Tennisform Ticker

31 July 2009
22:57	Ferrer	echoed Nadal's unhappiness with the anti doping controls the ATP have introduced. "I ended my match with Kiefer at 9PM on Wednesday evening then interviews and physio treatment until 2AM ....and then was woken up at 7AM when the doping people knocked on my door. I think that is very wrong. There is a lot of tension amongst the players." He has pulled out of his doubles match with Gimeno Traver today.
22:39	Errani	Keothavong, Kuznetsova, Paszek and Tanasugarn have pulled out of next week's tournament in Los Angeles. Dokic also pulled out of the qualifying draw.
22:37	Bacsinszky	"I was really happy about that win. It's actually not easy to win, 60 61 - you have to be so focused, and today I focused on every game," the 85th-ranked Bacsinszky said of her win over Radwanska. "I'm in really good shape and it's bringing me a lot of confidence, especially since I didn't play for six months because of my knee. It has been a really tough year for me with injury but I'm really happy to be back on track and I know I'm playing better than my ranking at the moment. I hope I'll be able to return back to my best ranking, then why not even more?"
22:36	Dushevina	"I played very well and won," said Dushevina. "I'm very pleased with the performance."
21:33	Fish	has pulled out of Los Angeles. Fish has been having trouble with his side and has decided not to risk any further injury.
30 July 2009
23:18	Seppi	comfortably beat Massu, who may have been feeling the effects of his lengthy match in defeating Ferrer the previous evening. Seppi was superior in every department, winning 69% of his service points and taking 4 of 10 break point chances. Massu could barely get into the match and, despite breaking the Italian twice, was a clear second best. Seppi 6/4 6/4.
23:07	Massu	finally mastered Ferrer in a big upset after 2 hours and 16 minutes to reach his first main tour ATP quarter final since Acapulco 2008. Massu went an early break up in all three sets but had to fight back from going down 2/4 in the final set, eventually winning the last four games. The Chilean took 6 of 11 break point chances whilst Ferrer converted on 4 of 5 opportunities. This match finished at 1145PM local time. Massu is scheduled first up on Friday afternoon. Massu 4/6 6/2 6/4.
21:50	Jankovic	is travelling with her father, Veselin, while her mother, Snezana, recovers from stomach surgery
21:24	Molik	is embarking on a comeback. Molik is fit and injury-free after regular sessions at Melbourne Park and ready for another tilt on the pro circuit, with doubles believed to be her major focus at this stage. The former top-10 player had hoped to keep her return low-key, but the training sessions became so strenuous in recent weeks it was obvious she was not hitting for fun. Sources close to Molik have confirmed she is excited at the prospect of another crack at top level tennis. Molik appears to have lost several kilograms and may be trimmer than when she retired in September last year at the age of 27, mentally worn out by a string on injury setbacks.
21:18	Rezai	(Blog entry) "I was playing Marta Domachowska and in the middle of the second set the lights went out for about 15 minutes - it was very weird :) We got going again though, and I ended up losing. Marta played very well. I didn't feel like I was playing well, but all the credit to her. I was disappointed because I really wanted to do well here, but tennis has ups and downs, and this time it just wasn't my time. It was an experience and I'll learn from it for next time."
21:05	Kiefer	(Blog entry) "Today again, we found difficult conditions. Not only the altitude but it was also very windy. I changed my approach to playing due to the unorthodox way my opponent played. I played it more cautiously instead of an all or nothing approach."
20:55	Medina Garrigues	at the post match conference: "I did not start the match well tactically. She used different styles and played an intelligent game. After I learnt her style of play, I felt more comfortable." On her next match against Dushevina: "I played her in Madrid this year and lost in 2 sets. She is a good athlete and very powerful. I feel good and it is also my birthday tomorrow so I would like to play well."
20:50	Ozgen	at the post match press conference: "In the first set, I got good results but in the end I was facing the number 20 in the world. I think I played a little too defensive in sets 2 and 3. I tried to attack but she was hitting with good length so it was not easy to do.
20:35	Wawrinka	lamented his early exit against Bellucci: "After such a match, there is not much to say. Bellucci quickly understood that I was not playing well, There was a lot of pressure on me this week."
