Nadal Hot, Federer Not on Tennis Hawkeye, RR Innovations
Posted on October 20, 2006
Hawkeye Helps Federer Into Quarters at ATP MadridWorld No. 1 Roger Federer has been a vocal critic of the new Hawkeye video replay challenge system in pro tennis, but the Swiss had no problem utilizing the system multiple times Thursday during a difficult 7-6(5), 7-6(8) win over big-hitting Swede Robin Soderling to move into the quarterfinals at the Masters Series-Madrid.
Federer was 4-2 down in the second tiebreak before saving three set points and correctly challenging Soderling's final two shots in coming back to tame the Swede 10-8, advancing into the quarters against American Robby Ginepri.
"It turned out to be a crazy end and was kind of funny waiting for the result on the match point, this has never happened before and I thought it was kind of silly," Federer said. "But it wouldn't have made a difference to the end result."
Ginepri advanced with a straight-set upset over No. 7 seed Tommy Robredo, hurting the Spaniard's chances of qualifying for the year-end Masters Cup.
Ginepri's countryman Andy Roddick was not so lucky, with the No. 6 seed complaining of ankle pain after a 7-6(7), 6-3 loss to No. 11 seed Tomas Berdych, who fed the big-serving American some of his own medicine with 23 aces.
"It's the same ankle I had injured earlier this year during the claycourt season. I just kind of tweaked it again," said Roddick, who looks to return at the Masters Series-Paris the week before the Masters Cup. "I'm in pretty good shape right now -- I think I'm closed to being confirmed (for the Masters Cup). But the priority now is to get healthy because I'm not sure what the upside to playing in Shanghai on a bum ankle is."
Berdych will next square of against world No. 2 Rafael Nadal, who handled No. 13 Tommy Haas in straight sets. The Czech holds a 2-1 head-to-head advantage over the Spaniard, beating him in three sets this year at the MS-Canada, and in three sets last year at the MS-Cincinnati, both on hardcourts.
"If I'm serving as good as I served today, then I think I have a really good chance to beat Rafael," Berdych said.
There was fireworks during the meeting between No. 4-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian and British wildcard Tim Henman as the two players arguing with each other over line calls.
"It's frustrating because there were a lot of tight points in those last few games," said Henman who unsuccessfully served for the match, and refused to overturn a point in favor of the Argentine. "I think he's in a dream world...and so then he starts questioning my sportsmanship. If you're going to go down that road, there's only going to be one winner in that debate."
The win was a big one for Nalbandian, who is in contention for one of the year-end Elite Eight spots at the Masters Cup.
Also into the quarterfinals were unseeded Marat Safin who had few problems against Belgian Kristof Vliegen, No. 10 seed Fernando Gonzalez who was handed a walkover with opponent Joachim Johansson of Sweden suffering a throat infection, and No. 15 Novak Djokovic who came back from a 6-1 first-set beating to defeat Andy Murray in three sets.
Friday's quarterfinal line-up in Madrid will be Federer vs. Ginepri, Nadal vs. Berdych, Gonzalez vs. Djokovic, and Safin vs. Nalbandian.
Mauresmo Pulls, Hingis Into Quarters at Zurich
ZURICH, Switzerland -- Even without top seed Amelie Mauresmo, Zurich Open fans can look forward to exciting quarterfinal action, as a pair of local heroes and three Top 10 stars headline Friday's match-ups at Hallenstadion. For the first time in four years, two Swiss players are part of the quarterfinal line-up of this Tier I event. In addition to Martina Hingis, Swiss teen Timea Bacsinszky also advanced to the final eight.
While Daniela Hantuchova receives a free pass to the semifinals with the Mauresmo injury withdrawal, No.3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova will battle No.5 Martina Hingis at prime time on centre court. After Hingis won her second round without too much trouble on Wednesday, Kuznetsova had to dig deep to get past Jelena Jankovic, 76(6) 75, in just over two hours. Jankovic certainly had her opportunities but couldn't capitalize. The Serb led 6-3 in the tie-break and gave away three set points. She disputed several line calls, which might have contributed to her mental distraction. She also led 5-3 in the second set before losing the last four games.
"It was a very tough match today," Kuznetsova said. "I know how well she can play now since the US Open and we've played three times in the last few weeks. Today I took my chances very well in the first and second sets. She did not and that was the difference. I played very well when I had the set points against me and she got a little distracted when she called the referee onto the court. I know this can happen sometimes with her and I'm used to it."
Kuznetsova already knows what it will take to beat 2000 Zurich Open champion, Hingis. The two played each other three times this year and Hingis won twice, including the most recent encounter in Montreal.
