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| July 20, 2007 | Friday | Rajab 04, 1428 |
Kiefer surges into Los Angeles quarter-finals
LOS ANGELES, July 19: Nicolas Kiefer moved easily into the quarter-finals of the ATP Los Angeles event, his first hardcourt tournament since missing an entire year because of a wrist injury.
The former world No 4 continued his comeback from injuries with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Russian Igor Kunitsyn on Wednesday at the main Straus Stadium.
The German, who turned 30 earlier this month, clinched the victory with a precision serve to Kunitsyn’s backhand.
Russian third seed and former world No 1 Marat Safin won the night match, outlasting Swiss George Bastl 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in an almost two hour match.
This is his fourth tournament of 2007 and follows appearances on grass in Newport, Wimbledon and Halle, Germany.
Kiefer had two surgeries on his left wrist which caused him to miss an entire year between June 2006 and June 2007.
Former world No. 4 Kiefer fired three aces and didn’t have a double fault compared to Kunitsyn’s five double faults.
Kiefer, who is in the easier of the two halves of the draw, next faces fellow German Michael Berrer who beat Brazil’s Ricardo Mello 6-3, 7-5 on Tuesday.
World No. 40 Mardy Fish is the highest seed left on Kiefer’s side of the draw. Fish’s next opponent is Czech Radek Stepanek.
Asian No 1 Lee Hyung-Taik also moved on, overpowering South Africa’s Wesley Moodie who retired midway through the second set.
Lee was ahead 6-2, 3-0 when Moodie couldn’t swing the racket anymore because of a bad back.
Results (second round): Marat Safin (RUS x3) bt George Bastl (SUI) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4; Lee Hyung-taik (KOR) bt Wesley Moodie (RSA) 6-2, 3-0 retired (back); Michael Berrer (GER) bt Ricardo Mello (BRA) 6-3, 7-5; Nicolas Kiefer (GER) bt Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) 6-3, 6-2.
STUTTGART (Germany): Defending champion David Ferrer crashed out of Stuttgart’s ATP tournament on Wednesday when he was beaten in the second round by fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in straight sets.
Ferrer, 15th on the ATP rankings, was broken in the eighth game of the first set and although he broke back immediately, Verdasco went on to take the first set 7-5 after a huge struggle.
Fourth-seed Ferrer, 25, was also knocked out of Roland Garros early on by Verdasco in the pair’s only other meeting this year – also on clay – and after his opponent broke him three times in the second set, the defending champion went down 7-5, 6-3. Verdasco, 23, will now face seventh seed Juan Ignacio Chela in the third round.
Earlier on Wednesday, seventh-seed Chela toiled on court for nearly three hours before defeating Serb qualifier Boris Pashanski 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 to reach his eighth quarter-final of the season.
Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, who had just three ATP match wins in 2007 before this week, reached his first quarter-final of the season with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Croatian qualifier Marin Cilic.
Results (second round): Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG x7) bt Boris Pashanski (SRB) 7-5, 4-6, 6-4; Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) bt Marin Cilic (CRO) 6-4, 6-1; Jiri Vanek (CZE) bt Gael Monfils (FRA) 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2; Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt David Ferrer (ESP x4) 7-5, 6-3.
AMERSFOORT (Netherlands): Florent Serra rallied to beat wild-card Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) on Wednesday and set up a quarter-final meeting with fellow Dutchman Robin Haase.
Haase, supported by a partisan crowd, needed 1 hour, 59 minutes to subdue Nicolas Devilder 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, twice breaking the Frenchman in the final set and earning his first ATP career quarter-final.
Also, second-seeded Mikhail Youzhny beat Victor Hanescu of Romania, 6-4, 6-2 while Russian compatriot Evgeny Korolev defeated No. 6 Sergio Roitman of Argentina 7-5, 7-6. Youzhny will play Korolev in the quarter-finals.
Results (second round): Florent Serra (FRA) bt Thiemo de Bakker, (NET), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5); Evgeny Korolev (RUS) bt Sergio Roitman (ARG) 7-5, 7-6 (6); Mikhail Youzhny (RUS x2) bt Victor Hanescu (ROM) 6-4, 6-2; Robin Haase (NET) bt Nicolas Devilder (FRA) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
CINCINNATI (Ohio): Third-seed Sania Mirza of India led the way into the quarter-finals of the 175,000-dollar WTA harcourt tournament here on Wednesday with a straight set win over Varvara Lepchenko.
Sania downed her opponent from Uzbekistan 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals here for the third straight year.
Sania now awaits the winner of the second-round match between ninth-seeded Jill Craybas of the US and Olga Govortsova of Belarus.
Top-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze also reached the quarter-finals, defeating Romanian qualifier Anda Perianu 6-4, 6-3.
Results (second round): Sania Mirza (IND x3) bt Varvara Lepchenko (UZB) 6-2, 6-2; Akiko Morigami (JPN x7) bt Angelique Kerber (GER) 6-2, 6-2; Lilia Osterloh (US) bt Anna Tatishvili (GEO) 7-5, 6-1; Anna Chakvetadze (RUS x1) bt Anda Perianu (ROM) 6-4, 6-3.
First round: Yuan Meng (CHN) bt Casey Dellacqua (AUS) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.—Agencies
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