Wins on Grass for Federer and Baby Federer, Also Ivanovic

The tour has made the abrupt change from clay to grass, and with came a few American sightings, especially in Birmingham.  But for Roger Federer, it meant another title in Halle, his 7th, as he saw off surprise finalist (who once served the match against him at Wimbledon) Falla.  And perhaps Baby Federer - Grigor Dimitrov - has taken another step in walking in the footsteps of his idol, winning a grass court title at Queen's in London, defeating Lopez, a grass court expert in his own right.  Ana Ivanovic has become a much more consistent player recently, and she was the last woman standing in Birmingham, knocking off Zahlavova Strycova in the final.

This is the time of year when otherwise unheralded players suddenly become monsters, upsets can occur frequently, and a tiebreak is almost as common as not, as we look just at a short time ahead to the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon.

ATP 250: London (Queen's Club), United Kingdom
4) Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) def. 10) Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 6-7(8) 7-6(1) 7-6(6)
-Dimitrov wins 4th career title, 3rd of 2014, last '14 Bucharest
-He has now won a title on all 3 surfaces
-Americans: 3-5, though they were all bunched together in the draw.  Klahn, Russell, and Smyczek lost in the first round to Baghdatis, Kudla, and Tomic.  Kudla lost to Querrey in R2.  Querrey outlasted Chardy in 3 tiebreaks but was blown out by Wawrinka in R3.
-The British got first round wins from Ward and Evans
-I have to pump up my Dominican boy Estrella, who picked up a tour win over Benneteau in R1.   Here's an article about him.
-The Uzbek no. 2 Dustov, qualified for his first ATP main draw but then was drawn against Davis Cup teammate Istomin in R1.  Draws can be heartless
-Young Aussie qualifier Duckworth beat Sela in R1.
-Another 3 tiebreak match was Lopez over de Schepper in R3
-Murray was the 2 time defending champion but lost to Stepanek in R3, ending his long grass court winning streak that dated back to the '12 Wimbledon final loss to Federer and included the Olympics.

ATP 250: Halle, Germany
2) Roger Federer (SUI) def. Alejandro Falla (COL) 7-6(2) 7-6(3)
-Federer wins 79th career title, 2nd of 2014, last '14 Dubai
-It is his 7th win in Halle ('03-'06,'09,'13) and his 14th grass court title
-Americans: Johnson was there and went 1-1, advancing to the quarters on a walkover.  He beat l-Olivetti then lost to 4-Nishikori
-Nadal managed only 5 games in a second round loss to Brown
-Kohlschreiber defeated Brown in the quarters 18-16! in a 3rd set tiebreak!  From what I could find that is the longest 3rd set tiebreak on the ATP.
-But then in the next round Kohlschreiber fell to Falla as the Colombian reached the final
-Janowicz bounced back with 2 wins at the French Open but took a step back in Halle, falling to qualifier Herbert, who picked up only his 2nd ATP win
-Lu, a grass court monster, beat young Croat Pavic in 3 tiebreaks on his way to the quarters
-Federer successfully defended his title

WTA International: Birmingham, United Kingdom
1) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 6-3 6-2
-Ivanovic wins 14th career title, 3rd of 2014, last '14 Monterrey
-It is her first win on grass so she has now won on all 3 surfaces
-Americans: The Yanks won their first 9 matches at this tournament but then kind of petered out from there, finishing 14-8.  3-Stephens reached the quarters, losing there to Zhang.  Davis, Vandeweghe and 15-Riske reached R3, losing there to Ivanovic, Koukalova, and Stephens.  q-Duval, 11-Keys, McHale and Lepchenko each won one match, losing to Davis, l-Babos, 2-Stosur, and 16-Dellacqua.  Duval beat Garcia in R1 and Davis survived grass court monster q-Paszek.
-Babos has struggled in the last year or two after entering the top 100 as a teenager.  She made the draw a lucky loser and made the most of it, beating Erakovic and Keys before falling to Zahlavova Strycova
-There were no 3 tiebreak matches but Date-Krumm outlasted 12-Puig 9-7 in a 3rd set tiebreak
-Hantuchova was the defending champion, but lost to Date-Krumm in R3

Over the past couple of weeks, there has been lower level Davis Cup play.

Last week in Americas Zonal Group III, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico were promoted to Group II, defeating Cuba and Bahamas in the finals.  Puerto Rico makes an immediate return to Group II after being relegated last year, but Costa Rica hasn't played at that level since 2001.  The other team relegated to Group III was Haiti, but they didn't field a team this year.

The Asia/Pacific Zonal Groups III and IV ties concluded this weekend in Tehran, Iran.  Iran and Lebanon earned promotion to Group II, defeating Syria and Malaysia in the finals.  Lebanon makes an immediate return to Group II while Iran last played there in 2011.  Syria was the other team relegated last year but Iran thwarted their attempt to return immediately.  Singapore and United Arab Emirates were beaten in the relegation ties by Cambodia and Turkmenistan so they are relegated to Group IV.  Singapore only lasted one year in Group III but the UAE lasted two.  Last year's other promoted team, Turkmenistan, survived.

In Group IV, Saudi Arabia and Qatar were promoted in Group III, defeating Jordan and Pacific Oceania in the finals.  Oman and Pacific Oceania were relegated to Group IV last year but neither was able to regain Group III.  So Saudi Arabia will play in Group III for the first time since 2009 but Qatar hasn't been there since 2005.

I'll be previewing Wimbledon later this week, and of course there are the tournaments at 's-Hertogenbosch and Eastbourne.