Federer Pounds Rusedski in Clay Opener at Monte Carlo
Posted on April 13, 2005Up a break of service at 3-1 in the opening set on his worst surface against world No. 1 Roger Federer, Britain's Greg Rusedski must have thought 'What's all the fuss? This is too easy.'
After losing 11 of the next 12 games in a 6-3, 6-1 romp, Rusedski had other opinions on the world No. 1.
"He broke back and then he got a little bit of confidence and his feel came in," Rusedski said. "I started to push too much...Anybody right now, playing Roger, has had a pretty tough time."
Federer said he surprised himself at how easily he handled the big Rusedski serve, and how Grinning Greg had so little confidence in his topspin backhand.
"The conditions were very slow so of course, they were against him today. I took advantage of that," Federer said. "You know, his serve just didn't -- he didn't get enough free points. Even though he was maybe serving 220, 230, I still got the ball back quite comfortably today. I was a little surprised about that. Of course from the baseline, now I've got more of a variety. So for him it was tough. He wasn't coming in that much. He was relying very much upon his slice, and that is a tough way to beat me."
Both Brits were escorted out in the opening round when No. 3 seed Tim Henman was beaten in three sets by Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta who took advantage of the extra-slow conditions.
"When it's that cool and it's obviously wet and you got the covers at the back of the court which are there to protect it, but they just get a lot of moisture on them, then the balls go on there and you feel like everything is getting pretty damp," said Henman, who was hoping for a drier court. "But he's playing in the same conditions. So you just, you do, you've got to try and play as best you can."
Other seeded winners were (2) Marat Safin (d. H.-T. Lee, bagel in the first), (9) Guillermo Canas (d. Andreev), (10) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Melzer from a set down), and (13) Mario Ancic (d. Kuerten).
Four other unseeded players orchestrated upsets on the red dirt with ousted seeds (5) Carlos Moya (l. to Puerta in three for the third time in 2005), (8) Ivan Ljubicic (l. to O.Rochus 2-and-2), (12) Thomas Johansson (l. to (WC) Lisnard), and (14) Dominik Hrbaty (l. to Ferrer).
"I was unlucky to be drawn against him in the first round," said Moya of Puerta, not exactly giving the post-match conference of champions. "There are lots of players who I could have drawn who are not claycourt specialists, or were playing their first match of the season on clay. This was a chance to win a few matches. He is clearly giving me trouble at the moment, he's very confident right now...I don't know what I'll do against him next time."
Other un-seeds into the second round were Spaniards Al Martin (d. Starace), Al Costa (d. Llodra) and Al Montanes (d. El Aynaoui), Frenchman Fabrice Santoro (d. Soderling), Italians Filippo Volandri (d. Arthurs) and qualifier Andreas Seppi (d. F.Lopez), Chile's Fernando Gonzalez (d. Verdasco), Czech Tomas Berdych (d. Horna 7-6 in the third), and German Florian Mayer (d. (Q) Benneteau).
On court Wednesday in the principality are (6) Guillermo "El Fragile" Coria vs. (Q) Ascione, (11) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. Xavier "X-Man" Malisse, Saulnier vs. (2) Safin, (1) Federer vs. Montanes, (4) Gaudio vs. Kiefer, in doubles waffles Malisse/Rochus vs. baguettes (6) Llodra/Santoro, A.Martin vs. (WC) Lisnard, (Q) Gasquet vs. (Q) Mantilla, Volandri vs. (9) Canas, Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez vs. (13) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, Ferrer vs. (Q) Seppi, Tomas "I Beat Federer in '04" Berdych vs. Olivier "The Roach" Rochus, (16) Novak vs. the confidence-challenged (WC) Ferrero, Fabrice "The Original Wizard" Santoro vs. Zabaleta, (Q) Hanescu vs. (15) Stepanek, (10) Davydenko vs. Costa, and Puerta vs. Florian "Oscar" Mayer.
After losing 11 of the next 12 games in a 6-3, 6-1 romp, Rusedski had other opinions on the world No. 1.
"He broke back and then he got a little bit of confidence and his feel came in," Rusedski said. "I started to push too much...Anybody right now, playing Roger, has had a pretty tough time."
Federer said he surprised himself at how easily he handled the big Rusedski serve, and how Grinning Greg had so little confidence in his topspin backhand.
"The conditions were very slow so of course, they were against him today. I took advantage of that," Federer said. "You know, his serve just didn't -- he didn't get enough free points. Even though he was maybe serving 220, 230, I still got the ball back quite comfortably today. I was a little surprised about that. Of course from the baseline, now I've got more of a variety. So for him it was tough. He wasn't coming in that much. He was relying very much upon his slice, and that is a tough way to beat me."
Both Brits were escorted out in the opening round when No. 3 seed Tim Henman was beaten in three sets by Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta who took advantage of the extra-slow conditions.
"When it's that cool and it's obviously wet and you got the covers at the back of the court which are there to protect it, but they just get a lot of moisture on them, then the balls go on there and you feel like everything is getting pretty damp," said Henman, who was hoping for a drier court. "But he's playing in the same conditions. So you just, you do, you've got to try and play as best you can."
Other seeded winners were (2) Marat Safin (d. H.-T. Lee, bagel in the first), (9) Guillermo Canas (d. Andreev), (10) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Melzer from a set down), and (13) Mario Ancic (d. Kuerten).
Four other unseeded players orchestrated upsets on the red dirt with ousted seeds (5) Carlos Moya (l. to Puerta in three for the third time in 2005), (8) Ivan Ljubicic (l. to O.Rochus 2-and-2), (12) Thomas Johansson (l. to (WC) Lisnard), and (14) Dominik Hrbaty (l. to Ferrer).
"I was unlucky to be drawn against him in the first round," said Moya of Puerta, not exactly giving the post-match conference of champions. "There are lots of players who I could have drawn who are not claycourt specialists, or were playing their first match of the season on clay. This was a chance to win a few matches. He is clearly giving me trouble at the moment, he's very confident right now...I don't know what I'll do against him next time."
Other un-seeds into the second round were Spaniards Al Martin (d. Starace), Al Costa (d. Llodra) and Al Montanes (d. El Aynaoui), Frenchman Fabrice Santoro (d. Soderling), Italians Filippo Volandri (d. Arthurs) and qualifier Andreas Seppi (d. F.Lopez), Chile's Fernando Gonzalez (d. Verdasco), Czech Tomas Berdych (d. Horna 7-6 in the third), and German Florian Mayer (d. (Q) Benneteau).
On court Wednesday in the principality are (6) Guillermo "El Fragile" Coria vs. (Q) Ascione, (11) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. Xavier "X-Man" Malisse, Saulnier vs. (2) Safin, (1) Federer vs. Montanes, (4) Gaudio vs. Kiefer, in doubles waffles Malisse/Rochus vs. baguettes (6) Llodra/Santoro, A.Martin vs. (WC) Lisnard, (Q) Gasquet vs. (Q) Mantilla, Volandri vs. (9) Canas, Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez vs. (13) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, Ferrer vs. (Q) Seppi, Tomas "I Beat Federer in '04" Berdych vs. Olivier "The Roach" Rochus, (16) Novak vs. the confidence-challenged (WC) Ferrero, Fabrice "The Original Wizard" Santoro vs. Zabaleta, (Q) Hanescu vs. (15) Stepanek, (10) Davydenko vs. Costa, and Puerta vs. Florian "Oscar" Mayer.