Nadal wins sixth Monte Carlo title
Monte Carlo: Rafael Nadal snapped a title drought stretching back nearly a year as the powerful Spaniard made history on Sunday with a sixth consecutive trophy at the Monte Carlo Masters.
Nadal roared back as a force on clay with a 6-0, 6-1 defeat of fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in one hour and 24 minutes.
The success marked the 32nd straight win for world number three Nadal on clay that has kept him undefeated at the venue since 2003. He won his last title in Rome in May 2009.
Four-time French Open champion Nadal raced through the first game against Verdasco who was playing in his first Masters final and unable to cope with the barrage of winners. The second game came in Nadal's hand with a stunning backhand.
The game became tougher for Verdasco when he called for a three-minute injury time out for treatment on his neck and back in the fifth game.
The remaining one-sided contest saw Nadal registering a spectacular performance which he ended on his first match-point with a forehand winner before rolling on the ground in celebration.
Copyrighted (c) 2010 The Express Tribune News Network
Hewitt refuses to panic
Hip and knee surgery had kept Lleyton Hewitt off the ATP World Tour since the Australian Open and the rust was evident Thursday in the first match of his U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship title defense in the River Oaks stadium.
The former world No. 1 from Australia swept through town last year without dropping a set. Against Somdev Devvarman, he quickly found himself on the wrong end of a 6-1 score.
Was he worried?
"Well, obviously," Hewitt conceded, "I was a little bit concerned."
Guys don't climb as high as Hewitt has, however, by panicking easily, so he simply re-calibrated his approach, tightened the screws and fought his way into today's quarterfinals with a 1-6, 6-0, 7-6 (2) victory.
Age has its privileges
The fourth-seeded Hewitt was one of four seeds - and one of five players 29 or older - to make the quarterfinals, joining No. 1 Fernando Gonzalez, No. 3 Sam Querrey and No. 6 Horacio Zeballos. Most conspicuously missing will be second-seeded John Isner, who, at 6-9, is never lost in the crowd even when he loses.
Xavier Malisse, a finalist in River Oaks' exhibition tournament in 1998 when he was 17, bested the towering American in a tiebreaker battle 7-6 (3), 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3).
Fernando Gonzalez, 29, the Clay Courts champion at Orlando in 2000 and top-seeded here, got dragged into a third-set by qualifier Kevin Anderson of South Africa but prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to keep pace with fellow Chilean Nicolas Massu, whom he beat for that title a decade ago. Massu won his second-round match Wednesday.
Two Argentines also have advanced after Horacio Zeballos, the ATP's newcomer of the Year for 2009, routed Israeli Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-2. The other - Juan Ignacio Chela - confronts Hewitt today. both Massu and Chela are 30.
Big serve aids Querrey
Querrey made the shortest work of his opponent - Slovak Blaz Kavcic - by blasting serves that reached 136 mph in a 6-2, 6-1 blowout. Wayne Odesnik's earlier 6-1, 7-5 victory over Kazakhstan's Mikail Kukushkin also gave the U.S. a pair of quarterfinalists. Odesnik has gotten this far three years running.
Hewitt, the 2001 U.S. Open and 2002 Wimbledon champion, admitted he would have preferred to have gotten off the court quicker against Devvarman, a two-time former NCAA champion at the University of Virginia.
But Hewitt decided in the end that all the extra ball-striking was beneficial since he held up physically, even going on to subsequently advance in doubles partnering with Nathan Healey, his coach.
His downfall early on was the result of being hyper-aggressive, his eagerness born of nine weeks of idleness.
"But it's unrealistic to go out there and expect to hit a lot of winners against a guy like Devvarman, who's able to get a lot of balls back," he said. "I was going for a little too much. He doesn't hit a lot of winners, but he doesn't make a lot of errors, either. (I) was sort of beating myself out there."
"In the second set, I started moving him around better, making better decisions on the right balls to come in and putting pressure on him on, whereas in the first set I was probably a bit too eager."
He pronounced his movement against Devvarman "OK."
By rallying, Hewitt kept alive the possibility of a finals rematch with the controversy-dogged Odesnik, who has resolutely plowed through successive opponents without dropping a set despite facing a possible two-year ban for pleading guilty in Australia to possessing a banned substance - human growth hormone.
Odesnik next for Malisse
Malisse was most proud of his clinching tiebreaker, which he launched with a monster forehand return reply off an Isner missile and never looked back.
"I played well (with) a really good tiebreaker in the third," the pony-tailed Belgian said. "I'm pretty happy with this match."
He insisted he had no problem facing Odesnik, whatever crimes and misdemeanors his next foe may be guilty of.
