Querrey Likes Girls...and Peter Polansky

Murray Fades Against Querrey at Farmers Classic

Andy Murray is defeated in the finals of the 2010 Farmers Classic with a surprise win by American Sam Querrey.

Top seeded Andy Murray was the favourite to win the title in L.A., and after a shaky start in his first match against the 192nd ranked Tim Smyczek, Murray beat Falla in the next round to reach the semifinals against Feliciano Lopez. In a bizarre match, Murray easily won the first set 6-0, Lopez unexpectedly broke back to win the second set 6-1, and then Murray closed out the match with a 6-4 win in the third set.

In the finals against Sam Querrey, Murray took the first set 7-5 and seemed to be in control of the match when Querrey upped his game and won the second set in a tiebreak. Breaking early in the third, Querrey managed to stay strong mentally and he won the match, and the championships, with a 6-3 win in the third set.

It's hard to say how much this loss will affect Murray in the coming weeks. Yes, Murray had some questionable moments throughout the event, and he lost a final that he should have won. And yes, he will need to play much, much better next week in Toronto if he has any chance of defending his 2009 title there. But unlike players like Federer and Nadal, who have not played in any events since Wimbledon, at least Murray has had some match play, and going into the Rogers Cup with some matches under his belt might give him some much needed confidence. On the other hand, going into the Rogers Cup knowing you just lost to Sam Querrey is not going to help you when you're preparing for your match against Rafa Nadal. 

Murray will have a bit of time to reflect on his play in L.A., as he is not scheduled to play in any events this coming week. Hopefully he'll figure out what went wrong and be ready to defend his title in Toronto. 

And in the last big tournament before the Rogers Cup, top players like Roddick and Berdych will compete at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic taking place this week in Washington, D.C. Click here for information on the draw and player chances.

Roddick, Berdych: Top Seeds at Legg Mason

The Legg Mason Tennis Classic begins this weekend in Washington, D.C, with quite a few of the top players in attendance—minus, of course, Federer and Nadal, the two players everyone has been waiting to see since Wimbledon. But although Rafa and Roger won’t be playing until next week at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, the Legg Mason Tennis Classic has the potential for some great matches.

Seeded Players and Their Chances at Legg Mason:

1. Tomas Berdych (CZE)
Tomas has had an amazing season so far with a semifinal result at Roland Garros and a final appearance at Wimbledon, where he had to beat 6-time Wimbledon winner Roger Federer along the way. Berdych hits the ball incredibly hard and he should be able to overwhelm the majority of other players at this event. If he plays the way he’s played all year then he should make the finals where he’ll likely meet Andy Roddick—the only player who will really be able to challenge him for the title.

2. Andy Roddick (USA)
Even though Andy lost early last week in Atlanta, he should make it to the finals in Washington where he has a good chance of winning the title. He’ll want to prove that the loss in Atlanta was a fluke and that he’s ready to do well for the rest of the US Open Series, and there’s no one in his half of the draw that he can’t beat.

3. Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
Verdasco should win his first two rounds fairly easily and then he’ll likely meet Ernests Gulbis or Marcos Baghdatis in the quarterfinals. Baghdatis did not look good in L.A. this week and Gulbis needs to calm down on court (ie. stop smashing multiple raquets) if he wants to win his matches, so Verdasco should make it to the semifinals where he’ll more than likely fall to Berdych.

4. Marin Cilic (CRO)
Cilic really hasn’t done much lately so it would be surprising if he went too far into the draw. To get to the quarterfinals he’ll have to go through Mardy Fish, one of the hottest players of the summer, and if Mardy is healthy I just don’t see it happening.

5. John Isner (USA)
Isner has had some decent results this summer, although he couldn’t take down Mardy Fish in the recent Atlanta finals. He should make it to the quarterfinals though, where he’ll likely lose to Berdych.

The rest of the top ten includes (6)Sam Querrey (USA), (7) Stan Wawrinka (SUI), (8) Marcos Baghdatis (CYP), (9) Ernests Gulbis (LAT), and (10) Radek Stepanek (CZE). Can’t see any of these players winning the title, although Querrey could make the semis, and at this point I’d take the number 11 seed Lleyton Hewitt, or number 15 seed Mardy Fish (as long as his injured ankle has healed) over guys like Baghdatis, Gulbis, or Stepanek.

The entire draw can be seen at the website for the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.

Murray Looks Questionable at Farmers Classic

Andy Murray did not look good yesterday. True, he did win his match, but it took him three sets to win against an opponent who he should have beaten very easily. It was obvious when watching the match that something was wrong, but it was hard to tell exactly what. In a later interview Murray said "I was struggling a little bit with my movement, when I got stiff and sore. But I managed to find a way to win." So there you have it. He was stiff and sore. Which is fine I guess, but also a little worrisome. But maybe it was just a "first match back" thing and he'll be totally fine for the rest of the tournament, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Looks like there will be some good Quarterfinal matches today at the Farmers Classic. In fact, all of the singles matches have the potential to be interesting:

Schuettler vs. Querrey (predicted winner: Querrey)
Tipsarevic vs Baghdatis (predicted winner: Tipsarevic)
Lopez vs. Blake (predicted winner: Lopez)
Murray vs. Falla (predicted winner: Murray)

Sam Querrey is the defending champion but he's likely going to have to go through Murray to win the title. In a previous post I predicted a Murray/Querrey final and I still think that's likely.  Let's just hope Murray isn't stiff and sore tonight.

Farmers Classic, Early Predictions

Definitely excited to see Andy Murray back in action again, and he's the clear favourite to win the Farmers Classic this week in Los Angeles. Keep in mind though that I said Andy Roddick was the clear favourite to win in Atlanta last week and he didn't even make it to the finals. But really, did anyone have Mardy Fish as the favourite to win that tournament? I don't think so.

Okay, on to my predictions...

Semifinals:
Andy Murray vs. Feliciano Lopez
Janko Tipsarevic vs. Sam Querrey

Finals:
Andy Murray vs. Sam Querrey

Winner:
Andy Murray

I'm not feeling very confident about my Lopez and Tipsarevic picks, but I do think that a Murray/Querrey final is a real possibility.