Tag Archive | "Mayer"

Federer Fends Off Albut to Advance to the Third Round at the Miami Open

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Federer Fends Off Albut to Advance to the Third Round at the Miami Open


IMG_4076_Federer
Three time Miami Open and holder of 20 majors Roger Federer struggled today in his opening match. Still, in the end, the Swiss put away qualifier Radu Albot 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 to move on to the third round at the Miami Open.

Playing someone for the first time can be a tricky, Federer dropped the opening game of the match and could not bank on any of the four break points he manufactured. Consequently, Albot, who secured his first ATP tile this year in Delray Beach, grew in confidence. Federer finally capitalized on break point in the second set to push the match to a third set. Once again, in the last set, one break point in Federer’s favor was the difference.

Federer pinpointed that his struggles stemmed from the fact that ” I felt like I was in two minds, how you play sometimes in a first round. You’re looking to take on the ball, but then sometimes you also know you just cannot go big all the time. You also have to hold back. Sometimes you feel like it happens always at the wrong times. You pull the trigger at the wrong times. You’re going safe at the wrong times. That has something to do with how I thought he played his game. He seemed very clear to me, and I wasn’t. In the heat of the moment, I started forgetting stuff also that my coach told me. I felt like all the important points, points that could have led to something interesting for me, I played poorly because I was in two minds. . . I thought actually how I protected my serve, after getting broken in the first game, was actually very good. There’s definitely really some good elements there in the game, but I did struggle obviously. I’m very, very happy that I found a way.”

In addition to the opponent, there was the venue to contend with “there’s definitely always a slight sort of buzz in the stadium. I think it’s more because of the size and the ventilation. You feel there’s always a bit of a noise there, which is sometimes a bit unusual for tennis. Of course, indoors you get that more often. We do have it occasionally. . .a very key element of our sport is you can hear a pin drop. . .Here it’s not so much the case. When somebody hits the ball, it’s not as clear maybe, which then can feel almost like it’s a little bit of an empty space. That can feel maybe a little bit different. I didn’t feel like it was totally something out of the ordinary where I had no clue where my boundaries were, like I’ve had maybe at some other courts from around the world in the past. I’ve gotten used to it quite quickly. . .it’s a big place. I mean, the side stands are huge. It goes far away. It’s unusual to have it that way. I would have thought maybe they would put it in the corner, the stadium, instead of on the long side. Still it was a good atmosphere.”

Stanislas Wawrinka, Federer’s countryman, was not as fortunate. The three time major champion fell in the day’s initial match to Filip Krajinovic 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 spoiling the all Swiss third round collision. Wawrinka led in the tiebreaker 5-2 and lost the next five points.

Other notable upsets include 9th seed Marin Cilic who went down to qualifier Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-4. Tenth seed Karen Khachanov was sent packing by Australian Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-3. American qualifier Reilly Opelka stunned 21st seed Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. While 20th seed Denis Shapovalov squeezed by lucky loser Daniel Evans 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Also, moving onto third round are Kevin Anderson who toughed it out against Jaime Munar in three sets. Grigor Dimitrov had no trouble with Feliciano Lopez. The Bulgarina dismissed the Spaniard in 60 minutes, 6-1, 6-3. Eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, 13th seed Danil Medvedev, Leonardo Mayer, 18th seed David Goffin and Joao Sousa booked their bid into round three in straight sets.

Posted in Local News, NewsComments (0)

Sunday’s Matchups at the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday’s Matchups at the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open



Tomas Berdych and Grigor Dimitrov open up play on Stadium Court on Sunday at the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open. Following that matchup, Venus Williams hopes to build off her upset of Petra Kvitova and move on to the fourth round when she takes on Aleksandra Wozniak.

Other notable day session matches include Rafael Nadal versus Radek Stepanek on Stadium Court and Andy Murray versus Milos Raonic on the Grandstand.

In the night session, defending Sony Ericsson Open champion Victoria Azarenka is looking to extend her 25 match winning streak in 2012 when she faces off with Heather Watson. John Isner versus Florian Mayer will close out the evening session.

