IW: Order of Play for Friday March 12, 2010
March 12, 2010
The order of play for day two action at the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens, site of the first Masters 1000 event of the season can be found below.
Order of Play for Friday March 12, 2010.
Moya and Ancic Win First-Round Matches in Indian Wells
March 12, 2010
Indian Wells, CA—Day one action of the first Masters 1000 event of the year in Palm Springs featured two former top 10 players, Carlos Moya and Mario Ancic winning first-round encounters.
Moya, who captured the No. 1 ranking in 1999, reached the mildstone by advancing to the finals in Indian Wells. Currently ranked No. 639 in the world, Moya needed two tough tiebreak sets to upend opportunistic American Tim Smyczek 7-6(7), 7-6(5) in two hours and 20 minutes.
Winning 75 percent of his first serve points, Moya struck four aces while breaking the serve of his opponent on three occasions. Needing four match points to defeat his 22-year-old opponent, Moya hit a backhand winner to reach the second-round.
The 33-year-old veteran had this to say after his victory. ”I was nervous when I was closing the match, but I’m hitting well. I’m happy to be here with you,” said Moya.
Entering the 2010 season after enduring both toe and hamstring injury in 2009, Moya will next face No. 26 seed Thomaz Bellucci in second-round action.
Croatian Mario Ancic won his first Tour-level match of the season after defeating Bobby Reynolds 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Falling to the No. 694 spot on the computer rankings, Ancic has struggled with symptoms of mononucleosis for the better part to two years.
Completing a law degree while he was sidelined, Ancic reached the finals of a Futures event last week in Texas.
Blasting 12 aces past his American opponent on Thursday, Ancic won 80 percent of his first serve points while breaking the serve of Reynolds on three occasions.
The 6′5″ Split native improved to 5-6 lifetime at the event, and will face No. 31 seed Julien Benneteau in the second-round.
Elsewhere, 2008 finalist Mardy Fish moved past Michael Berrer 1-6, 6-1, 6-3; Ryan Harrison defeated Taylor Dent 6-3, 6-4; Pablo Cuevas dismissed Frederico Gil 6-4, 7-5; Daniel Koellerer defeated Rajeev Ram 6-1, 6-3; Fabio Fognini fought past Oliver Rochus 6-4, 1-6, 7-5; Brian Dabul defeated Leonardo Mayer 7-6 (4), 6-2; Philipp Petzchner breezed past Christophe Rochus 6-2, 7-5; Florent Serra dispatched Alejandro Falla 6-1, 6-2; Ramon Delgado defeated Andreas Beck 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-4; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez won his first match of the year over Lukas Lacko 4-6, 6-4, 7-5; Kevin Anderson brushed aside Bjorn Phau 6-3, 6-3, and Rainer Schuettler defeated Thiago Alves 7-5, 6-0.
Matches that are still to come on Thursday will include: Marco Chiudinelli vs. Ernests Gulbis.
Friday’s featured matches will include: James Blake vs. Daniel Gimeno-Traver; David Nalbandian vs. Stefan Koubek, and Richard Gasquet vs. Simon Greul.
Quotes courtesy of atpworldtour.com.
Hewitt to Play Altanta Tennis Championships
March 11, 2010
Former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt has signed on to participate at the inaugural Atlanta Tennis Championships which will be held July 19-25.
The Atlanta event, which will take over for the Indianapolis tournament, will feature a 32-man field. The event will be apart of the US Open Series.
Currently out with a hip injury, Hewitt hopes to be back in action for the grass-court season.
Hewitt will join James Blake, Robby Ginepri, and John Isner for the Southern event.
Henman Says No to Davis Cup Captaincy
March 11, 2010
Becoming the prime candidate for the Davis Cup captaincy for Great Britain following their weekend loss to Lithuania, former four-time Wimbledon semifinalist Tim Henman has said that he’s not interested in the position at this time.
“It doesn’t feel like the right time. I’m enjoying my family and my golf, and not having any structure in my life.
“Maybe in three years or in 13 years, sometime in the future, I might be interested.”
Henman went onto suggest that the blame should not be put on John Lloyd or Paul Annacone, the current captain and coach of the team.
