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Review for Sunday April 12, 2009. Day 7 action. Ferrero captures first title in six years in Morocco; Hewitt defeats Odesnik to win Houston.
April 12, 2009
Review for Sunday April 12, 2009. Day 7 action. Ferrero captures first title in six years in Morocco; Hewitt defeats to win Houston.
Houston, Texas.
9:35 pm E.S.T.
Former world number one, and two time grand slam champ, Lleyton Hewitt put his recent hip surgery behind him today as the Aussie captured the U.S. Claycourt Championships in convincing fashion with a victory over American, Wayne Odesnik 6-2, 7-5. The 2:03 minute final consisted of vintage Hewitt c’mons, as the former number one racked up his 27thcareer title as well as second career claycourt crown. 
Hewitt who is currently ranked 88 in the world, will pick up 250 ATP World Tour points for his victory, as he also collects $79,000 for his efforts. Hewitt was pretty much in total control of this match from the get go, as he hit three aces, won 82% of his first serve points and broke the Odesnik serve seven times.
It was evident in this encounter that the 28-year old was not moving like the gazel that he once was on court in his hay day. However, the heart of a true champion never goes away and the passion that Lleyton has poured into his 13-year career was ever present. The determined competitor that Hewitt has always been, did not allow Odnesik to obtain any sort of rhythm throughout the match, as he made sure he established his history of greatness over the American.
Hewitt had this to say after the relief of victory after nearly two years. “[It’s been] a while coming, so it feels great,” said Hewitt. “It’s always nice to get back in the winner’s circle. This is what the hard work’s for, to play weeks like this and to have this kind of feeling at the end of them. It makes all the hard work and gone through the surgery all worth it, so it’s a good start to the year now.”
Ironically Hewitt’s only other claycourt title came in 1999, when the DelrayBeach tournament now a hardcourt tournament, was a claycourt event. In that final, Hewitt defeated an up and coming Xavier Malisse as an 18-year old. Hewitt also picked up his 499th win as a professional, as he spoke about the excitement of winning a rare claycourt event.
“It’s been 10 years since I’ve won a clay court tournament so it’s a big day to win another clay court event,” said Hewitt. “I feel like I’m getting better and better every year on this surface, so now I really look forward to the French Open. With a bit of luck, with a good draw, I think I can do some damage there.”
Hewitt’s 500th career victory will now become quite the challenge as the Aussie will immediately head to Monaco as he will take part in the Monte Carlo Rolex-Masters which began today. His opponent come Tuesday will be none other than Russian, Marat Safin, as the Monte Carlo resident is a long time rival of Hewitt.
Hewitt and Safin have met 13-times with Lleyton holding a 7-6 head to head lead. The two superstars will set up the tournaments blockbuster first round encounter, which will surely be in Safin’s favour as Hewitt will have jet lag andthe conditions to get use to. The European dirt, is a far different animal than the wannabe clay that Houston caters too.
All in all a great week for Hewitt, as he will be looking to add to his resurrecting of form from Houston.
Casablanca, Morocco.
1:08 pm E.S.T.
With impeding talks of retirement this week, former world number one Juan Carlos Ferreroperhaps alleviated a lot of the pressure on himself this week in Morocco, as the 2003 French Open champ not only captured the Grand Prix Hassen II in Casablanca, Morocco today over FlorentSerra, with a scoreline of 6-4, 7-5, but he also won the title without dropping a set all week.
The “mosquito” as he was known in his glory days, as he use to swat away opponents at ease, had pretty much fallen off the radar in recent times, as his motivation and results were significantly under par. That can all be forgotten for the moment as Ferrero made amends for a six year title drought by winning on his favorite clay surface to start off the claycourt season.
The 1:38 minute final featured solid numbers all aroundby JCF, as he hit five aces, won 71% of his first serve points, and broke the Serrra serve six times. The win will also be fulfilling for Ferrero as he had never defeated Serra in two previous meetings. More great news for Ferrerofan’s is that with the victory his current ranking of 115 in the should moveup to around 71 in the world come the Monday rankings, as a result of capturing the 250 points for his efforts in Morocco.
The Spaniard will now be able to celebrate as he is not scheduled to participate in the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters which begins today in Monaco. With his ranking being 115 at the time of the Monaco cut, JCF was not ranked high enough to enter the main draw. Ferrero will now rest up as he will begin preparations for the Barcelona Open which begins next week.
As for today, JCF is a champion as it’s always a rewarding feeling and an honor to win tour titles at any level, especially after six years of watching other players rack up to the trophies around you.
It was once again a pleasure for TennisConnected.com to cover the events in Houston, Texas as well and Casablanca, Morocco. Congrats once again go out to Lleyton Hewitt and Juan Carlos Ferrero who have both had to deal with their share of injuries and adversities in order to recover to their championship form. As we now shift our attention to the Monte Carlo event, please stay tuned for daily wrap-ups from another world class ATP World Tour event.
