Tag Archive | "Giraldo"

Chardy and Veterans Advance at the Sony Open

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Chardy and Veterans Advance at the Sony Open


IMG_6027_ChardyMiami, FL Ricky Dimon
The first day of main-draw action in men’s singles at the 2014 Sony Open saw Jeremy Chardy outlast Juan Monaco in a thriller on Stadium court. Chardy prevailed 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(5) after two hours and 38 minutes to set up a second-round date with second-seeded Novak Djokovic.

It almost ended prior to a final-set tiebreaker, when the 48th-ranked Frenchman forced Monaco into a 15-40 situation at 4-5. Monaco saved the first match point with a serve-forehand combination and Chardy netted a backhand on his second opportunity. Two holds later, a ‘breaker had to decide the outcome. The Argentine fought off one more match point at 4-6, but Chardy finally got the job done at 6-5 thanks to an overhead smash.

Miami’s Stadium crowd was treated to another tense three-setter during the night session. Amidst a lively atmosphere, Marcos Baghdatis recovered from a dismal opening set and from two breaks down in the third to overcome Santiago Giraldo 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 in one hour and 51 minutes. Giraldo served for the match at both 5-2 and 5-4, but the Colombian failed on both occasions and he ultimately lost six straight games to Baghdatis to seal his fate.

It was just Baghdatis’ fourth victory of the season. The struggling Cypriot will next go up against Philipp Kohlschreiber on Friday.

Giraldo was not the only Colombian action on Wednesday. Whereas not a single American man took the court (six are scheduled for Thursday on the other side of the draw), three Colombians contested their openers. Alejandro Falla lost to Marinko Matosevic 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(6) and Alejandro Gonzalez took care of Malek Jaziri 7-6(9), 6-1.

The Grandstand featured a pair of stellar individual performances. Red-hot and fast-rising Dominic Thiem powered past recent Irving Challenger champion Lukas Rosol 7-6(6), 6-4. The 20-year-old Austrian, who qualified for the main draw for his fifth successful tournament qualification already this season, won 86 percent of his first-serve points. At the other end of the career spectrum, 35-year-old Radek Stepanek donated fewer games than any other man in a 6-3, 6-0 rout of Daniel Brands. Stepanek required a mere 57 minutes to book a spot alongside Andreas Seppi in the round of 64.

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

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Nadal, Murray, Azarenka and Venus in Action at Sony Ericsson Open

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Nadal, Murray, Azarenka and Venus in Action at Sony Ericsson Open



Action at the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open gets under way today with Andy Murray taking on Alejandro Falla on Stadium Court. Murray is hoping for a repeat performance of 2009 where he was the champion in Miami. Top seed and world number one Victoria Azarenka begins her quest to defend her title in Miami when she faces off with Michaella Krajicek.

In the night session, three-time Sony Ericsson Open champion Venus Williams goes up against the reigning Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. That match will be followed by Rafael Nadal versus Santiago Giraldo.
Nadal, a three-time runner-up in Miami is looking to secure his first Sony Ericsson Open title after losing in an epic third set tie breaker last year to Novak Djokovic.

Here is today’s complete order of play :

Friday, March 23, 2012

STADIUM Start 11:00 am

Alejandro Falla (COL) v [4] Andy Murray (GBR) ATP
Vania King (USA) v [15] Ana Ivanovic (SRB) WTA
[1] Victoria Azarenka (BLR) v Michaella Krajicek (NED) WTA
Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) v [10] John Isner (USA) ATP

Not Before 7:30 PM
[3] Petra Kvitova (CZE) v [WC] Venus Williams (USA) WTA
Santiago Giraldo (COL) v [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) ATP

GRANDSTAND Start 11:00 am

[13] Gilles Simon (FRA) v [Q] Roberto Bautista-Agut (ESP) ATP
David Nalbandian (ARG) v [9] Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) ATP
[Q] Madison Keys (USA) v [5] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) WTA
[11] Francesca Schiavone (ITA) v Ksenia Pervak (KAZ) WTA

Not Before 5:00 PM

[7] Tomas Berdych (CZE) v Nicolas Mahut (FRA) ATP
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)/Sam Querrey (USA) v
[7] Leander Paes (IND)/Radek Stepanek (CZE) ATP

COURT 1 Start 11:00 am

[9] Vera Zvonareva (RUS) v [WC] Garbine Muguruza Blanco (ESP) WTA
[6] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) v Xavier Malisse (BEL) ATP
[25] Radek Stepanek (CZE) v Tommy Haas (GER) ATP
[20] Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) v [Q] Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) WTA

Not Before 5:00 PM
Polona Hercog (SLO) v [7] Marion Bartoli (FRA) WTA

COURT 2 Start 11:00 am

Anna Tatishvili (GEO) v [16] Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) WTA
[WC] Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) v [22] Maria Kirilenko (RUS) WTA
[26] Milos Raonic (CAN) v [Q] Arnaud Clement (FRA) ATP
[16] Kei Nishikori (JPN) v Lukas Lacko (SVK) ATP
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) v [29] Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) ATP

COURT 3 Start 11:00 am

[18] Angelique Kerber (GER) v Jie Zheng (CHN) WTA
[18] Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) v [Q] Antonio Veic (CRO) ATP
[WC] Heather Watson (GBR) v [27] Lucie Safarova (CZE) WTA
[1] Liezel Huber (USA)/Lisa Raymond (USA) v
Julia Goerges (GER)/Samantha Stosur (AUS) WTA
[WC] Gisela Dulko (ARG)/Paola Suarez (ARG) v
[2] Kveta Peschke (CZE)/Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) WTA

COURT 5 Start 11:00 am

Robin Haase (NED) v [22] Jurgen Melzer (AUT) ATP
[19] Florian Mayer (GER) v Ivan Dodig (CRO) ATP
Marcelo Melo (BRA)/Juan Monaco (ARG) v
[WC] James Blake (USA)/Ryan Harrison (USA) ATP

COURT 6 Start 11:00 am

[WC] Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) v[28] Monica Niculescu (ROU) WTA
Frederico Gil (POR) v [32] Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) ATP
Colin Fleming (GBR)/Ross Hutchins (GBR) v
Mardy Fish (USA)/Mark Knowles (BAH) ATP
Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/Marina Erakovic (NZL) v
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)/Vera Zvonareva (RUS) WTA
Olga Govortsova (BLR)/Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) v
Vera Dushevina (RUS)/Shahar Peer (ISR) WTA

COURT 7 Start 11:00 am

[31] Kaia Kanepi (EST) v Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP) WTA
Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP) v [24] Flavia Pennetta (ITA) WTA
[32] Nadia Petrova (RUS) v Simona Halep (ROU) WTA
Lukas Rosol (CZE) v [24] Marcel Granollers (ESP) ATP
Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS)/Klara Zakopalova (CZE) v
Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) WTA

COURT 8 Start 11:00 am

[4] Robert Lindstedt (SWE)/Horia Tecau (ROU) v
David Marrero (ESP)/Fernando Verdasco (ESP) ATP

Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)/Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) v
Pablo Andujar (ESP)/Carlos Berlocq (ARG) ATP

[6] Sara Errani (ITA)/Roberta Vinci (ITA) v
Raquel Kops-Jones (USA)/Abigail Spears (USA) WTA

Iveta Benesova (CZE)/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) v
[WC] Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)/Petra Martic (CRO) WTA

Feliciano Lopez (ESP)/Marc Lopez (ESP) v
Florian Mayer (GER)/Viktor Troicki (SRB) ATP

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