Weekend Wrap: Murray Wins, Nadal Gets Beat-Down
Posted on January 7, 2008
WTA Previews: Sydney, Hobart
One week remains until the start of the Australian Open, and the top players take to the court this week in Sydney at the Medibank International, which features the Top 4 players on the WTA Tour Rankings, and seven out of the Top 10.
World No. 1 Justine Henin makes her 2008 debut, joined by No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 3 Jelena Jankovic, No. 4 Ana Ivanovic, No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze, No. 9 Daniela Hantuchova, and No. 10 Marion Bartoli.
Wildcards for the event went to Aussies Alicia Molik and Nicole Pratt, and Russian Nadia Petrova.
Henin will not have an easy time, with rising Czech Lucie Safarova lurking in the second round, No. 8 Elena Dementieva in the quarters, and Ivanovic in the semis. Kuznetsova is slated to face the victor of Jankovic and Hantuchova in the semis.
Hobart by contrast features no Top 20 players, with the Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko upholding the top seeding.
Also seeded in Hobart are Russian Vera Zvonareva, Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, Belarus' Victoria Azarenka, India's Sania Mirza, Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues, and Argentina's Gisela Dulko.
Amelie Mauresmo and Na Li pulled from Sydney citing injuries.
Mauresmo cited a left adductor strain, and Li has a right knee injury.
"Unfortunately I have re-injured my left adductor," Mauresmo said in a statement. "I felt it yesterday during my training session and did not practice today. This is an injury that I am familiar with and know that it will not get better overnight."
Li won the Australian Women's Hardcourt on the Gold Coast on Saturday in her first tournament back after a six-month injury layoff.
"The problem with my knee seemed to get a little worse after I tried to practice this morning and I just could not move very well," Li said.
Kim Clijsters won Sydney in 2007, topping Jankovic in the three-set final. Chakvetadze was the winner in Hobart in 2007 as the top seed.
ATP Previews: Sydney, Auckland
James Blake hopes three times is the charm as the American goes for his third consecutive Sydney title this week at the Medibank International.
Blake is the third seed behind No. 1 Richard Gasquet and No. 2 Tommy Robredo. Other seeded players are Tomas Berdych, former No. 1s Carlos Moya and Lleyton Hewitt, Paul-Henri Mathieu, and Fernando Verdasco.
Opening round matches of note include (8) Verdasco vs. Spanish countryman Feliciano Lopez, (3) Blake vs. Fabrice Santoro, (7) Mathieu vs. riser Juan Martin Del Potro, and (2) Robredo vs. Radek Stepanek.
The Bryan brothers are the top seeds in doubles, and open against the formidable team of Max Mirnyi and Jamie Murray.
Spaniard David Ferrer is the lone Top 10 player in Auckland at the Heineken Open, joined by seeds Juan Ignacio Chela, Juan Monaco, former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, Jarkko Nieminen, Nicolas Almagro, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Al Montanes.
Wildcards went to Mario Ancic and Kiwis Jose Statham and Daniel King-Turner.
Blake's consecutive wins in Sydney came on the tail of two in a row by Hewitt in 2004-05.
Ferrer is the defending champ in Auckland, last year topping Robredo in the final.
Davenport Mommy Dearest After Auckland Title
Unstoppable mom Lindsay Davenport won her first title of the year in her first event Saturday, crushing France's Aravane Rezai 6-2, 6-2 to win the Auckland Classic.
The 31-year-old American has won 18 of 19 matches since returning to competition late last year following the birth of her son Jagger.
"I was happy with the way I was able to play well at times, not perfectly at others, but really come through the tournament and just lose the one set," said Davenport, who feasted on the weak Rezai serve. "I didn't think my body would bounce back as fast as it has after giving birth, and the strain of pregnancy, so I'm excited now about going to the huge stage of the Australian Open and seeing what can happen."
Rezai's hit-or-miss strategy failed to take hold against Davenport, who overpowered the streaky Frenchwoman.
"It's not impossible to beat her, but she did not give me time to play some good shots," she said.
Rezai dropped to 0-2 in WTA Tour finals, retiring in last year's Istanbul final with injury.
Davenport entered the event unseeded, but with more career titles than the rest of the field combined.