“It would be easy to say that you can fix the whole thing by replacing John as the captain, and getting rid of Paul as the coach, but what would a new captain do differently?” said Henman. “You’re still going to have the same players. A coach or a captain is only as good as the players he has, and we need to produce better players. This issue runs much deeper than a defeat against Lithuania.”
Quotes courtesy of tennis.com.
Nadal Commits to Queen’s Club
March 11, 2010
World No. 3 Rafael Nadal has commited to particpating in the upcoming Queen’s Club event in London, England prior to the start of the Wimbledon Championships in June.
Winning the title in 2008, Nadal used the Queen’s Club event to spring board his chances of capturing his first Wimbledon title over Roger Federer.
Unable to defend his Queen’s title last year because of a knee injury, Nadal will be joined by reigning US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in the 32 man field.
The Queens Club event takes place June 6-12.
IW: Order of Play For Thursday March 11, 2010
March 10, 2010
The order of play for the first day of the 2010 Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, California can be found below.
Order of Play For Thursday March 11, 2010.
Tursunov and Knowles Remain Injured
March 10, 2010
ATP World Tour veterans Dmitry Tursunov and Mark Knowles are hopeful of their return’s to competitive competition.
Tursunov, who had surgery on his foot on Feb. 19 to relieve nerve damage in his foot, is hopeful of a return to the circuit in June for The Wimbledon Championships.
“It’s going to be a long climb back,” Tursunov said Wednesday.
Knowles, who initially became injured during the first week of the season, was forced to withdraw from the semifinals of the Memphis, Tenn. event last month with partner Mardy Fish.
Knowles hopes to be back in action in Indian Wells this week.
Tursunov is currently ranking No. 119 in the world in singles, while Knowles is currently ranked No. 7 in the world in doubles.
Quotes courtesy of www.sacbee.com.
Ivanisevic Will Coach Cilic in Miami and Madrid?
March 10, 2010
Recent Australian Open semifinalist, and current season win total leader Marin Cilic will work with former Wimbledon champion and mentor Goran Ivanisevic at the upcoming Miami and Madrid Masters events.
Holding an 18-2 record on the year thus far, Cilic has captured two titles while reaching the top 10 for the first time.
Ivanisevic, who takes credit for spotting Cilic as a junior prodigy, sent the youngster to Italy to train with his former coach Bob Brett during his junior career. (Brett coincidentally is the current coach of Cilic.)
“Bob is still his coach but in Miami and Madrid I am going to be his replacement while he is not there,” Ivanisevic told the ATP Champions Tour. “I will be like a mentor to Marin.”
Quotes courtesy of tennis.com.
Federer Beaten by Bolt for Laureus Sports Awards?
March 10, 2010
Winning Sportsman of the year honors at the prestigious Laureus Sports Awards between 2005-2008, Roger Federer was once again beaten for the second straight year by Jamaican sprinter and three-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt.
Federer had a stellar year in 2009, which saw him capture two of the four Grand Slam events, while retaining his No. 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal.
By contrast, Bolt lowered his 100 m and 200 m world records to 9.58 s and 19.19 s at the 2009 World Championships.
His record breaking margin during the 100 m was the highest since the introduction of digital time measurements. Bolts’ achievements in sprinting have earned him the media nickname “‘Lightning Bolt.”
Information courtesy of tennis.com, and wikipedia.com.
Henman or Rusedski Could be Potential Future Davis Cup Captains For Britain
March 9, 2010
Former British players Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski could be asked to become Brtain’s next Davis Cup captain after the countries’ fifth straight Davis Cup defeat over the weekend.
The LTA is reportedly disappointed with current Davis Cup captain John Lloyd, and his track record.
“[T]he governing body would want Henman to guide the team in their Euro-African Zone Group Two relegation play-off against Turkey in July,” said the The London Times.
Earlier this week, the paper was quoted as stating Rusedski’s future role on the team.
“Greg Rusedski is being primed to become Great Britain’s fifth Davis Cup captain in ten years,” though the LTA denied having made any formal approach.
Paul Annacone, the Davis Cup captain for Britain, might be fired as well.
Quotes courtesy of tennis.com.
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