Here is today’s complete order of play :

Sunday, March 25, 2012

STADIUM Start 11:00 am

[7] Tomas Berdych (CZE) v Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) ATP

Not Before 1:00 PM
[WC] Venus Williams (USA) v [WC] Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) WTA

Not Before 3:00 PM
[20] Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) v [15] Ana Ivanovic (SRB) WTA
[25] Radek Stepanek (CZE) v [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) ATP

Starting at 7:30 PM
[1] Victoria Azarenka (BLR) v [WC] Heather Watson (GBR) WTA

Not Before 9:30 PM
[19] Florian Mayer (GER) v [10] John Isner (USA) ATP

GRANDSTAND Start 11:00 am

[18] Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) v [9] Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) ATP
[13] Gilles Simon (FRA) v [22] Jurgen Melzer (AUT) ATP
[26] Milos Raonic (CAN) v [4] Andy Murray (GBR) ATP
Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP) v [5] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) WTA

Not Before 5:00 PM
[1] Bob Bryan (USA)/Mike Bryan (USA) v
Marcelo Melo (BRA)/Juan Monaco (ARG) ATP

COURT 1 Start 11:00 am

Simona Halep (ROU) v [7] Marion Bartoli (FRA) WTA
[WC] Garbine Muguruza Blanco (ESP) v [24] Flavia Pennetta (ITA) WTA
[6] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) v [32] Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) ATP
[16] Kei Nishikori (JPN) v Lukas Rosol (CZE) ATP

Not Before 6:00 PM
Oliver Marach (AUT)/Alexander Peya (AUT) v
[2] Max Mirnyi (BLR)/Daniel Nestor (CAN) ATP

COURT 2 Start 11:00 am

Jie Zheng (CHN) v [16] Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) WTA
David Marrero (ESP)/Fernando Verdasco (ESP) v
Feliciano Lopez (ESP)/Marc Lopez (ESP) ATP
Ksenia Pervak (KAZ) v [22] Maria Kirilenko (RUS) WTA
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)/Jie Zheng (CHN) v
Eva Birnerova (CZE)/Klaudia Jans-Ignacik (POL) WTA
Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)/Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) v
Daniele Bracciali (ITA)/Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) ATP

COURT 3 Start 12:00 noon

[6] Sara Errani (ITA)/Roberta Vinci (ITA) v
[WC] Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)/Petra Martic (CRO) WTA

Posted in Local News, NewsComments (0)

Federer Progresses into the Fourth Round at the Sony Ericsson Open

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Federer Progresses into the Fourth Round at the Sony Ericsson Open



The last encounter that Roger Federer had with Juan Monaco was three years ago at the Masters Series in Hamburg whereby he was victorious. Although the Argentine is known to excel on clay, he gave Federer a good fight on hardcourt today. Federer pulled away with a 7-6, 6-4 win to pen his name into the fourth round.

As a result of a double fault, Federer gave Monaco break point in the opening game. However, Federer managed to hold. By misfiring on a forehand, Monaco gifted Federer a break point and threw in a double fault for the break.

At this point, it seemed Federer would make short work of world number 35. But with a couple of mistakes of his own, Federer surrendered the next game allowing Monaco to get back on serve.

At 2-1, Federer had a couple more chances to break. Still, Monaco was unflappable and guarded serve.

With Monaco saving six out of seven break points, the first set went to a tiebreaker which Federer claimed.

In the second set, Monaco dominated on serve while Federer had a few tight games. Consequently, it seemed that the match could go to a third set. As usual though, Federer stepped it up at the right time.

After an ace for game point, Monaco double faulted for deuce. Then, with a forehand winner, Federer had his second break point opportunity of the game. When Monaco’s forehand landed long, Federer went up 5-4.

With Federer serving for the match, Monaco continued to resist. Finally, with a forehand up the line winner, Federer arrived at 40-30. With Monaco’s stroke going out of play, Federer penned his name into the next round.

