Giraldo Beats Second-Seed Tommy Robredo to Reach the Quarters at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship

Santiago Giraldo is making a strong run for the title at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship

The 26-year-old Colombian tennis player upset second-seeded Tommy Robredo on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship.

Santiago Giraldo

Giraldo defeated his Spanish opponent in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

It’s the second quarterfinals appearance this year for Giraldo, currently ranked No. 89 in the world, in nine tournaments. His best showing in 2014 was a semifinal appearance at Vina del Mar tournament, where he lost to Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-7(2), 3-6.

He’ll next face Alejandro Gonzalez on Friday at River Oaks Country Club. Gonzalez advanced when fifth-seeded Feliciano Lopez retired because of severe allergies. Gonzalez led 6-3, 2-0.

Delbonis Defeats Paolo Lorenzi at the Brazil Open to Claim His First ATP Title

The second time’s the charm for Federico Delbonis

Playing in only his second ATP final, the 23-year-old Argentine tennis player defeated Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the Brazil Open final on Sunday to earn his first ATP title.

Federico Delbonis

Delbonis broke Lorenzi’s serve to start the decisive set and held on to close the match in 2 hours, 6 minutes after converting on his second match point.

He jumped and punched the air after sending a winner down the line past Lorenzi’s outstretched arms.

Delbonis celebrated a nearly perfect week in which he also reached the semifinals in the doubles tournament.

“To tell you the truth, I have no words,” Delbonis said. “I played well match after match. It was a great result in the end.”

In his first ATP final, Delbonis lost to Italy’s Fabio Fognini last July after upsetting Roger Federer in the semifinals in Hamburg.

With the victory at the ATP 250 tournament in Sao Paulo, Delbonis will move to 45th in the ATP rankings, a career best.

Lorenzi won the first set on Sunday after breaking Delbonis’ serve at 3-3, but the hard-hitting Argentine started serving well and was never broken again, finishing with 12 aces and no double faults.

Delbonis beat home-crowd favorite Thomaz Bellucci in the semifinals. He had defeated second-seeded Nicolas Almagro in the second round, a three-time winner at the Brazil Open.

It was the first time since 2007 that the Brazil Open wasn’t won by a Spanish player. Argentine Guillermo Canas lifted the trophy that year, and after that the tournament was won by Spaniards Almagro, Tommy Robredo, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Rafael Nadal.

Nadal decided not to defend the clay-court title this week. He chose to play in the first Rio Open, which he won last week.

Delbonis Defeats Albert Montanes to Reach the Brazil Open Semifinals

There’s no crying for Argentina’s Federico Delbonis, only cheering…

The 23-year-old professional tennis player soundly defeated Spain’s Albert Montanes in just over an hour to advance to the Brazil Open semifinals.

Federico Delbonis

Delbonis, currently ranked No. 61 in the world, beat Montanes in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

He’s now one win away from reaching the second ATP tournament final of his career as he continues his quest to win his first career title.

Delbonis will next face either home-crowd favorite Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil or Martin Klizan of Slovakia.

Meanwhile, it wasn’t such a positive experience for his fellow countrymen…

Top-seeded Tommy Haas came back to defeat Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals.

Haas broke Zeballos’ serve twice in a row in the decisive set to close the match and take a step closer to his second final of the year.

Haas will next play Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, who reached his first ATP semifinal with an upset 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 6-4 win over fourth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina.

“Lorenzi has been around for a long time so this is a goal I’m sure he has been waiting to achieve for a lifetime,” Haas said. “He has nothing to lose and is going to try to go one more and get to his first ATP tour final. He is a dangerous player. I’m going to have to try to play some of my best tennis.”

The 114th-ranked Lorenzi broke Monaco’s serve to go up 4-3 in the final set and held on to close the match in 2 hours, 34 minutes at the Ibirapuera Arena.