20:21	Seppi	edged past Gil in two hotly contested sets. Seppi had to recover on numerous occasions throughout the match. He was a break down early in both sets, had to save 3 set points at 5/6 in the second set and even came back from 2/4 down in the ensuing tie break. The Italian would have been a most undeserved loser, however, as he won 15 more points than his opponent and was well on top in both serving and returning categories. Gil had twice as many break point chances but failed to capitalise, only taking 3 of 10 opportunities whilst Seppi was much more clinical, converting of 4 of 5 chances. Seppi 7/5 7/6.
20:03	Davydenko	cruised past Martin with the minimum of fuss, winning comfortably in an hour and 8 minutes. Davydenko was far too classy for the veteran Spaniard and if it wasn't for a lapse in concentration when dropping serve for the first time this week at 4/2 in the second set the Russian would have been off court much sooner. The Russian was once again very solid on serve, winning 76% on first delivery behind a 79% first serve. Martin was broken four times. Davydenko 6/2 6/3. Davydenko 31w 19ue; Martin 15w 24ue.
20:01	Medina Garrigues	eventually came through with relative ease despite a pathetic first set display. Ozgen was gifted two breaks from some sloppy errors by the Spaniard in the first set, who could only manage to win 1 from 8 points on her 2nd serve and double faulted twice. The 2nd set saw the Turk’s confidence just collapse as her serve was destroyed by Medina Garrigues who spanked many a winner in the 16 of the 21 points Ozgen served. The 3rd set was a rout as Ozgen could only win 6 points all set and only 2 on her own serve. Medina Garrigues only won 35% of her 2nd serve all match and double faulted 6 times [11 service games]. "I feel like I'm playing well, though," said Medina Garrigues. (Forum extract) "That's definitely my nomination for worst match of the year." Medina Garrigues 2/6 6/2 6/0.
19:46	U.Radwanksa	scraped past Dzehalevich's in just over two hours. A patchy display from Radwanksa saw her broken eight time [15 service games] and only won 49% of her service points (33% in the 2nd set). Dzehalevich's low 1st serve percentage of 46% ultimately cost her as Radwanska won 60% of the points on 2nd serve and broke the Bulgarian 7 times (14 service games). Radwanska never looked in control and nearly surrendered a 4-1 lead in the third set as she was pegged back to 4-4. (Forum extract) ”Dzehalevich's style annoyed Ula, because she sent high balls nonstop. Ula couldn't solve this problem. She got angry and shouted all through the match. The crowd was afraid of Ula and they supported her influentially.” Radwanska 7/5 1/6 6/4
19:27	Kiefer	after his defeat of Navarro: "I had to just defend at times, but it was worth it. I am glad that my body is in good shape. I always felt that I had the game under control."
19:22	Kiefer	got through in three sets but will kick himself for taking his foot off the gas in the 2nd set. Kiefer dealt with Navarro’s serve volley tactics with ease in the first set, winning 50% of the Spaniard’s 1st serve while only dropping six points on his serve. Kiefer evidently was trying to play within himself in the 2nd set which proved a mistake as Navarro’s confidence grew and ultimately cost the German the 2nd set. Normal service was resumed for Kiefer in the third set as he out thought the Spaniard, breaking him twice and won 58% of the points. Ultimately Kiefer wasn’t broken all match and won 69% of his serve but it was a sometimes lazy display. Kiefer 6/3 7/6 6/2.
19:21	Serra	got through to the quarter finals courtesy of Hanescu pulling out with an upset stomach. Serra looked the dominant player as he only dropped seven points on his serve in the first set and saved two break points but it’s hard to gauge how good this was as Hanescu ultimately retired. Serra 6/4 ret.
19:20	Daniel	came through in a match full of long rallies. Although Benneteau had five untaken break points in the first set, he struggled badly with his serve, only delivering 42% of his 1st serve in and being made to suffer on his 2nd serve [43% success]. The 2nd set saw the Frenchman rectify this problem as he won 84% behind a 74% 1st serve but Daniel was just too solid all match, playing the key points well and winning 68% of his service points and 52% on Benneteau’s 2nd serve. And as the 2nd set went to tie-break Daniel prevailed to bring his record to 11 wins for his last 12 tie-breaks. Daniel 6/3 7/6.