Review for Saturday April 11, 2009. Day 6 action. Hewitt and Odesnik battle through to the finals of Houston; Ferrero and Serra to meet in Morocco final.
Houston, Texas.
9:15 pm E.S.T.
Former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt finally ended up on welcome turf on Saturday afternoon as the Aussie advanced to his first ATP World Tour final in two years. Hewitt who has not lost a set all week in the event, whipped through opponent, Delray Beach finalist, Evgeny Korolevin confident fashion with a scoreline of 7-4, 6-4. The 1:33 minute affair consisted of vintage Hewitt movement, as the 28-year old played his trademark brand of consistent tennis to perfection as he has done all week. 
Reaching the finals this week in Texas, will certainly be a huge sigh of relief for Lleyton as last final which the Aussie reached was back in 2007 at the Las Vegas Open, when he defeated Jurgen Melzer in the title match.
This time around Hewitt reached yet another final during his legendary career as he did not allow Korolev any brake point chances, won 82% of his first serves points andobtained the only break point of the entire match in the second set to close out the match. A jubilant Hewitt had this to say after his victory.
“It feels fantastic and it’s been a long time coming,” said Hewitt, who underwent hip surgery in August last year. “I am really moving well and I’m moving a lot better than I thought in my first tournament on clay. I haven’t dropped a set all week and I hope to continue that tomorrow.”
More good news for Hewitt will be that in the final he will face American, Wayne Odesnikwho reached his first ever tour final with a 6-4, 6-3 win over German, Bjorn Phau.
Odesnik is as gritty as it gets on tour. He has always been a focused competitor who has never been shy to work as hard as he needs to in order to reach his goals. Odesnikwho has been on tour for five years, will be looking forward to the biggest match of his young career, as he will be going up against a player who has simply been there and done that.
Although clay is Odesnik’s best surface, you would haveto give the nod to Hewitt in this one, as I do not think it will be easy for the Aussie. Odesnik loves this event as he holds a life time 7-2 record in Houston.
Hewitt and Odesnik have never met on the ATP World Tour, as Hewitt will be bidding for his 27th career title and Odesnik will aim to capture his maiden professional championship.
It should be interesting to see how Hewitt deals with being the favorite and how Odesnikbattles the extreme nerves that come with one’s first final.
Casablanca, Morocco.
Talk about a coincidence? While Hewitt was busy making the finals in Houston, another former number one andgrand slam champ, Juan Carlos Ferrerowas sliding aroundcenter court in Morocco as he also advanced to his first final since January of 2008 in Auckland, as he will attempt to win his first tour title since 2003 when he captured the Madrid Masters 1000 event as the worlds top ranked player!
Oh how the times have changed, as recent talks by Ferrero himself haveindicated that this maybe his final year on tour. Well, I hope JCF will reconsider his thoughts after this week in Morocco as the Spaniard had a highly impressive win today over top seeded Russian, Igor Andreev 7-6, 6-3.
To be honest in watching this match, I was surprised with how well Ferrero was moving and striking the ball. His strokes had great extension and his level of intensity and desire were pretty close to when he was at the top of the game. It is truly amazing how quickly things can change for the worse, and how quickly they can return to glory.
Now is saying that, I am not implying that Ferrero is playing top ten ball once again. I am simply suggesting that it was good to see him capture some of the great form that ruled the claycourts in the early part of the decade.
With the 2:06 minute victory, Ferrero moves onto the finals where he will meet Frenchmen, Florent Serra who was a 6-4, 6-4 winner over 3rd seeded Albert Montanes of Spain.
Ferrero had this to say after his victory. “The first set was a bit crazy,” said Ferrero. “I was happy that I was strong mentally after the break. My tennis was so so today, but I was a hundred percent mentally during the whole match. It was also very windy today.”
Juan Carlos who has never defeated Serra also spoke about what he wants to accomplish come the finals on Sunday. “I have never won against Serra and I hope that I will succeed tomorrow,” said Ferrero, who has a 0-2 record against the Frenchman. “We have played on grass andhard, but never on clay. We both haven’t lost a set this week which means that we are playing well. I have two goals for Sunday. I want to win the title here in Casablanca and beat Serra for the first time. I hope that I can show my best tennis since finals are always a different story.”
Without knowing any information about the head to head between these two players, I bet most of you would say that Ferrero is a shoe in for the title. But let’s look deeper into the situation as it presents some severe obstacles for the Spaniard. First, he has not won a tour event in nearly six years which is astounding to be honest. Therefore, it would be silly to think that there is no pressure on Juan Carlos to succeed here. Secondly, Serra is one of those Gilles Simon type players, from the point of view that when you watch him play, you are like big deal, but then you look at his results and somehow he is always in the top 50 and always playing in the biggest events in the world. Obviously, Simon has taken matters to another level in terms of reaching the top 10 and maximizing his game, but Serra is not that far behind in making the most out of what he has been given.
