PBZ Zagreb Indoors (ATP)

x.doublea · PBZ Zagreb Indoors (ATP)

PSALT

Andy Murray has pulled out.

http://www.sportinglife.com/tenni...ennis/07/01/26/TENNIS_Murray.html

J-man

Second seed Marcos Baghdatis shrugged off his recent early loss at the Australian Open to defeat Frenchman Florent Serra 6-2, 7-6(5) in the first round of the PBZ Zagreb Indoors Monday.

The Cypriot fired 15 aces and saved six of seven break points he faced.

Baghdatis began the season at No. 12 in the ATP Rankings but tumbled outside the Top 20 after a second-round loss to Gael Monfils at the Australian Open.

Third seed Robin Soderling (pictured) advanced to the second round after engineering a dramatic 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(4) win over Frenchman Gilles Simon. Soderling was within two points of defeat trailing 2-5 in the second-set tie-break.

There were no service breaks in the final set and Soderling closed out the third-set tie-break with two consecutive aces. The Swede fired 13 aces and won 89 per cent of points on his first serve.

Soderling began the 2007 season confidently with a semifinal showing in Doha - where he pushed eventual champion Ivan Ljubicic to a third-set tie-break - but suffered a first-round loss to German Florian Mayer at the Australian Open.

-ATP

Tennis fan

Baghdatis mental game still suffers....

January 29, 2007

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) -- Marcos Baghdatis advanced to the second round of the Zagreb Open after beating Florent Serra of France 6-2, 7-6 (5) on Monday.
Baghdatis, who reached the Australian Open final last year but lost early in Melbourne, struggled in the second set. "I was playing against him and myself," Baghdatis said. "I've been low on my confidence since Australia, and I need to get some victories behind me." The second-seeded Baghdatis converted two break points in the first set, but he ran into trouble in the second after leading 4-3. Serra led 3-0 and 4-1 in the tiebreaker before faltering. "This is a good smack in the head," Baghdatis said. "At the key moments I lost my concentration and I was just trying hard to get it back. I learned a lot, and I need more wins to get back on the winning track."

dav6789

Top seed and Croatian number 1 Ivan Ljubicic got his title defense up and running, beating wildcard and fellow Croatian Roko Karanusic 6-4 6-3. He plays Stefan Koubek next, a re-match of last year's final. Koubek beat Feliciano Lopez 2-6 7-6 6-4 and is finding some good form having reached the Chennai final last month.

2nd seed Marcos Baghdatis just became the first player to reach the QF's, beating Frank Dancevic 7-6 6-3. He seems to have rebounded from his poor start to the year, but there is still a long way to go.

In the doubles, Thomas Johansson and Robert Lindstedt stunned the 2nd seeds Simon Aspelin and Julian Knowle 6-7 7-5 10-8 to reach the SF. The other seeds are still in the QF.

stevos14

Good try Frank, Baggy was too tough for you today.

Tennis fan

J-man

J-man

Top seed and local favorite Ivan Ljubicic won the match of the day over Austrian Stefan Koubek at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors on Wednesday.

Defending champion Ljubicic hammered 26 aces past Koubek, but had to wait to the final point of the game to convert his first of seven break point opportunities.

Ljubicic, currently No. 8 in the ATP Rankings, earned a 7-6(6), 6-7(5), 6-4 victory in two hours and 29 minutes for a fifth career win in seven meetings against Koubek, who finished runner-up in Mumbai (l. to Malisse) at the start of the year.

The 27-year-old Croat will next meet either Swede Thomas Johansson or Daniele Bracciali of Italy in the quarterfinals on Friday.

En route to his seventh career ATP title in Doha (d. Murray) in the first week of the 2007 ATP season, Ljubicic beat Mikhail Youzhny, this week's No. 4 seed.

Youzhny cruised past Czech qualifier Tomas Cakl 6-4, 6-2 in 63 minutes earlier in the day. The Russian will next play Marc Gicquel, who knocked out French compatriot Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in one hour and 57 minutes. Santoro, currently No. 65 in the ATP Rankings, is playing his 19th season as a pro.

Two other Frenchman, eighth-seeded Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra, enjoyed better fortune for a place in the quarterfinals.

Clement, the winner of two ATP titles in Marseille and Washington last season, knocked out Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-6(5) in one hour and 42 minutes to set up a clash with No. 2 seed Marcos Baghdatis.

Croatian Ivo Karlovic hit 20 aces past Llodra, but it was the Parisian who earned the only break of serve in the match for a 6-4, 7-6( Cool

win in 87 minutes. Llodra, who reached the Heilbronn final on the ATP Challenger Circuit in the last week, will next play Austrian qualifier Alexander Peya.