19:19	Bellucci	was a different player to the one who beat Lammer while Wawrinka put in another edgy performance. Bellucci was rarely threatened on his serve as he won 77% behind a 66% 1st serve and didn’t offer up a single break point. Wawrinka was still prone to too many errors caused by Bollelli’s powerful hitting and had his 2nd serve put under a lot of pressure as he only placed 51% of his 1st serves in and only won 56% of his 2nd serve. (Forum extract) “He threw Wawrinka off his game. The Swiss didnt feel the ball on his string, merit to Bellucci.” Bellucci 6/4 6/4.
18:39	Ferrero	overcame a very poor first set set to run out an easy winner in the end over Starace . Ferrero struggled to keep the ball in play in the first set as Starace took control with some fierce winners, especially on the forehand side, but it wasn't too long before the Spaniard started to expose the Italian's rather suspect movement by getting him to race all over the court. Ferrero quickly motored into a 4/0 lead in the second set and despite having to face several break points when serving for the set he managed to fend them all off and closed out the match pretty soon afterwards. Ferrero 1/6 6/3 6/2. Ferrero 41w 29ue; Starace 38w 26ue.
18:22	M.Gonzalez	recovered from 2/4 down in the first set to get past Hernandez in a match that involved 10 breaks of serve (from 20 games). Gonzalez had gone off a marginal favourite on Betfair in a weak betting market and had little problem with the Spaniard once he had recovered his composure, taking 6 games on the trot at one stage. Gonzalez created more break point chances, converting on 6 of 15 whilst Hernandez took 4 of 6. M.Gonzalez 6/4 6/4.
18:00	Bolelli	came through against fellow countryman Fognini. Bolelli played the big points much the better, taking 3 of 7 break points whilst Fognini was guilty of squandering 9 of his 10 break point opportunities. Both players had virtually identical stats on serve, although Bolelli had more success at getting the first ball in, with a 59% first serve percentage to Fognini's 49%. Bolelli 6/3 6/4.
17:44	Melzer	avenged last week's defeat by Cuevas in Hamburg with a comfortable success over the Uruguayan. Melzer had led 5/2 in the first set and had set points in Hamburg last week but he wasn't going to make the same mistake again, cruising through against a possibly jaded opponent. Melzer won 81% on first serve ( 29/36 points) and took 3 of 5 break points. "I am really proud I won. It was payback for last week’s match in Hamburg. I played well and I believe my serve and volley combination were great,” said a delighted Austrian afterwards. Melzer 6/4 6/3.
13:44	Hradecka	played with her right shoulder heavily taped and started the match slowly to suggest that she was bothered by the injury initially [e.g. 4 double-faults in her opening two service games], but she steadied herself in the second set and realised that she only really needed to keep the ball in play to trouble the erratic Julia Goerges, who struggled with her returns of serve [36% won], made too many errors with her backhand, missed too many first serves [48% landed], moved poorly and appeared to tire in the mid-day heat. Hradecka made all 8 of her double-faults in sets one and two as she looked to force the play, but in the third set she kept the ball in play with an 84% first serve as the German wilted away. "Very well played by Hradecka after a poor first set. She battled in the second and won easy in the third," said the TV commentator. Hradecka 2/6 6/4 6/1.
13:44	Petkovic	breezed past Rossana De Los Rios, who lacked the fire power to prevent the German from dominating the rallies with her bigger weapons and also lacked the consistency to stay in the points. Petkovic served well herself, winning 83% behind a 59% first serve, but she was never really put under any real pressure by the 33-year-old Paraguayan, who failed to hold serve even once and won a pathetic 27% of her service points. Petkovic cracked a winner off almost every service return during the 50-minute romp. (Forum extract) "Total domination. Wonderful from Andrea, she had too much power for de los Rios, almost every return a winner." Petkovic 6/1 6/0.
12:01	F.Gonzalez	will return to action next week in Washington after a month out with tendinitis in the knee. Gonzalez will travel to Washington on Friday, according to his physical trainer Carlos Burgos, who said: "The injury has improved positively, although there are still some small problems with the tendon in the knee, but with special physiotherapy before and after each match we should be able to gradually repair the tissue. Accordingly, if all goes to plan, Fernando will be in Washington."
10:10	Safin	said he struggled somewhat with Gulbis' style: "I always have trouble with guys that are big hitters because they can play really fast."
10:08	Ljubicic	"Almagro serves better than Volandri, so I hope my serve will be better. I face an extremely difficult match, in which I will go for short points," said Ljubicic.