Serra had this to say about advancing to his first final of 2009, as his attempts to capture his third ATP World Tour title overall. “I had some difficult moments in the second set when I saved break points,” said Serra. “It was important to save those and remain aggressive. He had beaten me a month ago in Indian Wells and I’m happy that I made it this time. Now that I’m in the final I want to go one step further and win another title.”
“I have beaten Ferrero twice, but I have never played him on clay,” said Serra, looking ahead to the final. “I saw that he’s very strong physically this week. I will have to play my game andbe aggressive again.”
At any rate, I am glad that both of these guys are in the finals. For Ferrero, because he is to good of a player to not have won a tour title since 2003 and as for Serra, it’s always a pleasure to witness a player making the most of his game andbeing successful, especially with the level of competition that ATP World Tour is providing today.
As TennisConnected.com gears up for the start of the claycourtseason, we look forward to bringing our readers the most comprehensive coverage leading up to the 2009, French Open. Stay tuned as we will have a finals review on Sunday, from Houston, Texas and Casablanca, Morocco. Enjoy.
Review for Friday April 10, 2009. Day 5 action. Haas and Canas look to make the semi-finals in Houston; Ferrero and Montanes move on in Morocco.
Houston, Texas.
11:21 am E.S.T.
Going, going, gone! That has been the story this week in Houston if you were lucky enough to be a seeded player. With the end of yesterday’s play at River Oaks, not a single seeded player remains in the final eight of the event. The end of spring or seed cleaning I should say, was performed yesterday by unseeded, Tommy Haas has he defeated defending champ, MarcelGranollers 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Haas who was entered in Houston via a wildcard, battled hard in this match, as his sweet one-handed backhand and his all court play, was too much for the 5th seeded Spaniard to handle. The loss of all the seeded players at the event was the first time that a claycourt tournament on the ATP World Tour will not have at least one seed in the last eight since 1968. Great result for Haas as his current ranking of 86 in the world is a far cry from 2002 when he was ranked number two in the world. 
What is the cause of all this chaos this week in Houston? Tommy provided some insight after his win over Granollers. “It’s not easy playing here, to be honest,” Haas said. “The balls are hard and the clay is slippery. If you don’t hit the ball clean, it flies away.”
Well Tommy let’s be brutally honest here andtell the people the truth, shall we? Although Houston is a great event, and the players and fan’s seem to enjoy themselves, the bottom line is that the U.S. Claycourt Championships are played on American soil, which in tern can not in anyway facilitate any sort of proper texture or maintenance towards to theclaycourts. There is a reason these problems do not arise at Monte Carlo or in Roma, because the venues andthe ground crews have the equipment to properly construct the court surface to the desired playability of the competitors.
Nevertheless, Haas played a fine match on Thursday evening to earn a quarter-final berthas he will now look forward to a clash with fellow countrymen, BjornPhau, who was a 6-4, 7-6 winner over American, Scoville Jenkins.
I have always been a fan of Phau, as he is, as Darren Cahill once put it, the “the fastest guy on the circuit”. Now in saying that I am sure that Rafa and Murray would havesomething to say in regards to this matter, but if you look at it poundfor pound in terms of “pure” court speed, Phau has to be right at the top of the list.
Other matches that will take place today in Texas will include: John Isnerin an all American affair with Wayne Odesnik; former top ten player, Guillermo Canas will battle Evgeny Korolev; and finally the night cap will see former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt square off against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.
There sure are a lot of “formers” this week in Houston, which is perhaps what the event is designed for in all honestly. Giving some of the guys how have had previous success an opportunity to shine when there are no top ten players present.
Please check back as we will be provided up to second live scores of all of today’s matches in Houston, Texas.
Casablanca, Morocco.
Top seeded Igor Andreevwasted little time today in advancing to the semi-finals of the Grand Prix Hassen II, as the Russian blasted his way through Frenchmen, Marc Gicquel 6-1, 6-3 in 53 minutes. Whatever you want to call this win, whether it was attributed to an off day by Gicquel or a stunning outing by Andreev, the crowd in Morocco witnessed a comprehensive beating.
This is the way I envision Andreev going about his business, as he has a wonderful claycourt game, but he sometimes forgets about the hard work that he has put in and needs to believe in himself for the results to come. There is no question that he has a mechanical game, andthat he doesn’t float around the court like some of the other fellas on tour, but what Andreev will give you time in and time out is heart and passion, which are the greatest qualities that any player can possess.
Andreev will now move onto the final four where he will meet former world number one and 2003 French Open champ, Juan Carlos Ferrero. Ferrero chalked up another nice win today as he rolled through 4th seed Victor Hanescuof Romania 6-4, 7-5. JCF has been rounding out his game nicely this week as he desperately wants to improve on his dismal rank of 115 on the planet. He took one step closer towards becoming a top 100 player again today as his 1:33 minute victory included three aces, 74% of his first serve points won and four breaks of serve.
