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| August 08, 2007 | Wednesday | Rajab 23, 1428 |
Hewitt wins battle of former top guns in Montreal
MONTREAL, Aug 7: Lleyton Hewitt won the battle of former world number ones at the Montreal Masters by beating Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6, 6-4 to reach the second round on Monday.
But there were shock defeats for 10th seed Tomas Berdych, No 11 Ivan Ljubicic and Argentine 15th seed Guillermo Canas.
Australian Hewitt, ranked four places below Ferrero at No 21, prevailed in one hour 47 minutes and will next play either American ninth seed James Blake or Juergen Melzer of Austria.
In his first tournament since Wimbledon, where he reached the fourth round, Hewitt's greater consistency helped him overcome Ferrero, who has shown signs recently of regaining his best form.
After trading an early break of serve, the rest of the first set went with service before Hewitt surged ahead 6-3 in the tiebreak and clinched it 7-5.
The Australian broke in the first game of the second set and, despite a couple of nervous moments, held the advantage to reach the second round.
After winning the title in Las Vegas in March, Hewitt was hampered by niggling injuries for the next two months, but reached the semi-finals in Hamburg and round four at the French Open and Wimbledon.
Hewitt is playing doubles in Montreal with world No 2 Rafael Nadal.
Czech 10th seed Berdych lost 6-4, 7-5 to 20-year-old Dutchman Robin Haase, whose ranking has soared from 669th at the start of last year to 103rd.
Ljubicic was stunned 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 by American qualifier Wayne Odesnik, ranked 182.
But the real drama was saved for the evening session when Canas squandered a 6-4, 4-0 lead against Paul-Henri Mathieu, the Frenchman winning 13 of the last 14 games to seal a 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 victory.
Argentine David Nalbandian, 16th seed David Ferrer of Spain, Russian No. 14 Mikhail Youzhny, American Michael Russell and Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia all progressed.
Monday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):
First round: Frank Dancevic (Canada) beat Juan Martin Del Potro
(Argentina) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; 14-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) beat Sebastien Grosjean (France) 6-2, 6-4; Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) beat 15-Guillermo Canas (Argentina) 4-6, 7-5, 6-0; Wayne Odesnik (U.S.) beat 11-Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5); Fabio Fognini (Italy) beat Peter Polansky (Canada) 6-3, 7-6 (7-9); David Nalbandian (Argentina) beat Alejandro Falla (Colombia) 6-4, 6-3; Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) beat Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4; Michael Russell (US) beat Nicolas Almagro (Spain) 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3; Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; 16-David Ferrer (Spain) beat Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) 6-2, 6-1; Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) beat Lee Hyung-Taik (South Korea) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; Robin Haase (Netherlands) beat 10-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 6-4, 7-5.
LOS ANGELES: India’s Sania Mirza celebrated her move into the top 30 in the world rankings on Monday with a first-round triumph over Alexsandra Woznia in the Los Angeles Classic tournament here.
Sania, 20, moved up a notch to No. 30 in the rankings released Monday, after reaching the quarter-finals of the tournament in San Diego last week. She completed the opening day of play at the Home Depot Center with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Canadian qualifier Wozniak.
Austrian Sybille Bammer, who broke into the top 20 in the rankings on Monday at No 20, also advanced, defeating American Laura Granville 6-4, 6-2.
Sixteenth seed Lucie Safarova beat Olga Poutchkova 7-5 6-2 in the first round as two seeds bowed out through injury.
Eleventh seed Tatiana Golovin of France had to retire with a hamstring problem after losing the first set 7-5 to Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn and No 12 Li Na of China withdrew with a rib injury.
Tanasugarn next faces Gisela Dulko of Argentina, who beat Sun Tiantian of China 7-5 6-4.
Thirteenth seed Sybille Bammer of Austria also advanced, beating American Laura Granville 6-4 6-2, while Ukraine's Yuliana Fedak upset compatriot and 14th seed Alona Bondarenko 1-6 6-2 6-3.
American Ashley Harkleroad overcame Jamea Jackson in straight sets and next faces third seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, who is playing her first tournament since Wimbledon.
The top eight seeds, led by world No 2 Maria Sharapova, have first-round byes.
Monday’s results:
First round: Sania Mirza (India) beat Aleksandra Wozniak (Canada) 6-3, 6-2; Ashley Harkleroad (US) beat Jamea Jackson (US) 6-4, 6-1; Virginie Razzano (France) beat Yan Zi (China) 6-4, 7-5; Maria Kirilenko (Russia) beat Elena Bovina (Russia) 7-6 (10-8), 6-3; Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) beat 11-Tatiana Golovin (France) 7-5, 0-0 — Golovin retired; Yuliana Fedak (Ukraine) beat 14-Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) 1-6, 6-2, 6-3; Olga Govortsova (Belarus) beat Julia Vakulenko (Ukraine) 6-0 6-3; Jill Craybas (US) beat Alla Kudryavtseva (Russia) 7-5, 6-3; Gisela Dulko (Argentina) beat Sun Tiantian (China) 7-5, 6-4; Michaella Krajicek (Netherlands) beat Severine Bremond (France) 6-3, 6-1; Madison Brengle (US) beat Flavia Pennetta (Italy) 6-1, 6-3; 16-Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) beat Olga Poutchkova (Russia) 7-5, 6-2; 13-Sybille Bammer (Austria) beat Laura Granville (US) 6-4, 6-2; Katerina Bondarenko (Ukraine) beat Angelique Kerber (Germany) 7-5, 6-1.—Agencies
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