US Open Day 7 Results: Clijsters Thwarts Ana, Spaniards Dominate, Murray Crashes

The Spanish Armada of tennis stars have been known to dominate the clay courts of Roland Garros, but who knew the red and yellow could make their marks in New York too. Rafa Nadal, Feliciano Lopez, David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco and Tommy Robredo all advanced to the Round of 16 on Sunday. In fact, Rafa, F-Lo, Nando and Ferrer occupy every fourth round spot in the 1st quarter of the draw, assuring a Spaniard a spot in the semis.

Rafa earned a 3-set win over Gilles Simon, Lopez was beating Sergiy Stakhovsky before the Ukrainian retired down 6-3, 4-0. Verdasco took out David Nalbandian 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 and Ferrer ousted Daniel Gimeno-Traver in straights.

It was unexpected that Francesca Schiavone would emerge victorious at Roland Garros this year, but would it be that far-fetched to give the Italian 6th seed a shot at winning in New York? Not by the way she's plowed through her four matches thus far, most recently crushing Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-0, 6-3, dropping just 13 games overall. Forget about Pavly's right arm, Schiavo has played even better tennis in the Big Apple than she did at the French, and her quarterfinal opponent, Venus Williams, has a lot to be scared of.

V struggled with her game against 16th seeded Shahar Peer on day 7, as the Israeli gave Williams all sorts of trouble, pushing her to a first set tiebreak, which she dropped 7-3, before going away quietly in the second, 6-3. Yes, Williams was wearing her 4th dress of the fortnight. Now, she needs her game to shine like her hot pink number did.

The shock of the day came via Stanislas Wawrinka, as the Swiss, now coached by Roger Federer's old mentor, Peter Lundgren, pulled off a stunner against Andy Murray, defeating the Scot 6-7 (3), 7-6 94), 6-3, 6-3. When Murray got down, he resorted, as usual, to his pushing antics, and Stan the Man completely handcuffed the 4th seed, who was out-aced 13-5. The victory was without a doubt one of the biggest of Wawrinka's career, but things won't get easier, as the 25th seed's 4th round encounter will be against American Sam Querrey.

Querrey had an easy time handling Nicolas Almagro, defeating the Spaniard 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. The win put Sam back in the 4th round, the same stage he reached in 2008. Two American men remain in this 2nd quarter of the draw, and the other one is John Isner, down 2 sets to one against Mikhail Youzhny on Ashe right now. The winner will take on Tommy Robredo, the fifth Spaniard to invade the 4th round. Robredo, a longtime ATP journeyman, was in a 4th set with Michael Llodra, having had one 2 of the first 3, before the Frenchman retired.

Kim Clijsters' and Ana Ivanovic's 4th round encounter was expected to be an exciting match, as the Serb is finally starting to find her game, but it was actually much less enthralling than we hoped, as Kimmie slaughtered the former number 1 in less then an hour, 6-2, 6-1. The Belgian's quarterfinal opponent will be either Elena Dementieva of Sam Stosur, up next on Arthur Ashe.

Peter Lundgren to Coach Stanislas Wawrinka

Stanislas Wawrinka has hired Peter Lundgren as his coach, according to TENNIS.com. Lundgren, the former coach of Roger Federer, met with Wawrinka, of Switzerland, and they discussed his goals, one of which was to return to the top 10. Lundgren is probably the right man for the job, as his resume is no laughing matter. The coach first took Marcelo Rios to the top 10 before leading Federer to his first major title in 2003. After that, he guided Marat Safin to the 2005 Australian Open winner's circle and has since worked with Marcos Baghdatis.

The elite ranks of the ATP are as crowded and deep as they've ever been, so it won't be easy to return to the top, but Wawrinka has the talent to revive his career, and should he meet with his countryman Roger anytime soon, he'll have a guy by his side that knows Fed's game inside and out.

Rome Results: Spaniards Dominate in Rome; Fill 3 of the 4 Semifinal Spots

Spain has continued it's clay court dominance from Monte Carlo and Barcelona this week in Rome, as 3 of the 4 semifinal spots, which were decided on Friday, are occupied by someone from the country. Of course, one of them is Rafael Nadal, who advanced to the final 4 with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Stanislas Wawrinka.

Rafa's semifinal opponent will be Ernests Gulbis, who's surprise run to the semis has consisted of the Latvian playing the best tennis of his career. In the quarters Gulbis, who beat Federer in the 2nd round, defeated Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (6), 6-1.

On the other half of the draw lies David Ferrer, an easy 6-4, 6-1 winner against Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Fernando Verdasco. The latter won his second consecutive match against Novak Djokovic in the quarters, outlasting the Serb in a thrilling 3-setter 7-6 94), 3-6, 6-4.

The semis will air on the Tennis Channel tomorrow morning for my fellow east-coasters.

Rome Results: Nadal Crusing; Verdasco and Djokovic to Clash in Quarters

Sorry about the lack of Rome results postings. Things have been hectic!

