Tommy Robredo back in business; Isner back in form

This week featured two ATP 250 tournaments [ Casablanca & Houston] , which saw Tommy Robredo win his 11th title ( 10 on clay, the other one was in Metz vs Murray) and John Isner bounce back in form winning the Houston title. First we’ll talk about Casablanca, where Robredo signed his return to top-50 by beating 4th seed Paire, 1st seed Wawrinka and 2nd seed Anderson, winning that three matches in hard-fought battles of 3 sets vs players who were at times outplaying him ( Wawrinka won 61 the 1st set, and Paire 62 the 2nd in their respective matches). Overall, a very nice week for Tommy, who has been plagued by injuries since 2011 ( a year in which he was playing great [ AO R4, Santiago title… till he got injured in Monte-Carlo), but who seems injury free in 2013, accumulating 11 wins so far this season, 10 of them on clay. He will miss Monte-Carlo, but I think he will pose a threat in the European clay season if he keeps this up. Anderson on the other hand, played a great week, reaching his 1st clay final ( 2-3 record), but like in Sydney, he fell short when it really mattered. However, the big Southafrican, can’t complain, as he’s having a great week, with a 14-5 W/L record.

In Houston, John Isner overcame two tough claycourters like Monaco and Almagro in the latter stages, after having to defeat Jack Sock in three long sets on R2. The Spaniard disappointed a lot, as he was more or less a heavy favourite, considering how bad Isner 2013 was till then. The Spaniard is giving us the impression of not being able to defeat an inform opponent, specially since his heartbreaking losses in DC vs the Czechs, and vs Ferrer in the AO QF’s. I think this title can kickstart Isner’s 2013, but we can expect an early exit in Monte-Carlo,mas he’s facing Latvian Ernest Gulbis on R1.

Current standings of the finalist in the RACE and in the Rankings:

Tommy Robredo – #43 in the Rankings, #30 in the RACE.
Kevin Anderson– #26 in the Rankings, #16 in the RACE.
Nicolás Almagro– #12 in the Rankings, #10 in the RACE.
John Isner– #23 in the Rankings, #23 in the RACE.

Ferrero great comeback in Rome

– Altough he was knocked out on R3 by Roger Federer, we can consider that Rome was a great tournament for Juan Carlos, considering that it was only his second tournament after his wrist injury ( lost on bizarre Madrid tournament R1 to Andreev).