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| May 18, 2007 | Friday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 01, 1428 |
Federer endures Monaco scare in Hamburg
HAMBURG, May 17: Roger Federer was made to fight uncomfortably hard to survive his opening match at the Hamburg Masters on Wednesday and showed few signs during a tough three-set struggle with Juan Monaco that he is yet emerging from his dip in form.
Federer mistimed his ground strokes more than usual and had to save five points to avoid going a break of serve down in the final set of an unconvincing 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 second-round victory.
Unusually Federer failed to hang on to an opening game break of serve and needed to break again in the eighth game before he could take the first set.
Monaco broke at once in the second set, with the help of a Federer double fault and an ill-executed net attack from the world number one on break point, when he volleyed too short and allowed time and room for Monaco to pass him.
The Argentine fought determinedly to cling to this advantage through to 5-2, at which stage Federer played another indifferent service game, finishing the set with a disappointingly mishit forehand into the net.
Federer looked at an emotional low in the second game of the final set, when he delivered two double faults, slipped to 15-40 and was five times within one blow of dropping serve.
Had Federer done so, he might have been in real danger of defeat, but only on one of the five chances - when Monaco launched a forehand return of a second serve too long - did Federer allow the underdog a sniff of a chance.
But he did little more than scrap hard and wait for the break, which arrived, courtesy of some Monaco over-ambition, in the penultimate game.
Results(x denotes seeding):
Singles (second round): Carlos Moya (ESP) bt Tomas Berdych (CZE x10) 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (6); Lleyton Hewitt (AUS x16) bt Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) 6-2, 7-6 (3); Roger Federer (SUI x1) bt Juan Monaco (ARG) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4; Igor Andreev (RUS) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-4; Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Oscar Hernandez (ESP) 7-5, 6-1; Jose Acasuso (ARG) leads Filippo Volandri (ITA) 3-6, 7-6 (3), 2-1, suspended, rain; Gilles Simon (FRA) v Nikolay Davydenko (RUS x3) 7-6 (5), 4-6, 1-1, suspended, rain; Novak Djokovic (SER x4) v Julien Benneteau (FRA) postponed, rain; Juergen Melzer (AUT) v Richard Gasquet (FRA x11) postponed, rain; Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) v Florian Mayer (GER) postponed, rain; Fernando Gonzalez (CHL x5) v Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) postponed, rain.
ROME: Australian battler Samantha Stosur derailed the French Open preparation of top seed Amelie Mauresmo with a 7-5, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (9/7) second-round upset on Wednesday at the Italian Open.
The marathon on clay lasted for almost three hours, with the under-done French top seed failing to close it out on a pair of match points.
Mauresmo, a former number one missed a chance in the ninth game of the third set against the Aussie doubles specialist, who had lost all five previous matches in their series - ten sets in all.
Mauresmo put a passing shot wide to blow her winning chance as the final set worked its way into a tie-breaker.
Stosur kept knocking on the door, saving a second Mauresmo match point for six-all and earning her own chance only to see Mauresmo volley into the open court.
But the Aussie kept at it, dramatically stopping play on a call which proved correct as Mauresmo’s return long was ruled long. That yielded another Stosur match point, which the number 29 challenger converted from Mauresmo’s forehand out.
Results:
Second round: Dinara Safina (RUS x6) bt Kaia Kanepi (EST) 7-6 (7/5), 6-2; Elena Dementieva (RUS x10) bt Catalina Castano (COL) 6-4, 6-3; Patty Schnyder (SUI x14) bt Meilen Tu (USA) 6-4, 6-0; Juliana Fedak (UKR) bt Nathalie Dechy (FRA) 1-6, 6-2, 6-2; Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x2) bt Mara Santangelo (ITA) 6-3, 6-3; Jelena Jankovic (SRB x3) bt Tamira Paszek (AUT) 6-3, 6-4; Shahar Peer (ISR x11) bt Ai Sugiyama (JPN) 6-0, 6-2; Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) bt Karolina Sprem (CRO) 6-3, 6-4; Nathalie Vieren (ITA) bt Galina Voskoboeva (RUS) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; Samantha Stosur (AUS) bt Amelie Mauresmo (FRA x1) 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (9-7); Daniela Hantuchova (SVK x9) bt Sybille Bammer (AUT) 6-1, 6-2; Anna Chakvetadze (RUS x7) bt Zi Yan (CHN) 6-1, 6-3; Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) bt Katarina Srebotnik (SLO x15) 6-3, 6-2; Nadia Petrova (RUS x5) bt Meghann Shaughnessy (US) 7-6 (7/5), 6-1; Alona Bondarenko (UKR), bt Tathiana Garbin (ITA x16) 6-4, 6-2.—Agencies
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