Andreev and Ferrero havemet four times in their career head to head with the Spaniard holding a commanding 3-1 lead. The two players havenot met for approximately two years with Ferrero winning the pairs last meeting in Monte Carlo in 2007. However a lot has changed in two seasons as Andreev is now a top twenty player, and Ferrero is not even in the top 100. Should be a good one tomorrow, as Ferrero will be looking continue on the path to capturing his first title since believe it or not, 2003, and Andreev will be attempting to progress onto the final as he will be vying for his fourth career title.
Elsewhere, third seed Albert Montanesupheld his seeding this week as he reached the semi-finals on the strength of a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Frederico Gil of Portugal. Montanesalso reached his first semi-final of 2009, as he will be looking to improve on his already respectable rank of 35 in the world. The next task forMontanes will be to get past Frenchmen, Florent Serra in order to reach the finals on Sunday, as Serra was a 6-0, 6-4 winner over Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia on Friday.
Montanes and Serra will haveno secrets between in tomorrows semi-final as the pair met at Indian Wells last month, with Montanes destroying Serra by a score of 6-3, 6-0. I expect much of the same on Saturday.
As TennisConnected.com gears up for the start of the claycourtseason, we look forward to bringing our readers the most comprehensive coverage leading up to the 2009, French Open. Stay tuned as we will havedaily reviews, interviews, live scores andpictures from both Houston, Texas and Casablanca, Morocco. Enjoy.
Review for Thursday April 9, 2009. Day 4 action. Defending champ looks to continue in Houston; Gicquel and Andreev advances to quarter-finals in Morocco.
Houston, Texas.
11:27 am E.S.T.
After what seems to be a curse in Houston this week (that being a seeded player), saw third seeded Jurgen Melzer and 4th seed Jeremy Chardy join top seeded James Blake andsecond seeded MardyFish on the side lines, as both were rocked out of Texas yesterday as Wayne Odesnik destroyed Melzer 6-4, 6-0 and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez waxed Chardy 6-1, 6-0. Truly, truly, an incredible turn of events this week in Houston.
With that being said the road now is clear for not only the highest seeded player left in the draw but also the defending champ, Marcel Granollers. Granollerswho is seeded fifth this week in Texas will have his hands full today as he takes on former world number two Tommy Haas. Haas is clearly a fraction of the player that he once was, however in saying that, he is more than capable of producing a few more high level wins for the remainder of his career.
With the way the seeds have fallen this week, I can not in confidence say that Marcel is a shoe to win this match, because on paper, some of the other seeds that have fallen this week were defeated by much weaker players.
Moving onto other action that will take place today in Houston, Evgeny Korolev, who made the finals in Delray Beach back in February, will battle Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain; Scoville Jenkins will take on Bjorn Phau of Germany; and finally Guillermo Canas will battle, back in action, and producing some great results Taylor Dent.
As whacky as the clay court season can be, it surely has gotten off to nothing short of an unpredictable start.
Casablanca, Morocco.
Frenchmen, Marc Gicquelmade his way to the quarter-finals of the Grand Prix Hassen II today, as the sixth seed defeated Mischa Zverev 6-4, 7-5. The late blooming Gicquel, really only started coming into his own back in 2006, when he made it to the 4th round of the U.S.Open (L.Federer). The crafty top 50 player, has been ranked as high as 37 in the world, which was in September of 2008, and stands at a 4-8 ATP World Tour record for 2009. The true definition of a journeymen who stayed the course, and as a result has enjoyed more than moderate success over the past few years.
Gicquel was in consistent form today hit one ace, won 70% of his first serve points and broke the Zverev servefour times. With the win Gicquel advances to the quarter-finals where he will meet top seeded Igor Andreevas he survived a tough secondroundmatch with Nicolas Devilder of France 6-7(11), 7-6(5), 6-4.
Andreevhas made his work a lot tougher for himself this week as he also went three sets with little know Rabie Chaki in round one. Today’s match which lasted 3:16 minutes, was without question not the type of match you want in the early stages of an event. In saying that Andreev is a supremely fit guy and will be happy that he had a stern test this early in the clay court season.
This epic second round match included, three aces by Andreevto go along with 69% of his first serve points won as well as only two breaks of serve. The most important brake coming in the latter stages of set three.
Andreev and Gicquel haveplayed three times on tour with the Russian holding a slight 2-1 head to head lead. The good news for Gicquel is that he won the pairs only claycourtmeeting when it was played in Bucharest, Romania back in 2007, in the round of sixteen.
Elsewhere, 5th seed Florent Serra will battle Oliver Rochus in a match that will see two fine baseliners construct and movethe ball around the court to perfection; and finally Teimuraz Gabashvili will take on Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain.
As TennisConnected.com gears up for the start of the claycourtseason, we look forward to bringing our readers the most comprehensive coverage leading up to the 2009, French Open. Stay tuned as we will havedaily reviews, interviews, livescores and pictures from both Houston, Texas and Casablanca, Morocco. Enjoy.
Review for Wednesday April 8.,2009. Day 3 action. No play on clay for Americans, Blake andFish out in round one in Houston; Montanes and Hanescu advance to quarter-finals in Morocco.
