Murray Advances to Ljubicic Meeting at Madrid; Federer, Roddick on Tap Today
Posted on October 17, 2006An all-unseeded first day of play yielded some attention-grabbing future match-ups Monday at the Masters Series-Madrid, where Britain's Tim Henman and Andy Murray, Americans Mardy Fish and Robby Ginepri, and Thai Paradorn Srichaphan were among the unseeded victors.
Murray's 6-4, 6-4 win over Spanish qualifier Ivan Navarro Pastor earns him a second-round meeting with world No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic, who like all the 16 seeds received an opening-round bye. Ljubicic is fresh off the title last week in Vienna.
"The best part of Ljubicic's game is obviously his serve. He won in Vienna recently having not dropped his serve," Murray told the media. "My return is the best part of my game so it should be an interesting match up. If I play well I've got a chance but he's playing really good tennis."
The wildcard Henman defeated Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, and his Spanish-heavy draw now sees him facing No. 14 seed David Ferrer.
"I served fantastically well and at the right times," said Henman, a loser to Roger Federer in the Tokyo final. "It's a good start for me and good to continue where I left off in Tokyo."
The American qualifier Fish came from a set down to edge Belgian Xavier "X-Man" Malisse 7-5 in the fifth, earning a meeting with world No. 2 Rafael Nadal. Fish will try and duplicate the big-hitting display of Joachim Johansson, the Swede who beat Nadal last week on the indoor carpet in Stockholm. Nadal is the defending champion in Madrid.
Ginepri outlasted Spaniard Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez in three sets, and will now battle No. 12 seed Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic. Srichaphan had little problem with Spanish qualifier Gorka Fraile 6-2, 6-2, and next faces No. 10 seed Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez.
Other winners Monday were Chilean Nicolas Massu (d. Gaudio who retired in the third with a stomach injury), Argentines Juan Ignacio Chela (d. Moya) and Agustin Calleri (d. Serra), and Frenchmen Sebastien Grosjean (d. Bjorkman) and qualifier Julien Benneteau (d. Falla).
Scheduled for Tuesday in Madrid are (1) Federer vs. Massu, (6) Roddick vs. Grosjean, Monfils vs. Hrbaty, Chela vs. (7) Robredo, (WC) Henman vs. (14) Ferrer, Safin vs. Acasuso, Soderling vs. O.Rochus, Vliegen vs. Tursunov, (Q) Del Potro vs. J.Johansson, Nieminen vs. Gasquet, and (4) Nalbandian vs. (Q) Benneteau.
Doubles highlights Tuesday are (1) Bryan/Bryan vs. Gonzalez/Youzhny, Erlich/Ram vs. Bhupathi/Blake, and Spaniards (WC) F.Lopez/Nadal vs. defending champs (3) Knowles/Nestor.
Murray's 6-4, 6-4 win over Spanish qualifier Ivan Navarro Pastor earns him a second-round meeting with world No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic, who like all the 16 seeds received an opening-round bye. Ljubicic is fresh off the title last week in Vienna.
"The best part of Ljubicic's game is obviously his serve. He won in Vienna recently having not dropped his serve," Murray told the media. "My return is the best part of my game so it should be an interesting match up. If I play well I've got a chance but he's playing really good tennis."
The wildcard Henman defeated Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, and his Spanish-heavy draw now sees him facing No. 14 seed David Ferrer.
"I served fantastically well and at the right times," said Henman, a loser to Roger Federer in the Tokyo final. "It's a good start for me and good to continue where I left off in Tokyo."
The American qualifier Fish came from a set down to edge Belgian Xavier "X-Man" Malisse 7-5 in the fifth, earning a meeting with world No. 2 Rafael Nadal. Fish will try and duplicate the big-hitting display of Joachim Johansson, the Swede who beat Nadal last week on the indoor carpet in Stockholm. Nadal is the defending champion in Madrid.
Ginepri outlasted Spaniard Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez in three sets, and will now battle No. 12 seed Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic. Srichaphan had little problem with Spanish qualifier Gorka Fraile 6-2, 6-2, and next faces No. 10 seed Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez.
Other winners Monday were Chilean Nicolas Massu (d. Gaudio who retired in the third with a stomach injury), Argentines Juan Ignacio Chela (d. Moya) and Agustin Calleri (d. Serra), and Frenchmen Sebastien Grosjean (d. Bjorkman) and qualifier Julien Benneteau (d. Falla).
Scheduled for Tuesday in Madrid are (1) Federer vs. Massu, (6) Roddick vs. Grosjean, Monfils vs. Hrbaty, Chela vs. (7) Robredo, (WC) Henman vs. (14) Ferrer, Safin vs. Acasuso, Soderling vs. O.Rochus, Vliegen vs. Tursunov, (Q) Del Potro vs. J.Johansson, Nieminen vs. Gasquet, and (4) Nalbandian vs. (Q) Benneteau.
Doubles highlights Tuesday are (1) Bryan/Bryan vs. Gonzalez/Youzhny, Erlich/Ram vs. Bhupathi/Blake, and Spaniards (WC) F.Lopez/Nadal vs. defending champs (3) Knowles/Nestor.