Sharapova, Roddick, Hewitt Survive Grasscourt Three-setters
Posted on June 10, 2005
Roddick, Hewitt Shaky in Advancing at ATP QueensTop-seeded Lleyton Hewitt and No. 2 Andy Roddick gutted out three-set wins Thursday at the ATP stop in Queen's to move into the quarterfinals, with both two-time winners looking less than dominating in the early-goings of their grasscourt campaigns.
Roddick defeated No. 16 seed Karol Beck 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, while Hewitt likewise dropped the second set in a 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 win over No. 15 seed Max Mirnyi.
"After the first set I think he really stepped up his game," said Roddick who threw down 13 aces. "For a while there he was playing with not a whole lot of margin on his shots, but pretty consistently...I kept saying to myself that maybe he'd get tight if he kept going for those kind of high-risk shots, and, you know, luckily he did a little bit in the last game."
Other players into the quarterfinals at the Queen's Club Thursday were (3) Tim Henman (d. (Q) Guccione from a set down), (4) Radek Stepanek (d. (14) Rusedski), (6) Thomas Johansson (d. (WC) Murray 7-5 in the third), (7) Sebastien Grosjean (d. (WC) Blake 7-6 in the third), (10) Richard Gasquet (d. (5) Ancic in three), and unseeded Croat Ivo Karlovic (d. Zib) who threw down 22 aces.
Blake blew five match points in his loss to Grosjean.
Johansson was serving at 4-5, 0-30 against the wildcard Murray when the Brit-Scot twisted an ankle then suffered cramps, failing to win another game.
"I'm very disappointed," Murray said. "I think I played a pretty good match, but I'm a little bit annoyed that I wasn't able to finish it. Because I think at 5-4, I was 30-love up, and when I went over my ankle, I couldn't really continue after that. I was getting a lot of cramps and I couldn't really move."
Johansson was very impressed with Murray, and lucky to be handed the pass into the quarterfinals.
"He's already very, very good, but he's going to be even better," Johansson said. "He can certainly be a Top 50 player. He serves 140 miles per hour, and to do that at 18 is very impressive...With his strokes and serve, he is going to be really, really good."
It was bad news for British fans with the loss of Rusedski and Murray, who would have advanced to face Henman.
Friday's quarterfinals line-up is (7) Grosjean vs. (2) Roddick (A-Rod leads meetings 5-1), (3) Henman vs. (6) T.Johansson (Brit leads 4-1), (1) Hewitt vs. Karlovic (first meeting since "Dr." Ivo won at 2003 Wimbledon), and (10) Gasquet vs. (4) Stepanek (first meeting).
Federer Into Quarterfinals at ATP Halle
World No. 1 Roger Federer was tested in his second straight match at the ATP stop in Halle, on Thursday coming back from two service breaks in the second set to defeat local favorite Florian Mayer 6-2, 6-4.
The two-time defending Halle champion pumped himself up in the second set, screaming triumphantly as he hit a forehand pass to bring things back on serve before closing out the match.
"I think I've made a good transition from clay to grass," said Federer, who won his 26th consecutive grasscourt match, struggling despite the sub-par competition thus far. "I have more confidence, I am more secure in my game. Even when I was down a break twice today I felt secure."
Mayer said the second set turn-around showed the Swiss is vulnerable.
"Two breaks, that should be enough on grass to win the set," said Mayer who choked away the lead. "But one game was a gift from me, two double faults. Those were my only double faults but they came at a bad time."
Other winners into the quarterfinals Thursday were (4) Guillermo Canas (d. (Q) Zimonjic), wildcarded former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. (WC) Waske in three), and local favorite Rainer Schuettler (d. (Q) D.Norman).
On tap for the Friday quarterfinals in Halle are (1) Federer vs. Kohlschreiber (first meeting), (WC) Ferrero vs. (7) Haas (Spaniard leads meetings 3-0, all on clay), Rainer "Shine" Schuettler vs. (4) Canas (German leads 1-0), and Olivier "The Roach" Rochus vs. (2) Safin (Russian leads 4-1).
Sharapova Survives Test to Advance to Quarters at WTA Birmingham
Top-seeded defending champ Maria Sharapova was tested Thursday at the WTA stop in Birmingham, defeating Aussie No. 16 seed Sam Stosur 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals.
"She's a much better player than when I played her last time," said Sharapova, who improved to 4-0 against Stosur. "She served and volleyed today which she didn't do the last time I played her.
Stosur's game plan was on target until the third set when the unforced errors crept in.