"I've got to focus on tennis," Malisse said. "He's playing. He's on the other side of the net (Friday), so I'll treat him like any other tennis player."
"In the second set, I started moving him around better, making better decisions on the right balls to come in and putting pressure on him on, whereas in the first set I was probably a bit too eager."
Copyright (c) 2010 The Houston Chronicle
Roddick stuns Nadal to book final against Berdych
MIAMI -- Andy Roddick's decision to take some risks paid off Friday as the American rallied to beat Spain's Rafael Nadal and book a clash with giant-killing Tomas Berdych in the final of the Miami ATP Masters 1000.
Roddick engineered a turnaround to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 over world number four Nadal, who was the highest seed left in the draw.
Berdych, who saved a match point en route to a stunning upset of world number one Roger Federer in the fourth round, dismantled fifth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling 6-2, 6-2.
Berdych, who said he wanted to be "aggressive but with lots of control" was able to do just that. He broke Soderling four times and faced only one break point himself.
After being pushed around in the first set by Nadal, who will still return to number three in the world on Monday, Roddick realized he would have to do more.
"I took a lot of risks there in the last two sets," Roddick said. "That's what I have to do. My comfort zone of moving the ball around and maybe chip, ping it around a little bit doesn't work against Rafa.
"I had to try to come up with something that at least took him out of his comfort zone a little bit, and it paid off."
Roddick, who finished with 15 aces, began moving to the net with more aggression - a tactic that Nadal admitted caught him by surprise.
"I started the match playing pretty well," Nadal said. "I had the match under control in the first set with my serve.
"In the second set Andy was serving well, I didn't have a lot of chances on the return.
"He plays a very aggressive game and started to play more aggressive in the game where he got the break.
"It was a change, and it was surprise for me," Nadal admitted. "After that, in the third, he put more pressure on my serve, attacking more. He's playing really well."
Nadal had earned the break he needed in the opening set in the third game, saved a break point himself in the next then dominated Roddick in the rallies to pocket the set.
But Roddick wouldn't be broken again. He piled the pressure on and turned the tide late in the second set, breaking Nadal to love to lead 5-3 then serving out with a love game capped by a 143 mph service winner.
In the third, Nadal could make no headway against Roddick's serve. He couldn't convert his one chance to break in the second game, so that Roddick's break in the next game proved key.
Nadal was clearly frustrated in the eighth game, when he managed to push Roddick to deuce on his serve. But he netted a backhand to let the American off the hook, and dropped his serve to end the match.
"But the way I rationalized it was, I'm trying to get the upper hand in a rally. It's very tough once we get neutral. I don't hit the ball like him. I hit the ball straight through, and his ball comes up and down and he can switch directions a little bit easier than I can," said Roddick.
"So basically I was sitting here thinking, 'All right, is my second serve my best approach shot against him?' I thought it was."
Roddick, the sixth seed, returns to the final here for the first time since he won the title in 2004.
Berdych reached the second prestigious Masters 1000 final of his career, after winning the Paris title in 2005.
Now he has a chance to become the first Miami men's champion not ranked in the top 10 since Jim Courier in 1991.
"It is nice to take a match like that. I was playing really well, not too long on the court," Berdych said.
Copyright (c) 2010 AFP
Roddick slams Odesnik for transporting HGH
KEY BISCAYNE -- Fellow American tennis players James Blake and Andy Roddick blasted Wayne Odesnik for admitting to importing human growth hormones in January before a tuneup tournament to the first major of the year.
Odesnik, 24, who lives in Fort Lauderdale and is ranked 98th, was fined $8,320 in an Australian court Friday and faces a possible two-year ban from tennis. The ITF handles all doping decisions and is investigating the case.
"That's just plain cheating and they should throw him out of tennis,'' Roddick said after his second-round victory over Russian Igor Andreev that ended after midnight Friday.
"I was shocked. We don't need stories like that. That's the minority. If that's the case I have zero sympathy.
Blake, who played World Team Cup with Odesnik, was also unforgiving.
"It's the same thing you hear about the criminal next door - he seemed like a nice guy until they found something going on," Blake said. "People look for a way to get ahead, and that's unfortunate. It's something that's frustrating. You want to feel like you're playing on a fair playing field. I'm glad they caught him."
Roddick, who has practiced with Odesnik near his home in Austin, became more agitated as the questions continued.
"To have it be one of our guys and for us to lose a guy in the Top 100, it makes me a little angry,'' Roddick said. "I don't want that stigma attached to our country and to our players, so it really [angers] me.
"I take a lot of pride in what we have to do on a daily basis and how responsible we have to be for one ... jackass to ruin it for the rest of us.''
