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| July 12, 2007 | Thursday | Jamadi-us-Sani 26, 1428 |
Aisam stuns top seed Fish in Hall of Fame opening round
NEWPORT (Rhode Island), July 11: Top seeded Mardy Fish was upset by qualifier Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan 6-3, 6-4, in the first round of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championship on Tuesday.
With Fish's surprising loss, a top seed has failed to capture a title in the 31-year history of the event.
Playing his first match since a straight-sets loss to Rafael Nadal in the opening round at Wimbledon, Fish fell to 0-3 on grass courts this season.
The 27-year-old Aisam, who reached the second round at the All England Club, next will face fellow qualifier Nathan Healey, who routed American Jesse Levine, 6-1, 6-0.
With Fish bounced and third seed Michael Llodra dropping out following his victory in the doubles at the All England Club, the top half of the draw is opening up for No 5 Nicolas Mahut of France, who posted a 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 victory over Adrian Garcia of Chile.
Mahut, who is in search of his first career title, reached his first career final last month on the grass at the Artois Championships.
Another seeded player that was upset was No 7 Igor Kunitsyn of Russia, who was shocked by Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-1, 2-6, 6-1.
American qualifier Prakash Amritraj collected his first win on the ATP Tour this season with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Serbian Ilia Bozoljac. The big win set up a matchup with countryman Scoville Jenkins, a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Italian Daniele Bracciali.
In another match involving an American, 22-year-old wild card John Isner was bounced by Belgium's Dick Norman, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.
Another first-round winner was Danai Udomchoke of Thailand.
Tuesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):
First round: Paul Capdeville (Chile) beat Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 7-5; Antony Dupuis (France) beat Konstantinos Economidis (Greece) 6-4, 6-3; Nathan Healey (Australia) beat Jesse Levine (US) 6-1, 6-0; Prakash Amritraj (India) beat Ilija Bozoljac (Serbia) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3; Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (Pakistan) beat 1-Mardy Fish (US) 6-3, 6-4; Mischa Zverev (Germany) beat 7-Igor Kunitsyn (Russia) 6-1, 2-6, 6-1; Danai Udomchoke (Thailand) beat Alex Bogdanovic (Britain) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0; Dick Norman (Belgium) beat John Isner (US) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3; Scoville Jenkins (US) beat Daniele Bracciali (Italy) 6-2, 6-1.
BASTAD (Sweden): Spanish second seed David Ferrer brushed aside compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of the Swedish Open on Tuesday.
Ferrer, the highest seed left in the claycourt tournament after Tommy Robredo's surprise defeat by Luis Horna on Monday, needed just 58 minutes to beat Garcia-Lopez. He next faces Chilean Nicolas Massu.
The 25-year-old Ferrer, world ranked 15th, is chasing his fourth career title at the event in the south of Sweden.
The 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson became the first Swede through to the second round by beating another Spaniard, Oscar Hernandez, 6-4, 6-4.
Johansson needed five match points to set up a clash of former Grand Slam winners against Carlos Moya, the 1998 French Open champion.
Fourth seed Moya won the Swedish Open in 2002.
Johansson was joined in the second round later in the day by compatriots Robin Soderling and Jonas Bjorkman.
Soderling won 6-3, 6-3 against Italian Simone Bolelli and next faces Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, who beat Norwegian qualifier Erling Tveit 7-5, 6-1.
Doubles specialist Bjorkman needed two hours 16 minutes to struggle past Polands Michal Przysiezny 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.
Argentine Mariano Zabaleta, a winner here in 2003 and 2004, was beaten by Russian qualifier Yuri Schukin 6-1, 1-6, 7-5.
Tuesday’s results:
First round: 6-Robin Soederling (Sweden) beat Simone Bolelli (Italy) 6-3, 6-3; Fernando Verdasco (Spain) beat Erling Tveit (Norway) 7-5, 6-1; 8-Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) beat Michal Przysiezny (Poland) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4; Carlos Berlocq (Argentina) beat Tim Goransson (Sweden) 6-2, 6-0; 2-David Ferrer (Spain) beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) 6-2, 6-1; Thomas Johansson (Sweden) beat Oscar Hernandez (Spain) 6-4, 6-4; Yuri Schukin (Russia) beat Mariano Zabaleta (Argentina) 6-1, 1-6, 7-5; 7-Juan Monaco (Argentina) beat Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-4; Gilles Simon (France) beat Viktor Troicki (Serbia) 6-2, 6-3.
GSTAAD (Switzerland): Crowds huddled under umbrellas in fading light here late Tuesday as Nikolay Davydenko and Gael Monfils' fate was left hanging in the balance when their first-round match at the Swiss Open was stopped 6-3, 4-6, 4-4.
The holdover leaves top seed Davydenko within sight of his first victory at this alpine village on his third attempt.
After waiting hours to start, the Russian world No 5 and the Frenchman were finally caught out by the wet and wintery weather which has plagued the first two days of play.
Also in the same position were Spain's Albert Montanes and Russian Igor Andreev, who stood 6-3, 3-6, 5-5.
Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, the world No 28, managed to overcome a first-round exit here a year ago as he defeated Argentine Sergio Roitman 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.
Seeds Marc Gicquel of France, the number six and number eight Italian Potito Starace moved into the second round.
Tuesday’s results:
First round: 5-Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) beat Sergio Roitman (Argentina) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4; Feliciano Lopez (Spain) beat Michel Kratochvil (Switzerland) 6-2, 6-3; Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) beat Marin Cilic (Croatia) 7-5, 6-3; Werner Eschauer (Austria) beat Michael Lammer (Switzerland) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2; 6-Marc Gicquel (France) beat Diego Hartfield (Argentina) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); 8-Potito Starace (Italy) beat Jan Hajek (Czech Republic) 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.—Agencies
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