Federer Ends Title Drought, Murray Takes Queen's

The tour turns to grass for two short weeks of tournaments before Wimbledon, with the exception of a new event in Germany which for some odd reason is on clay.  That makes no sense to me.  As you'll see below, American fortunes improved considerably with the change of surface, especially on the women's side.

Roger Federer ended a 10-month title drought by winning his "favorite" event in Halle, improving to 15-0 against Youzhny, who he's met 7 times on grass.  Andy Murray got a tough test from Marin Cilic in the final, but came to win in Queen's and keep his home fans happy.  The youngest woman in the top 100, Donna Vekic, was stopped in her quest for his first WTA title by a slumping veteran Daniela Hantuchova.  And on clay, Andrea Petkovic reached the final but was beaten there by Simona Halep, as the Romanians finally cashed in on some of their young talent.

Good Stories
-Denis Kudla (USA), a 20-yr-old, reached his first ATP quarterfinal at Queen's.
-Four Germans reached the quarters at their local event in Halle, including 25-yr-old wildcard Zverev, ranked no. 156, who was then double bageled by Federer.  It is hard to believe but this was only Federer's 2nd double bagel on tour.
-21-yr-old Mirza Basic (BIH), got into the Halle draw as a lucky loser to appear in an ATP main draw for the first time.  There he knocked out 7th seed Janowicz for his first ATP win before losing to Zverev.
-Alison Riske (USA), a 22-yr-old ranked no. 167, has had little success in WTA events over the years, but has now reached the quarters in Birmingham 3 times.  She beat Paszek and Lisicki there this week.
-Andrea Petkovic (GER) reaching the final Nurnberg after all the health problems she's been through.  She beat Jankovic and Goerges to get there.
-Annika Beck (GER) reached her 3rd WTA quarterfinal of the year in Nurnberg.  Last year's girls French Open champion continues to make strides and will be inside the top 50 on Monday.

Bad Stories
-Melanie Oudin (USA), who was the surprise champion in Birmingham last year, lost to a qualifier in the first round of her title defense.
-Klara Zakopalova (CZE) has had her ranking high enough to be seeded at the last two majors but has done very little on tour, then she went out in the first round of Nurnberg as the second seed.

ATP 250: London, United Kingdom (Queen's Club)

1) Andy Murray (GBR) def. 5) Marin Cilic (CRO) 5-7 7-5 6-3

-Murray wins 27th career title, 3rd of 2013, last '13 Miami
-It is his 3rd win at Queen's ('09,'11)

Defending champion: Marin Cilic (CRO) - F l. to Murray

Quarterfinalists: 2) Tomas Berdych (CZE), 3) Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG), 4) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)-SF, Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)-SF, Denis Kudla (USA), Benjamin Becker (GER)

Locals performance: 7-4, besides Murray, Evans got 2 wins (a 23-yr-old ranked no. 277) over Pella and Nieminen.  Ward, Edmund, Corrie, and q-Baker lost their first matches.

Americans performance: 4-6, a little disappointing. 3 wins belong to Kudla and one to Querrey (who lost to Hewitt).  Harrison, Russell, Ram, and l-Williams came up empty.

Third set tiebreaks: Becker def. Tomic (R1), Roger-Vasselin def. Rufin (R1), Dimitrov def. Sela (R1), Dodig def. Ward (R1) - 3 tiebreaks, Querrey def. Bedene (R2)

ATP 250: Halle, Germany

1) Roger Federer (SUI) def. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4

-Federer wins 77th career title, last '12 Cincinnati (10 month drought)
-It is his 6th win in Halle ('03-'06,'08) and 13th on grass

Defending champion: Tommy Haas (GER) - SF l. to Federer

Quarterfinalists: 2) Richard Gasquet (FRA)-SF, 3) Tommy Haas (GER)-SF, 6) Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER), 8) Florian Mayer (GER), Gael Monfils (FRA), Mischa Zverev (GER)

Players reaching QF in '12 and '13: Federer, Youzhny, Haas, Kohlschreiber

Locals performance: 10-8 with 4 quarterfinalists.  Also Kamke and Stebe won which leaves only Brands and Struff with first round defeats.
Americans performance: none

Third set tiebreaks: Basic def. Janowicz (R1)

WTA International: Birmingham, United Kingdom

Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) def. Donna Vekic (CRO) 7-6(5) 6-4

-Hantuchova wins 6th career title, last '12 Pattaya City

Defending champion: Melanie Oudin (USA) - R1 l. to Tomljanovic

Quarterfinalists: 3) Sorana Cirstea (ROU), 5) Sabine Lisicki (GER), 15) Francesca Schiavone (ITA), 16) Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK)-SF, Madison Keys (USA), Q) Alison Riske (USA)-SF

Players reaching QF in '12 and '13: none, although Jankovic made the '12 quarters here and the '13 quarters in Nurnberg

Locals performance: 2-6, wins for 14-Watson and Konta, losses for 7-Robson, Keothavong, Moore, and South

Americans performance: 10-7, and all entries were unseeded.  Besides Keys and Riske, Hampton got one win and Sanchez two.  Davis, Oudin, and Vandeweghe were first round losers.  Hampton's second round loss was to Keys
Other notable winners: 19-yr-old Alison van Uytvanck (BEL) ranked no. 205, former girls Aussie Open champ, ranked #9 among players born in '94

Third set tiebreaks: Keys def. Tsurenko (R1), Schiavone def. Tatishvili (R1), Keys def. Hampton (R2)

WTA International: Nurnberg, Germany

7) Simona Halep (ROU) def. Andrea Petkovic (GER) 6-3 6-3

-Halep wins 1st career title!
-It was her 4th final, all of which have come on clay for the former girls French Open champo

Defending champion: none - in theory the tournament may replace Copenhagen, played in April last year and won by Kerber, who did not play this week

Quarterfinalists: 1) Jelena Jankovic (SRB)-SF, 5) Lucie Safarova (CZE)-SF, 6) Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP), 8) Annika Beck (GER), Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ), Polona Hercog (SLO)

Locals performance: 7-4, Petkovic made the final and Beck the quarters.  4-Goerges won one match but Pfizenmaier didn't.

Americans performance: 1-3, Cohen got a win but Pegula and q-Min did not.

Third set tiebreaks: none