Hewitt, Nalbandian Struggle to Advance at ATP Tokyo
Posted on October 7, 2004
Top seeds Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalandian were tested Wednesday at the ATP stop in Tokyo, both advancing in three sets against Asian opponents who received vociferous crowd support.The top-seeded Hewitt bageled Japanese wildcard Gouichi Motomura before dropping the second set 3-6, then recovering for a 6-1 rout in the third.
"The first set I didn't play great but I was in total command," Hewitt said. "In the second set I played one slack game, at 3-4 on my serve...The whole third set I was back in command."
The No. 2-seeded Nalbandian struggled from the onset against Taipei's Yeu-Tzuoo Wang, dropping the first set 3-6, edging the second set out in a tiebreak, then running away 6-2 in the decider.
"I feel a little tired after that battle," Nalbandian said. "I have never seen him before so I didn't know how to play him but I saved one match point and throughout the whole match I just tried to make it really difficult for him with different play, and eventually it paid off for me."
Other seeds into the third round Wednesday were (7) Taylor Dent (d. Zib), (8) Thomas "Tommy the J." Johansson (d. Justin "Time" Gimelstob), (9) Cyril Saulnier (d. French countryman Thomann in three), (10) Hyung-Taik Lee (d. Arthurs), and (16) Gilles Muller (d. Bogomolov Jr.).
Japanese wildcard Takao Suzuki provided the lone upset on the day, riding the crowd enthusiasm to a three-set win over (15) Jan Hernych.
Unseeded winners in first-round action were German qualifiers Michael Kohlmann (d. Carlsen) and Bjorn Phau (d. (WC) Iwami), Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli (d. Peya in three), Brazil's Flavio "Of the Day" Saretta (d. Vacek), Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (d. Burgsmuller in three), Czech Bohdan Ulihrach (d. Okun), and Japanese wildcard Takahiro Terachi (d. Q) Iwabuchi).
Today some players will take to the court twice in singles as the tournament attempts to play catch-up due to the rains, with scheduled matches (13) Gambill vs. (WC) Terachi, (1) Hewitt vs. (WC) Suzuki, (16) Muller vs. (2) Nalbandian, (Q) Phau vs. (3) Pavel, (4) Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan vs. Levy, (7) Dent vs. (10)H.-T. Lee, Garcia-Lopez vs. (5) Novak, (6) Canas vs. (Q) Kohlmann, (9) Saulnier vs. (8) T.Johansson, (11) Ricardo Mello "Yello" vs. Flavio "Of the Day" Saretta in an all-Brazilian, (Q) Chiudinelli vs. (14) Van Scheppingen, and Ulihrach vs. (12) Nieminen.
Round two of play will be (13) Gambill or (WC) Terachi vs. (Q) Phau or (3) Pavel, (11) Mello "Yello" or Saretta vs. Garcia-Lopez or (5) Novak, (6) Canas or (Q) Kohlmann vs. Ulihrach or (12) Nieminen, and (4) The Thai Fighter or Levy vs. (Q) Chiudinelli or (14) Van Scheppingen.
Schuettler Down Year Continues With Loss at ATP Lyon
No. 2 seed Rainer Schuettler was beaten in his opening-round match at the ATP stop in Lyon Wednesday, ousted in three sets by the athletic Moroccan Hicham Arazi.
The only other seed in action, No. 7 Vince Spadea, moved into the quarterfinals with a straight-set win over Croatian boomer Ivan Ljubicic.
Other winners Wednesday were the unseeded Swedish triumvirate of Joachim "Pim-Pim" Johansson (d. Monaco), Jonas Bjorkman (d. (Q) Max "The Beast" Mirnyi in three) and Robin Soderling (d. Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez in three), French qualifier Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau (d. Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal), Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer (d. (WC) Llodra), and Xavier "X-Man" Malisse (d. (Q) Stepanek 6-0 in the third).
"I wasn't expecting such an easy victory, he probably gave up earlier than expected," said Benneteau, the lone Frenchman left in the Lyon draw, after pummeling The Prodigy with a second-set bagel. "I'm happy I was able to maintain a high standard of play."
The remainder of the quarterfinalists will be determined Thursday in Calleri vs. Youzhny, (3) Ferrero vs. Ferrer in an all-ESP, (Q) Benneteau vs. (4) Pim-Pim, and Tuna Melzer vs. Arazi.
Sharapova Edges Aussie Stosur at WTA Tokyo
Top-seeded Maria Sharapova, enjoying her tour of tournaments where she is the lone Top 30 player, was almost tripped up at the WTA stop in Tokyo Wednesday, defeating Aussie qualifier Sam Stosur 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
"I came here to win and didn't want to lose early, so I'm relieved to have that first win," Sharapova said. "All in all, it was a very tough match."
No. 7 Klara "Kouky" Koukalova (d. Kurhajcova) was the only other seeded winner, with two seeds ousted in No. 2 Tatiana Golovin (l. to fellow teen (WC) Nicole Vaidisova in three) and (4) Kristina "You're a Fine Girl" Brandi (l. to the red-hot Mashona Washington).
Other un-seeds into the quarterfinals were Russian Evgenia Linetskaya (d. (WC) Fujiwara), Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn (d. Craybas), Hungarian Aniko Kapros (d. (Q) Sesil "The Mouth" Karatantcheva), and French qualifier Youlia Fedossova (d. Morigami).
On tap for Thursday are (1) Sharapova vs. (Q) Fedossova, Tanasugarn vs. Kapros, Linetskaya vs. Mashona "Little Sis" Washington, and (7) Klara "Kouky" Koukalova vs. (WC) Vaidisova in an all-Czech.
Russian Seeds Dementieva, Petrova Uprooted at WTA Filderstadt
American Lisa Raymond, who only gained the main draw as a lucky loser after failing in the qualifying, stunned No. 5 seed Elena Dementieva 6-0, 7-5 Wednesday at the WTA stop in Filderstadt.
"I face Silvia Farina Elia in the next round and am lucking forward to it as we played each other at the Olympics," Raymond said. "I hope I can build on this win and go far in the tournament."
No. 2 seed Lindsay Davenport pounded Aussie Alicia Molik 6-1, 6-0, while No. 7 seed Nadia Petrova was edged in a third set breaker by Serbian qualifier Jelena Jankovic.
"It wasn't as easy as it looked out there," Davenport said. "But Alicia didn't play well tonight."
Other un-seeds into the quarters were Swiss Miss Patty "Handshake" Schnyder (d. (Q) Kostanic 6-1 in the third), and Russian Elena "Lena" Bovina (d. (WC) Groenefeld).
Thursday's line-up reads Mauresmo vs. Schnyder, Dechy vs. Myskina, Likhovtseva vs. Pierce, Kuznetsova vs. Bovina in an all-Russian, Jankovic vs. Hantuchova, Zuluaga vs. Smashnova, and Farina Elia vs. Raymond.
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