The 32-year-old Italian squandered a match point before losing the second set, but was in control in the third to pick up the win in the ATP 250 tournament in South America’s biggest city.

Lorenzi served 12 aces en route to his first pro semifinal after five career quarterfinal losses.

“I’m very happy to finally break through to the semifinals,” Lorenzi said. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities before but was never able to come up with the victory at this stage. For sure this is one of my greatest weeks on the tour.”

The 43rd-ranked Monaco was trying to win his 200th clay-court match. He is the fifth-highest winner on the surface, behind Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Nicolas Almagro.

Monaco had a set point in the first set but couldn’t capitalize on it.

“It was a very close match, he had his chances in the first set and I had mine in the second, it was very difficult,” Lorenzi said.

Nadal, the defending champion, is not playing at the clay-court tournament this year. He chose to play at the first edition of the Rio Open, which he won last week.

Ferrer Defeats Nicolas Almagro to Reach Copa Claro Final

David Ferrer is thisclose to a three-peat…

The 31-year-old Spanish tennis player defeated compatriot Nicolas Almagro 6-4-62 in Saturday’s semifinals at Argentina’s Copa Claro to reach the finals.

David Ferrer

Ferrer, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, improved his FedEx ATP Head2Head advantage over Almagro to 15-0 with the win.

The two-time defending champion prevailed in 86 minutes, saving six of seven break points faced while converting on four of his own. Almagro secured his lone break of serve to open the second set but was unable to maintain the early lead.

Ferrer, ranked No. 5 in the world, will look to overturn a seven-match losing streak in ATP World Tour finals when he faces Italy’s Fabiio Fognini in the finals, with his most recent title coming in Buenos Aires last year.

He’s also seeking to extend the string of Spanish dominance in the Argentine capital, with four different Spaniards having hoisted the trophy since 2009.

A win in the final would give Ferrer his third three-peat on the ATP World Tour, after winning three consecutive titles in Acapulco (2010-12) and Auckland (2011-13).

Meanwhile, Fognini rallied from down a set and a break to defeat third-seed Tommy Robredo 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday, booking a spot in the Copa Claro final.

Ferrer Advances to Semi-Finals at Argentina’s Copa Claro

David Ferrer is one step closer to reaching 21…

21 ATP tournament titles, that is.

David Ferrer

The 31-year-old Spanish tenista beat his compatriot Albert Ramos 6-1, 6-2 on Friday to reach the semifinals of the Copa Claro tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Ferrer, the two-time defending champion in Buenos Aires and this year’s No. 1 seed, is hoping to win his 21st ATP tournament.

Second-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy and No. 3 Tommy Robredo of Spain are also into the semifinals, and they’ll face each other on Saturday.

Fognini, who won the ATP event last week in Chile, advanced Friday by defeating Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-4, 6-3.

Robredo won his match against Robin Haase of the Netherlands. Robredo won the first set 6-1, and Haase retired with an injury after falling behind 2-0 in the second set.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal pulled out of the tournament with a back injury but will play next week in the Rio Open in Rio de Janeiro.

Nadal Named the Top Seed at the Australian Open

It comes as little surprise… But Rafael Nadal has been listed as the top seed at the Australian Open, which gets underway on Monday at Melbourne Park.

The 27-year-old Spanish tennis star, currently ranked No. 1 in the world, recently extended his points lead over Serbia’s Novak Djokovic after clinching the title at the Qatar Open.

Rafael Nadal

Djokovic, the defending champion, is the No. 2-seeded man, followed by David Ferrer, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer at sixth.

The other Latino seeds include Spain’s Nicolas Almagro at No. 13, Spain’s Tommy Robredo at No. 18, Spain’s Feliciano Lopez and No. 27 and Spain’s Fernando Verdasco at No. 32.

On the women’s side, Serena Williams has been made the top seeds at the Australian Open.

Defending champion Victoria Azarenka is No. 2, followed by Maria Sharapova, Li Na, Agnieszka Radwanska and former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in sixth.