"Everyone know what a great hitter of the ball Maria is from the baseline," Stosur said. "But on these courts you have to rush her and not let her get set for a shot, and I did that. But you have to do it for three sets and keep everything going 100 percent."
Other seeded winners were (3) Jelena Jankovic (d. (Q) Sequera) and defending runner-up (5) Tatiana Golovin (d. (Q) Fujiwara), while on the upset tip Russian Anna Chakvetadze defeated (6) Shinobu Asagoe, and Greece's Eleni Daniilidou ousted (8) Ai Sugiyama.
Other un-seeds into the quarterfinals were Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn (d. Foretz from a set down), and Americans Laura Granville (d. countrywoman (Q) Jackson) and Mashona Washington (d. Parra Santonja).
Scheduled for the Friday quarters in Birmingham are Washington vs. (3) Jankovic (first meeting), Tanasugarn vs. Granville (Granville leads 2-0), (1) Sharapova vs. Daniilidou (Russian leads 1-0), and (5) Golovin vs. Chakvetadze (first meeting).
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From SMH on Andy Murray at Queen's: "But until now it has been his place of residence that has raised most eyebrows. Murray is from Dunblane and was attending the local school in 1996 when a gunman walked in and shot dead 16 children and a teacher. Murray was one of several children who took shelter in the headmaster's office, a memory he has been asked to relive constantly throughout his budding career -- particularly by the local tabloids. Of more consequence to Murray's career is the fact he was sent by his mother to Barcelona, where he trained at the famed Spanish academy. As a result, he plays more from the back court than (Tim) Henman. That made his victory over (Taylor) Dent all the more encouraging."...Aussie Alicia Molik on still dealing with her ear infection: "It was by no means enjoyable. It was a very difficult ask, but I'm remaining pretty positive. It's a very slow healing process. I've made a huge recovery over the last two months but it is still there. I struggle a bit with my vision." The infection, vestibular neuronitis, left her fatigued and off-balance and kept her off the tennis court for seven weeks...Juan Carlos Ferrero was none too happy when all the Spanish journalists high-tailed it out of Halle after Rafael Nadal lost: "It's not a good thing. Right now most people are talking about Nadal and forgetting the others. They still exist, and journalists should show more respect for them as well." Show more respect for them, aka, me...From the Sport Telegraph: "A group of disaffected Queen's Club members, angered at the possible sale of one of the world's leading tennis clubs, have threatened the Lawn Tennis Association with legal action in an attempt to prevent them from selling the club on the open market. The future ownership of the west London club, the venue for the Stella Artois Championships this week, has been the subject of increased speculation since the LTA announced they were moving their headquarters to Roehampton, in south-west London, next year. The 14-acre site at Barons Court, which the LTA have owned since 1953, could attract offers of more than 40 million from corporate bidders."...The French Open was the fifth-most-watched sporting event in Spain's history, and is the highest-rated tennis match in Spain's history...Australia's Aristocrat Leisure, Ltd., announced a new line of penny slot machines with Andre Agassi's image and name as well as tennis themes and graphics that will benefit Agassi's charitable foundation. The first of them were introduced Tuesday at the MGM Grand Casino in Agassi's hometown of Las Vegas. "I was a little hesitant, being a professional athlete, about the association with gaming and wagering," Agassi told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "But my connection to this city is so clear and I'm so tied in with the city that I found myself in a unique situation. Seeing myself on a slot machine seemed like a perfect fit for a boy from Las Vegas."...From The Guardian: "It is not unusual for Maria Sharapova's father Yuri to work himself into a lather, but there were more reasons than normal for the volatile Russian to be frothing in the front row here yesterday. First, his title-defending daughter was getting her second serve chewed up by Samantha Stosur, a little-known Australian who has yet to crack the top 50 and was much closer to upsetting the Wimbledon champion than the 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 scoreline suggests. Second, Sharapova's difficulties at the DFS Classic worsened bizarrely after a waitress fell through tarpaulin by a hospitality tent and dropped 12 feet to the ground by the side of the centre court...Once the fragile father frothed a little bit too much for the liking of the veteran umpire Jeremy Shales, who stared at him, looking as though he might be thinking of censure for illegal coaching. It was evident that Yuri Sharapova had his say after the match too. His daughter arrived for the press conference noticeably subdued, despite a characteristically fighting performance which earned her excellent match practice in the art of winning while not at your best. Asked if her father had congratulated her, she briefly became emotional. "Of he course he congratulated me -- he always does," Sharapova said, her voice rising. Then she volunteered that she had been criticized. "He said I didn't push through my serve enough in the second set," she said quietly. "He said there wasn't really much on my serve and that's why she was able to take advantage of it."