10:08	Ljubicic	"I was everything but fresh. I couldn’t move well, mainly because of my ankle, but also lack of training. After five, six rallies I breath through “my gills”. I haven’t run since May and that has consequences. The plan was to play fast with as much short points. My serve maybe wasn’t my best, but it did help on my way to the victory," said Ljubicic.
10:00	Ferrero	"I am playing very well and I hope to keep that level and I will for sure try to win the tournament. My goal for this year is to finish in top 15, I think I can do it because I've got no points to defend untill the end of the year," Ferrero said. The Spaniard plays Starace today, a player he has beaten four times from five meetings, including earlier this year in Casablanca. "I tried to play against his backhand all the time because he has a very powerful forehand and serve," said Ferrero then. "He's big and so he doesn't move very well on the court so I tried to be very aggressive and try to move him with my forehand."
09:46	Hantuchova	battled back from a 6/4 4/2 deficit to see off Agnieszka Radwanska in a match which 2 hours 42 minutes and finished after midnight local time. The Slovak played well, and looked comfortable in the quick conditions which allowed her to hit through the Pole, who appeared to run out of gas in the third set. "Of course, I am very, very happy with the match. It was a great fight with some very good tennis, even better than the opening round against Wozniak," said Hantuchova. "Even when I was down 4/6 2/4 I fought for every ball and it finally be paid. In the third set I felt that Radwanska's physical level dropped." Hantuchova has been on court for over 5 hours to reach the quarter-finals. "I have been training for two weeks in Florida, so I feel very well physically," she said. (Forum extract) "Aga was in complete control and just lost it. Agnieszka totally collapsed in the last set. Not really sure why. She should've won it in two. They both had some amazing winners but also a LOT of UEs." --- "Radwanska certainly not her usual, error-free self, she looks very tired." Hantuchova 4/6 7/6 6/1.
08:16	Dementieva	showed off her powerful game and improved serve on Wednesday night, burying Kirilenko in an avalanche of deep groundstrokes. Kirilenko did however look jaded following almost 5 hours on court the day before, while she also lacked the outright power off the ground to penetrate Dementieva, who is yet to drop a set against her compatriot and clearly enjoys the match-up. "It was a good match. I'm satisfied with the way I was playing," Dementieva said. "She has good variety in her game and can mix it up. But I tried to come in and take advantage of the net and her strategy didn't have any effect on the outcome. I knew what to expect from her." Dementieva was solid and quick off the baseline, consistently running down blasts from Kirilenko and firing them back as winners. (Forum extract) "Not as easy as the score says, some long rallies, but Elena's forehand was really good today." Dementieva 6/1 6/2.
08:15	Sharapova	needed just over an hour to beat a woeful Nadia Petrova, who stomped around the court in her usual moody manner and looked beat before she even stepped on court. Petrova landed just 44% of her first serves, which gave Sharapova the opportunity to dominate the rallies. "I was aggressive the whole way through," Sharapova said. "I didn't have many letdowns and even when I made unforced errors I stayed with it." Sharapova chipped in with 7 double-faults [0.87/game] but served well enough overall, winning 81% behind a 60% first serve. "I put pressure on her and did a lot of things well today," said Sharapova. "This is the easiest score line I've had against her." (Forum extract) " Nadia played as if she hasn't been on the tennis court for 5 years. Basically a serve-fest - 90% of the match was aces, df, first serves faults, unreturnable serves, serves returned into the net etc." --- "Nadia looked unconscious from the start. Down a break at the coin toss and down a set during the warm up." --- "That was the most pathetic performance I've seen from a Top 10 player all year. Nadia was awful, her worst match since her match against Flavia in Zurich." Sharapova 6/1 6/2.
07:41	Isner	twisted his left ankle and collapsed on the court after trying to reverse direction on a forehand that gave Baghdatis an 11-10 lead in the tiebreaker. Isner got to his feet after several minutes, but was limping noticeably and unable to put much weight on the left ankle and foot while serving. The injury seemed to affect Baghdatis more than Isner, though. "He missed a second-serve return (to make it 11-all), something he hadn’t done really all match, and I hit a forehand as hard as I could and closed my eyes and it went in, right off the line," said Isner, who won on his fifth match point when Baghdatis hit a backhand long. "I was extremely fortunate to get through that match."