The only Latina to earn at ranking at this year’s Australian Open is Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro at No. 16.

The 32 seeds were only altered twice from the rankings, both because of injuries. No. 29-ranked Jurgen Melzer is not playing due to a left shoulder injury and Maria Kirilenko, who would have been seeded 18th, has a left knee injury.

Robredo Defeats Roger Federer in Straight Sets at the US Open

Tommy Robredo has managed to take down a living legend…

In the fourth round, the 31-year-old Spanish tennis player defeated former World No. 1 Roger Federer, a five-time champion at the US Open, in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows.

Tommy Robredo

Federer’s loss is the being hailed as the “shock” of the tournament, and one of the shocks of the year.

The score – 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-4 in just two hours and 24 minutes – was as uplifting for Robredo, ranked No. 22 in the world, as it was dispiriting for Federer. He looked devastated as he left for the locker room, appreciative of the consoling applause but left again to wonder if he’ll ever return to the top of the mountain, or even close to it.

The defeat goes alongside Rafael Nadal‘s first-round exit at Wimbledon and Federer’s own departure there two days later. So the hugely anticipated quarterfinal showdown between Nadal and Federer – they have never met at Flushing Meadows – is no more.

Robredo, only a year younger than Federer and who has lost in the fourth round seven times in 12 visits to New York, broke and held at the start of the match, dropped serve then rediscovered his composure under the weight of a sustained fightback by the world No 7.

Federer had not lost to Robredo in 10 encounters and, in all that time, had never gotten behind. He had dropped just three of their 27 sets, and the only time he had lost a tiebreak to him was in Vienna 11 years ago. His dominance was unquestioned.

“I struggled throughout,” Federer said afterwards. “Tommy did a good job to keep the ball in play and make it difficult for me today I missed so many opportunities. [My] rhythm was off.”

Robredo next faces Nadal in the quarterfinals.

Robredo Takes the Croatia Open Title in Straight Sets

Make that No. 12 for Tommy Robredo

The 31-year-old Spanish professional tennis player beat Italy’s Fabio Fognini 6-0, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Croatia Open and win his 12th career title and second this year.

Tommy Robredo

Robredo won the opening set in only 18 minutes, losing just six points with Fognini helpless to reverse the rout from the clay-court baseline.

Fognini broke Robredo twice in the second set but could only hold serve once himself.

“No money can buy this feeling,” Robredo said. “I played a perfect match, did a great job. But in matches like this it is always important to win.”

Robredo also won on clay at the Grand Prix Hassan II in April in Casablanca, Morocco. Eleven of his 12 titles have been on the surface.

The result halted an impressive run by Fognini. The Italian captured two titles in winning 13 straight matches en route to the Umag final. He won both tournaments in Germany, in Stuttgart two weeks ago and Hamburg last Sunday.

“Probably too many matches behind me — and no match tonight,” Fognini said. “I had no power, he deserved to win. I am disappointed but I played three incredible weeks. It will stay in my memory my whole life.”

In the 24-year history of the Croatia Open, a Spaniard has won 10 times. Former world No. 1 Carlos Moya holds the record with five victories.

Robredo Wins His 11th Career Title at Grand Prix Hassan II

It’s Lucky No. 11 for Tommy Robredo

The 30-year-old Spanish tenista outlasted South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-3 to win the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca, Morocco on Sunday. The win earned him the eleventh title of his career.

Tommy Robredo

In his first-ever match against Anderson, Robredo saved four break points in the final set and broke his opponent for only the second time in the match to clinch his first title since February 2011, when he won on the outdoor clay courts in Santiago, Chile.

Ten of Robredo’s titles and 15 of his 18 career finals have been on clay.

Following his five-month absence last year due to a leg injury, Robredo currently ranks at No. 72 in the world. He’d peaked at No. 5 back in August 2006.