Nieminen loses in Munich, but moves up ATP rankings

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Finland's tennis No.1 Jarkko Nieminen was beaten in the semi-final of the BMW Open in Munich, but his performance at the tournament was enough to push him up a further four places on the ATP entry list: as of Monday morning, the left-handed Finnish No. 1 is ranked 16th in the world.
      Nieminen could have made even more of the weekend. Seeded No.3 in the Munich tournament, he found himself the highest-ranked player in the event after only one round, as three of the top four seeds fell by the wayside.
      In the semis, Nieminen was comprehensively defeated by Belgium's in-form Kristof Vliegen, 6-1, 6-2.
      Nieminen was not helped by his having fallen ill during the tournament, but the Belgian, now ranked 37th in the world, had already proved his merit by beating Nieminen in the second round at the ATP Masters in Monte Carlo last month.
     
Despite the loss, Nieminen - who is 24-10 in singles matches so far this season - leap-frogged over four other players to mark his highest-ever placing on the world rankings. He is also still in contention on the ATP Champions Race, lying in 9th place.
      Jarkko Nieminen will next be in action in Rome in the EUR 1.8 million Internazionali d'Italia event, played on clay.
      He is unseeded in this competition, which features most of the world's top players, and he will meet Sebastien Grosjean of France in the opening round.


Links:
  ATP Tennis: Jarkko Nieminen

Helsingin Sanomat