Lothario Verdasco Tops Murray at Australian Open
Murray, Blake Lose; Roddick v Djokovic Today at Australian Open
Refusing to blame an illness he’d been battling for the last few days, or the pressure of being anointed a favorite without even a Slam title to his credit, Andy Murray exited the Australian Open with grace on Monday after losing a see-saw 2-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 slugfest with hot-handed Spaniard Fernando “Hot Sauce” Verdasco.
ADHEREL
With a load of confidence after coming off winning the Davis Cup to end 2008 )and dating Ana Ivanovic to begin 2009), Verdasco served huge and also employed some indirect advice from Spanish countryman and world No. 1 Rafael Nadal.
“I just saw something that he said, I think yesterday or two days ago in the press conference,” Verdasco told reporters. “They ask him about my match, and he said I should take the forehand and try to move him and try to take the rhythm of the match.”
Murray said the loss could not be attributed to any mounting pressure, but to the play of Verdasco, who not only showed his powerful repertoire of serving and crunching forehands, but a deft touch with dropshots, slices and lobs to keep the Brit on the move.
“I don’t feel that was the reason why I lost,” Murray said of his favorite status. “I definitely did have my chances, and he played too well. I’m disappointed that I lost. But I’ll try and learn from it. It’s not a disaster. I’m still playing well. I lost to a good player in a very close match. I’ll have more chances to win Grand Slams.”
Nadal was another Spaniard into the quarters after crushing No. 13 seed Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Two Frenchmen, No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and No. 6 Gilles Simon also advanced, with Tsonga straight-setting American James Blake, and Simon proclaimed the victor when countryman Gael Monfils retired after three sets with a wrist injury.
“Well, you never want to win like this,” Simon told reporters. “It’s already strange when it’s another player, but when it’s a friend like Gael it’s more difficult.”
Tsonga and Verdasco will next square off, and Nadal will face Simon, who last year beat him on hardcourts at the Masters Series-Madrid.
Scheduled for Tuesday in men’s quarterfinal play are (7) Andy Roddick vs. (3) Novak Djokovic who are not exactly near the top of the friends list on either’s Facebook pages, and (8) Juan Martin Del Potro vs. (2) Roger Federer.
Serena, Kuznetsova Get Free Passes at Injury/Illness-ravaged Aussie Open
Serena Williams was the beneficiary of a retirement from Victoria Azarenka on Monday at the Australian Open, with the American trailing 3-6, 4-2 when the Belarussian was forced to quit due to dizziness and illness. Azarenka said she was vomiting that morning with a fever, and was diagnosed with a virus, helped off the court in tears by medical trainers.
“The doctors didn’t want me to keep going, but I wanted to keep trying and see how I do,” Azarenka told reporters. “But it was probably not a very good idea because it just gave me even more trouble after.”
Williams will next face No. 8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, another illness/injury beneficiary Monday, who moved into the quarterfinals when No. 22 Jie Zheng of China retired in the first set with a wrist injury.
“Only the strongest are blessed,” Kuznetsova, who led 4-1 in the first set when Zheng retired, told reporters. “You know, the saying? We say it in Russian…I was winning. It was no problem. I felt great. Either way for me was good. But I felt sorry for her because she was in great shape. She was playing good. This pain I hope is not very dangerous.”
Actually completing matches Monday were No. 4-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva who overcame a nervous start to roll over No. 18 Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-2, and unseeded Carla Suarez Navarro, who continued her breakout run with an easy 6-3, 6-2 win over fellow Spaniard and No. 22 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues.
Now Dementieva will face the heavy ground game of the 20-year-old Suarez Navarro.
“I think she’s a very tough player,” Dementieva told reporters. “She plays a very unique style of game. A lot of spin. It’s gonna be a tough match.”
Scheduled for Tuesday in women’s quarterfinal play are (16) Marion Bartoli vs. (7) Vera Zvonareva, and (3) Dinara Safina vs. unseeded Australian hope Jelena Dokic.
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Until today, Andy Murray had won his last five 5-set matches, and 11 of 12 sets over Fernando Verdasco. The Spaniard Verdasco has won four of his last five 5-setter…
Think Roger Federer is happy about having to wait out the Dinara Safina-Jelena Dokic match?…
Novak Djokovic is back on court about 36 hours after beating Marcos Baghdatis. His opponent, Andy Roddick, gets about 45 hours of rest. Fair? Sounds like the US Open all over again…
Proof the numbers don’t lie, Andy Murray’s loss kept alive the Open Era streak of never having all Top 8 seeds in the QFs of a Slam. Someone had to lose, and it was Murray…
Rafael Nadal is the lone player on the men’s side without losing a set. He did the same thing last year en route to the semifinals…
Frenchman Gilles Simon has reached his first career Slam QF after his countryman Gael Monfils retired for the 7th time in his career…
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has won all five sets over James Blake…
Fernando Verdasco getting tips from Andre Agassi? True story. Verdasco credits Agassi for helping getting his head straight over the off season…
With temperatures in the 100s Tuesday, Juan Martin del Potro has to happy about playing at night. Federer would probably have loved to get the injury-prone Argy in the heat of the day…
It’s always amazing how players who are sick or allegedly sick only retire when they start losing. Add Victoria Azarenka to that list…
Speaking of the sick list, how many times has Novak Djokovic summoned the trainer since Andy Roddick called him out at the US Open? He’s definately cut back…
Juan Martin del Potro is the only undefeated male player on the year…
At 27, Roger Federer is the oldest singles player in the tournament. He’s 7-0 in sets vs. Del Potro and he hasn’t lost a Slam QF since 2001…
Juan Martin del Potro has two more Grand Slam wins that Roger Federer has Grand Slam titles…
Novak Djokovic has won 19 of his last 20 matches against American players…
Can you name the last time Andy Roddick beat a Top 10 player in a Grand Slam?…
Temperatures in Melbourne are forecasted to blast off staring Tuesday well into the 100s…
EVERYTHING’S CHEAPER IN CHINA — More U.S. manufacturing jobs are headed overseas as Dutch-based Head NV Group, parent company of the Head and Penn, announced they will close their Phoenix, Ariz., factory in March and move it to China. An administrative office will reportedly remain in Phoenix.
Tennis Australia says Jelena Dokic’s father, Damir, would not be given the accreditation necessary to sit in the players’ box for her next match…
COACHING QUANDRY — The Grand Slams don’t allow the WTA Tour’s on-court coaching — which would have been a huge benefit to world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic in her meltdown against Marion Bartoli. But isn’t that the beauty of it? If the player can’t right their own ship, tough luck. The fragile Jankovic deserved to lose that match, and it would have been a slight to the mentally-stronger Bartoli if Jankovic were allowed a coach to come on court and “fix her.” Let tennis remain a battle of two players.
Ana Ivanovic is reportedly close to deciding on her much-needed new coach…
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