"I came here to win the tournament -- mission accomplished," Davenport said. "I played five matches in six days and only lost one set so I'm happy with the way I played."
Winning the doubles title were Mariya Koryttseva and Lilia Osterloh, who topped Martina Muller and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-3, 6-4.
Chinas Li Na Takes WTA Gold Coast Crown
Li Na showed 2008 will be yet another step forward for Chinese tennis, on Saturday beating Belarusian teenager Victoria Azarenka 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the Australian Women's Hardcourt in Gold Coast, Australia.
Na missed the entire second half of the 2007 season with a fractured rib.
Azarenka led by a set and a break but could not close out Na, who won seven of the next eight games to win the second set, then went up a break 3-1 in the third before securing the championship.
"I am so surprised I won," Na said. "I had four months off without playing, staying in bed with my rib injury; I don't know how I've been able to come back like this. My team told me this morning that I had already had a good week and I may as well go out and try and win one more."
It was the second career title for Na after Guangzhou in 2004.
The loss dropped Azarenka to 0-3 in career finals.
"I wouldn't say it slipped away today. She played great, especially in the second and third sets," the Belarusian teen said. "This tournament has been great preparation for me for the Australian Open. Though I lost today, I gained a lot of confidence this week and I think I learned a lot."
Murray Outlasts Wawrinka for ATP Doha Crown
Raring to go after a 2007 season wrought with injuries, Britain's Andy Murray won his first title of the year in the first week of the year over the weekend, outlasting Swiss riser Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to claim the Qatar ExxonMobil Open championship.
It was the fourth career title for Murray, who has previously lost to the Swiss on clay in Davis Cup three years ago and also on hardcourt at ATP Masters Series Miami in 2006.
"It was a really good week," Murray said. "The first four matches were not easy, but relatively comfortable, and that one was by far the toughest. Did a lot of running, and the quality of tennis was very high. Stan has improved a lot over the last six months since he came back from his knee injury."
Wawrinka fell to 1-4 lifetime in ATP finals.
"I played a good match, but the third set was difficult," Wawrikna said. "He's just playing very good. He's doing everything. It's very difficult to play against him, to come to the net or to stay back, it's very difficult...For me, it's very, very good if I want to be in the Top 20. I beat [Ivan] Ljubicic for the first time by doing a great match."
Unseeded Llodra Surprises with ATP Adelaide Title
Unseeded Frenchman Michael Llodra won his second career ATP singles title on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 3 seed Jarkko Nieminen for the Next Generation Adelaide International title.
Llodra broke early in each set, and the 27-year-old celebrated his victory by jumping into the River Torrens in Adelaide.
It was the first hardcourt title for Llodra, who won his lone previous title on grass in 2004. Barely ranked in the Top 100, Llodra was the last direct acceptance into the main draw.
"I knew before the match he's going to be tough because he's a good returner but I know also when I serve good its tough for the guy to return," said the doubles specialist. "This win will give me a lot of confidence for sure. When I came here I was the last one into the tournament but I made good preparation in December and I knew I could play good. I played in my first ATP final at this tournament and now I win the last tournament in Adelaide so it is good history for me."
In the doubles final the No. 4-seeded team of Garcia/Melo beat Aussie wildcards Guccione/Smeets 10-7 in a third-set tiebreak.
Nadal Collapses in ATP Chennai Final
The talk surrounding the physical fitness of world No. 2 Rafael Nadal grew louder over the weekend when the Spaniard, long known for grinding down opponents, looked a shell of his former imposing figure in falling 6-0, 6-1 to Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the final at the Chennai Open.
Nadal failed to rebound physically and mentally from a long semifinal win the previous night over Spanish countryman and mentor Carlos Moya.
"I am very happy with this title but I did not play against Rafael Nadal today," Youzhny said. "He was dead and could not move. I have to thank Carlos (Moya) for keeping him on the court for four hours last night. I really can't say much more about the final, bad luck for Rafa. This week I started slowly but then played better and better round after round. It is a great start to 2008."
It was the fourth career title for Youzhny, who improves to 4-4 in career finals.
Nadal's Saturday semifinal against Carlos Moya lasted 3 hrs. 54 mins., the longest three-set match since 1993 when Andrei Cherkasov beat Andrea Gaudenzi in the quarterfinals of Tel Aviv.
