He’s in the draw I believe.
Andy Roddick just tweeted:
Can you think of anyone more talented to not finish top 10 in one year?
Berdych is out.
That’s good work by Monfils- after he lost the third and fourth sets I thought he was done. He’s still got tons of talent and still can’t stick to any kind of decent strategy, but sometimes he hits well enough that it works out anyway. And in the process Federer’s half of the draw gets that much weaker- he’s struggled with Berdych lately, too.
Speaking of Roddick - I expect this is why he was opining on Monfils - he recently took a job with Fox Sports for a SportsCenter-type show. That might be a really good fit for him.
Most talented guy never to finish in the Top 10 is a tough one because after doing some checking I can see it not only rules out anyone who ever won a grand slam title, it rules out practically everyone who ever made a grand slam final, and probably almost everyone who ever made a semifinal. So looking back at the last 10 or 15 years, Monfils seems like a good pick. The first guy I thought of was Mark Philippoussis, but he just barely made himself ineligible by finishing at #9 in 2003, the year he lost the Wimbledon final to Federer. Tommy Haas has only finished in the year-end top 10 once (#8 in in 2001), but it’s hard to hold that against him because he’s had so many injuries and is still in the top 15 now, at 35. Guillermo Canas was pretty good but never did it - he was suspended for PEDs at the peak of his career (at #8) and eventually got the suspension voided, or partly voided, but never managed to get there at the end of a season. Nicolas Massu won gold in the Olympics and never finished in the top 10, but then again he never made a major quarterfinal or won a masters’ title. Taylor Dent had a lot of raw talent but he was never able to stay healthy. I think there’s a consensus that David Nalbandian underachieved but he finished in the top 10 5 years in a row in the 2000s without ever finishing a season in the top 5. Younes El Aynaoui was pretty good and very exciting - not unlike Monfils - but never got above #14. Ivo Karlovic never has either, although there’s not much to his game beyond his serve. John Isner got into the top 10 about a year ago but hasn’t finished a season there yet. He ended up at #14 last year, which was his best, but he’s 28 and I think he’s probably on a downward slope. I did so far the only guy I found who made a major final without getting into the year-end top 10 was Malivai Washington. You can find the year-end rankings from 1993 forward here, if you’re looking for something that might jog your memory.
Davydenko plays today F. Serra . USA Sock is looking good first round.
I just saw Wawrinka on the scoreboard, so he must have decided to join.
Verdasco through to Rd 2.
Nole had to work but is through
Marcos Baghdatis lost in round one. He’s another nominee for the best player never to finish in the top 10, by the way. In 2006 he got to the Australian Open finals and the semifinals at Wimbledon, but he lost in the second round at the other two majors and didn’t do much of anything in the masters series events, so he finished the year at #12. In 2008 he was ranked as high as #8, but he got hurt, missed the U.S. Open, and was barely in the top 100 by year-end.
Yeah I saw that too. Definitely read a report he was withdrawing though. Good on him.
This Monfils and Gulbis match is highly entertaining. I hope Monfils pulls it off.
Monfils gets through in four tough sets. He’ll play Robredo in the next round after Robredo pulled off a comeback from two sets down.
Nadal and Federer through
Its like the Sampras and Federer years at Wimbledon.
Nadal will win again methinks. yawn
Does it seem that the umpires aren’t watching the change over time like they did in the previous tournaments? Monfils was sure taking his time. No warning that I saw.
After falling behind 2 sets, Verdasco rallies before bowing out in 5.
Au revoir, Monfils. But Tsonga and Simon are into round four, and Gasquet and Bartoli are through to round three. (Rain has really screwed up the schedule.) Federer took out Benneteau.
Isner Haas wow
Federer injured his ankle and lost the middle 2 sets to Simon. However, he seems to have recovered and blew him out in the 4th.
I think it was mental more than physical.
In other news, Robredo just won his third straight match coming back from 2 sets down! Wow!
Ah, Federer wins anyway. Poor Simon.
My brain thinks Djokovic will win (easily, actually), though my heart is still hoping for Ferrer to finally break through.
!Vamos David!