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Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:22 pm Post subject: St.Petersburg
Nikolay Davydenko, Tommy Robredo and Mario Ancic , all hoping to qualify for Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai next month, had mixed fortunes in first round action at the St. Petersburg Open on Tuesday.
Top-seeded Davydenko beat Fabrice Santoro 6-3, 6-1 in 62 minutes for a second round meeting with Wesley Moodie. Davydenko, No. 5 in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race, needs to reach the final to add to his current total of 445 points.
Second-seeded Robredo crashed out to Australian Wayne Arthurs 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, having led 4-1 in the third set. At No. 8 in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race, the Spaniard’s position could come under threat.
Arthurs made it two career wins out of two against the Spaniard in 90 minutes. Arthurs, currently No. 196 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings, converted five of nine break points and hit 11 aces. He goes on to meet Czech Jan Hernych in the second round.
Meanwhile, Ancic re-ignited his bid to capture one of six remaining berths at the season-ending finale with a 7-5, 6-1 win over American Paul Goldstein.
Ancic fell to No. 11 from No. 10 in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race last week by losing in the Madrid first round. The Croat needs to make the semifinals to add points to his INDESIT ATP 2006 Race total. He will add 38 points if he wins the title.
Meanwhile Sweden's Thomas Johansson got his title defense underway with a 6-0, 6-7(3), 6-3 victory over Frank Dancevic of Canada _________________
Top seed Nikolay Davydenko looked to be cruising towards the quarterfinals of the St. Petersburg Open Wednesday before an ankle injury midway through the second set forced his retirement. The Russian, who is the highest-placed Tennis Masters Cup contender yet to qualify for Shanghai, was leading South African Wesley Moodie 6-2, 3-3 when he hurt his right ankle.
An early diagnosis suggests that the injury it not severe and that Davydenko should be able to play at next week's BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, which marks the final week of the regular ATP season. Four Masters Cup singles berths remain up for grabs.
Max Mirnyi beat sixth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round to improve his ATP season record to 21-23. Tursunov has now lost in the first round for the third successive week (also Moscow, ATP Masters Series Madrid).
Starace will play either Russian wild card Igor Kunitsyn or fourth-seeded Tommy Haas, who knocked out Serbian qualifier Nenad Zimonjic 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3 in two hours and nine minutes.
Haas, currently No. 12 in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race, must reach the semifinals to add to his points total. The German has won three ATP titles this season in Delray Beach (d. Malisse), Memphis (d. Soderling) and Los Angeles (d. Tursunov).
Latvian wild card Ernest Gulbis reached his first career ATP-level quarterfinal with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 win over Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic. Gulbis hit eight aces and won 43 of 52 points on first serve. The 18-year-old converted all three break point opportunities. _________________
Third-seeded Mario Ancic maintained his bid to qualify for Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai on Friday, when he beat Max Mirnyi (pictured) 6-4, 7-5 for a place in the St. Petersburg Open semifinals.
Ancic closed to within 13 points of No. 10 Marcos Baghdatis in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race. Should the Croat win the St. Petersburg title he can move to just 23 points behind Tommy Robredo, who holds No. 8 in the Race to Shanghai.
The top eight players will qualify for Shanghai and four berths will be decided between now and the end of next week's BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. If Ancic does not reach the St. Petersburg final this week, he would need to reach next week's Paris final just to be in the running to qualify for Shanghai.
Ancic will meet Latvian wild card Ernest Gulbis on Saturday. The 18-year-old advanced to a career-first ATP semifinal with a 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 6-2 win over Jan Hernych, who reached the 's-Hertogenbosch final in June (l. to Ancic). Gulbis won in two hours and 18 minutes, hitting nine aces and saving seven break points.
Defending champion Thomas Johansson reached his first ATP semifinal of the year, after a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over South African Wesley Moodie. The Swede, also a winner in St. Petersburg in 1997, won 80 per cent of first serve in the match that last one hour and 42 minutes.
Johansson will next meet Russian wild card Igor Kunitsyn, who won 24 of 28 points on first serve in a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Potito Starace of Italy. _________________
3rd seed Mario Ancic beat 2-time champion Thomas Johansson 7-5 7-6 to win the St.Petersburg Open. He came back from 2-5 down in the 2nd set to win the match. This title adds to the others he won in s'Hertogenbosch in 2005 and 2006. This was his 5th final of the year. He has won 13 of his last 17 matches since returning from back and knee injuries in the summer. Ancic also boosts his chances of qualifying for Shanghai. Johansson was in his first final since winning this event last year.
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