Day 7 Review: Djokovic Defends Dubai; Ferrer Captures Acapulco Title; Gulbis Wins Maiden Tour Event in Delray Beach

Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships–U.A.E.

Holding a significant lead while heading into Sunday’s resumption of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic liked his chances of success.

Having won the first set over No. 7 seed Mikhail Youzhny, Djokovic had a service break in hand before heavy rain ended Saturday’s action.

However, the resumption of Sunday’s final meant Djokovic would have to play his fourth consecutive three-set match. The Serb’s 7-5, 2-0 lead would soon evaporate, courtesy of a Youzhny serve break during the fifth game of the set.

Djokovic would steer ahead once again to hold an opportunity for a 5-3 lead, but over-hit a routine forehand and squandered his opportunity of putting the Russian away. Youzhny required a second chance at forcing a third set, after failing to capture the set at 5-4. Not making the same mistake the second time around, the 28-year-old Russian broke Djokovic in the 12th game.

Fighting off early adversity by Youzhny in the seventh game of the third set, Djokovic saved two break points and 15-40, 3-3 to go ahead 4-3.

Pulling ahead at 5-3, Djokovic would seal victory with a final break of serve.

Defending the first title of his professional career, Djokovic acknowledged the many variables that went into his success in Dubai.

“It means the whole world to me. Of course there are always people who are saying he can’t do it. He can’t do it. But I’m playing for myself, and this is another success in my career that I wasn’t able to make in the last two years. But now, finally, I did it, and it’s a big relief. So in the future I just hope I’ll make a couple more of those.

“It’s a big boost because I believe in myself. Even when I play bad, I know I have the abilities… Today was another good example of how much I believe in myself and how much I fight till the end.”

Pocketing $383,000 in prize money and 500 ATP World Tour points, Djokoivc will remain over 3000 points behind No. 1 ranked Roger Federer in the rankings.

Djokovic joked with the media about his inability to close out his competition in straight sets—having gone three sets in his last four matches.

“Obviously this tournament I don’t allow myself to win in straight sets except the first round. Even when I can finish the job in two sets, I still want to play. Thinking about people who bought tickets and want to stay a bit longer (laughing).

“But, generally, it took a lot of energy for me. Stopping and playing, and coming back and then again stopping the match last night because of the rain. As I was saying, if we continued last night, I think I had much better chances to get the job done in two sets. I felt really well on the court, hitting the ball, feeling relaxed. Today I was really nervous before the match, during the match for no reason. [But] winning the tournament in any way, it’s a huge success.”

Youzhny, who fell to 10-3 on the season, took home $180,000 for his efforts, and 300 ATP World Tour points.

“Before the tournament if you say you’ll play the final, you say good result. But now straight after the final, when you have some chances [I am disappointed]… It was good match for me.  It was a good level of tennis. I’m disappointed because I lost, but I’m happy because it was a good level of game.

“It was a very close set. Today I understand I have to try to play aggressive, maybe more aggressive than normal if I want to continue, if I want to save this match.”

Both Djokovic and Youznhy will now head to their respective Davis Cup venues to prepare for next week’s first-round ties.

Djokovic will lead his team against the Americans in Belgrade, while Youzhny and his Russian teammates will host India in Moscow.

Abierto Mexicano Telcel–Acapulco, Mexico

Scrappy Spaniard David Ferrer won his eighth career title on Saturday in Acapulco, Mexico, defeating countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Losing to Ferrero last week in the Buenos Aires final, Ferrer improved to 6-2 against his good friend in career head-to-head meetings.

Ferrero, who was riding a 14-match winning streak, showed visible signs of fatigue while attempting to win his third straight Tour title.

Converting on all three of his break-point chances, Ferrer won 83 percent of his first serve points while striking two aces.

Improving to 13-4 on the season, Ferrer captured 500 ATP World Tour points for his victory, and $227,000 in prize money.

The usually consistent Ferrer admitted that his ability to go for his shots throughout the one hour and 47 minute match made the difference.

“I was more aggressive, hitting harder,” Ferrer said. “It was the other way around in Buenos Aires.”

