Quarterfinals Set: Cincinatti and Montreal

I apologize for the lateness of my typical quarterfinal post, but I went to bed last night before all the matches are done.  But as a bonus, you get a couple of semifinal scores.

For once the men managed more unseeded quarterfinalists (2) than the women (1). On the men's side 6 of the top 9 are through while 5 of the top 10 women are through (which is pretty good seeing that Serena, Venus, and Stosur didn't show up.)  A few of the top women are playing well again, while the big 4 and a few others continue to march on.

Cincinatti


Here are your eight quarterfinalists, then some commentary:
1) Rafael Nadal (ESP)
2) Novak Djokovic (SRB)
3) Roger Federer (SUI)
4) Andy Murray (GBR)
6) Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
9) Andy Roddick (USA)
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)
Mardy Fish (USA)

The big 4 have now made back-to-back quarterfinals, and this was the tournament last year where they all made the semis.  No one has defended points yet because the other four quarterfinalists from 2009 were
Berdych (3rd round loss to Baghdatis), Benneteau (3rd round loss to Nadal), Hewitt (2nd round loss to Soderling), and Simon (1st round loss to Fish).

Roddick seems to have recovered nicely from his mono and I happened to catch his match with Soderling at 5-5 in the 3rd.  What a dramatic ending!  That also means Murray will have the #4 seed at the US Open.  Roddick can still get the #8 seed by winning the title.  Baghdatis has made an impressive run coming through Cilic, Bellucci, and Berdych to face Nadal, while Fish beat Simon, Verdasco, Gasquet (and now Murray).  They could be spoilers at the US Open.

Today's quarters:
Fish def. Murray 6-7(7), 6-1, 7-6(5)
Roddick def. Djokovic 6-4, 7-5 (just went final)
Nadal vs. Baghdatis
Federer vs. Davydenko

The Djokovic loss means that Federer will take the #2 seed at the US Open if he can make the final, but that means beating Nadal.  Also Fish will be seeded with his good performance at this tournament but it is tough to tell where the cutoff will be due to several players being injured and us not knowing whether they will return in time (Gonzalez, Monaco, Ferrero, Montanes, and of course, Del Potro, come to mind).
Rogers Cup (Montreal)


It is good to see players with numbers next to their names playing better and this tournament has gone much more according to form than previous ones.  Also worth nothing, Safina won back-to-back matches before being tripped up by Schiavone in the 3rd round.  Drum roll please, your quarterfinalists:
2) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
5) Kim Clijsters (BEL)
6) Francesca Schiavone (ITA)
8) Vera Zvonareva (RUS)
10) Victoria Azarenka (BLR)
11) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
17) Marion Bartoli (FRA)
Jie Zheng (CHN)

Only two players made the quarterfinals at both Cincinatti and Rogers Cup:  Clijsters and Bartoli.  No quarterfinalists from 2009 Rogers Cup made the quarterfinals this year.  Zero!  Only 5 showed up and then 3 of those (Jankovic, Safarova, and Kleybanova) were gone after 2 rounds.  Dementieva and Radwanska then promptly lost in round 3.

Due to this, Dementieva (defending champion) will drop out of the top 10 to #13.  Another win by Bartoli and she'll slip another spot.  Oh how the mighty have fallen.  Zvonareva is now the Russian no. 1.  Jankovic has falled below Venus to #5 and that also bumped Clijsters up to #3.  Players are still scrambling for the #8 spot with Azarenka, Zvonareva, and Bartoli still scrambling for it.

It is good to see some good results from Schiavone and Kuznetsova after they had been in slumps (one longer than the other).

Today's quarters:
Kuznetsova def. Zheng 6-1, 6-3
Zvonareva def. Clijsters 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
Azarenka vs. Bartoli
Wozniacki vs. Schiavone

Two of these are rematches of recent slam quarterfinals (Schiavone/Wozniacki at the French, Zvonareva/Clijsters at Wimbledon).  Zvonareva takes a top 8 seed with a final appearance or if Azarenka does not win the title.  There will be only one Russian in the top 10 unless Kuznetsova wins the title.