Rubin Gets Comeback Win; Roddick, Young Today at ATP Indy
Posted on July 19, 2005
Blake Beat, Ginepri Wins at ATP IndianapolisJames Blake's comeback from injury suffered another snag Monday when the former Top 25-ranked American was defeated 7-5, 6-7(3), 7-5 by Frenchman Gregory Carraz in his opener at the ATP stop in Indianapolis.
"The conditions are good for me," Carraz said. "(The courts) are pretty fast. I feel the ball really well. I like this tournament."
Blake slid head-first into a net pole at Roland Garros in 2004, suffering neck and other injuries. With the loss Blake's win-loss record dropped to 12-14 on the year.
Other winners on the day of all-unseeded play were Wimbledon doubles winner Weslie Moodie (d. Lisnard), Russian Dmitry Tursunov (d. (Q) Lu), American Robby Ginepri (d. Ryderstedt), and France's Anthony Dupuis (d. Popp), all straight-set winners.
"Last year and the start of this year has kind of been a bit of a roller coaster for me," Ginepri said. "I'm looking forward to this summer. I've been working really hard and I'm anxious to see how far I can get."
Scheduled for Tuesday in Indy are Dlouhy vs. Bjorkman, Gambill vs. (WC) Young in an all-American match-up, (WC) R.Ram vs. Schalken, (1) Roddick vs. Tursunov, Ginepri vs. Spadea in an all-American, Morrison vs. Bastl, Delic vs. Phau, in doubles Hrbaty/Kiefer vs. (WC) Blake/Fish, (WC) Murray vs. Saretta, (7) Rusedski vs. Moodie, G.Lapentti vs. (Q) Mashiska Washington, K.Kim vs. Karlovic, Baghdatis vs. (Q) De Chaunac, Okun vs. (Q) B.Evans, and Falla vs. Goldstein.
Two Germans Through Monday at ATP Stuttgart
Germany went two-for-three on Day One at the claycourt ATP stop in Stuttgart as the un-seeds took to the court in first round play.
Homecountry favorites through to the second round were Philip Kohlschreiber (d. (Q) Brzezicki from a set down) and 6-foot-3 left-handed wildcard Andreas Beck (d. Di Mauro), while Germans on the down side were wildcard teenager Aljoschon Thron (l. to Zabaleta), Florian Mayer (l. to Seppi), and wildcard Tobias Summerer (l. to Monaco).
"I'm not ready for this level yet," Thron said. "I just don't have the experience. You can see by the break points -- I think I had 10 of them."
German qualifier Simon Greul was at one-set all with Tomas Zib when the match was halted due to darkness.
Also safely into the second round were Spain's Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (d. Koubek) and Frenchman Gilles Simon (d. Montanes from a set down).
Scheduled for Tuesday on the red dirt are (WC) Waske vs. Haehnel, (Q) Greul vs. Zib (to finish), Nieminen vs. Burgsmuller, Schuettler vs. (Q) Vicente, Kuerten vs. (Q) Armando, A.Costa vs. (Q) "Julio &" Galo Blanco, Almagro vs. Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco in an all-Spanish, Gael "Force" Monfils vs. "You Say" Potito Starace, Zabaleta vs. (9) Olivier "The Roach" Rochus, (Q) Berlocq vs. Sabau, and (8) Volandri vs. Simon.
Two Seeds Uprooted in ATP Amersfoort
Spanish No. 7 seed Oscar Hernandez (l. to Ventura in three) and No. 8-seeded German Tomas Behrend (l. to D.Sanchez) failed to clear the first hurdle Monday at the ATP claycourt stop in Amersfoort where the tour's dirtballers are looking to vacuum up the few remaining claycourt points available before the hardcourt events dominate the U.S. summer season.
Seeds through to the second round on Monday were No. 2 Fernando Gonzalez (d. Vliegen) and No. 4 Christophe Rochus (d. Tabara from a set down).
Other un-seeds into the second round were Czechs Robin Vik (d. N.Lapentti) and Jiri Vanek (d. D.Norman from a set down).
The singles qualifying was also completed, with Julien Benneteau (FRA), Juan Antonio Marin (CRC), Radim Zitko (CZE), and Nicolas Thomann (FRA) into the main draw.
On tap for Tuesday on the tempestuous terre battue are (WC) Van Gemerden vs. (WC) Van Scheppingen in an all-Van all-Dutch-wildcard encounter, (Q) Thomann vs. (3) Massu, (5) Luis "Me So" Horna vs. "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter, (WC) Korteling vs. (6) Hanescu, (Q) Marin vs. Aldi, (Q) Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau vs. Calleri, (LL) Roitman vs. Calatrava, (Q) Zitko vs. Daniele "Choppin'" Bracciali, and Minar vs. Serra.
No. 7 Seed Vinci Leads Thrills Monday at WTA Palermo
Only two matches on the docket Monday at the WTA stop in Palermo, with homecountry favorite and No. 7 seed Roberta Vinci coming from a set down to beat Martina Sucha, and Croat Jelena Kostanic doing likewise against Lourdes Dominguez Lino.
Four more players moved onto the main draw after the completion of the final round of qualifying in Romina Oprandi (ITA), Elena Vesnina (RUS), Anastasiya Yakimova (BLR), and Maret Ani (EST).
Scheduled for Tuesday are Pastikova vs. Domachowska, Diaz-Oliva vs. Srebotnik, Farina Elia vs. Pironkova, Ant. Serra Zanetti vs. Pennetta, Sfar vs. Vierin, Castano vs. Oprandi, A.Bondarenko vs. Llagostera Vives, Medina Garrigues vs. Chladkova, Ani vs. Vesnina, Muller vs. Safarova, Parra Santonja vs. Smashnova, Gagliardi vs. Flipkens, Martinez Granados vs. Sanchez Lorenzo, and Koukalova vs. Yakimova.
Rubin Gets First Win After Injury Comeback at WTA Cincinnati
Former Top 10er Chanda Rubin won her first match of the season in her third attempt Monday at the WTA stop in Cincinnati, defeating fellow American Laura Granville 6-3, 6-4. Rubin underwent knee surgery in 2004, and the healing process has taken much longer than she thought.
"It's been a long time since I've felt this good," Rubin said. "My game is still in the building process, but I started off the week okay...I'm still not 100 percent yet, but I'm getting there. It's going to take some matches before I can see where things are at and to see how well I recover after each match. But I feel like I can continue to get stronger as the tournament goes on."
The only seed in play Monday was No. 8 Kveta Peschke, losing in straights to Russian Tatiana Panova.
Other winners into the second round were Japan's Aiko Nakamura (d. Spears from a set down), Israel's Shahar Peer (d. Fedak), Korean Yoon Jeong Cho (d. Jidkova), and Puerto Rico's Kristina Brandi (d. (WC) Kirkland).
The final round of qualifying was also completed with four more onto the main dance floor in Bethanie Mattek (USA), Cory Ann Avants (USA), Sybille Bammer (AUT), and Maria Emilia Salerni (ARG).
Scheduled for Tuesday in Cincy are Osterloh vs. Hantuchova, Schnyder vs. Wozniacki, Lee-Waters vs. Sugiyama, Shaughnessy vs. Zvonareva, Jankovic vs. Salerni, Groenefeld vs. Mirza, Mattek vs. Bartoli, Bammer vs. Benesova, Avants vs. Morigami, and Kremer vs. Pin.
X-CORRECT
From the Funk/Trunk, Tatiana Garbin wilted in the Modena final.
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