Houston, Texas.
12:19 pm E.S.T.
After a dismal day of American results on Tuesday, the U.S. Clay Court Championship will attempt to resume order on Wednesday as a depleted field will take the court. Going into Wednesday only three seeded players remain in the field as top seed James Blake andsecond seeded MardyFish were both sent packing on Tuesday at the hands of Guillermo Canas and Bjorn Phau respectively. I can not say that I am really surprised by this result as I suggested in tournament preview, often times ranking have to be thrown out the window at claycourtevents. Houston this week has once again supported that theory. It was also the first time that the two top seeds were defeated in roundone, since the event back in 2000. As well only three seeds remain in the draw after the first round, making it the least amount of seeded players entering round two since the event was made a 32 draw in 1998.
At any rate with the draw having been blown open completely, the tournaments highest remaining seed, 3rd seeded Jurgen Melzer will take onWayne Odesnik of the United States as today’s featured match. Melzercomfortably defeated Robert Kendrick in round one on Monday. Melzer could be a factor in this event, as this is exactly the type of tournament which he can create some damage andnot succumb to the pressures of a lot of publicity around expectations.
Other action that will take the court today in Texas will see big serving American, John Isner attempt to make the quarter-finals when he battles Paul Capdeville of Chile. Even though Isner holds the power card in the match by a long shot, he is in no way a better clay court player than the Chilean. In say that, Capdeville is no Rafa Nadal either, and can be upset if Isner executes his game plan properly.
Moving on, former world number one Lleyton Hewitt will hope to continue his fine form in Houston today, as the Aussie will battle Sergio Roitman from Argentina. Hewitt took another Argentine, DiegoJunqueirato the woodshed yesterday after Hewitt destroyed the clay player in convincing fashion 6-0, 6-2. Let’s not forget here people that Hewitt is an impressive 80-37 lifetime on the dirt, and as the Aussie himself mentioned after his victory yesterday, “I must be doing something right.” Definitely a winnable match for Hewitt, as even though Roitman is a solid claycourt player, he is in many ways in the Capdeville mode.
The last match of the day will see perhaps the best player left in the tournament, 4th seed Jeremy Chardy of France, as he takes on Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain. Chardy is another wonderful French talent, who has shown that he can play on any surface put under his feet. His break through outing was in 2008 in Paris as he made the 4th roundat Roland Garros. Garcia-Lopez is ironically a better hard court player than many of his countrymen, as his flat ground strokes have never really benefited him on the red clay in Europe. I would haveto give the nod to Chardy in this encounter.
Please check out our live scores section for up to the second results from all today’s action from Houston, Texas.
Casablanca, Morocco.
Third seeded Albert Montanesreached the quarter-finals today at the Grand Prix Hassen II as the Spaniard was made to work against fellow countrymen, Santiago Ventura. The 2:15 minute struggle which was decided by a final score of 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 was the first time Montaneshas reached the quarter-final stage at any event this season. This is quite bizarre as he is a ranked a solid 35 in the world, as he has a ton of points coming up in which he needs to defend. Montanes once again put forth a good effort today as he won 66% of his first serve points, and broke the Ventura serveseven times. With the win, Montanes will move onto the final eight where he will meet Frederico Gil who upset Ivan Ljubicic in three thrilling sets 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-4 in 2:45 minutes.
Gil is another player to watch this season, as I would not be surprised to see him go deep at the French Open this year, let’s say around the 4th round. Frederico will be looking to continue his winning ways against Montanes, as that is clearly be a match that he can win, especially if he keeps up the form that he sustained today against Ljubicic and Nadal last week in Miami.
Fourth seeded Victor Hanescu rounded out the winners on day three as he comprehensively destroyed Spaniard, Ivan Navarro in straight sets 6-1, 6-0. Hanescu does have a solid claycourt resume as he made the quarter-finals of the 2005, French Open and has a nice over all game. Victor needed only 47 minutes to reach the quarter-finals as he hit six aces, won 88% of his first serve points, and broke the Navarro serve five times. Hanescuwill now look forward to a quarter-final meeting with either former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero, or Italian, Potito Starace. That match is currently on court.
As TennisConnected.com gears up for the start of the claycourtseason, we look forward to bringing our readers the most comprehensive coverage leading up to the 2009, French Open. Stay tuned as we will havedaily reviews, interviews, livescores and pictures from both Houston, Texas and Casablanca, Morocco. Enjoy.
Review for Tuesday April 7, 2009. Day 2 action. Blake and Hewitt look to advance in Houston; Ferrero and Montanes move on in Morocco.
Houston, Texas.
12:08 pm E.S.T.
A couple of wounded soldiers will take the court today at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships, as James Blake will be in tough against tour grinder, Guillermo Canas; and former world number one Llyeton Hewitt will take on Diego Junqueirafrom Argentina. It appears that both James and Llyeton are in some serious trouble today.
