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| June 11, 2008 | Wednesday | Jamadi-us-Sani 06, 1429 |
Hewitt off to flying start, Safin struggles
LONDON, June 10: Four-time former champion Lleyton Hewitt enjoyed a gentle workout in his first match of the grasscourt season on Monday, beating British wildcard Josh Goodall 6-4, 6-4 to reach the second round at Queen’s Club.
Another former world number one Marat Safin, who has never made a secret of his dislike for grass, made harder work of the transition, beating qualifier James Ward 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
The west London ATP tournament is a traditional warm-up for Wimbledon and its slick green courts provide a sharp contrast to the slower pace of the European clay season which culminated on Sunday with the men’s French Open final.
Hewitt, who reached the third round in Paris after several weeks sidelined with a hip injury, was not caught out on Monday as he had been last year when as champion he lost in the second round to qualifier Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Playing well within himself, the 11th seed waited for his moment in each set — the third game of the first and seventh of the second — to break the serve of the 274th-ranked Briton and coast home.
As well as in 2006, the combative Australian won the Queen’s title in 2000, 2001 and 2002, the year he went on to win Wimbledon becoming the last man to do so before Roger Federer’s domination began.
Hewitt, 27, said he was still not 100 percent fit and would probably not have returned to competition so soon had it not been for the French Open and the grass season.
Safin, known for his often erratic form and mood swings on court, blamed the surface change for a wild and error-strewn first set against 21-year-old Ward, ranked 488 in the world.
Croatians Mario Ancic and Marin Cilic enjoyed their first foray on to the grass, Ancic beating Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti 7-5, 6-3 and Cilic overcoming Austrian Jurgen Meltzer 7-6, 7-6.
Australians Chris Guccione and qualifier Joseph Sirianni, American Robby Ginepri and Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis booked places in the second round as did ninth seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco whose opponent Lee Hyung-Taik retired with an injured left knee.
Top seed Rafael Nadal, who won a fourth successive French Open crown on Sunday, Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, seeded two, and six other seeds have byes into the second round.
Results (prefix number denotes seeding):
First round: Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) bt Igor Kunitsyn (Russia) 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4; Sebastien Grosjean (France) bt Rik De Voest (South Africa) 7-6(6), 6-1; 13-Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) bt Ivan Navarro (Spain) 7-6(2), 6-4; Roko Karanusic (Croatia) bt Flavio Cipolla (Italy) 6-4, 6-3; Marat Safin (Russia) bt James Ward (Britain) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4; Joseph Sirianni (Australia) bt Alex Bogdanovic (Britain) 6-3, 6-3; Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) bt Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) 6-4, 7-5; Chris Guccione (Australia) bt Lu Yen-Hsun (Taiwan) 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-5; 9-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) bt Lee Hyung-taik (South Korea) 5-3 (Lee retired); Marin Cilic (Croatia) bt Juergen Melzer (Austria) 7-6(2), 7-6(5); 11-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) bt Joshua Goodall (Britain) 6-4, 6-4; Kei Nishikori (Japan) bt Alejandro Falla (Colombia) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2; Mario Ancic (Croatia) bt Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) 7-5, 6-3; Viktor Troicki (Serbia) bt Dudi Sela (Israel) 6-4, 6-4; Robby Ginepri (US) bt Vince Spadea (US) 6-4, 7-6(4).
BERDYCH WINS OPENER
BERLIN: Defending champion Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic defeated Swede Thomas Johansson 6-3, 7-5 in his opening match at the Halle Open on Monday.
Berdych, who won the grass court tournament last year after top seed Roger Federer pulled out, needed just 77 minutes to defeat Johansson in the Wimbledon warm-up tournament.
Four-time winner Federer, who beat Berdych in the Halle final two years ago, will play his first match on Wednesday against Germany’s Michael Berrer.
Last year Federer pulled out of the Halle tournament after losing to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final.
Results:
First round: Robin Soderling (Sweden) bt Philipp Petzschner (Germany) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; Benjamin Becker (Germany) bt Denis Gremelmayr (Germany) 6-4, 6-2; Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) bt Julien Benneteau (France) 6-4, 6-1; 3-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) bt Thomas Johansson (Sweden) 6-3, 7-5; Mischa Zverev (Germany) bt 7-Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2; Andreas Beck (Germany) bt Marc Gicquel (France) 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 6-3.—Reuters
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