07:41	Tursunov	was confirmed to have retired with a left ankle injury--not a back injury--while trailing Ball 6-4, 1-0 in the Los Angeles second round.
07:15	Rezai	(Blog entry) "I have to make this a quick one because it's very late right now! Unfortunately I lost my second round match tonight against Marta Domachowska, who played very well. I'm sorry I couldn't write yesterday, some things came up out of nowhere and I wasn't really in a position to write... anyway I will explain more tomorrow, because even though I'm out of the tournament I definitely want to get you all updated on everything before the blog is over!"
07:11	Bellucci	on his match with Wawrinka: "The guy was number 9 in the world until recently. He is a very strong player and is playing at home. I will have to play with more consistency, missing less if I want to win." Bellucci was pleased to come through against Lammer, saving two match points: "This victory motivated me even more because it came out of adverse situations to ensure victory."
06:52	Tursunov	retired in the second set against Ball with either a back injury or an ankle injury. Reports have been conflicting. An ankle injury had sidelined Tursunov for more than a month earlier this season following the Masters Series Miami in late March. Whatever the injury, Tursunov recovered in time to play doubles later in the day with Ernests Gulbis. The Indianapolis champions continued their hot streak by upsetting No. 2 seeds Bruno Soares and Kevin Ullyett 6-2, 6-4.
06:47	Kiefer	plays Navarro today who is a serve volley player. The German has an excellent record against this type of player, beating the likes of Santoro, Melzer, Karlovic, Mirnyi, F Lopez and Llodra in the last 18 months. Even his loss to Santoro at Wimbledon can be largely discounted as he was returning from an abdominal injury.
06:18	Haas	crushed Jesse Levine 6-1, 6-3 in his Los Angeles opener on Wednesday night. Haas got a first-round bye as the No. 1 seed, so he is already through to the quarterfinals. He won an amazing 21 of 23 first-serve points (91 percent), which is why he was able to hold all eight of his service games without facing a single break point despite putting in just 52 percent of his first serves. Levine was doomed by his own serve; he made just 48 percent of his first serves and won only nine of 25 second-serve points (36 percent). That was in part because Haas was being extremely aggressive with his return off second serves, and because Levine double-faulted an incredible nine times (in eight service games). Haas 6/1 6/3.
06:18	Keothavong	has been ruled out for the season after a scan reveals ligament and meniscus tear to left knee. "I tried to avoid the fence and in doing so I twisted my knee," she said. "I will have to rehab for the rest of the season."
05:39	Safin	defeated Ernests Gulbis 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the Los Angeles second round on Wednesday afternoon. Safin came back from a set and a break down, and he even went down a break again in the third after storming back to win the second. "It was different conditions," the Russian said, comparing it to his first-round win over Indianapolis champion Robby Ginepri. "It was during the day, so it's completely opposite the night. The balls are flying much more so it's tough to really control them and it takes some time to get used to it. I was a little bit slow at the beginning of the match." Safin 2/6 6/3 6/4.
02:19	Tursunov	retired while trailing Carsten Ball 6-4, 1-0 in their Los Angeles second-round match. Tursunov turned an ankle late in the first set.
02:16	Isner	defeated Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 7-6(11) in the Los Angeles second round on Wednesday. Isner twisted his ankle at 10-10 in the second-set tiebreaker, but came back to save set point at 10-11 and ended up winning the last three points of the match despite the injury. Said Isner: "He hit a serve out wide and then he hit a shot behind me. My left foot went the other way. I thought it was worse than it is. I have tomorrow off and I will see how it feels. I stayed calm and didn't panic even though I had two match points on my serve in the tie-break. It was a high quality match I played well." Isner struck 11 aces (in 11 service games plus one tiebreaker) and never faced a break point. Isner 6/3 7/6.
00:34	Isner	has pulled out of doubles in Los Angeles. Isner turned his ankle at the end of his singles match against Baghdatis.
29 July 2009
23:30	Ljubicic	There is some talk that this could be the last clay court event held in Umag. The event director has reportedly said that it would be easier to bring in better players if, in future, the event was held on a hard court. More than 100,000 euros would be needed to concrete the existing 7 clay courts. "I was involved in ATP politics and know it is not easy, but if you get the support of the players there may be hope," said Ljubicic.