Blake, who in the latest rankings has dropped to number 17, has had a sub par year which he stands at lonely 9-6 record. The soon to be 30-year old is nearing the end of his career, and I fear that if he does not pick up his performance, this year could be his last on tour. Certainly I do not see Blake in a position to go out and play qualifying for events if need be; as recent as 2006, he ended the year ranked four on the computer. Nevertheless, one has to keep on trying and Blake who is the top seed this week in Houston will do just that later tonight as he takes on claycourt comfortable, Guillermo Canas of Argentina.
Canashas had his own set of issues this year, as he is also a shell of the player that he was back in 2007. With that being said, he is far better player on clay, and Blake has no time to settle in this match, or the tournament for that matter, as he needs to be on the ball from the get go.
Another player who has certainly seen better days on tour is good old Lleyton Hewitt. The Aussie heartthrob is in a world of hurt himself, as he has still to this day not recovered from hip surgery that he underwent last fall. His current rank of 88 in the world is a reflection of that struggle as he clearly still loves that game, and is playing for no other reason than to attempt to capture a fragment of his glory days.
Hewitt will also have his hands full today in Houston as he takes on clay court ready, Diego Junqueira of Argentina. The 28-year old from Tandil, (which is the same city that Juan Martin Del Potro is from) has enjoyed a career year, which has seen him climb the rankings to 68 in the world in March of this year, and sees him at a steady and respectable 78 in the world as of this week.
By no means is this a gimme for Hewitt, as his confidence is low, especially after getting blown out in the second round of Miami last week at the hands of Gilles Simon 6-1, 6-2.
Elsewhere,Tommy Haas will take on Denis Gremelmayr; 2nd seed Mardy Fish will battle Bjorn Phau;John Isnerwill battle good friend Michael Russell; 6th seed and defending champ, Marcel Granollers will face Brian Dabul; 4th seed Jeremy Chardy will take on lucky loser Jesse Levine; 5th seed Sam Querrey battles Paul Capdeville;Taylor Dent vs. Marcos Daniel; Sergio Roitman will go up against Agustin Calleri; Alexander Peya takes on Scoville Jenkins and finally Guillermo Garcia-Lopez will battle Giovanni Lapentti of Ecuador.
Please check our lives scores section for up to the second results from all of these matches.
Casablanca, Morocco.
With the continued theme of today being “how the mighty have fallen”, former world number one and 2003 French Open winner, Juan Carlos began his claycourt season with a solid win today, as he defeated 7th seed Christophe Rochus 6-2, 6-3. The 1:01 minute contest was dominated by Ferrero, as he hit nine aces, won 72% of his first serve points, and broke the Rochus serve five times. Ferrero is another guy who has just taken a beating in the rankings. His current rank of 115 in the world is truly an indication that he is lucky that his hotel and academy back in Valencia are doing well, because he is not bringing home the bacon on the tennis court. Nevertheless, a good win for the “mosquito” as he will next face Potito Starace who defeated Spaniard, Oscar Hernandez 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
The highest ranked player to win thus far on day 2 action is none other than Albert Montanes of Spain. Montanescame away with a straight set win over local wildcard Reda El Amrani from Morocco, 6-2, 7-5. The 1:24 minute match was fully controlled by Montanes as he hit two aces, won 82% of his first serve points and broke the Amrani serve three times.
Albert has always been one of those guys that the true tennis enthusiast knows about, but even the avid fan forgets about when big tournaments come around. To his credit he has increased his ranking to a point where he is seeded in this 250 and some 500 level tournaments, and he has managed to sustain a ranking of 35 in the world. Not to shabby by anyonesstandards. In round two, Montaneswill look forward to a meeting with countrymen, Santiago Ventura who was a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Oliver March of Austria.
Elsewhere on a busy day two in Casablanca, the biggest upset of the tournament thus far saw qualifier Rubin Ramirez Hidalgo from Spain defeat 2nd seed Ranier Schuettler of Germany 6-4, 7-6(5). As I suggested in my tournament preview, Schuettlers days of winning tournament are all but over, and because has lost a step and can not penetrate on a clay court, the up coming season on the dirt maybe a forgettable one for the German.
Other winners on the day included: 6th seed Marc Gicquel defeated Kristof Vliegen 7-5, 6-3; Oliver Rochusdid not encounter the same fate as his brother as he moved onto roundtwo with a comfortable win over another local player, Mehdi Ziadi of Morocco 4-6, 6-2, 6-1; Teimuraz Gabashvili defeated Fabio Fognini 6-2, 6-1; Nicolas Devilder defeated Daniel Koellerer 6-3, 6-4; and Mischa Zverev (GER) d [Q] Flavio Cipolla 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Still to come on Tuesdays action top seed Igor Andreev will take on yet another wildcard, Morrocan player, Rabie Chaki.
As TennisConnected.com gears up for the start of the claycourtseason, we look forward to bringing our readers the most comprehensive coverage leading up to the 2009, French Open. Stay tuned as we will havedaily reviews, interviews, livescores and pictures from both Houston, Texas and Casablanca, Morocco. Enjoy.
