Coria, Moya Exit at Barcelona
Posted on April 22, 2005An all-countryman meeting can be a tricky prospect, no matter what the ranking discrepancy, facing a comrade you practice with and giving up the ins and outs of your game.
Two such meetings occurred Thursday with drastically different results at the ATP stop in Barcelona, where the unseeded but ever-hotter-handed Juan Carlos Ferrero thrashed Spanish countryman Al Martin 6-1, 6-2, and No. 4 seed Guillermo Coria was outlasted 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(2) by practice court foe and unseeded Argentine countryman Agustin Calleri.
"I knew this would be tough," Coria said of the almost-three-hour encounter. "It could have gone either way, but he made the most of the chances and played very well in the final tiebreak."
With the loss Coria avoided a second consecutive tournament meeting with Rafael Nadal, who he lost to last week in the Masters Series-Monte Carlo final.
Other seeded upsets were orchestrated by the serve-and-volleying Max Mirnyi, who ousted No. 3 seed Carlos Moya 6-4, 6-4; No. 11 Radek Stepanek, who fought off match points to edge No. 5 Guillermo Canas 6-7(6), 7-6(2), 7-6(5); and Swiss qualifier Stanislas Wawrinka, who straight-setted the Safin-killing Jose Acasuso.
Moya broke back with Mirnyi serving at 6-4, 5-3, but stoned a number of nervous-looking shots at 4-5 to eventually fall after fighting off four match points.
The No. 8-seeded Nadal sent another message to the field, putting a 6-1, 6-2 beating on No. 10 seed Dominik Hrbaty.
"It wasn't as easy as the score-line suggests," Nadal said. "It was a tough game. I seem to be making few mistakes which is good, but I certainly don't feel unbeatable at the moment."
Others advancing into the final eight were No. 2 seed Gaston Gaudio (d. (13) Ferrer), and No. 7 Nikolay Davydenko (d. (9) T.Johansson 7-6 in the third).
On tap for the Friday quarterfinals in Barcelona are (2) Gaudio vs. Ferrero (career series tied 5-5, with Ferrero winning the last four on the dirt), (8) Rafael Nadal vs. Calleri (Nadal leads 2-1), (7) Davydenko vs. Max Mirnyi (tied 2-2), and (11) Stepanek vs. (Q) Wawrinka (first meeting).
Two such meetings occurred Thursday with drastically different results at the ATP stop in Barcelona, where the unseeded but ever-hotter-handed Juan Carlos Ferrero thrashed Spanish countryman Al Martin 6-1, 6-2, and No. 4 seed Guillermo Coria was outlasted 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(2) by practice court foe and unseeded Argentine countryman Agustin Calleri.
"I knew this would be tough," Coria said of the almost-three-hour encounter. "It could have gone either way, but he made the most of the chances and played very well in the final tiebreak."
With the loss Coria avoided a second consecutive tournament meeting with Rafael Nadal, who he lost to last week in the Masters Series-Monte Carlo final.
Other seeded upsets were orchestrated by the serve-and-volleying Max Mirnyi, who ousted No. 3 seed Carlos Moya 6-4, 6-4; No. 11 Radek Stepanek, who fought off match points to edge No. 5 Guillermo Canas 6-7(6), 7-6(2), 7-6(5); and Swiss qualifier Stanislas Wawrinka, who straight-setted the Safin-killing Jose Acasuso.
Moya broke back with Mirnyi serving at 6-4, 5-3, but stoned a number of nervous-looking shots at 4-5 to eventually fall after fighting off four match points.
The No. 8-seeded Nadal sent another message to the field, putting a 6-1, 6-2 beating on No. 10 seed Dominik Hrbaty.
"It wasn't as easy as the score-line suggests," Nadal said. "It was a tough game. I seem to be making few mistakes which is good, but I certainly don't feel unbeatable at the moment."
Others advancing into the final eight were No. 2 seed Gaston Gaudio (d. (13) Ferrer), and No. 7 Nikolay Davydenko (d. (9) T.Johansson 7-6 in the third).
On tap for the Friday quarterfinals in Barcelona are (2) Gaudio vs. Ferrero (career series tied 5-5, with Ferrero winning the last four on the dirt), (8) Rafael Nadal vs. Calleri (Nadal leads 2-1), (7) Davydenko vs. Max Mirnyi (tied 2-2), and (11) Stepanek vs. (Q) Wawrinka (first meeting).