Tearful Goffin, Federer Retreat Mark Monday Madrid; Tuesday Big Day With Nadal, Murray
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The men’s seeds held firm in first-round play on Monday at the Mutua Madrid Masters, where Top 10 seeds David Ferrer and Richard Gasquet navigated tricky opponents to move into the second round.
ADHEREL
The No. 9-seeded Ferrer needed to come from a set down to defeat countryman Guillermo “G-Lo” Garcia Lopez 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, while the No. 10-seeded Gasquet narrowly avoided a three-setter against Spanish qualifier Roberto Carballes Baena 6-1, 7-6(5).
Other seeds into the second round were No. 11 Milos Raonic topping Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci 7-6(4), 6-1, and No. 16 Gilles Simon outlasting Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
The lone seeded upset on the day was No. 12 Belgian David Goffin, who fell to hard-hitting French qualifier Lucas Pouille 7-6(4), 2-6, 7-6(7).
Goffin looked on the verge of tears walking to the net for the post-match handshake after losing out on four match point opportunities.
Unseeded results of note were Feliciano “F-Lo” Lopez downing Leo Mayer in three, Sam Querrey coming from a set down to defeat French qualifier Pierre-Hughes Herbert, and qualifier Radek “The Worm” Stepanek outlasting Canuck Vasek “Popsicle” Pospisil in three sets.
“It was a complicated match,” F-Lo said of beating Mayer. “He is an overall complete player. He hits the ball very well and serves pretty good. It’s not easy to return his balls because they’re very heavy. In the end, I think it was a pretty tight match.”
Roger Federer withdrew from the tournament citing a back injury.
“Sorry to the tournament for coming and leaving without playing,” Federer said. “I arrived and I was okay, and then I practiced on Saturday and hurt my back a little bit in practice and then stopped early.”
Tuesdays bounty of rich matches in Madrid include (5) Nadal vs. Kuznetsov, (2) Murray vs. (Q) The Worm, (14) Thiem vs. Del Potro, (11) Raonic vs. Dolgopolov, (10) Gasquet vs. Verdasco, Coric vs. (WC) Almagro, Dimitrov vs. (WC) Carreno Busta, Tomic vs. Fognini, and Sock vs. Paire.
TUESDAY MADRID SCHEDULE
MANOLO SANTANA start 12:00 noon
WTA – [6] S. Halep (ROU) vs K. Knapp (ITA)
WTA – [8] C. Suárez Navarro (ESP) vs S. Lisicki (GER)
Not Before 4:00 pm
ATP – [5] R. Nadal (ESP) vs A. Kuznetsov (RUS)
Not Before 8:00 pm
ATP – [Q] R. Stepanek (CZE) vs [2] A. Murray (GBR)
Not Before 9:30 pm
WTA – [WC] S. Cirstea (ROU) vs D. Kovinic (MNE)
ARANTXA SANCHEZ start 12:00 noon
ATP – [Q] S. Giraldo (COL) vs [15] R. Bautista Agut (ESP)
ATP – [14] D. Thiem (AUT) vs [PR] J. del Potro (ARG)
Not Before 4:00 pm
WTA – D. Cibulkova (SVK) vs C. Garcia (FRA)
ATP – [11] M. Raonic (CAN) vs A. Dolgopolov (UKR)
ATP – [10] R. Gasquet (FRA) vs [WC] F. Verdasco (ESP)
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