Cincinnati Masters Quarterfinal Results

To clinch the world no. 1 ranking, Rafael Nadal had to at least reach the semifinals of the tournament. In his quarterfinal match, he was up against Ecuadorian Nicolas Lapentti who put up a good match against Nadal especially in the first set earning two break points in the eighth game. Saving both break points spurred the Spaniard into action dominating the tie-break and just conceding one game in the second set. With this victory, he is assured to steal the no. 1 ranking held by Roger Federer since February 2004 (that’s 235 weeks) by August 18 at the latest.

Nadal can become the world no. 1 before August 18 if advances into the next rounds. However, he has to go through world no. 3 Novak Djokovic in the semifinal round, undoubtedly his toughest match yet. The Serb earned his slot in this round by defeating longtime friend Ernest Gulbis 6-3, 6-4. The rallies between both players were exciting but it was the experience of the current Australian Open champion which helped him prevail.

Rogers Cup Quarterfinal Results

With the early exit of world no. 1 Ana Ivanovic, fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic could have another shot at the WTA summit if she reaches the finals at Montreal. Perhaps succumbing to the pressure of potentially becoming the no. 1 player in the world, Jankovic chokes again in her quarterfinal match against Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 7-5, 6-2, another up-and-comer in the women's game.

Jankovic looked on course to sail into the semifinals as she led 5-1 in the opening set. Cibulkova who admitted that she was nervous and intimidated by the world no. 2, shook her nerves off to win eight straight games and gain a 7-5, 2-0 lead over the Serb. Jankovic could no longer keep up with the powerful Slovak as she won only 2 games before conceding a slot in the semis.

With Ivanovic and Jankovic eliminated and Sharapova retired, Svetlana Kuznetsova was the highest seed remaining and the only surviving player from the WTA top 5. It was an all-Russian affair in this quarterfinal match between Kuznetsova and seventh seed Dinara Safina. The last encounter between the two was at the French Open semifinals which Safina dominated. The world no. 4 was out to get revenge immediately breaking her compatriot to lead 2-0 and taking the first set 6-2. That, however, was the most she could do in the match as Safina remained calm and took control of the next two sets with her impressive serves. Just as Wimbledon a couple of weeks ago, the top 4 seeds have been eliminated even before the semifinals.

Sharapova pulls out of Beijing Olympics and US Open

After battling through in the second round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, Maria Sharapova announced that she would retire from the tournament due to a right shoulder injury. Her decision immediately cast doubt on her participation on the Beijing Olympics which starts next week. Today, it was made official that Sharapova has to pull out of the Olympics after doctors discovered torn tendons on her right shoulder. This would have been the first time Sharapova participated in the Olympics playing for Team Russia.

According to the Associated Press, Sharapova has informed the US Open officials t that she won't be participating in the final grand slam of the year in New York City. She is expected to be out for around 2-3 months before she returns to the circuit

Rogers Cup Third Round Results

Indeed an upsetting day for the world no. 1s of tennis. First, Roger Federer loses his third round match against Ivo Karlovic leaving the door wide open for Rafael Nadal. In the women’s tour, Ana Ivanovic was stunned by Austrian teenager Tamira Paszek 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal. Since winning the French Open in May and clinching the no. 1 ranking, Ivanovic has been struggling to live up to her top status. At Wimbledon, she lost in the third round to Zheng Jie, then ranked 133 in the world. Ivanovic said an inflamed right thumb is causing her pain.

With the loss of Ivanovic, her Serbian compatriot and world no. 2, Jelena Jankovic, could once again take over the top of the rankings as she is just 88 points behind in the tally. Last week at the East West Bank Classic, she would have reached the WTA summit had she won the tournament. However, she lost to eventual champion Dinara Safina in the semifinals.At Montreal, Jankovic easily advanced into the quarterfinals by beating another Canadian Stephanie Dubois in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. In order to clinch the no. 1 ranking, she has to make it at least to the finals of the tournament.

The no. 4 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova also advances into the next round by beating Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.

Cincinnati Masters Third Round Results

It only took 59 minutes for Novak Djokovic to dismantle Italian Andreas Seppi to advance into the quarterfinals for the first time of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters. The no. 3 had a shaky start immediately losing his opening service game. He was able to break back though and from then, the Serb never looked back. He won the next 10 games to win the opening set and take a 4-0 lead in the next. Seppi was able to reduce the embarrassment from this encounter by holding serve in his next two games. It was all futile though as Djokovic powered his way through easily.

Top seed Roger Federer was next on Center Court against the big-serving Ivo Karlovic. The players have met in 6 matches with the Swiss getting the better of the Croat each time. During the coin toss, Federer immediately opted to serve knowing how critical it is to hold his service game against Karlovic. Predictably, the first set went into a tie-break which went to the Croat after Federer shot a forehand long while on his serve. In the second set, the world no. 1 found the crucial break on the fifth game which helped him win the set and force a deciding set. Again, a tie-break was forced as both players held serve convincingly, never facing a break point. In his first service game, Federer’s backhand clipped the net and went wide to give a 2-0 advantage to Karlovic. The world no. 1-at least for now- played brilliantly throughout the match. It was unfortunate that his two unforced errors during both tie-breaks would be as costly as it is. Federer’s unforced error count was quite low compared to Karlovic and unlike his recent matches (particularly against Gilles Simon last week in Toronto), his forehand was glorious producing breathtaking winners.

With Federer’s early loss, Rafael Nadal’s chances of being world no. 1 by the end of the week are even greater. In his third round match, he was up against former world no. 2 Tommy Haas of Germany. Nadal was quick to assert his authority breaking the German in his first service game to lead 2-0. That was enough for the Spaniard to win the opening set as both players held serve. Haas continued his strong run into the second set preventing Nadal from breaking his serve. Nadal also held serve to force a tie-break. The German however lost all his steam as the Spaniard dominated the tie-break denying Haas to score any point. If Nadal wins the title, he will assume the no. 1 ranking by next week.

A title would give Nadal 6,730 points to Federer's 6,680 next Monday. If Nadal reaches the final, he will become No. 1 on Aug. 11. With a semifinal here, Nadal will become No. 1 on Aug. 18. The only way Nadal can't become No. 1 in the next three weeks is IF he loses in the quarterfinals here and Federer wins the Olympic gold medal AND Nadal does not reach the Third Round or better at the Olympics.

Nikolay Davydenko lost to Carlos Moya in a 3-set thriller which started Wednesday evening but was delayed to Thursday after some evening showers. The Spaniard was in control pretty much the entire match, never really allowing the Russian a chance to fight back.

Results:

[2] Rafael NADAL (ESP) d. Tommy HAAS (GER) 6-4, 7-6(0)

[3] Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB) d. Andreas SEPPI (ITA) 6-1, 6-2

[16] Ivo KARLOVIC (CRO) d. [1] Roger FEDERER (SUI) 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(5)

Carlos MOYA (ESP) d. [4] Nikolay DAVYDENKO (RUS) 7-6(8), 4-6, 6-2