Review for Monday April 6, 2009. Day 1 action. Kendrick will look to get through Melzer in Houston; Gil and Ljubicic advance in Morocco.
Houston, Texas.
11:57 am E.S.T.
Robert Kendrick
Unseeded American, Robert Kendrick will look to begin his claycourtseason in style today, as the soon to be 30-year old is enjoying his most successful year on tour. Currently standing at 76 in the latest world rankings, Kendrick is coming off of two solid weeks of tennis in which he qualified for both Indian Wells and Miami, and pulled off three main draw wins combined.
Kendrick has always been a solid all court player, who possesses a work class delivery of a serve. With that being said, Kendrick will have his work cut out for him today as he takes on 3rd seeded Jurgen Melzer from Austria.
Melzeris a dangerous customer on any surfaces, as his unorthodox game provides many challenges for a variety of opponents. His two handed-backhand drop shot is perhaps his most dangerous shot to watch out for. In saying that, Melzer in the past has been his worst enemy on court, as he can play world class tennis as well as tank matches for no apparent reason. Nevertheless, I do not think you will see Melzer tank this match against Kendrick, as he believes he should be the victor. Robert will have to play his utmost best this evening against Jurgen if he is to prevail. Like many Americans, clay is just not Kendrick’s surface of choice.
Moving onto other matches on Monday’s light first day of play at River Oaks, Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain will take on 8th seeded Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina; Kevin Anderson of South Africa will battle Wayne Odesnik of the U.S.; and finally Delray finalist, Evgeny Korolevof Russia will take on Leonardo Mayer or Argentina for a place in round two.
Please check our live scores section for final results from all of today’s matches in Houston.
Casablanca, Morocco.
Portuguese player Frederico Gil continued his good form as of late today as the 24-year old Lisboa, native defeated Spanish veteran, Alberto Martin in a tough 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 battle. Gil has really stepped up his game as of late, as he gave Rafael Nadalall he could handle last week in Miami, before falling in straight sets. Although he is not the biggest player by stature, his vicious groundstrokes are a force for anyone to deal with. The 2:22 minute win by Gil today featured, three aces, 67% of his first serve points won, andfive breaks of serve. Martin actually won more points than Gil in this match, at 104/95 but it was Gil who dominated the final set tie-break witha score of seven points to four. With the win, Gil will moveonto round two where he will meet Ivan Ljubicic who upset 8th seed Arnaud Clement of France 7-6, 5-7, 6-4.
The 2:57 minute affair featured many fantastic baseline rallies, as Ivan’s serve which hit 16 aces proved to be the deciding factor in this encounter. Although claycourts usually take the sting out of the big serve, Ljubicictook it upon himself to not let that effect him as he rolled through his service games with relative ease.
Clement who is getting close to the end of his career is still at a respectable 58 in the world. Although I do believe his days of posting any sort of significant results in major events is all but done. Nevertheless, Clement will plug away on the singles circuit as well as continue his fine doubles play, as Ljubicicwill be the one enjoying passage to the secondround in Morocco.
Ljubicic will havehis hands full withGil in roundtwo as mentioned, but one can never count out Ivan with the serve that he’s got.
Other action that is still waiting to take the court on day one action at the Grand Prix Hassen II, will see 4th seeded Victor Hanescu back on his favorite surface taking on Steve Darcis of Belgium. Darcis is another one of those guys who has proven that he can obtain high level wins on any given day. Elsewhere, 5th seeded Florent Serra of France will be in tough against Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil; and finally Ivan Navarro will take on Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine.
As TennisConnected.com gears up for the start of the claycourtseason, we look forward to bringing our readers the most comprehensive coverage leading up to the 2009, French Open. Stay tuned as we will havedaily reviews, interviews, livescores and pictures from both Houston, Texas and Casablanca, Morocco. Enjoy.
Tournament Previews:
With the hardcourt season wrapping up last weekendwith the final of the Miami Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour is now set to deliver six weeks of in your face claycourttennis from the crushed bricks in Europe. With top ranked Rafael Nadal taking the week off to prepare for next weeks Monte Carlo Masters 1000, the rest of the tour will have at least two chances this week to gather a claycourt victory.
With events taking place in Houston, Texas and Casablanca, Morocco let us now take a look at the participants for each event.
Houston, Texas:
Graollers after he captured the U.S. Clay Court Championships in 2008.
The road to Roland Garros starts in a strange way this week, as the American boys will get a final chance to remain and flourish their claycourt games, as they remain in the States. Top seed American, James Blake is back in action as the defending finalist will hope for a similar result this year, as 2009 has not started the way the worlds former number four ranked player would have hoped. Joining Blake in the field will be countrymen andsecond seed Mardy Fish, 3rd seed Jurgen Melzer and 4th seed Jeremy Chardy. Defending champ and six seed Marcel Granollerswill also be participating, as the Spaniard will look to not only defendhis title, but capture the second title of his career.
