Tag Archive | "Gasquet"

Order Restored at the Miami Open as Djokovic Cruises

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Order Restored at the Miami Open as Djokovic Cruises


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Miami, Ricky Dimon
Order was restored to the Miami Open on Sunday, when scorching conditions relinquished at least a small part of their grip on Crandon Park Tennis center. Three retirements in the men’s singles draw had taken place amidst brutal heat on Saturday, which was not what the tournament needed 24 hours after Roger Federer withdrew due to illness. But no early stoppages plagued the field on Sunday as third-round action got underway.

Novak Djokovic’s only real trouble came in the form of a nasty fall during his first set against Joao Sousa. The world No. 1 also dropped serve twice in the opener, but he eventually picked up the pace and cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

“I slipped few times,” Djokovic commented. “Conditions here are quite different from Indian Wells. It’s pretty humid. Players are sweating a lot, so you have some obviously spots, especially behind the baseline, where it’s a little bit too wet…. That first set went down to a few points; (a) couple (of) long games when I lost my serve and then I broke him back. After that it was quite a good performance.”

It was a positively dominant one in set two. Djokovic surrendered a mere three points in three service games while breaking Sousa on three occasions. Sousa won just 10 points in the entire set before bowing out after one hour and 17 minutes.

“(The) second set felt much more comfortable,” the top-seeded Serb assured. “(I was) serving very well the entire day. It’s not easy. Obviously everybody talks about conditions being different, but it’s something that you have to accept. It’s same for your opponent and you. I’m glad that I managed to finish the match the way (I did).”

Four of the eight men’s matches on Sunday took long, circuitous routes to finish. A quartet of contests went the three-set distance and each of those four lasted more than two and half hours.

Tomas Berdych and Steve Johnson began the day on stadium court and the Czech needed two hours and 43 minutes to hold off the American 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3. On the Grandstand, lucky loser Horacio Zeballos saved one match point before upsetting Fernando Verdasco 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) in two hours and 34 minutes. Following a Richard Gasquet rout of Benoit Paire in between, Gilles Simon outlasted Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 in two hours and 46 minutes. It was the sixth time in as many head-to-head meetings that Simon and Cilic went to a final set.

Arguably the best was saved for last, as the nightcap in the stadium saw David Ferrer and Lucas Pouille battle to just a few minutes shy of 12:00 a.m. After two hours and 45 minutes of a roller-coaster affair, Pouille pulled off a 6-7(1), 7-6(5), 7-5 upset. The Frenchman held serve at 6-5 in the third from 15-40 down to clinch the biggest win of his career.

Ricky Dimon is a contributor in Miami and writes for tenngrand.com. You can follow him on Twitter under @Dimonator by clicking here.

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Murray, Federer in cruise control at Sony Open

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Murray, Federer in cruise control at Sony Open


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Miami Ricky Dimon
With former coach Ivan Lendl sitting in his player box, Andy Murray showed signs of the Murray who won the U.S. Open and Wimbledon under Lendl. Murray crushed Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-1 in the third round of the Sony Open Tennis tournament on Sunday afternoon.

The defending champion, who is coming off back surgery and recently lost in the Indian Wells fourth round, has been dominant since dropping his first set of this Miami event to Matthew Ebden. Murray has now yielded a mere six games in his last four sets. He converted five of six break-point opportunities against Lopez, who served at a horrendous 43 percent.

“I moved well [and] returned well,” said Murray. “It’s not always that easy to feel comfortable against him because there is not [a lot] of rhythm with the way he plays.”

The No. 6 seed is joined in the last 16 by Roger Federer, who stormed past Thiemo de Bakker 6-3, 6-3 in just one hour and three minutes. Federer surrendered only seven service points in the entire match. He lost just three points on serve against Ivo Karlovic in the second round.

Sunday’s opening match on the Grandstand featured a far more competitive affair. Neither man was at his best, but the result was an entertaining, back-and-forth battle between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Marcos Baghdatis. Tsonga prevailed 4-6, 7-6(6), 7-5 in two hours and 30 minutes.

To say the Frenchman took a circuitous route to victory would be an understatement. He trailed by a set and by 5-1 in the second-set tiebreaker. Baghdatis was two points from the match on six different occasions but could not cross the finish line. Tsonga won five straight points for 6-5, double-faulted on set point, but then won it on a Baghdatis double-fault at 6-7.

Tsonga saved all five of the break points he faced in set three before breaking serve for the very first time in Baghdats’ final service game at 5-5. It finally ended in the 12th game of the decider on Tsonga’s 16th ace.

Murray and Tsonga will face each other in the fourth round, while Federer is going up against Richard Gasquet.

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Murray Knocks Out Gasquet to Earn a Spot in the Final at the Sony Open

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Murray Knocks Out Gasquet to Earn a Spot in the Final at the Sony Open


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On Sunday, in the Sony Open final, Andy Murray will take on David Ferrer. Murray beat Richard Gasquet 6-7, 6-1, 6-2 to advance to his third final in Miami.

Gasquet befuddled the 2009 champion early on, getting the break with a beautiful back down the line winner. The Frenchman went on to consolidate and move ahead 3-0.

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Ferrer Fends Off Haas to Get into Maiden Sony Open Final

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Ferrer Fends Off Haas to Get into Maiden Sony Open Final


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The first men’s semifinal at the Sony Open showcased a pair of thirtysomething. World number five David Ferrer outlasted a resurgent Tommy Haas 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to reach his fifth Masters 1000 series final.