We all have probably heard that Roger somehow lost to Ernests Gulbis, marking the Swiss' 3rd consecutive loss before the third round in ATP-level tournaments.

Rafael Nadal, of course, has been rolling through the tournament, most recently taking out Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-2 to clinch a berth in the quarterfinals. For a chance to reach the semis the Spaniard will take on Stanislas Wawrinka, who also won 3 and 2 over Robin Soderling. In the same section as Nadal and Wawrinka, Gulbis and Feliciano Lopez will square off in the final 8 after Lopez got a walkover against Ivan Ljubicic. Gulbis continued his unexpected run with a 7-6 in the third win over Fillipo Volandri.

In the bottom half of the draw, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won easily over Santiago Giraldo. Tsonga's quarterfinal opponent will be David Ferrer, a 6-3, 6-4 upset winner against 4th seeded Andy Murray. Fernando Verdasco ousted countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 7-6 (2) and will face Novak Djokovic, whom he beat in Monte Carlo, in the quarters. Djokovic comfortably beat Tomaz Bellucci 6-4, 6-4.

Get ready for some exciting quarterfinal action. I'll be watching Real Housewives of New Jersey marathons while stuffing my face with cold-eezing pills, covered in dozens of tissues!

Monte Carlo Results: Tsonga, Cilic and Nando Earn Round of 16 Bids

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga earned a tough 2-set win over Nicolas Almagro on Tuesday at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, 7-6 (5), 7-5. In another France vs. Spain matchup, Fernando Verdasco dominated Julien Benneteau 2 and 1, avenging Almagro's loss. 12th seeded Tommy Robredo, Michael Llodra and Albert Montanes all won, surrendering just 6 games. Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands advanced over Edwardo Schwank 6-3, 7-5.

4th seeded Marin Cilic got off to a very shaky start, losing the opening set to Igor Andreev 7-6 (4) before recovering to win the last 2 sets 6-1, 6-4. Tomas Berdych made the switch to red clay look easy, crushing Richard Gasquet 6-2, 6-0, continuing his stellar play from Miami. Stanislas Wawrinka, seeded 13th, and Jurgen Melzer, 15th, each won in 2 sets to reach the 2nd round, while Florent Serra and Victor Troicki had to go the distance to earn their victories.

Rafa Earns Straight Set Victory over Soderling for Abu Dhabi Championship

Rafael Nadal ended his two-match losing streak to Robin Soderling on Saturday by defeating the Swede in straight-sets to win the Abu Dhabi Capitala World Championships. The six-man exhibition featured Nadal, Soderling, Roger Federer, Nikolay Davydenko, David Ferrer and Stanislas Wawrinka. Following the Spaniard's 7-6 (3), 7-5 victory, he told the press, "I'm very happy. I played a very good match. I think Robin right now is one of the most difficult players on the tour to play against. His serve is incredible, he has a very good forehand, a very good backhand so it is difficult to stop him."

Roger Federer defeated Ferrer for third place, 7-5, 6-1.

The ATP Tour will officially begin on January 4th, with tournaments getting underway in Chennai, Brisbane and Doha.

Check out the draws below:

For Brisbane, click HERE

For Chennai, click HERE

For Doha, click HERE

Ferrer & Sod Advance in Abu Dhabi; Federer to Skip DC

The 2010 tennis season won't be officially kicked off until January 4th, when the year's first non-exhibition events begin, but the highly popular Capita World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi started today, and Robin Soderling and David Ferrer helped ring in the new year. It is just an exhibition, but the two were competing at their best for bragging rights, as the Swede and the Spaniard defeated Stanislas Warinka and Nikolay Davydenko, respectively, for the rights to take on the world's top 2 players. Soderling won 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), and will play Roger Federer in the semifinals, while Ferrer triumphed 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to set up a final 4 clash with countryman Rafael Nadal. Federer and Nadal both had 1st round byes.

The Swiss press is reporting that the much-anticipated Switzerland vs. Spain Davis Cup matchup, scheduled for March 5th to 7th, will not include Roger Federer. The world's top ranked player is reportedly hesitant to play on clay, the obvious surface for the Spaniard team, considering the U.S. hardcourt season gets underway just a week after the tie. The news comes as a huge disappointment, as I'm sure we were all eagerly anticipating the Fed/Nadal action.

Wawrinka Weds!

The "other Swiss", Stanislas Wawrinka married his longtime girlfriend, 34 year old Ilham Vuiloud, a television reporter who is 7 months pregnant (not fat), at the Lausanne Palace Hotel in Switzerland in a small ceremony. It is reported that a blowout party was planned for later on. Swiisinfo.ch had the deets:

The private civil ceremony took place on December 12, Vuilloud – herself a television presenter – told a local television programme on Monday.

“We shall celebrate our union in a church ceremony with lots of guests when our child (due in February) is able to carry our rings,” she said.

Wawrinka is 24 years old, and his new wife is 11 years older. He currently stands 21st in
the ATP world tennis rankings.

Switzerland’s number one tennis star, Roger Federer, married his partner Mirka in April. She gave birth to twin girls in July.