- 15 Comments
It was a good day for the youth movement at the Shanghai Masters Tuesday. Teens Ryan Harrison and Bernard Tomic both put together impressive first round wins.
The 19-year-old Harrison upset 11th-seeded Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-3. Tomic did one better stunning the No. 9 seed Mardy Fish 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Fish had just beat Tomic last week in Tokyo, now the 18-year-old gets his revenge to move into the third round.
“It’s been a good year,” said Tomic. “I can’t expect much more from myself. I’ve had a good six months. I’m playing well here. The surface, conditions suit me. I think it’s been a good run. I’ve got to play well now in the third round. I think I’ve got a lot more to improve in the next few years. I don’t think I should set targets because when you set goals, things change, things happen. I think you’ve just got to play tennis, have fun, not have a lot of pressure. In the juniors, everything was under a lot of stress and you’d play. But if you have fun, good things happen.”
Another youngster, Grigor Dimitrov, fell to American veteran Andy Roddick who eliminated the Bulgarian 7-6(3), 7-5.
“I felt like I was returning pretty well and hitting my forehand pretty well,” said Roddick. “Then all of a sudden, I’m not putting a first serve in the court. I felt like I was getting it backwards a little bit. The guy doubles three times and lets you back in, then you kind of donate it right back, that’s not normally a recipe to win a match. [I] got through it, though. I do that pretty well: get through matches when everything doesn’t go perfectly. There’s no such thing as a bad win. I’ll keep going in this tournament hopefully.”
Next for the struggling Roddick is Nicolas Almagro on Thursday.
Stan Wawrinka also avenged his US Open loss turning away Donald Young in three sets.
As for tomorrow, tournament favorites Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray debut. Nadal plays his countryman Guillermo Garcia Lopez and looking at his draw there’s not much opposition out to the final. If he wins, Nadal will have Florian Mayer in the third round, then a tough one with Tomas Berdych in the quarters before Roddick or a countryman in the semifinal.
Murray opens with Dmitry Tursunov tonight, then Wawrinka followed by Gilles Simon possible in the quarters and JW Tsonga in the semifinals. Tsonga is also on tonight in a good one against Kei Nishikori along with David Ferrer vs. Milos Raonic who resume their rivalry.
Still, hard to pick against Murray and Nadal meeting again on Sunday.
“If you are not improving every year more and more, your chances are less,” said Nadal. “Don’t forget this is my seventh year on the tour being Top 2. That’s happened because, first thing, I was in perfect conditions mentally all these years, but second thing because I always try to improve and play better and better. That’s the goal and that’s what I have to keep doing if I want to keep being here for long time.”
And even though top ranked Novak Djokovic is not in Shanghai, the Serb’s dominance isn’t far from Nadal’s thoughts.
“Djokovic this year already won a lot of tournaments, three Grand Slams, he didn’t lose matches,” Nadal said. “I don’t believe that he changed his game unbelievably. He did a few small things better than a few years ago and that’s why his big success this year. That’s what I am going to try.”
Tennis Channel has live coverage starting at 2am ET Tuesday night.
WEDNESDAY SHANGHAI SCHEDULE
STADIUM start 2:00 pm
J Ferrero (ESP) vs [16] F Verdasco (ESP)
K Nishikori (JPN) vs [4] J Tsonga (FRA)
Not Before 6:00 PM
[1] R Nadal (ESP) vs G Garcia-Lopez (ESP)
Not Before 8:00 PM
D Tursunov (RUS) vs [2] A Murray (GBR)
GRANDSTAND start 2:00 pm
[14] J Melzer (AUT) vs S Giraldo (COL)
Not Before 3:00 PM
[3] D Ferrer (ESP) vs M Raonic (CAN)
R Stepanek (CZE) vs [6] T Berdych (CZE)
F Lopez (ESP) vs A Bogomolov Jr. (USA)
You Might Like:
Americans Harrison, Opelka, Tiafoe Fall At Indian Wells; Nadal-Tomic Doubles, Fritz Friday
Watch Ryan Harrison Attack Roger Federer’s Serve [Video]
Roger Federer Confirms Shanghai Participation
Bernard Tomic: Once The Federers, Nadals, Djokovics Are Gone, I’ll Have A Chance To Dominate
D.C. Park Police Shut Down A Bernard Tomic-Viktor Troicki Practice [Video]