At 35, Haas, a former world number two, discovered his fountain of youth. Ranked 18th, the German ousted 24 year old Alexandr Dolgopolov in the third round then stunned world number one Novak Djokovic in the round of 16. This year’s semifinal showing was the furthest Haas’ had advance in Miami.

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Gasquet Neutralizes Berdych to Reach the Semifinals at the Sony Open

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Gasquet Neutralizes Berdych to Reach the Semifinals at the Sony Open


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Richard Gasquet grabbed his maiden semifinal berth at the Sony Open. The Frenchman stopped 2010 finalist Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-3 to win a date with Andy Murray tomorrow.

Although Gasquet had a 4-3 lead in their head to head, only a few days ago in the round of 16 at Indian Wells, Berdych sent him packing in two sets. Consequently, Berdych would have come in quite confident.

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Djokovic and Murray Will Settle Sony Ericsson Open Champion on Sunday

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Djokovic and Murray Will Settle Sony Ericsson Open Champion on Sunday



This year’s Sony Ericsson Open final is a repeat of 2009 as world number one Novak Djokovic meets Andy Murray.

Djokovic, the defending champion, is striving for his third title on Sunday in Miami on Sunday. While Murray, the 2009 victor, is hoping for a similar result as the last time they met at this venue in order to bank his second.

Murray who has had two walkovers at this event one from Milos Raonic in the third round and the other from Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. Despite looking vulnerable at moments, Djokovic has dispatched opponents such as Marcos Baghdatis, Richard Gasquet and David Ferrer in two sets.

Djokovic and Murray have spared in two semifinals already this season with Djokovic winning at the Australian Open while Murray prevailing in Dubai. Still, in their head to head, Djokovic leads Murray 7-5.

Here is Sunday’s order of play :

Sunday, April 1 , 2012

STADIUM Start 1:00 pm

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) v [4] Andy Murray (GBR) ATP
[5] Maria Kirilenko (RUS)/Nadia Petrova (RUS) v
[6] Sara Errani (ITA)/Roberta Vinci (ITA) WTA

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Djokovic Makes the Fourth Round at the Sony Ericsson Open

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Djokovic Makes the Fourth Round at the Sony Ericsson Open



Although defending champion Novak Djokovic won in straight sets, he had to work for it. Fellow compatriot Viktor Troicki gave the world number one a decent test. Still, Djokovic carried the match 6-3, 6-4 to earn a place in the round of 16.

Once Djokovic obtained the quick break for 2-0, there was a feeling that this session would be brief. Yet, Troicki wasted five break points which permitted his rival to consolidate for 3-0 in the initial set.

The one break deficit proved to be Troicki’s undoing in the first set.

In the second set, Djokovic again got up to an early break for 2-0. However, this time, Troicki capitalized on break point and went on to square the set at 2 all.
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No Easy Task for Djokovic to Repeat at 2012 Sony Ericsson Open

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No Easy Task for Djokovic to Repeat at 2012 Sony Ericsson Open



For fans hopeful of a rematch between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in the Sony Ericsson Open final, neither man will have a comfortable trip in getting there.

Djokovic could contend with Marcos Baghdatis in his opening match, countryman Viktor Troicki in the third round or Richard Gasquet in the fourth round. Also, in the quarterfinals, Juan Martin Del Potro or the relentless David Ferrer may stump the world number one.

Moreover, besides Nikolay Davydenko who was unable to defend his 2008 title due to injury, since 2006 no prior year’s champion has advanced beyond the round of 16.

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Del Potro Nets Tenth Career Title in Marseille

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Del Potro Nets Tenth Career Title in Marseille


For the second successive week, Juan Martin Del Potro found himself in the final of an indoor event. In his debut at the Open 13, Del Potro held off unseeded Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-4 to bank his initial title of the season and the tenth of his career.

After seeing Richard Gasquet bounced in the quarterfinals and top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ousted also by Del Potro in the semifinals, the crowd was hoping that Llodra would be the hometown favorite to ultimately halt the Argentine.

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Federer on Track for Seventh Title at Wimbledon

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Federer on Track for Seventh Title at Wimbledon


For the second year in a row, Roger Federer is on course to equalize Pete Sampras’ record of seven Wimbledon titles. Defending champion Rafael Nadal is also through to the second week as he goes for his third French Open-Wimbledon duo. While Novak Djokovic, the hottest player this season, is in great form through three matches.

The world’s top three players are still the ones to beat heading into the round of 16 while world number four and hometown pick Andy Murray is also alive with an outside chance. Here’s a review of the past few days and a look at the rest of the tournament.

Federer has looked superb through the first three rounds of play. The Swiss dominated his third round match against a less than 100% David Nalbandian who’s had his number previously.

In the fourth round, Federer takes on Mikhail Youzhny. Federer has won all ten of their prior meetings and the Russian has never been beyond the round of 16 at this event.

David Ferrer tied his best showing at the All England Club by reaching the round of 16 and will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who was a quarterfinalist last year. The winner of that contest will probably battle Federer in the quarterfinals.

After straight sets triumphs his initial two matches, Djokovic had to bear down against Marcos Baghdatis to move on in four in the third round. On Monday, Djokovic meets Michael Llodra in the fourth round. Although Llodra is sensational on grass, he should be no match for Djokovic.

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