Read the full story

Posted in Local News, NewsComments (0)

Tipsarevic Advances in Delray, Querrey and Blake Bounced

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tipsarevic Advances in Delray, Querrey and Blake Bounced



Six-seeded Janko Tipsarevic advanced to the third round of the Delray Beach Tennis International Championships Wednesday night with a 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 win over Blaz Kavcic.

In the first night session match, Kei Nishikori eliminated wild card James Blake 6-3, 6-4. The second round encounter was a rematch of the 2008 final whereby Nishikori was also victorious.

In the afternoon session third-seeded Sam Querrey went down in straight sets to qualifier Ryan Sweeting, while Ivan Dodig advanced over Dudi Sela 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

In another second round match Adrian Mannarino rallied from a set down to advance over Leonardo Mayer 1-6, 7-6, 6-4.

Thursday afternoon, 2009 ITC champion Mardy Fish will take on the 2004 ITC champion Ricardo Mello. The night session is highlighted by 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro who takes on Teymuraz Gabashvili. Gabashvili eliminated John Isner in the first round.

Here is the order of play for Thursday, February 24 :

STADIUM start 11:00 am
B Becker (GER) / M Kohlmann (GER) vs C Kas (GER) / A Peya (AUT)

Not Before 12:30 PM
R Mello (BRA) vs [2] M Fish (USA)

Not Before 2:30 PM
[8] A Mannarino (FRA) vs [Q] A Falla (COL)

5:30 PM
S Lipsky (USA) / R Ram (USA) vs J Murray (GBR) / K Skupski (GBR)

Not Before 7:15 PM
J Del Potro (ARG) vs T Gabashvili (RUS)
[5] K Anderson (RSA) vs F Serra (FRA)

Posted in Local News, NewsComments (0)

2010 Sony Ericsson Open Preview for Thursday March 25

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

2010 Sony Ericsson Open Preview for Thursday March 25


The women take center stage on Day 2 at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open.  Top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova headlines the day session.  Other notable names in action include Ana Ivanovic, Nadia Petrova, Flavia Pennetta, Na Li, Sabine Lisicki and Marion Bartoli.  Kim Clijsters will take to the court in doubles partnering with fellow countrywoman Kirsten Flipkens.  The night session will be headlined by Venus Williams who will face Sorana Cirstea.

On the men’s side, Andreas Seppi, Juan Ignacio Chela, Nicolas Massu, Kevin Anderson and Americans Ryan Sweeting and Rajeev Ram will be in action. In the night session, Mardy Fish will take on Leonardo Mayer.

Here is the complete order of play for Thursday :

STADIUM start 11:00 am
E Makarova (RUS) vs [6] A Radwanska (POL) – WTA
[25] A Ivanovic (SRB) vs [Q] P Parmentier (FRA) – WTA
[LL] N Lapentti (ECU) vs P Starace (ITA) – ATP
[1] S Kuznetsova (RUS) vs S Peng (CHN) – WTA

Not Before 7:00 PM
[3] V Williams (USA) vs S Cirstea (ROU) – WTA
M Fish (USA) vs L Mayer (ARG) – ATP

GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
H Zeballos (ARG) vs A Seppi (ITA) – ATP
P Lorenzi (ITA) vs J Chela (ARG) – ATP
P Petzschner (GER) vs [Q] R Sweeting (USA) – ATP
[Q] M Ilhan (TUR) vs P Cuevas (URU) – ATP

Not Before 5:00 PM
[Q] S Giraldo (COL) vs [LL] M Daniel (BRA) – ATP

COURT 1 start 10:00 am
[WC] P Martic (CRO) vs [18] A Rezai (FRA) – WTA
K Date Krumm (JPN) vs [16] N Petrova (RUS) – WTA
[19] D Hantuchova (SVK) vs P Schnyder (SUI) – WTA
[10] F Pennetta (ITA) vs A Petkovic (GER) – WTA
[3] N Petrova (RUS) / S Stosur (AUS) vs S Errani (ITA) / S Peer (ISR) – WTA

