© 2012 Daily Tennis News Wire -
Sony Ericsson Open
Miami
Wednesday Men's Summary


Singles - First Round: N Mahut def. (WC) F Gonzalez 7-5 4-6 7-6(7-3)
If you have to go out, this is the way to do it: Last match of the day, two and a half hours, three sets, third set tiebreak. It could hardly have been more dramatic. But the bottom line is, Fernando Gonzalez lost. And that means it's over. He is retired, and with him, for practical purposes, Chilean tennis. At least until someone new comes along.
He said he wants to be remembered as a person rather than as a tennis player, which we can only commend, but there is a lot to remember about the tennis, too: An Olympic gold medal in doubles with Nicolas Massu, plus bronze in the singles. An Australian Open final in 2007, which for a time put him in the Top Five. Eleven career singles titles, three doubles titles. But he's 31, and has a bad hip, and his ranking is down to #221. It was probably time to go. At least he went out well.

Singles - First Round: G Dimitrov def. M Kukushkin 6-2 6-2
Grigor Dimitrov has been struggling a bit, so this is a good sign for him. It won't make much rankings difference, though.

Singles - First Round: R Haase def. (Q) M Matosevic 6-3 6-4
Robin Haase is at #53, so he doesn't need much more to make it back into the Top Fifty.

Singles - First Round: A Falla def. D Istomin 6-1 2-1, retired
This is genuinely too bad, given how well Denis Istomin has been playing lately. He loses a few points and his Top Forty chance.

Singles - First Round: F Gil def. T Bellucci 6-3 6-4
It looks as if Thomaz Bellucci is back in his funk. He wasn't defending anything, so he ought to stay Top Fifty, but perhaps not by much.

Singles - First Round: N Davydenko def. J Blake 4-6 6-4 6-4
Nikolay Davydenko is already adding points, so this all but guarantees his Top Forty ranking.

Singles - First Round: L Lacko def. R Sweeting 6-4 6-4
That's Lukas Lacko's eighth ATP win of 2012. That's twice as many as he had in all of 2011!

Singles - First Round: L Rosol def. M Llodra 6-4 7-6(8-6)
Michael Llodra made the third round last year, so this places his Top Fifty ranking in some danger.

Singles - First Round: S Giraldo def. P Andujar 6-3 6-2
It's too early to be sure, but Pablo Andujar was defending third round points. We would guess this will take him out of the Top Forty.

Singles - First Round: (Q) A Veic def. (WC) D Kudla 2-6 6-2 6-1
Both these guys are ranked below #150, so this was guaranteed to be a big win for somebody....

Singles - First Round: T Haas def. (Q) G Rufin 6-4 6-4
This ought to take Tommy Haas above #140. But he has to face Rafael Nadal two rounds from now, so he probably won't be climbing much more.

Singles - First Round: (Q) A Clement def. D Sela 6-3 6-3
This ought to take Arnaud Clement above #150, but it's still hard to believe he can make a real comeback.

Singles - First Round: X Malisse def. (Q) E Roger-Vasselin 7-6(7-3) 6-3
Edouard Roger-Vasselin will remain below #80.

Singles - First Round: (Q) R Bautista-Agut def. A Seppi 6-3 1-6 6-3
That will definitely kill Andreas Seppi's Top Forty chance; he will likely end up below #45.

Singles - First Round: D Nalbandian def. S Darcis 6-4 7-6(7-0)
David Nalbandian wasn't defending anything, so this is a significant boost to his hopes of staying Top Fifty -- but he hasn't clinched yet.

Singles - First Round: I Dodig def. T Kamke 6-0 2-6 7-6(7-5)
Ivan Dodig caught a break here -- he was supposed to play Philipp Petzschner. Given how close this was, perhaps he was lucky not to face someone stronger.