Wed, Oct 22, 2008 page20

• Robredo, Ferrero advance with straight-set victories

  • AP
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  Fifth-seeded Tommy Robredo and Juan Carlos Ferrero advanced to the second round of the Lyon Grand Prix on Monday with straight-set wins.

  Robredo broke Michael Llodra of France once in each set to win 6-4, 6-3.

  Llodra said he was “physically and mentally” worn out and that a nagging pain behind his right knee may rule him out for the remainder of the season.

  

  Russia’s Igor Andreev serves a ball to Austria’s Juergen Melzer during their first-round match at the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament in Basel, Switzerland, on Monday.

  PHOTO: EPA

  “The ligaments have been hurt and that bothers when I move about,” Llodra told the Web site of sports daily L’Equipe. “It’s possible that my season ends tonight.”

  Ferrero beat big-serving Sam Querrey 6-3, 7-5. The American failed to convert two break-point chances in the second set against Ferrero, the 2003 French Open champion. Robredo saved the only break point he faced in the first set.

  French wild card Josselin Ouanna also won, rallying to beat Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-4, and Belgian wild card Steve Darcis upset Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

  Ouanna, ranked 182nd and more accustomed to playing in challenger and other lower tier events, secured his first career win on the ATP tour by converting three of his four break-point chances.

  Ouanna lost all of his three previous first round matches this year, all of them on clay, without taking a set. He lost twice to Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina — in Kitzbuhel, Austria, and at the French Open — and once to Marin Cilic in Gstaad, Switzerland.

  Julien Benneteau advanced by beating Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-2.

  ■FORTIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

  AP, LUXEMBOURG

  Second-seeded Anna Chakvetadze reached the second round of the Fortis Championships by beating Mathilde Johansson of France 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Monday.

  Chakvetadze had lost six of her last seven matches, but the Russian jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first set and a 4-2 lead in the second. She will face either Iveta Benesova or 14-year-old Laura Robson of Britain in the next round.

  Third-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and sixth-seeded Li Na of China also advanced at CK Sportcenter Kockelsheuer. Hantuchova defeated Pauline Parmentier of France 6-2, 7-5 and Li beat Mandy Minella of Luxembourg 6-2, 6-1.

  Also, Sabine Lisicki of Germany beat Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, Sara Errani of Italy defeated Marina Erakovic of New Zealand 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, and Peng ­Shuai of China beat Vera Dushevina of Russia 6-1, 6-2.

  ■SWISS INDOORS

  AP, BASEL, SWITZERLAND

  Fifth-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka was upset by German qualifier Benjamin Becker 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) on Monday in the first round of the Swiss Indoors.

  Wawrinka served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but Becker broke with two straight forehand winners. The 137th-ranked German saved two match points when serving at 5-6, and soon won with a backhand winner.

  The loss damaged Wawrinka’s chances of qualifying for next month’s Masters Cup in Shanghai. The 23-year-old Swiss is 11th in the standings, and only the top eight qualify.

  Also competing at Basel are Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, who is eighth, and 10th-place James Blake of the US.

  Eighth-seeded Mardy Fish of the US also advanced, beating Agustin Calleri of Argentina, 7-6 (5), 6-2, while Feliciano Lopez of Spain defeated Swiss wild card Marco Chiudinelli 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7) and sixth-seeded Igor Andreev of Russia beat Juergen Melzer of Austria 7-6 (5), 7-5.

  ■ST PETERSBURG OPEN

  AP, ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

  Veteran Dominik Hrbaty upset sixth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of the St Petersburg Open on Monday.

  The 340th-ranked Slovak veteran capitalized on Tursunov’s weak serve and poor return to wrap up the win in less than an hour.

  The Russian won the opening game at love but Hrbaty, 30, then won six consecutive games to take the opening set. The 26th-ranked Tursunov had a break in the second game of the second set, but Hrbaty then won five games in a row to close out the match in just 56 minutes.

  In other first-round action, Victor Hanescu of Romania served 12 aces to beat Evgeny Korolev of Russia 6-1, 6-2, while German veteran Rainer Schuettler ousted Russian Igor Kunitsyn 6-2, 6-3.

  ■GENERALI LADIES

  AP, LINZ, AUSTRIA

  Alize Cornet of France defeated Zheng Jie of China 6-3, 6-2 on Monday in the opening round of the Generali Ladies.

  The eighth-seeded Cornet broke Zheng three times in each set and saved seven break points on her own serve.

  In other first-round play, Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia had six aces while defeating Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand 6-1, 7-5.

  Kaia Kanepi of Estonia took all seven her break opportunities in beating Melanie Klaffner of Austria 6-4, 6-0 and set up a second-round match against third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    China ship used Taiwan ports for months

  • 2

    Japanese ship makes first solo trip through the Strait

  • 3

    EVA Air to ban power bank use starting from Saturday

  • 4

    Taiwan mulls stricter citizenship rules

  • 5

    Award winner and singer-songwriter Khalil Fong passes away at age 41