Vaidisova Advances Toward 3rd Straight Title; Mirza Done for Year with Injury
Posted on October 14, 2005
Youzhny Leads Russian Rush into ATP Moscow QuartersNo. 3 seed Mikhail Youzhny overcame a slow start Thursday to lead three Russians into the quarterfinals at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, defeating unseeded American Paul Goldstein 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
"Again I did not play my best tennis, but was able to raise my game when it was important, at 5-2 down in the first set and in the closing stages of the match," Youzhny said.
Russian qualifier Igor Kunitsyn stunned No. 5 seed Greg Rusedski, and wildcard Dmitry Tursunov ousted No. 8 Filippo Volandri, both in straight sets.
"He played pretty well," Rusedski begrudged his opponent. "The court was a little bit slower and that was advantageous to him. I didn't play as well as I could but I have to give him credit. He played well and that just how tennis goes some days."
Other un-seeds into the quarters were Romanian Andrei Pavel (d. Saulnier in three), and Italian Daniele Bracciali (d. Hernych).
On court Friday are (6) Kiefer vs. (4) Mirnyi, (3) Youzhny vs. (WC) Tursunov in an all-Russian, Bracciali vs. (7) Andreev, and (Q) Kunitsyn vs. Pavel.
Bjorkman Shocks Ancic at ATP Stockholm
Swedish wildcard Jonas Bjorkman kept the upsets coming Thursday at his ATP homecountry stop in Stockholm, ousting No. 4 seed Mario Ancic 7-5, 7-6(7) in front of roaringly-appreciative fans to advance to his second consecutive quarterfinal after coming off his title at the Vietnam Open.
Seeds into the quarters Thursday were (5) Olivier Rochus (d. (LL) Benneteau) and (6) James Blake (d. C.Rochus from a set down).
"Christophe's a great player," Blake said. "I played his brother a couple of weeks ago. Both of them fight very hard, they play great defense, so it's tough to put balls away even on indoor hard. He made it very difficult."
Three other un-seeds also gained the quarterfinal round in German qualifier Rainer Schuettler (d. (7) Nieminen who retired with a shoulder injury), Thai Paradorn Srichaphan (d. (LL) Waske) and Spaniard Al Martin (d. Malisse from a set down).
"I will play Johansson now which will be tough in front of his home crowd," Srichaphan said. "It should be a great match. I'll go into it not really expecting much and try to keep playing my best tennis."
Scheduled for the Friday quarters are (6) Blake vs. A.Martin, (5) O.Rochus vs. (WC) Bjorkman, (1) T.Johansson vs. Srichaphan, and Sanguinetti vs. (Q) Schuettler.
Top-seeded Nalbandian Advances to Face Ferrero at ATP Vienna
Top seed David Nalbandian righted his ship after a rocky three-set opening-round match, Thursday at the ATP stop in Vienna defeating local wildcard Rainer Eitzinger 6-1, 7-5 to advance into the quarterfinals.
Spanish seeds (7) Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. N.Lapentti) and (8) Feliciano Lopez (d. Marach in three) moved into the quarters, while unseeded former No. 1 Spaniard Carlos Moya was stopped in straight sets by (6) Fernando Gonzalez.
No. 4 seed Ivan Ljubicic handled unseeded Tommy Haas in straight sets, while homecountry hope Jurgen Melzer blew a match point in falling to French qualifier Jean-Rene Lisnard 7-6 in the third.
Lining up for the Friday quarterfinals in Vienna are (3) Stepanek vs. (8) Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, (6) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez vs. (4) Ljubicic, (1) Nalbandian vs. (7) Ferrero, and (5) Robredo vs. (Q) Lisnard.
Six Russians in WTA Moscow Quarterfinals
The Kremlin Cup lost its No. 2 seed Thursday when former No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo failed to find the gear shift against unseeded Italian Francesca Schiavone, finding herself on the business end of a 6-1, 6-1 beating.
"Today it was one of these days when everything goes wrong," Mauresmo said. "Nothing I did today worked right. The surface here is slightly sticky and slow so I felt strange especially after the very fast courts at Filderstadt. I had a bye and she had more practice here but it's not an excuse for my poor performance today."
