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| August 17, 2007 | Friday | Sha’aban 3, 1428 |
Smooth sailing for Federer
CINCINNATI (Ohio), Aug 16: Roger Federer made a smooth start to his Cincinnati Masters title bid by beating Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-3, 6-3 but Rafael Nadal was forced to retire and Novak Djokovic lost on Wednesday.
An early break put Federer, looking for his 50th career title, on his way and after taking the first set, he broke in the seventh and ninth games of the second to clinch victory.
The Swiss top seed and world No 1 will next play Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, who beat Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, in the third round.
World No 2 Nadal quit when trailing Argentine Juan Monaco 7-6, 4-1 in their second-round match, citing cramp in his left forearm and dizziness.
World No 25 Monaco now plays American Sam Querrey, who upset 13th seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Serb Djokovic, who beat Andy Roddick, Nadal and Federer to win the Montreal Masters last weekend, was brought back to earth with a bump by former world No 1 Moya, going down 6-4, 6-1.
World No 3 Djokovic had a break point in the opening game of the second set but Moya saved it and broke three times to clinch victory and set up a clash with Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro.
Another Spanish former world No 1, Juan Carlos Ferrero, upset sixth seed Fernando Gonzalez 6-2, 7-6 to reach the third round.
The Spaniard, runner-up last year, cruised through the first set and won the second-set tiebreak 9-7, clinching victory on his sixth match point to set up a meeting with American ninth seed James Blake, who beat German Nicolas Kiefer 6-4, 6-4.
Croatian 11th seed Ivan Ljubicic suffered a surprise 6-4, 6-4 defeat by Spaniard Nicolas Almagro but there were wins for fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko and 10th seed Tomas Berdych.
Another former world No 1, Lleyton Hewitt, went through when eighth seed Richard Gasquet retired at 6-1, 3-2 down because of blisters.
Hewitt will next face Austrian Juergen Melzer, who saved two match points before beating Croatian Mario Ancic 6-3, 2-6, 7-6.
Wednesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Second round: Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) beat Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) 6-7 (6-8), 6-4 6-2; 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Julien Benneteau (France) 6-3, 6-3; 5-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) beat Robby Ginepri (US) 6-2, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3; 10-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat Arnaud Clement (France) 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-4); 9-James Blake (US) beat Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) 6-4, 6-4; Carlos Moya (Spain) beat 4-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 6-4, 6-1; Sam Querrey (US) beat 13-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4; Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) beat Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 6-1, 2-6 6-4; Juan Monaco (Argentina) beat 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) 7-6 (7-5), 4-1 – Nadal retired; Juergen Melzer (Austria) beat Mario Ancic (Croatia) 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (11-9); Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) beat Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4; 16-David Ferrer (Spain) beat Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) 6-2, 7-5; Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) beat 6-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) 6-2, 7-6 (9-7); Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat 8-Richard Gasquet (France) 6-1, 3-2 – Gasquet retired; Nicolas Almagro (Spain) beat 11-Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) 6-4, 6-4.
TORONTO: World No 1 Justine Henin kicked off her US Open preparations with a routine 6-3, 6-1 win over Slovenia's Andreja Klepac at the Toronto Cup as Ana Ivanovic's title defence came to an abrupt end on Wednesday.
Back in action for the first time since a semi-final loss at Wimbledon, Henin showed no signs of rust as she ruthlessly dispatched the 141st-ranked Klepac in 69 minutes.
A rhythm was something Ivanovic never found, losing 6-3, 6-1 to qualifier Yan Zi of China to highlight a day of upsets.
Joining the fourth-seeded Serb at the exit door were Russian fifth and eighth seeds Anna Chakvetadze and Elena Dementieva and Czech No 16 Lucie Safarova.
Fresh from capturing her fourth career title in Los Angeles on Sunday, Ivanovic was unable to carry the momentum to Canada, the 169th-ranked Yan disposing of the world No 4 in 65 minutes to record the biggest victory of her career.
The day began with Italy's Francesca Schiavone ending Dementieva's title hopes with a gritty 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 comeback win, while American Meghann Shaughnessy shook off her indifferent form to surprise Safarova 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
A trio of Frenchwomen made it through to the last 16, Wimbledon finalist and seventh seed Marion Bartoli and Virginie Razzano advancing when their opponents were forced to retire with injuries.
Chakvetadze retired in the second set with a viral illness trailing Razzano 7-6, 2-0 and Bartoli advanced when Russia's Maria Kirilenko stopped in the second set with a knee injury.
Twelfth seed Tatiana Golovin joined her French compatriots in the third round by easing past Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-3.
Second seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, a four-time winner this season, contributed to a miserable day for Canadian fans by demolishing Marie-Eve Pelletier 6-0, 6-1.
Wednesday’s results:
Second round: 2-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Marie-Eve Pelletier (Canada) 6-0, 6-1; 1-Justine Henin (Belgium) beat Andreja Klepac (Slovenia) 6-3, 6-1; Yan Zi (China) beat 4-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) 6-3, 6-1; 13-Sybille Bammer (Austria) beat Aleksandra Wozniak (Canada) 6-4, 6-2; Virginie Razzano (France) beat 5-Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) 7-6 (7-5), 2-0 – Chakvetadze retired; Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) beat Maria Elena Camerin (Italy) 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-5; 6-Nadia Petrova (Russia) beat Stephanie Dubois (Canada) 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-1; 7-Marion Bartoli (France) beat Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 6-2, 2-1 – Kirilenko retired; 12-Tatiana Golovin (France) beat Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) 6-4, 6-3; Meghann Shaughnessy (US) beat 16-Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5; Francesca Schiavone (Italy) beat 8-Elena Dementieva (Russia) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-2; 9-Dinara Safina (Russia) beat Nathalie Dechy (France) 6-1, 6-2; 10-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) beat Flavia Pennetta (Italy) 6-3, 6-2.—Reuters
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