"I don't want to make any excuses," Nadal said. "I played almost four hours last night and maybe it was too much to come back less than 24 hours later and play the final. I did not recover. Last night it was so emotional against Carlos, who is one of my best friends. I am still happy with my week, first tournament and I reach the final."
In the doubles final, Thai twins Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana won their second ATP doubles title with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Marcos Baghdatis and Marc Gicquel.
"We look absolutely the same, it is ok for us but maybe that confuses the opponents," Sanchai said.
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Roger Federer won the Champion of the Champions award voted by the editors of L'Equipe. He is only the second sportsman to win the award three times in a row, joining F1 driver Michael Schumacher (2001-03).
...Andy Murray leads the ATP Race points standings after week one of play, so get ready for news outlets announcing Murray is No. 1 in the world.
...Lleyton Hewitt says players need to man-up and quit complaining about the heat during Australian tournaments: "It's not comfortable for anyone to play sport on days like this, but that's what it's about though, gruelling out matches. There shouldn't be a heat rule regardless, we're athletes and if you don't put in the hard yards then don't play."
...35-year-old Frenchman Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro will break Andre Agassi's all-time record of appearing in 61 Grand Slam tournaments when he competes at the Australian Open in late January. "It's a great record to beat because it's Andre Agassi, who is one of the best tennis players ever," Santoro said. "I have a huge respect for him and this is the only record I'll ever take from him. It means I have been consistent at a high level for almost 20 years."
...The Williams sisters haven't both competed in all four Slams in one year since 2001.
...Ana Ivanovic donated $63,000 to UNICEF's Schools Without Violence program in Serbia.
...Russian Dinara Safina is working with coaches Heinz Gunthardt and Zeljko Krajan.
...Mario Ancic pulled from Adelaide last week citing a stomach illness. Radek Stepanek also pulled from the doubles with a right heel injury.
...Meghann Shaughnessy retired with a knee injury at Gold Coast.
...Anna Chakvetadze has reached an agreement to extend her current deal with Fischer racquets.
...Novak Djokovic on the joys of playing the mixed-team Hopman Cup with Serb compatriot Jelena Jankovic: "It's always a good experience to play with a female. You can kiss in the end, you can kiss in the start. While you're serving, she's bending over at the net. I think some of the guys here [in the crowd] will understand."
...Lindsay Davenport is only the second player besides Monica Seles (2003) who has been granted "gold emeritus exempt" status, accorded 14-year veterans who have been No. 1 and have won at least three Grand Slam events or year-end championships, which permits wildcards into any tournament.
...Andy Roddick is reported to be playing in the Aussie Millions poker tournament at his hotel, the Crown, held during the Australian Open.
...According to the Aussie Herald Sun, actors Eric Bana, Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon have been linked to playing former Aussie player Scott Draper in a movie based on his book, 'Too Good -- The Scott Draper Story'.
...The ITF rejected Martina Hingis' claim she was innocent of a positive cocaine test, handing her a two-year ban from tennis and reclaiming $147,000 in prize money.
...Amelie Mauresmo entering the 2008 season after last year's four-month absence due to an emergency appendectomy and a leg injury: "I'm trying to do the best I can physically by travelling with a physio but I think the head, the head is really determining a lot of things. If you want to keep going, if you have this fire inside you; it's true that it's tough when you're injured, especially as you get older, but I think the mind decides everything."
...31-year-old Carlos Moya says he has two more years of tennis in him.
...The Australian Open has banned laptop computers courtside in an attempt to curb gambling.
...Venus Williams beat Maria Sharapova in straight sets to win the J.B. Group Classic exhibition in Hong Kong.
...World No. 2-ranked Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova says she will skip the early rounds of the Fed Cup competition in 2008 to concentrate on catching Justine Henin for the world No. 1 ranking.
...Russian-born Anastasia Rodionova and former Slovakian Jarmila Gajdosova are now both playing for Australia as citizens Down Under.
...Swede Robin Soderling's wrist injury will reportedly have him missing the Aussie Open.
...Mardy Fish and Serena Williams won the Hopman Cup for the U.S., defeating Serbs Novak Djokovic and Jelena Jankovic in the final.