A Sydney and Auckland Round Up

SYDNEY

For the first time in ATP Tour history, the draw in Sydney and Auckland has been cut to 28 players which means that Top 4 of seeded players had “bye” in the first round.

Jarkko Nieminen  has beaten Feliciano Lopez for the  fifth time on the ATP Tour at the fifth occasion, this time 6-2 7-6(9). In the tie-break Lopez had 3 set points (7:6, 8:7, 9:8) but wasted chances and lost the first tiebreak after winning 12 in a row! That streak it’s one of the best results in tennis history, the record is held by Andy Roddick who won 18 consecutive tie-breaks two years ago.

Defending champion, Dmitry Tursunov has been eliminated by Richard Gasquet 6-7 4-6. At 4:5 in the second set, Tursunov saved two match points and had break point but couldn’t convert it. Tursunov beat Gasquet in Sydney last year, in the second round.

The “wild card” local favorite, and four-time champion (2000-01, 04-05), Lleyton Hewitt needed 2 hours 5 minutes to overcome Julien Benneteau 5-7 6-2 6-4.

“It was always going to be tough in the first sort of tournament match back for a while,” said Hewitt. “Trying to get into the routine for a while of getting out there again and on the big points being able to do what you want and what you’re used to doing. I obviously got better as the match went on.”

AUCKLAND

The defending champion Philipp Kohlschreiber raced through his first round match winning in only 52 minutes, playing a flawless service game  breaking Dominik Hrbaty (two-time former champion – 2001 & 2004) four times in six opportunities to seal the 6-1 6-2 victory.

“I was practising hard in the off-season in Munich and now I feel very well and I’m happy to be back in this beautiful place” – said the German who  lost two quarterfinals in Auckland (2004 & 2007).

In the second round Kohlschreiber will meet Juan Carlos Ferrero and set up a repeat of last year’s final. Ferrero appeared on the court for only 33 minutes because his rival, Kei Nishikori retired after eight games due to a right forearm injury.

Ernests Gulbis wasted 4:2 lead in the second set of his match with Marcel Granollers but won the third set easily taking a revenge on the Spaniard for the worst defeat in ATP so far (2-6 0-6) in the 1st round of last year’s tournament in Houston.

Three out of four qualifiers advanced to the second round, two of them met each other in the longest match of the round, and Bobby Reynolds survived that match against Oscar Hernandez in 2 hours 42 minutes.

Sydney – First Round

(1)(WC)Novak Djokovic (SRB) bye
Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) d. Andreas Seppi (ITA) 6-2 2-6 6-3
Mario Ancic (CRO) d. (q)Xavier Malisse (BEL) 4-6 7-6(5) 6-3
(7)Tommy Robredo (ESP) d. Jurgen Melzer (AUT) 6-3 6-4
(3)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) bye
Simone Bolelli (ITA) d. (LL)Potito Starace (ITA) 7-6(1) 6-4
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) d. Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 6-2 7-6(9)
(WC)Chris Gucccione (AUS) d. (6)Tomas Berdych (CZE) 6-3 6-4
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) d. (8)Mardy Fish (USA) 6-4 3-6 6-4
(WC)Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) d. Julien Benneteau (FRA) 5-7 6-2 6-4
Michael Llodra (FRA) d. (q)Denis Gremelmayr (GER) 6-0 6-2
(4)David Nalbandian (ARG) bye
(5)Igor Andreev (RUS) d. (q)Frank Dancevic (CAN) 7-6(2) 6-3
(q)Jeremy Chardy (FRA) d. Radek Stepanek (CZE) 6-4 3-0 ret.
Richard Gasquet (FRA) d. Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) 7-6(4) 6-4
(2)Gilles Simon (FRA) bye

Auckland – First Round

(1)Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) bye
Ernests Gulbis (LAT) vd. Marcel Granollers (ESP) 6-4 6-7(5) 6-1
Viktor Troicki (SRB) d. Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) 6-1 6-2
(8)Juan Monaco (ARG) d. Victor Hanescu (ROU) 6-3 6-4
(3)Robin Soderling (SWE) bye
(q)Bobby Reynolds (USA) d. (q)Oscar Hernandez (ESP) 7-6(4) 5-7 6-2
Robby Ginepri (USA) d. (WC)Rubin Statham (NZL) 6-2 6-3
(q)John Isner (USA) d. (7)Albert Montanes (ESP) 7-6(4) 7-5
(6)Samuel Querrey (USA) d. (WC)Daniel King-Turner (NZL) 6-4 7-5
(q)Gilles Muller (LUX) d. Florent Serra (FRA) 6-3 6-4
Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) d. Steve Darcis (BEL) 7-6(5) 6-2
(4)Nicolas Almagro (ESP) bye
(5)Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) d. Dominik Hrbaty (SVK) 6-1 6-2
Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) d. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 5-3 ret.
Marc Gicquel (FRA) d. Agustin Calleri (ARG) 3-6 6-4 6-4
(2)David Ferrer (ESP) bye