TENNIS – Brian Baker caused the upset of the day in the men's draw defeating Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6(7) 7-6(3). The American will play Tomic next. In the women's draw Camila Giorgi eliminated her compatriot Francesca Schiavone in straight sets 6-1 6-3. Day 2 will see the debut of Serena, Venus, Roddick and Fish. By T.A. Niles
 

The “Biggest Upset Award” so far in Cincy goes to Brian Baker, the American who had his coming out party at Wimbledon this year, where he reached the Round of 16. Baker took out Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first round in two tiebreaks. If you saw this coming, you’re psychic. Guess who ended Baker’s Wimbledon run? You got it; Kohlschreiber, and he did it in straight sets. In addition, Baker had lost in the first round of the four events he had played since Wimbledon. I guess Baker had an axe to grind with Kohlschreiber and grind it he did. Baker has Bernard Tomic next and that is a tossup.

Nikolay Davydenko took out another seed, Alexandr Dolgopolov (13), but Davydenko is a former World No.3 and Dolgopolov seems to be still feeling the effects of his successful run in Washington, DC where he claimed his first Masters 500 event, beating Tommy Haas in the final. This is the second event in a row that Dolgopolov has exited after one match.

Not a whole lot more of interest transpired today on the men’s side, but Marin Cilic had to go three with qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine to get to his next match, another qualifier, American Jesse Levine. Levine downed Donald Young, to whom losing in early rounds must be getting pretty old, in straight sets (6-4, 7-6). Cilic should prevail, setting up a likely meeting with Janko Tipsarevic, who has yet to play his first match.

There weren’t many big names from the women's draw on the billet today, and the one most would recognize, Jelena Jankovic had her match suspended in the third set. The Serb was up a break on Shuai Peng (2-0) when the match was suspended. Wildcard Camila Giorgi posted the upset of the day in the women’s draw, downing fellow country woman Francesca Schiavone (14) in straight sets (6-1, 6-3). Really? Is this a case of familiarity breeds contempt, or big sister giving little sister a leg up?

Absolutely nothing in the records of these two would have predicted this outcome. Until Wimbledon, where she reached the Round of 16, before losing to Aga Radwanska, Giorgi had won one match on the WTA Tour and that was back in February. In her two events since Wimbledon, one an attempt to qualify for Carlsbad, she didn’t win a match. And now she takes out Schiavone one and three? This one reeks of seafood! Perhaps we can consider that two of her five wins have been over higher ranked Italians, two have been over Nadia Petrova of Russia, and the other was over Ana Tatishvili of Georgia, a former Soviet province. Maybe Giorgi just has a thing for Italians and former Soviets.

The German women continue to make their presence known as both Mona Barthel and Julia Goerges advanced past their first round opponents. Barthel will get Petra Kvitova (4) next as her reward, and it may just be a tired Kvitova, after Kvitova’s delayed three-set victory of Na Li in the Montreal final (7-5, 2-6, 6-3). Goerges will face the winner of two players with the longest last names on Tour, Carla Suarez Navarro, or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Given the rain in Cincy and attempts to accommodate late-rounders from Rogers Cup, there are likely to be only a few of the big guns on the men’s and women’s fields of battle firing on Day 2 (8/14). Both Williams sisters are scheduled to play, Venus in the a.m. and Serena in a marquis night match. Sam Stosur (3), Angelique Kerber (5), and Marion Bartoli (8) are among the top women seeds to see action on Day 2.

Other women’s matches of note include two young Americans trying to climb the rankings ladder in Sloane Stephens (No.49) and Christina McHale (26). Stephens has a tall order (in more ways than one) as she seeks to get by the 5’ 11” Tsvetana Pironkova, who has wins over players like Dominika Cibulkova, Nadia Petrova, and Aga Radwanska this year. Mchale takes on Chanelle Scheepers, and although Scheepers hasn’t doesn’t have the resume of Pironkova, she is often two and three rounds deep in WTA events.

Mardy Fish (10) is the only top-ten seed on the men’s side scheduled for Day 2 play. Andy Roddick, always a favorite in Cincy is also on the card. Fish has a tough opener against Feliciano Lopez, so he needs to bring his A-game. Roddick has Jeremy Chardy of France, whom he beat on grass earlier this year, but Chardy has game and could be a problem for Andy.

Other of interest on the men’s side include Richard Gasquet, the finalist in Toronto, against Milos Raonic; The resurgent Tommy Haas against David Nalbandian; and Marcos Baghdatis versus Gilles Simon (11). I suspect Raonic and Nalbandian will emerge victorious over tired opponents (Haas was in the final in Washington, DC). The Baghdatis-Simon match ought to be a hard fought three-setter, and no surprise if either won.

There is a ton of promising tennis on the menu for Day 2, and you can view and make your selections by clicking here. Enjoy the tennis!

Results - Monday 13th August

ATP
First Round
B Baker defeats (15) P Kohlschreiber 76(7) 76(3)

N Davydenko defeats (13) A Dolgopolov 61 61

L Hewitt defeats M Youzhny 64 64

S Wawrinka defeats P Mathieu 62 36 61

A Seppi defeats R Haase 64 64

J Levine defeats D Young 64 76(2)

V Troicki defeats I Dodig 64 75
(12) M Cilic defeats S Stakhovsky 63 46 64
D Istomin defeats J Benneteau 63 61
F Mayer defeats F Fognini 75 62

P Andujar defeats M Matosevic 64 63

Y Lu defeats L Kubot 63 60

WTA
First Round
(11) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) d. (Q) Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) 63 64

Peng Shuai (CHN) d. (13) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 57 75 76(8)

(WC) Camila Giorgi (ITA) d. (14) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 61 63

Julia Goerges (GER) d. Shahar Peer (ISR) 63 63

Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) d. Simona Halep (ROU) 63 60

Mona Barthel (GER) d. María José Martínez Sánchez (ESP) 60 64

(Q) Urszula Radwanska (POL) d. Ksenia Pervak (KAZ) 62 64

(Q) Johanna Larsson (SWE) d. (Q) Casey Dellacqua (AUS) 61 63

(Q) Eleni Daniilidou (GRE) d. (Q) Vania King (USA) 63 26 76(6)

(LL) Timea Babos (HUN) d. Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 76(4) 64
 

T. A. Niles