Ferrer and Ferrero will now head back to Spain to prepare for the nation’s first-round Davis Cup tie against Switzerland next Friday. The Spanish pair were chosen as singles players for the tie by captain Albert Costa.

Delray Beach Tennis Championships–Flordia

Unseeded Latvian Ernests Gulbis won his first career singles title in Delray Beach on Sunday, defeating ace machine Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-2.

Breaking Karlovic’s serve on four and nine occasions, Gulbis survived 14 aces, while striking six aces of his own.

“I’m never impressed with statistics,” said Gulbis, who also reached the Memphis semifinals last week. “I’m impressed I won the title. So I didn’t lose a set, I don’t see that as a big accomplishment.

“I think winning a title is a big accomplishment.”

Winning 79 percent of his first serve points, Gulbis allowed Karlovic a mere 27 percent of his second serve points won.

Needing 80-minutes to win the title, Gulbis told reporters that his win was in honor of his country.

“Everything I do it’s the first for my country,” Gulbis said. “I was first one in top 300, first one in top 200, first one in top 100.”

Ousting the No. 2 seed in routine fashion, Gulbis will move inside the top 50 when the new rankings are released on Monday. The 21-year-old is currently ranked No. 72 in the world.

Losing his first final of the year, Karlovic failed to win his fifth career title on his 31st birthday.

“He was really cool, calm, like nothing could impress him,” said Karlovic. “This year he’s going to make a breakthrough.”

Karlovic had defeated defending champion Mardy Fish in the semifinals and two-time finalist James Blake in the quarterfinals.

Quotes courtesy of Associated Press, and atpworldtour.com.

Murray Defends Dubai Comments

World No. 4 Andy Murray was made to defend his recent Dubai comments after losing in the second-round to Serb Janko Tipsarevic.

The Scot made referrence to the statue of the event, and his lack of commit to winning.

“The stuff that I was doing in the matches here are similar to what I’d be doing if I was training this week. I’d be playing practice sets and working on serve?and?volley and coming forward, you know and taking more risks,” said Murray after the match. ”I would have liked to have won, but it’s not the end of the world

“If it was a Slam or something, my tactics and my game style would have been a bit different.”

The director of the tournament, Colm McLoughlin, suggested that Murray’s remarks could very well hurt the state of the men’s Tour.

“We are not disputing Andy’s effort but the comment he made after the match have caused concern. Many fans have come up to us and said that he seemed to have indicated Dubai was simply a warm up tournament.”

After speaking with Murray’s management team, McLouglin later clarified that Murray was in fact giving his best effort during the U.A.E. event.

“We’ve all read the after-match comments Andy made to the media and Andy’s management company is saying these were taken out of context.

“He has always been very direct with the press and there is no question [being asked] that he did not give all his efforts in the match against Janko Tipsarevic… Andy tried his best and anyone who watched the match can vouch for that.

“We look forward to welcoming Andy back at the Championships next year.”

Murray will next see action at the Indian Wells event in California. The Scot reached the finals last year, losing in windy conditions to Rafael Nadal.

Quotes courtesy of tennis.com.

Davis Cup Tie to Proceed in Chile Despite Earthquake

Chilean tennis officials have stated that next week’s Davis Cup tie between Chile and Israel will go ahead as planned despite the earthquake that hit the country on Saturday.

The host city of Coquimbo will feature the likes of Fernando Gonzalez, Nicolas Massu, Dudi Sela and Harel Levy.

The tie will take place March 5-7.

Bryan Brothers Win 600th Career Match in Delray Beach

The legendary American doubles tandem of Mike and Bob Bryan captured their 600th career win on Saturday in Delray Beach, Flordia over Taylor Dent and Ryan Harrison 6-7(6), 7-5, (10-4), before going onto win their 58th career title on Sunday over Philipp Marx of Germany and Igor Zelenay of Slovakia 6-3, 7-6 (3).

The Bryans are now four titles shy of breaking the all-time mark set by Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde.

“It’s pretty cool to be on our own and inching up,” Mike Bryan said. “It’s a little extra pressure because everyone is talking about it. We’re even thinking about it.”

Quote courtesy of Associated Press.

