Robredo Stops Fognini's Streak, Cibulkova Upsets Radwanska In Stanford Final

Hard court tennis returned to the USA for the time since Miami in the spring, and the Americans picked up some good results in Stanford and Atlanta.  John Isner won 7 of 8 tiebreaks during the week and outlasted Anderson in 3 tiebreaks in the Atlanta final.  He saved match points in the final and in the semis against Hewitt, where he also need a 3rd-set tiebreak to win.  Dominika Cibulkova was double bageled in the Sydney final by Radwanska, but got her revenge in Stanford, winning a 3-set final.  And back in Europe, where they are still playing on clay, Tommy Robredo ended Fognini's 13-match winning streak in the Umag final, while himself winning his second title of the year.  He'll be a candidate for comeback player of the year.  Mikhail Youzhny has quietly enjoyed a recent run of good form, and won in Gstaad, where Federer went crashing out in his first match.  And finally, in Baku, a women's hard court event, former girls French Open champion Elina Svitolina defeated a resurgent Peer in the final for her first title.

Good Stories
-Christian Harrison (USA), a 19-yr-old and Ryan's younger brother, got his first ATP main draw win in Atlanta, and then lost to Isner in 3 sets.
-Ryan Harrison (USA), snapped out of long funk by reaching the semis in Atlanta.
-Vera Dushevina (RUS), once junior major winner, has long been an afterthought in the dearth of Russian talent after having a few top 50 seasons.  She qualified and reached the quarters in Stanford, now a 27-yr-old.
-Elina Svitolina (UKR), won her first career title in Baku, and will enter the top 50 for the first time.
-Ons Jabeur (TUN), an 18-yr-old former junior French Open champ, reached her first WTA quarterfinal in Baku after recording her first WTA main draw win earlier in the tournament.  Unfortunately she had retire a set and a break up against Linette in the quarters.
-Tadeja Majeric (SLO), a 23-yr-old, reached her first WTA quarterfinal in Baku, and is on the cusp of the top 100.

Bad Stories
-Mardy Fish (USA) returned to action after a long injury break but lost to Russell in the first round of Atlanta.
-Roger Federer (SUI) lost his opening match in Gstaad to Brands.
-Samantha Stosur (AUS), seeded second, crashed out of the first round in Stanford.

WTA Premier: Stanford, CA, United States

3) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) def. 1) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)

-Cibulkova wins 3rd career title, last '12 Carlsbad

Defending champion: Serena Williams (USA) - did not play this week

Quarterfinalists: 4) Jamie Hampton (USA)-SF, 5) Sorana Cirstea (ROU)-SF, 6) Varvara Lepchenko (USA), 7) Urszula Radwanska (POL), Olga Govortsova (BLR), Q) Vera Dushevina (RUS)

Players reaching QF in '12 and '13: Cibulkova, Cirstea, U.Radwanska
Locals performance: 7-7, Hampton made the semis and Lepchenko the quarters. Gibbs, Keys, and q-Vandeweghe won matches while Burdette and McHale suffered first round defeats.  Gibbs is a 20-yr-old who won the NCAA title at Stanford and turned pro at Wimbledon.

Americans performance: see above

Third set tiebreaks: none

ATP 250: Atlanta, GA, United States

1) John Isner (USA) def. 2) Kevin Anderson (RSA) 6-7(3) 7-6(2) 7-6(2)

-Isner wins 7th career title, 2nd of 2013, last '13 Houston
-All his titles have come in the US except his first, '10 Auckland

Defending champion: Andy Roddick (USA) - now retired

Quarterfinalists: 3) Ivan Dodig (CRO), 7) Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)-SF, Denis Istomin (UZB), Santiago Giraldo (COL), James Blake (USA), Ryan Harrison (USA)-SF

Players reaching QF in '12 and '13: Isner
Locals performance: 12-11, Isner won the tournament, R.Harrison reached the semis and Blake the quarters.  C.Harrison, Russell, and Williams won their opening matches while Fish, Ram, Kudla, Sock, q-Smyczek, and q-King lost in the first round.  (King is a 22-yr-old ranked no. 671 who played at Georgia Tech.)

Americans performance: see above

Third set tiebreaks: Blake def. Smyczek (R1), Berankis def. Zverev (R1) (10-8), Isner def. Hewitt (SF), Isner def. Anderson (F) (3 tiebreaks)

ATP 250: Gstaad, Switzerland

6) Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) def. Robin Haase (NED) 6-3 6-4

-Youzhny wins 9th career title, last '12 Zagreb

Defending champion: Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) - R1 l. to Delbonis

Quarterfinalists: 2) Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI), 4) Juan Monaco (ARG), 5) Feliciano Lopez (ESP)-SF, Daniel Brands (GER), Marcel Granollers (ESP), Victor Hanescu (ROU)-SF

Players reaching QF in '12 and '13: Lopez

Locals performance: 1-4, which would have been very discouraging.  Only Wawrinka won, while Federer, Chiudinelli, and Laaksonen lost.
Americans performance: none

Third set tiebreaks: Youzhny def. Monaco (QF) (9-7), Haase def. Granollers (QF)

ATP 250: Umag, Croatia

5) Tommy Robredo (ESP) def. 3) Fabio Fognini (ITA) 6-0 6-3

-Robredo wins 12th career title, 2nd of 2013, last '13 Casablanca

Defending champion: Marin Cilic (CRO) - did not play this year - tournament was played the week after Wimbledon last year

Quarterfinalists: 2) Andreas Seppi (ITA)-SF, 6) Martin Klizan (SVK), Gael Monfils (FRA)-SF, Albert Montanes (ESP), Horacio Zeballos (ARG), Aljaz Bedene (SLO)

Players reaching QF in '12 and '13: none

Locals performance: 0-4, but none of big Croats played - losses for Pavic, Veic, Coric, and q-Topic.  Pavic is 20-yr-old and Coric is 16-yr-old
Americans performance: none

Third set tiebreaks: Klizan def. L.Mayer (R2), Fognini def. Monfils (SF)

WTA International: Baku, Azerbaijan

7) Elina Svitolina (UKR) def. Shahar Peer (ISR) 6-4 6-4
-Svitolina wins 1st career title!

Defending champion: Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) - R2 l. to Jabeur

Quarterfinalists: 2) Donna Vekic (CRO), 4) Alexandra Cadantu (ROU)-SF, Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ), Ons Jabeur (TUN), Tadeja Majeric (SLO), Q) Magda Linette (POL)-SF

Players reaching QF in '12 and '13: none

Locals performance: 0-2, losses for wildcards Farhad and Jafarova

Americans performance: 0-1, Cohen lost to Linette.  She was a finalist in Baku last year.
Other notable winners: A pair of Ukrainian qualifiers, 19-yr-old Kateryn Kozlova and 22-yr-old Tetyana Arefyeva - both ranked outside the top 200 last week. 

Third set tiebreaks: none