Moving onto the draw breakdown, Blake will be in tough from the get go as he faces former top ten player and claycourt comfortable, Guillermo Canas. Canasis another player that has been struggling as of late, but certainly does like the dirt. He has a heck of a chance at dismissing Blake in round one. If Blake is able to get past Canas in roundone then either good friendTaylor Dent or Brazilian, Marcos Daniel will be waiting in round two. The quarter-finals could also bring forth extreme danger for the Blake camp, as Delray Beach finalist, Evgeny Korolev, Leonardo Mayer from Argentina, Daniel Gimeno-Traver, or 8th seed Maximo Gonzalez could be waiting. All four of these opponents have a great shot at defeating Blake, on the Americans worst surface.
The semi-finals would also bring forth some stiff resistance for James, as either 4th seed Jeremy Chardy, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Agustin Calleri, former world number one Lleyton Hewitt and finally 7thseed Diego Junquiera, could all be dangerous opponents. Bottom line, with the year that James has been having it will truly take a miracle for him to venture back into the finals, as he would have to defeat some rough claycourt players. In saying that there are no real elite claycourt players in the draw either, therefore if there was ever a week for Blake to make a dent on clay this would be it.
The bottom half of the draw has second seed Mardy Fish, attempting to reach his third tour final of the year as the American will certainly havehis work cut out for him this week. The problem with assessing claycourt draws these days is that you haveto throw seedings out the window. Under normal circumstances, Mardy’s first round match against German, Bjorn Phau would be a relatively routine win, however when you put a claycourtunder these two players, I can not withconfidence say that Fish can not be upset. Nevertheless let’s give Mardy the benefit of the doubt and look deeper into his potential draw.
If Fish is to survive roundone, the secondround could bring forth either Pablo Andujar or a qualifier. The quarter-finals could set off an extreme challenge for Fish as defending champ Marcel Granollers could be waiting. If Mardy is to somehow get by Granollers, then his draw would continue to be difficult as 5th seed Sam Querrey, wildcard John Isner, South African, Kevin Anderson, or 3rd seeded Jurgen Melzer could be Mardy’s opponents. Bottom line, Querrey is the player to watch in this section, when speaking of Americans. However you still have to like someone like Granollers, and his chances at reaching the final.
Casablanca, Morocco:
As mentioned, most of the top guys will be sitting out this week as the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 in next week. As a result of the scheduling conflict, defending champ Gilles Simon will not be attending the event this year as he will be arriving in Monte Carlo mid week. Therefore the draw in Morocco is not drop dead gorgeous by any means. The tournament will be led by Russian, Igor Andreev, who is the top seed. Andreevwill be followed by second seed Rainer Schuettler, 3rd seed Albert Montanes, and finally 4th seed Victor Hanescu. Andreev has picked up his game as of late, and it could not have come at a better time since clay is his best surface.
Andreev’s half of the draw is as follows. In round one the Russian will take on Moroccan, qualifier Rabie Chaki. I fully expect Andreevto get through that match as his secondround opponent will be either Nicolas Devilder of France or Daniel Koellererof Austria. With Andreev continuing to be the favorite in this half of the draw, his quarter-final foe could be either 6th seed Marc Giquel of France or Mischa Zverev of Germany.
The semi-finals could bring a stern challenge for Andreev as either 4th seeded Victor Hanescu; former world number one and French Open champ, Juan Carlos Ferrero; or finally 7th seed Christophe Rochus could be waiting. An Andreev/Ferreroquarter-final would be entertaining, as both players are excellent at their craft on the dirt. Bottom line, if Andreev shows up to play, he has what it takes to make the final. It would be nice to see Ferrero do some damage here as a darkhorse, as he has struggled as of late.
The bottom half of the draw will be led by second seeded Rainer Schuettler, as the German will attempt to continue his resurgence over the past year. Rainer opens against a qualifier as he will face either Fabio Fognini or Teimuraz Gabashvili in round two. Both of these players have nice claycourt games and could cause some serious trouble for Schuettler.
If Schuettler is to advance to the quarter-finals his opponent could be either 5th seed Florent Serra; Brazilian, Tomaz Bellucci; or unseeded Belgium, Oliver Rochus. Bellucci is a breakout performer waiting to happen, as his game is tailor made for the claycourts. If Schuettler is to make the semi-finals either 8th seed Arnaud Clement, Ivan Ljubicic, Frederico Gil, or 3rd seed Albert Montanes could be waiting. Gil could be a potential treat in this half, as he put a great effort froth in Miami last week against top seed Rafael Nadal is a straight set loss. Bottom line, even though Schuettler is in great shape, his days of tour titles seem to be behind him, as a youngster like Bellucci, or the in form Gil are a better choice for a finalist spot.
As TennisConnected.com gears up for the start of the claycourtseason, we look forward to bringing our readers the most comprehensive coverage leading up to the 2009, French Open. Stay tuned as we will havedaily reviews, interviews, live scores andpictures from both Houston, Texas and Casablanca, Morocco. Enjoy.
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