"Tomorrow's not easy," Kuznetsova said. "Martina is playing at home in front of a Swiss crowd. I know what I have to do. Keep my unforced errors down as she doesn't give you anything and uses the power very well against you. But I'm motivated for this match and am really looking forward to it."
In the bottom half, Maria Kirilenko faces Katarina Srebotnik, who advanced with a 61 64 win over No.4 seed Elena Dementieva on Thursday. A day after qualifying for the Sony Ericsson Championships, Dementieva had no fitting recipe for her Slovenian opponent.
The third quarterfinal of the day matches Russian super star Maria Sharapova against 17-year-old qualifier Bacsinszky. While Sharapova battled a little more than two hours for her 64 76(4) win over Shahar Peer, Bacsinszky advanced after one set when Francesca Schiavone retired due to a right calf strain. She jumped to a 5-0 lead against Schiavone, but it was obvious that the No.8-seeded Italian was limited in her movement. Bacsinszy, who won her first couple of Sony Ericsson WTA Tour matches here, now faces a huge challenge against new US Open champion Sharapova. The Russian, who had to retire last week in Moscow due to a right foot strain, trailed 4-3 in the first set and saved a set point at 5-4 in the second.
"I was definitely struggling a little out there today," Sharapova said. "The court was slower than I expected and my opponent played a lot better than expected. She can definitely play. It was a little frustrating having to stop for five days (after Moscow). You feel like you're starting out again from scratch. But the foot has been holding up well. Obviously, a two-hour match isn't going to help, but at this point I'm trying my best to stay healthy."
-- WTA
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Roger Federer on some of the ATP's current and planned innovations: "The round robin, I don't know. I was just asked what I thought, the round robin format. It could kind of work. You get to see the best players maybe twice at least or three times, but then I think you lose the first round, you want to stick around for maybe not even being able to qualify. It's kind of maybe a losing battle, I think. I started to think about it more often. I just got some doubts, just keep the knock out system. That's so unique about tennis, one bad day, you're out. That's what like the Hawkeye. I didn't like it in the first place. I still don't like it today. That hasn't changed."...Last week Amelie Mauresmo said a doctor cleared her to play Zurich after she pulled from Stuttgart with a shoulder injury. Yesterday the Frenchwoman pulled from Zurich, saying that "pushing herself" has now endangered her appearance at the year-end championships in Madrid: "It's very frustrating. Two weeks ago I could already feel something and I could feel it on the serve, and yesterday I was not serving very hard and I could feel something again in the second set. I've pushed myself to play last week and to be able to come here this week. Maybe it was not the right solution. There is inflammation in two areas of the shoulder but not big damage that could really put me out for a long time. I hope I will be in Madrid."...Ivan Ljubicic has pulled from Lyon next week citing a viral infection, and Andy Roddick pulled citing an ankle injury...Andy Roddick on part-time coach Jimmy Connors travelling to Madrid: "I didn't expect him to come either. To be honest, he called and wanted to come."...Venus and Serena Williams will play an exhibition match at the Broomfield Event Center in Denver on Nov. 30 as a benefit for Ronald McDonald House Charities...Tennis magazine named La Quinta, Ca.; Charleston, S.C.; Charlottesville, Va.; Hilton Head Island, S.C.; Palm Coast, Fla.; and Scottsdale, Ariz., the six best locations in the United States where tennis players can spend their retirement years...Rafael Nadal in an interview with Deutsche Press-Agentur: "We tennis players should work harder. I totally agree with the change in the system to round robin, I would prefer four players instead of groups of three, but that favours the show, the players and the tournament. Everyone. I am thrilled. Evidently golf moves a great deal more money than tennis, and that must be for some reason -- the people in charge of golf must be doing something better than those in charge of tennis. That thing about round robin it that it favors earning more money. It is clear that in Grand Slams we do not earn a lot, taking into account the sway of the tournament. This year at Roland Garros (in the French Open) we started playing on Sunday and we earned almost nothing more, but the tournament benefits a lot from that. When you don't know whether it lasts two, three or five hours it is difficult for the person who buys tennis to programme it on television. Can that be solved? I don't know. All I know is that football has improved a lot since it was forbidden for the goalkeeper the handle the ball after a back pass. Is round robin an improvement? Yes, of course. People want to see (Roger) Federer, or (Andy) Roddick. Now perhaps me. And this way they will see them at least twice, instead of once. If the world number two or the number one [seed] lose in the first round it is a catastrophe for the tournament. Tournaments will be longer, but if you want to earn more money that's the way it is."