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Nadal shrugs off Ljubicic loss at Indian Wells as a blipRafa Nadal described his stunning semi-final loss to Ivan Ljubicic on Saturday as an "accident," and felt he had been playing close to his best at the Indian Wells ATP tournament.
The Spanish world number three was upset 3-6 6-4 7-6 by the big-serving Croat at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden after he had squandered three break points in the sixth game of the second set to lead 4-2.
"That was an accident today," Nadal told reporters after failing in his bid to win a third title at Indian Wells in four years. "That's my feeling, because I was playing (well) enough to win the tournament.
"It was an important accident, and I have to learn to try to play more aggressive next time, try to convert the opportunities.
"But for the rest, nothing to say, no? I was feeling I was playing better than probably ever on this court."
Left-hander Nadal was playing his first tournament on the ATP circuit since shaking off the knee injury that forced him to abandon his Australian Open title defense in January.
Saturday's loss to Ljubicic, only his second defeat by the Croat in seven career meetings, left him with a win-loss record this season of 12-3.
"Since I start 2010, I was playing at my best," the 23-year-old Spaniard said. "I was playing at my best all the time.
PLAYING UNBELIEVABLE
"On hardcourts, I won when I came with big confidence, when I was playing unbelievable. This year, I play at all the tournaments really well.
"Only in Australia, the first two matches I didn't play like my best, but against Murray I was playing fine," added Nadal, who was forced to withdraw from his Australian Open quarter-final against Briton Andy Murray in Melbourne.
"This tournament I was playing very good, having very good victories, beating a very difficult opponent like (John) Isner, and later against a very good (Tomas) Berdych.
"So I happy about how I did here. I am playing at my best level. I know that. But just not today."
Some of Nadal's disappointment was soothed later in the day when he and compatriot Marc Lopez upset top seeds Daniel Nestor of Canada and Serb Nenad Zimonjic 7-6 6-3 to win the men's doubles title.
"For Marc and me, it was an amazing week and a dream to win the title here," Nadal said.
"After losing an important singles, the victory in doubles makes me happy. Always is nice to win the tournament, no?"
(c)Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters
Murray makes it through in Indian Wells
INDIAN WELLS, California -- Andy Murray, trying to improve on a runner-up finish last year, booked his third-round berth at the BNP Paribas Open Sunday with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Italian Andreas Seppi.
The fourth-seeded Briton needed an hour and 26 minutes to get past 46th-ranked Seppi, who has now lost three of their four meetings.
"I obviously did well here last year, would love to win it this time," Murray told the crowd at the sun-splashed stadium court at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Last year Murray was roundly beaten in the final by Rafael Nadal, but he followed up his run to the championship match with two North American Masters 1000 victories - at Miami and Montreal.
His match was part of a star-studded lineup on the main court, where world number one Roger Federer was due to open his campaign with a second-round match against Romanian Victor Hanescu.
Russian Maria Sharapova was to take on Australian Open semi-finalist Zheng Jie of China in a women's third-round clash.
Sharapova, who won the WTA title in Memphis last month, is the 10th seed in the WTA event that runs alongside the ATP Masters 1000.
The Russian will be hoping for a better outing against Zheng than she had in her second-round match against compatriot Vera Dushevina, when she scraped through in three sets.
Seventh-seeded American Andy Roddick was also slated for action, taking on Taiwanese qualifier Lu Yen-Hsun, while women's second seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark faced Russian Maria Kirilenko.
In early matches, ninth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France beat Australian Marinko Matosevic 6-1, 6-3, and Cyprus's Marcos Baghdatis downed Arnaud Clement 7-6 (9/7), 6-1.
Baghdatis will be next in line for Federer if the Swiss powerhouse gets past Hanescu.
Copyright (c) 2010 AFP
Radek Stepanek Looks to Win 1st Masters Title
Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, will be looking to win the 1st Masters 1000 title of his career in Indian Wells California this week. Stepanek comes into the tournament full of confidence having helped his country defeat Belgium in the Davis Cup to seal their place in the Davis Cup Quarter Finals. Stepanek reached the finals of the Masters 1000 event in Paris at the end of last year, beating Andy Murray along the way before losing out in the last 4 to home favourite Gael Monflis in 3 sets. At the start of the year Radek Stepanek reached the final of the ATP Event in Brisbane for lost in 2 tight sets to Andy Roddick 7-6 7-6. If Stepanek can find his best form then he has a very good chance of causing a huge upset and winning the 1st Masters 1000 title of his career this week in Indian Wells.
Copyright (c) 2010 Bleacher Report, Inc
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