Seeds advancing into the quarterfinals were (4) Elena Dementieva (d. (Q) Karatantcheva 0-and-0), (6) Anastasia Myskina (d. Peschke in three after a first-set bagel), and (8) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Russian countrywoman Zvonareva in three).
Also advancing on the Russian front was unseeded Dinara Safina, who struggled back from an opening-set loss to bypass Aussie qualifier Sam Stosur 6-4 in the third.
On court Friday are (3) Pierce vs. Likhovtseva, (1) Sharapova vs. Safina and (6) Myskina vs. (4) Dementieva in tantalizing all-Russian affairs, and (8) Kuznetsova vs. Schiavone.
Vaidisova Vibrant in 12th Win at WTA Bangkok
Red-hot 16-year-old Czech Nicole Vaidisova won her 12th consecutive match in her quest for a third consecutive title Thursday at the WTA stop in Bangkok, easing past Thai wildcard Suchanan Viratprasert 6-3, 6-1 to advance into the quarterfinals.
Joining the leggy Czech were fellow seeds (1) Nadia Petrova (d. (Q) Obata) and (6) Conchita Martinez (d. Castano, bagel in the second).
"It was extremely hot out there today and very hard to recover after long points," Petrova said, still seeking her first career title. "I was feeling like I was a little out of energy and a little uncoordinated during some points. Overall I played well but I think I played too defensively. I should have been more aggressive and fighting for every point."
No. 5 seed Sania Mirza retired against China's Meng Yuan with a back injury, while unseeded Italian
Antonella Serra Zanetti advanced with a win over Hungarian qualifier Melinda Czink.
"My injury happened during the match," Mirza said. "I went to hit an overhand and it felt like I basically hyper-extended my back. I couldn't really move very well after that, and it felt very stiff."
Featured Friday in Bangkok are Yuan vs. Dulko, Martinez vs. Vaidisova, Petrova vs. Foretz, and An.Serra Zanetti vs. Peer.
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From the Malayala Manorama: "Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza's glorious run was on Thursday cut short when she retired hurt in the second round of $200,000 WTA Thailand Open tennis tournament here." -- Her "glorious" one-win run, sweet reporting. Mirza says she is done for the year after injuring her back: "It's not the way I wanted to end my year, but I can't control that. I've never retired from a match in my life. It was hard. I'm going to take a break from tennis now. It has been a long year and a very eventful one. I'm going to take some time to relax and then start preparing for next year."...World No. 1 Roger Federer is raising money for his Roger Federer Foundation with sales of his 2006 calendar. Profits from the sale of calendar will benefit Federer's foundation which supports disadvantaged children and promotes sports for youth. Ordering information can be found at www.rogerfederer.com. Also available through Federer's website is the DVD "Roger Federer -- Replay." A camera team followed Federer through his final two tournaments of 2004 at Basel and the Tennis Masters Cup-Houston and captured behind the scenes moments for the documentary. The film covers his career, from his days as a ballboy in Basel to his ascension to No. 1, and includes interviews with his family and friends as well as John McEnroe and Boris Becker. In addition to the documentary, the DVD also includes 30 minutes of bonus material...Winners at the Eindhoven ATP senior tour event Thursday were Richard Krajicek (d. Muster in three), Paul Haarhuis (d. Ivanisevic), Jim Courier (d. Forget), and John McEnroe (d. Siemerink)...Russian Nadia Petrova on playing in Bangkok this week instead of Moscow: "I have never have good results there. I left the country at 12 and when I go back many people want to see how well I play and that bothers me. I always leave the tournament with negative feelings, with people talking about the wrong and bad things, and that makes me uncomfortable about going to the next tournament."...Spain's Al Costa says he might hang it up after the Masters Series-Madrid next week: "It is getting harder and harder to travel all the time and I want to spend more time with my family. I don't have the same motivation as before and I haven't had much luck with injuries either. This could be my last tournament."...Former Aussie player and Lleyton Hewitt coach Jason Stoltenberg has been named as Tennis Australia's high performance academy head coach...Also coupling to the long, long injury train are Justine Henin-Hardenne, pulling out of Zurich next week with her ongoing hamstring injury, and France's Richard Gasquet out for the rest of the year with an arm injury.