Federer, Hewitt, Haas Struggle at ATP Bangkok
Posted on September 29, 2005World No. 1 Roger Federer received a test from an unlikely source Wednesday at the ATP stop in Bangkok, looking rusty in edging past unseeded Brazilian Marcos Daniel 7-6(3), 6-4.
The display by Daniel further reinforced the notion -- confirmed by Federer himself earlier this year -- that the Swiss' weak link is facing serve-and-volley players who can exert consistent pressure.
"He was more difficult than I expected," Federer said. "I've never saw him play before, and I expected more rallies, but he served and volleyed a lot. It was hard for me coming from clay at Davis Cup, but I played good shots when I needed to and the main thing is I came through with the win."
Federer strerched his Open Era-record hardcourt streak to 36 consecutive matches with the win, and improved to 73-3 on the year.
No. 2 seed Lleyton Hewitt, No. 4 seed Tommy Haas, and No. 8 Luis Horna all struggled to three-set victories Wednesday, with Horna saving a match point against Czech Ivo Minar.
Hewitt dropped the middle set against Czech Lukas Dlouhy, and Haas the same against Georgian Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze, so nicknamed for his unpredictable play and variety of shot.
Haas said, like Hewitt, he has has been slow in adjusting to the indoor courts.
"He doesn't give you much rhythm," Haas said of Freak Show. "I didn't have the best preparation and only got one hit in yesterday. But overall I had a great last weekend, and I'm going to keep going with it and see where it takes me here."
No. 3 seed Robby Ginepri dropped 13 aces on French qualifier Nicolas Thomann, coming back from a 1-4 deficit in the second for a straight-set win.
Un-seeds into the second round were American Justin Gimelstob (d. N.Lapentti) and Russian Dmitry Tursunov (d. Calatrava from a set down).
Scheduled for Wednesday in Bangkok are (5) Soderling vs. Murray, (1) Federer vs. (Q) Gremelmayr, (7) Srichaphan vs. Garcia-Lopez, Gimelstob vs. (2) Hewitt, (4) Haas vs. Y.Wang, Tursunov vs. (6) Nieminen, and Muller vs. (8) Horna.
The display by Daniel further reinforced the notion -- confirmed by Federer himself earlier this year -- that the Swiss' weak link is facing serve-and-volley players who can exert consistent pressure.
"He was more difficult than I expected," Federer said. "I've never saw him play before, and I expected more rallies, but he served and volleyed a lot. It was hard for me coming from clay at Davis Cup, but I played good shots when I needed to and the main thing is I came through with the win."
Federer strerched his Open Era-record hardcourt streak to 36 consecutive matches with the win, and improved to 73-3 on the year.
No. 2 seed Lleyton Hewitt, No. 4 seed Tommy Haas, and No. 8 Luis Horna all struggled to three-set victories Wednesday, with Horna saving a match point against Czech Ivo Minar.
Hewitt dropped the middle set against Czech Lukas Dlouhy, and Haas the same against Georgian Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze, so nicknamed for his unpredictable play and variety of shot.
Haas said, like Hewitt, he has has been slow in adjusting to the indoor courts.
"He doesn't give you much rhythm," Haas said of Freak Show. "I didn't have the best preparation and only got one hit in yesterday. But overall I had a great last weekend, and I'm going to keep going with it and see where it takes me here."
No. 3 seed Robby Ginepri dropped 13 aces on French qualifier Nicolas Thomann, coming back from a 1-4 deficit in the second for a straight-set win.
Un-seeds into the second round were American Justin Gimelstob (d. N.Lapentti) and Russian Dmitry Tursunov (d. Calatrava from a set down).
Scheduled for Wednesday in Bangkok are (5) Soderling vs. Murray, (1) Federer vs. (Q) Gremelmayr, (7) Srichaphan vs. Garcia-Lopez, Gimelstob vs. (2) Hewitt, (4) Haas vs. Y.Wang, Tursunov vs. (6) Nieminen, and Muller vs. (8) Horna.