Tournament Round-Up
11 Jul 2010 1 Comment
in Anastasija Sevastova, Bastad, Budapest, Davis Cup World-Group quarter-finals, Newport, Rhode Island
Lots of action has been going on around the circuits this week, with no shortage of surprises.
In Budapest q/f stage Alexandra Dulgheru overcame Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-7(1) 6-2 7-6(5), the final set fluctuated wildly, Sevastova fell an early break behind, then went ahead 3-1, from there she was hanging in almost every game, her effort was in vain.
The tournament was won by local hero Agnes Szavay of Hungary, she retained her title with a 6-2 6-4 win over Patty Schnyder of Switzerland. ‘Agi’ as she is known, is now coached by Karl Heinz Wetter, who took Ernests Gulbis to his best Grand Slam result so far (q/f at Roland Garros in 2008). Agi teamed up with Wetter this time last year achieving instant success in front of adoring fans in Budapest.
Bastad in Sweden was won by one of the most improved players on the WTA circuit this year, Aravane Rezai of France. In the final she defeated Gisella Dulko of Argentina 6-3 4-6 6-4.
On the mens ATP circuit, the surprise of the week has been Brit Richard Bloomfield. Norwich born Richard, qualified for this event and then stormed through the Main Draw to the semi-finals, defeating Christophe Rochus of Belgium, No 2 seed in the tournament Santiago Giraldo(who almost defeated Roger Federer in opening round of Wimbledon this year), in straight sets, U.S. wild card Ryan Harrison before going out to No 5 seed Mardy Fish in 2 tight sets. The other finalist in Newport is Olivier Rochus of Belgium.
In the World Group of Davis Cup there was expected to be a lot of tight ties, but in reality only 2 of the 4 quarter-finals were ‘live’ going into the 3rd and final day of matches (today).
The biggest surprise came in the tie between France and Spain. Spain were defending champions and although they were away from home and not on their favourite clay surface, they were expected to give the French all they could handle. Spain were represented by Fernando Verdasco and David Ferrer in singles, Feliciano Lopez teaming up with Verdasco for doubles.
The first rubber of any tie is usually pivotal, and it was no exception here. Gael Monfils opened up the tie facing Ferrer, on a hard indoor surface in Clermont-Ferrand. Gael roared into a 2 set lead, but David showed all of his renowned fighting qualities to square the match at 2 sets a piece. Gael drew inspiration from the rapturous crowd and took the final set 6-4 to win the opening rubber and lay sound foundations for his French team going into the 2nd rubber of the day.
The next combatants were both lefties, Michael Llodra, and the highest ranked of either team, Fernando Verdasco ranked 10 in singles. The first set went to a tie-break, perhaps surprisingly it was Verdasco who took it.
Llodra, a recent winner of Eastbourne on grass, was in no mood to slip into further trouble. He reeled off the next 3 sets 6-4 6-3 7-6 (conceding only 2 points in the 4th set TB) to put France in a very commanding lead of 2-0 after day 1.
In the doubles on Saturday Michael returned to court partnering Julien Benneteau. Feli and Fernando paired up for the Spaniards. In the first two sets the Spanish could not cope with the superior volleying and sharp groundies, the French pair conceded only 3 games within those two sets!!
The Spanish pair rallied to take the 3rd set on a tie-break, taking it 8-6. ‘Bennet’ and Llodra ran out winners after another tie-break in the 4th set, by 7 points to 5, and with it the tie and the match!!
The French then made it a whitewash, winning ‘dead’ rubbers (played over best of 3 sets), Gilles Simon defeating Nicolas Almagro in two tie-break sets, and Julien Benneteau rounding the tie off with a straight sets win over Feliciano Lopez.
The French will play hosts to Argentina in September in the semi-finals. Argentina defeated the Russians in Moscow, David Nalbandian returning from injury in spectacular style, defeating Nikolay Davydenko(Russian No 1) and Mikhail Youzhny.
The other semi-final is between Serbia and Czech Republic. The Serbians have reached the semi-finals of Davis Cup for the first time in their history. They defeated Croatia in Split. Led magnificently by their No 1 player and World No 2 Novak Djokovic, the Serbian team won the tie 4-1, Djokovic had straight sets wins over leading Croatians Ivan Ljubicic and Marin Cilic, though the tie was level after day 1, Marin Cilic had beaten Serbian No 2 Viktor Troicki in the 2nd rubber on the opening day.
The Doubles went to the Serbians, Nenad Zimonjic the only specialist doubles player in the entire tie, teamed up with Janko Tipsarevic. Serbia won with ease in straight sets over Cilic and Ivan Dodig.
The key match on the final day was the meeting between Novak Djokovic and Marin Cilic. Cilic was expected to provide a severe test for Nole, but it never materialised. Cilic could only manage 8 games, Novak collapsed on his back at the moment of triumph, was mobbed by ecstatic team-mates and Captain. They will be at home to Czech Republic in September.
The Czechs travelled to Chile, fielding their reserve team of Ivo Minar and Jan Hajek. (Berdych, recent Wimbledon finalist withdrew with exhaustion), Radek Stepanek has been injured for a while now. The Czechs had the tie won inside 2 days, Minar defeating former Olympic champion Nicolas Massu in straight sets, Jan Hajek triumphed over Paul Capdeville also in straight sets. The doubles pairing of Lukas Dlouhy and Hajek sealed the tie in 4 sets over Massu and his partner Jorge Aguilar.
Britain won a tie for the first time since 2007, defeating Turkey on grass at Eastbourne, 5-0, Jamie Baker, James Ward and doubles pair Colin Fleming/Ken Skupski the winning GB team. They have staved off relegation and will remain in Euro-Africa Zone Group II for the 2011 Davis Cup competition.
A look ahead to the next round of tournaments and updated rankings will be outlined here tomorrow.
Thanks for reading!!
Di
