Sacramento SF: Karlovic d Querrey 7-6(8),3-6,6-4

Strong semi for a Challenger. Despite winning 10 fewer point Karlovic pulled it out. Should be a Karlovic vs Blake final.

Well I guess this is where injury brought the pair of them. Good to see it was tight though but Sam needed the win more. :(

Good for the game.

tfslY_AvhLw

Good to see former top guys trying to get back their games by playing challengers instead of whining for wild cards like Ivanovic.

ivo has a decent ranking again, he really didnt need this. I dont even like sam that much but he needed this more to get back where he belongs

ivo has a decent ranking again, he really didnt need this. I dont even like sam that much but he needed this more to get back where he belongs

Ivo's carrying three 0s in optional tournaments on his ranking and at #76 and no protected ranking he couldn't get into Japan or China this week so challenger makes sense. If he can replace one of those 0s with a 100 here it should do some major help by boosting him back near #60 so he can start getting back into ATP events.

Querry, will he ever get his form back? not to say anything against IVO, he definitely has game but Querrey is so different now than only a year and a half ago

Querry, will he ever get his form back? not to say anything against IVO, he definitely has game but Querrey is so different now than only a year and a half ago

The problem is that he's not serious about tennis competition.

If he had the will and desire of the players his height, he would have made an excellent challenger.

He's got a solid serve and a strong forehand all thanks to his height. But he doesn't show any passion or commitment.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o81/gamecockslayer/1301164561451X75UL.gif

Too bad, Sam needs points to be in Australian Open MD.

Sad to see these two players must play in Challengers..

Forget feeling sorry for Querrey or Ivo, they'll be back up where they belong soon enough. I feel sorry for the actual challenger level players who have to compete with these ATP level players. Even Blake's in this tournament.. harsh.

Forget feeling sorry for Querrey or Ivo, they'll be back up where they belong soon enough. I feel sorry for the actual challenger level players who have to compete with these ATP level players. Even Blake's in this tournament.. harsh.

I have never understood why we should feel sorry for 'regular' challenger players.

I have never understood why we should feel sorry for 'regular' challenger players.
It's not that we should. Just putting yourself in their position, expecting to play players on a similar level to themselves and then coming up against the likes of Blake and Querrey and being annihilated as if they were playing an ATP tournament.. must not feel too good. But hey, I suppose that's Tennis.

It's not that we should. Just putting yourself in their position, expecting to play players on a similar level to themselves and then coming up against the likes of Blake and Querrey and being annihilated as if they were playing an ATP tournament.. must not feel too good. But hey, I suppose that's Tennis.

There are other challengers the same week, some challengers are used to have great fields (Sunrise), player can choose lesser challengers event so we shouldn't be sorry for them.

We should feel sorry for them because ATP players regularly steal points and money from them when they are in desperate need of it.

Maybe Blake could have played the Asia swing (at least for the 250 and 500 events - I believe Donald Young was around the same ranking prior to his Bangkok run) but if it's possible for him to stay in the US and build up the points, I say go for it. Querrey - how can you even judge his game right now when the loss is to Karlovic? - has no choice but to play events like this because he's outside the Top 100.

I think it's fascinating that a challenger tournament could draw serious American interest - and revenue. Outside of an event like Sunrise, that's pretty cool.