit will next face Jarkko Nieminen in second round action.

Elsewhere, David Ferrer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Kei Nishikori all advanced during the rain-plagued day.

Monday’s action at the All England Club will feature Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro and John Isner.

Olympic Tennis: Order of play for Monday July 30, 2012

The order of play for Day 3 action at the 2012 Olympic tennis event can be found at the link below.

Link: Order of play.

Haase defends Kitzbuhel title

bet-at-home Cup Kitzbühel—Kitzbühel, Austria

Dutch player Robin Haase defended his lone Tour title on Sunday when he defeated top seed Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-2 to win the bet-at-home Cup in Kitzbuhel, Austria on Sunday.

Winning 75 percent of his first serve points, Haase hit three aces and broke his German opponent on five occasions.

Taking out Albert Montanes in last year’s event, Haase will make a quick turnaround to London, England, where he’s set to face Richard Gasquet in the first-round of the Olympic event on Sunday.

Regardless of his defeat, Kohlschreiber will break into the top 20 for the first time in his career on Monday.

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