COURT 2 start 10:00 am
V Hanescu (ROU) vs A Falla (COL) – ATP
E Korolev (KAZ) vs D Sela (ISR) – ATP

Not Before 1:30 PM
[12] Y Wickmayer (BEL) vs I Benesova (CZE) or [Q] E Baltacha (GBR) – WTA
R Ram (USA) vs T de Bakker (NED) – ATP

Not Before 5:00 PM
[WC] Y Wickmayer (BEL) / V Zvonareva (RUS) vs M Niculescu (ROU) / E Vesnina (RUS) – WTA

COURT 3 start 10:00 am
Y Shvedova (KAZ) vs [23] S Lisicki (GER) – WTA
M Rybarikova (SVK) vs [13] M Bartoli (FRA) – WTA
[WC] K Clijsters (BEL) / K Flipkens (BEL) vs S Borwell (GBR) / R Kops-Jones (USA) – WTA
T Bacsinszky (SUI) or [Q] B Mattek-Sands (USA) vs [8] N Li (CHN) – WTA
A Amanmuradova (UZB) / D Kustova (BLR) vs Y Chan (TPE) / J Zheng (CHN) – WTA

COURT 6 start 10:00 am
L Lacko (SVK) vs M Berrer (GER) – ATP
F Fognini (ITA) vs [Q] Y Lu (TPE) – ATP
[Q] N Massu (CHI) vs F Serra (FRA) – ATP
R Vinci (ITA) vs [30] A Medina Garrigues (ESP) – WTA

COURT 7 start 10:00 am
O Govortsova (BLR) / A Kudryavtseva (RUS) vs T Poutchek (BLR) / A Rosolska (POL) – WTA
[31] A Wozniak (CAN) vs P Hercog (SLO) – WTA
[WC] A Molik (AUS) vs [27] A Szavay (HUN) – WTA
[21] A Bondarenko (UKR) vs G Dulko (ARG) – WTA
[5] A Kleybanova (RUS) / F Schiavone (ITA) vs I Benesova (CZE) / B Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) – WTA

COURT 8 start 10:00 am
P Luczak (AUS) vs O Hernandez (ESP) – ATP
[Q] K Anderson (RSA) vs [Q] R Mello (BRA) – ATP
S Robert (FRA) vs A Beck (GER) – ATP
A Hlavackova (CZE) / L Hradecka (CZE) vs [2] N Llagostera Vives (ESP) / M Martinez Sanchez (ESP) – WTA
K Jans (POL) / V Uhlirova (CZE) vs [7] C Chuang (TPE) / S Hsieh (TPE) – WTA

Posted in Local News, NewsComments (0)

No Longer In A Quandary:  Querrey Winner At LA Tennis Open

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

No Longer In A Quandary: Querrey Winner At LA Tennis Open


la_tennis_openAfter three consecutive finals, Sam Querrey finally registered a victory at the LA Tennis Open.  Querrey defeated 22 year-old Australian qualifier and California native Carsten Ball 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 for his second career ATP title.

Although Querrey was the first to break,  Ball bounced back to square the set.  But, Ball relinquished his serve again to give Querrey a 5-4 edge.  Despite Ball hanging tough, Querrey’s serve and forehand helped him carry the first set.

Initially, neither player had a break point in the second.  However, after Ball held at love for 4-3, Querrey made two double faults and sent a forehand long to hand his opponent double break point.  Carsten converted with a backhand return winner for 5-3.  Then, with a pristine service game, Ball pushed the match to a decisive third set.

Once Querrey guarded serve, when Ball netted a backhand volley, he had break point.  A subsequent forehand error from Carsten gave Sam the advantage. Querrey consolidated at love for 3-0.  Although Ball won his next service game, it was all he could manage.  Querrey got the insurance break for 5-1 and with a strong game concluded the match.

Read the full story

Posted in NewsComments Off on No Longer In A Quandary: Querrey Winner At LA Tennis Open


Facebook

Twitter

Archives