Federer Wins in Dubai, Djokovic Loses to Murray

Perhaps the biggest news of the week wasn't anyone winning a title but someone losing a match.  Novak Djokovic lost in the Dubai semis to Andy Murray, halting his 2012 season opening winning streak at 10 matches.  While Dubai isn't a huge tournament in the grand scheme of things, it shows that Djokovic is beatable and also sends Murray into the American spring Masters on a high note.  But the player going in with the highest note is Roger Federer, who now sports a 10-match winning streak and has lost just one match since the US Open.  I'll have an IW/Miami preview for you later this week.

In other news, Ferrer shows he is definitely the best clay courter not named Nadal, Taiwan has a singles champion, Italy dominates on Mexican clay, and a South African wins a title outside of his home country.

ATP 500:  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

2) Roger Federer (SUI) def. 3) Andy Murray (GBR) 6-4 7-5

-Federer wins 72nd title, 2nd in 2012, last '12 Rotterdam
-It is his 5th title in Dubai ('02,'03,'04,'07)

-Other QF:  1) Novak Djokovic (SRB)-SF, 4) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA), 5) Tomas Berdych (CZE), 7) Janko Tipsarevic (SRB), 8) Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)-SF, Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)

-Other seeds:  7) Fish (R2 l. to Youzhny)

-Djokovic was the 3-time defending champion, but lost to Murray 6-2 7-5 in the SF

-Federer, Djokovic, and Berdych all returned the quarters after making in there also in '11

-Eight of the top 10 men were here, and 7 of them reached the QF
-Marko Djokovic received a wildcard but lost in the first round to qualifier Golubev
-Lacko won a tiebreak in the 1st round against Bubka 16-14 (he won that match), but that wasn't the longer tiebreak of the week.


ATP 500:  Acapulco, Mexico
1) David Ferrer (ESP) def. 8) Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 6-1 6-2


-Ferrer wins 14th career title (3rd in 2012), last '12 Buenos Aires
-He has a streak of his own, 9 straight match and is now 18-1 in 2012
-Other QF:  2) Nicolas Almagro (ESP), Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)-SF, Santiago Giraldo (COL)-SF, Carlos Berlocq (ARG), Pablo Andujar (ESP), Jeremy Chardy (FRA)
-Other seeds:  3) Simon (R1 l. to Berlocq), 4) Nishikori (R2 l. to Chardy), 5) F.Mayer (R2 l. to Andujar), 6) Monaco (R1 l. to Ramos), 7) Granollers (R2 l. to Giraldo)
-Ferrer has now won Acapulco 3 consecutive years.
-Ferrer, Almagro, Wawrinka, and Giraldo all made the quarters here in both '11 and '12.
-This is the 3rd consecutive year of an all-Spanish final.
-Nice result for Verdasco, who will return to the top 20, and was just 5-4 in 2012 prior to this tournament.
-On the other hand, Simon is just 7-6 in 2012 despite playing 3 Latin American tournaments.
-Berlocq is the only player to reach the QF at all 4 Latin American tournaments.

ATP 250:  Delray Beach, United States

7) Kevin Anderson (RSA) def. Q) Marinko Matosevic (AUS) 6-4 7-6(2)

-Anderson wins 2nd career title, last '11 Johannesburg

-Other QF:  1) John Isner (USA)-SF, 4) Andy Roddick (USA), 5) Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER), 8) Bernard Tomic (AUS), Ernests Gulbis (LAT), Dudi Sela (ISR)-SF

-Other seeds:  2) Cilic (R1 l. to Nieminen), 3) Troicki (R1 l. to Darcis), 6) Bogomolov (R2 l. to Matosevic)

-Del Potro won the title last year, but sought more fame in Dubai this year (made SF)

-Anderson was the only repeat quarterfinalist, though Del Potro and Tipsarevic made the quarters in Dubai.  Also '11 finalist Nishikori played in Acapulco.
-This continues to be poor swing for American players.  9 made the main draw, 4 made R2, 2 made QF, and only Isner reached the SF, but was upset there by Anderson
-Aussie qualifier Matosevic will rise 44 places in the rankings to 129, he played in his 1st career ATP final and got wins over Karlovic, Bogomolov, Gulbis, and Sela
-Longest tiebreak of the week went to Isner, 17-15 over wildcard Jesse Levine in R1.
-Another bad match for Young, losing 6-1 6-1 to Sweeting in R1.

WTA International:  Acapulco, Mexico

3) Sara Errani (ITA) def. 2) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 5-7 7-6(2) 6-0

-Errani wins 3rd career title, last '08 Palermo (3.5-year drought)
-She also won the doubles title with Vinci

-Other QF:  1) Roberta Vinci (ITA)-SF, 4) Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU)-SF, Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK), Michaella Krajicek (NED), Q) Marina Duque-Marino (COL), L) Estrella Cabeza Candela (ESP)

-Other seeds:  5) Dulgeru (R1 l. to Rybarikova), 6) Larsson (R2 l. to Duque-Marino), 7) Dulko (w/d), 8) Brianti (R2 l. to Krajicek)

-Dulko was the defending champion, but had to pull out with an illness.

-No quarterfinalists from last year made it that far again.

-After seeds have really struggled in Latin America, the top 4 women made the semis here, including three Italians
-Mexican wildcard Hermoso won her first round match over Mayr-Achleitner
-SF a nice result for my "eye"-lady Begu

WTA International:  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Q) Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) def. 5) Petra Martic (CRO) 2-6 7-5 4-1 ret.

-Hsieh wins 1st career WTA title at the age of 26 and it is the 3rd consecutive week that there has been a first time titlist.

-Other QF:  1) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL), 2) Jelena Jankovic (SRB)-SF, 3) Shuai Peng (CHN), 6) Ayumi Morita (JPN), Eleni Daniilidou (GRE), Olivia Rogowska (AUS)

-Other seeds:  4) Gajdosova (R2 l. to Daniilidou), 7) Dokic (R2 l. to Rogowska), 8) Keothavong (R1 l. to Hsieh)

-Dokic was the defending champion and lost in round 2.

-Morita the only player to reach the quarters here in both '11 and '12.
-Finalist Martic had to play her SF match in earlier that same day and beat Jankovic in over 3 hours 6-7(5) 7-5 7-6(5) so tough luck.

-The Pliskova twins (each won a girls slam in '10) both qualified and won a main draw match.