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| October 18, 2005 | Tuesday | Ramzan 13, 1426 |
Grosjean powers past Lopez in Madrid
MADRID, Oct 17: Sebastian Grosjean showed signs of returning to form with a 7-5 4-6 6-2 win over Spain’s Feliciano Lopez in the Madrid Masters first round on Monday. The Frenchman, who has had a disappointing season, now faces 16th-seeded American Robby Ginepri in the two million-euro ($2.41 million) hardcourt tournament.
Argentines Agustin Calleri and Juan Ignacio Chela also breezed through.
Calleri disposed of Spain’s Albert Costa 6-0 7-5 while Chela, who came through qualifying, beat 2003 finalist Nicolas Massu of Chile 6-2 6-3.
Eleventh seed David Ferrer of Spain will be Calleri’s next opponent. Chela now meets Austria’s Juergen Melzer, who defeated American Vince Spadea 3-6 6-4 6-3.
Victor Hanescu of Romania overcame Czech Tomas Zib 6-1 6-4 to earn a clash with top seed and world number two Rafael Nadal on Wednesday.
Nadal withdrew from last week’s tournament in Vienna because of a knee problem but confirmed he would play in Madrid after undergoing further tests on Monday.
Britain’s Tim Henman faces American Taylor Dent in Monday’s late match.
Grosjean and Lopez began in confident mood as they delivered a succession of high-speed serves on centre court.
But Grosjean, who lost to Andy Roddick in the final of the U.S. clay court event in Houston earlier this year, stepped up a gear on the Lopez serve to earn three set points at 6-5.
The Spaniard then fired a loose smash to gift his opponent the first set.
The 24-year-old Lopez broke in the third game of the second set and served out to level the match.
He put the Grosjean serve under pressure at the start of the deciding set but cracked in the fourth game, surrendering his serve to trail 3-1.
Grosjean broke again in the eighth game to secure victory.
Calleri caught Costa cold, breaking serve in the opening game before reeling off the next four to lead 5-0.
The Argentine, who reached the final in Amersfoort in July, went 40-0 up in the sixth game and took the set at the first opportunity after a ragged-looking Costa punched a second service return into the net.
The 30-year-old Spaniard put up more of a fight in the second set, winning the first game and going on to take a 5-4 lead, but Calleri broke in the 12th game before serving out for the match.
Costa said he would contemplate retirement during the close season.
“I’m going to leave the door open at the moment and will take a month off and then see if I recover the strength and motivation to carry on, if not it won’t be worth it,” he said.
Results:
Sebastien Grosjean (France) bt Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 7-5 4-6 6-2; Tommy Haas (Germany) bt Andrei Pavel (Romania) 7-6(4) 6-2; Juergen Melzer (Austria) bt Vince Spadea (United States) 3-6 6-4 6-3; Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) bt Nicolas Massu (Chile) 6-2 6-3; Victor Hanescu (Romania) bt Tomas Zib (Czech Republic) 6-1 6-4; Agustin Calleri (Argentina) bt Albert Costa (Spain) 6-0 7-5.—Agencies
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