Almagro Takes Ferrero Spot on Daivs Cup Team

Nicolas Almagro will take Juan Carlos Ferrero’s spot in next week’s first-round Davis Cup tie in Spain, after Ferrero was forced to withdraw because of a right knee injury he sustained in Saturday’s loss to David Ferrer during the finals in Acapulco, Mexico.

Davis Cup captain Albert Costa informed Almagro of the decision on Sunday.

Almagro will join Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Marcel Granollers on the Spanish squad March 5-7.

Gulbis Wins First Tour Title in Delray Beach

Unseeded Latvian Ernests Gulbis won his first career singles title in Delray Beach on Sunday, defeating ace machine Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-2.

Breaking Karlovic’s serve on four and nine occasions, Gulbis survived 14 aces, while striking six aces of his own.

“I’m never impressed with statistics,” said Gulbis, who also reached the Memphis semifinals last week. “I’m impressed I won the title. So I didn’t lose a set, I don’t see that as a big accomplishment.

“I think winning a title is a big accomplishment.”

Winning 79 percent of his first serve points, Gulbis allowed Karlovic a mere 27 percent of his second serve points won.

Needing 80-minutes to win the title, Gulbis told reporters that his win was in honor of his country.

“Everything I do it’s the first for my country,” Gulbis said. “I was first one in top 300, first one in top 200, first one in top 100.”

Ousting the No. 2 seed in routine fashion, Gulbis will move inside the top 50 when the new rankings are released on Monday. The 21-year-old is currently ranked No. 72 in the world.

Losing his first final of the year, Karlovic failed to win his fifth career title on his 31st birthday.

“He was really cool, calm, like nothing could impress him,” said Karlovic. “This year he’s going to make a breakthrough.”

Karlovic had defeated defending champion Mardy Fish in the semifinals and two-time finalist James Blake in the quarterfinals.

Quotes courtesy of Associated Press.

Djokovic Pulls Through to Defend Dubai Title

Holding a significant lead while heading into Sunday’s resumption of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic liked his chances of success.

Having won the first set over No. 7 seed Mikhail Youzhny, Djokovic had a service break in hand before heavy rain ended Saturday’s action.

However, the resumption of Sunday’s final meant Djokovic would have to play his fourth consecutive three-set match. The Serb’s 7-5, 2-0 lead would soon evaporate, courtesy of a Youzhny serve break during the fifth game of the set.

Djokovic would steer ahead once again to hold an opportunity for a 5-3 lead, but overhit a routine forehand and squandered his opportunity of putting the Russian away. Youzhny required a second chance at forcing a third set, after failing to capture the set at 5-4. Not making the same mistake the second time around, the 28-year-old Russian broke Djokovic in the 12th game.

Fighting off early adversity by Youzhny in the seventh game of the third set, Djokovic saved two break points and 15-40, 3-3 to go ahead 4-3.

Pulling ahead at 5-3, Djokovic would seal victory with a final break of serve.

Defending the first title of his professional career, Djokovic acknowledged the many variables that went into his success in Dubai.

“It means the whole world to me. Of course there are always people who are saying he can’t do it. He can’t do it. But I’m playing for myself, and this is another success in my career that I wasn’t able to make in the last two years. But now, finally, I did it, and it’s a big relief. So in the future I just hope I’ll make a couple more of those.

“It’s a big boost because I believe in myself. Even when I play bad, I know I have the abilities… Today was another good example of how much I believe in myself and how much I fight till the end.”

Pocketing $383,000 in prize money and 500 ATP World Tour points, Djokoivc will remain over 3000 points behind No. 1 ranked Roger Federer in the rankings.

Djokovic joked with the media about his inability to close out his competition in straight sets—having gone three sets in his last four matches.

“Obviously this tournament I don’t allow myself to win in straight sets except the first round. Even when I can finish the job in two sets, I still want to play. Thinking about people who bought tickets and want to stay a bit longer (laughing).

“But, generally, it took a lot of energy for me. Stopping and playing, and coming back and then again stopping the match last night because of the rain. As I was saying, if we continued last night, I think I had much better chances to get the job done in two sets. I felt really well on the court, hitting the ball, feeling relaxed. Today I was really nervous before the match, during the match for no reason. [But] winning the tournament in any way, it’s a huge success.”

Youzhny, who fell to 10-3 on the season, took home $180,000 for his efforts, and 300 ATP World Tour points.

“Before the tournament if you say you’ll play the final, you say good result. But now straight after the final, when you have some chances [I am disappointed]… It was good match for me.  It was a good level of tennis. I’m disappointed because I lost, but I’m happy because it was a good level of game.

“It was a very close set. Today I understand I have to try to play aggressive, maybe more aggressive than normal if I want to continue, if I want to save this match.”

Both Djokovic and Youznhy will now head to their respective Davis Cup venues to prepare for next week’s first-round ties.

Djokovic will lead his team against the Americans in Belgrade, while Youzhny and his Russian teammates will host India in Moscow.

Quotes courtesy of atpworldtour.com.

Ferrer Wins Acapulco Title Over In-Form Ferrero

Scrappy Spaniard David Ferrer won his eighth career title on Saturday in Acapulco, Mexico, defeating countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Losing to Ferrero last week in the Buenos Aires final, Ferrer improved to 6-2 against his good friend in career head-to-head meetings.

Ferrero, who was riding a 14-match winning streak, showed visible signs of fatigue while attempting to win his third straight Tour title.

Converting on all three of his break-point chances, Ferrer won 83 percent of his first serve points while striking two aces.

Improving to 13-4 on the season, Ferrer captured 500 ATP World Tour points for his victory, and $227,000 in prize money.

The usually consistent Ferrer admitted that his ability to go for his shots throughout the one hour and 47 minute match made the difference.

“I was more aggressive, hitting harder,” Ferrer said. “It was the other way around in Buenos Aires.”

Ferrer and Ferrero will now head back to Spain to prepare for the nation’s first-round Davis Cup tie against Switzerland next Friday. The Spanish pair were chosen as singles players for the tie by captain Albert Costa.

Quote courtesy of Associated Press.

Del Potro Experiences Chilean Earthquake

Reigning US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro experienced the recent 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile early Saturday morning.

Recovering from a wrist injury he sustained last fall, del Potro told the atpworldtour.com that he woke up in the middle of the night by the earthquake, while sleeping in his Buenos Aires condominium.

“I was sleeping when at approximately 3:30am I started feeling dizzy and also hearing loud noises. The first thing I thought was that I had left the windows open and the wind was making the noise when it hit against the walls. I live on a high floor of an apartment building so I didn’t think this was out of the ordinary.

“The noise was quite loud and it woke me up, so I decided to see what was happening. I was feeling very dizzy and soon realised it wasn’t the wind making all the noise.  Everything in my apartment was shaking and when I walked into my living room, the curtains and the decorations on the walls were shaking as well. This went on for 5-6 minutes. 
 
“I am very saddened that the second natural disaster has taken place in such a short amount of time in the Americas, affecting so many people. I have traveled to Chile many times in my life and love the people and the country. My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Chile today and I pray that as many people as possible will escape this terrible disaster safely.”

Hoping to return to the Tour for the Indian Wells event in California, del Potro will look to take part in a potential charity exhibition for the Chilean victums before the start of the first Masters 1000 event of the year begins.

Quotes courtesy of atpworldtour.com.

Gulbis Reaches First Career ATP World Tour Final in Delray Beach

Talented Latvian Ernests Gulbis, who has been touted throughout his brief career by many tennis pundits as the future of men’s tennis, reached hisfirst ATP World Tour final on Saturday in Delray Beach, Florida by defeating Jarrko Nieminen 6-4, 6-4.

Breaking serve on three occasions, Gublis won 85 percent of his first serve points while striking nine aces during the one hour and 13 minute contest.

Reaching the semifinals in Memphis, TN last week, Gulbis’ form thus far in 2010 has been pale in comparison to his lackluster efforts of last year.

Winning back-to-back matches on only two occasions last season, Gulbis saw his ranking plummet out of the top 100 in August.

Regaining a top 75 ranking by reaching the final four in Memphis, Gulbis will have an opportunity to join the top 50 if he is victorious in Sunday’s final.

Awaiting the winner of Mardy Fish vs. Ivo Karlovic, Gulbis currently stands at 9-4 on the season.

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