J-man

Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis (pictured) halted Austrian Alexander Peya's career-best run at an ATP-level tournament Saturday at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors, dispatching the qualifier 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals, and will face defending champion Ivan Ljubicic in the title match.

For the third match in a row, top seed Ljubicic was tested in front of his home crowd. He surrendered his serve at love to Youzhny to fall behind 2-4 in the third set, but immediately erased the disadvantage in the next game when the No. 4 seed made his first double-fault of the match to put the match back on serve.

With Youzhny two points from recording the victory, the Croat launched a late attack as he reeled off the final ten points of the match to complete the win, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. The 27-year-old Ljubicic fired 16 aces in his semifinal match to bring his week total up to 79.

Ljubicic will pursue his eighth career ATP title in Sunday's final. He won three titles last year, in Chennai, Zagreb and Vienna, and opened his 2007 campaign by winning the Doha crown (d. Murray).

Youzhny was looking for his first career win against the Croat in his sixth attempt. The two met in the first tournament of the 2007 ATP season, with Ljubicic eking out the win in the third-set tie-break of the Doha quarterfinals. Ljubicic also posted a quarterfinal victory over Youzhny last year in Zagreb.

The second-seeded Baghdatis pushed through to his first ATP semifinal of the season after surviving Friday's battle with Frenchman Arnaud Clement, the No. 8 seed, in the third-set tie-break. He turned in quarterfinal finishes at his first two tournament appearances of the season, in Doha and Sydney, before falling in the second round at the Australian Open to Gael Monfils.

Peya recorded wins over Andreas Seppi, third seed Robin Soderling and Michael Llodra en route to his debut in an ATP semifinal. The 26-year-old was appearing in his first ATP tournament of 2007.

The 21-year-old Baghdatis has a 1-2 career record in ATP-level finals, defeating Croat Mario Ancic for the Beijing title in September and finishing as the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open (l. to Federer) and in 2005 at Basel, where he was a qualifier (l. to Gonzalez).

Baghdatis, who entered the Australian Open just outside the Top 10 in the ATP Rankings but fell to No. 21 following his early exit, will look to regain ground when he takes on Ljubicic, whom he has defeated their previous two encounters, both at the Australian Open.

x.doublea

Should be a nice match between Baghdatis and Ljubicic. I expect Ljubicic to win, though.

J-man

I picked Ivan to win so I hope he does. But I will be rooting for Baggy Wink

Tennis fan

Tennis fan

Baghdatis won 7-6 4-6 6-4 Laughing

WOW!!

in front of a hostile crowd too! Shocked

Benchwarmer1

yay, go Marcos!!!!

x.doublea

This is great for Baghdatis's confidence. I hope he can continue this kind of play in the near future.

Tennis fan

Baghdatis is now 3-0 against Ljubicic in 3 important matches. The other two were last years AO QF in Rod Laver Arena and the third was in the 2005 AO.

Marcos Baghdatis waited till match point to claim his only break of serve against defending champion Ivan Ljubicic to win the PBZ Zagreb Indoors final with a 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4 victory in 2 hrs., 30 mins.

Baghdatis had failed to convert five earlier break point opportunities against the Croatian, who fired 11 aces and won 80 per cent of points on his first serve.

Baghdatis improved to 3-0 lifetime against Ljubicic, whom he defeated on hard court at the Australian Open in 2005 and 2006.

Baghdatis was broken just once himself in the final and once in the semifinals during his 6-4, 6-3 win over Austrian Alexander Peya.

The Cypriot, who out-aced Ljubicic with 16, secured his second career ATP title, following his victory on hard court in Beijing last year.

Baghdatis dropped outside the Top 20 in the ATP Rankings last Monday for the first time since reaching the Australian Open final in 2006. His Zagreb victory will likely see him return to the Top 20 on Monday.

He is now 10-3 on the season, including quarterfinal runs in Doha and Sydney.

Ljubicic, who had survived three consecutive three-set matches to reach the final, slipped to 7-10 in career finals. He began the season by winning the Doha title (d. Murray).

Baghdatis: "It was great to come back after the disappointment of Australia and win a tournament. I am very, very happy.

"I won the crucial points. I played a great tie-break and a great game at 5-4 in the third. Ivan was a bit tight and didn't serve so good in that game.

"I'll just try to keep the same mentality. Stay happy and keep working hard and everything should go well. I just have to play my game and enjoy it."

Ljubicic: "It was my fourth long match in a row and I was a little tired in the end. I had my chances in the fourth set and it's always difficult to come from a set down against such a player.

"I am satisfied. I struggled all week long, so to reach the final without playing great tennis is nice. I had a lot of pressure on my shoulders. But I am a little sad because I think I had chances today.

"He kept the pressure on my serve. In the last game he was too good. One fantastic drop shot, then the lob to go match point, then a fantastic passing shot to finish the match. I didn't think I did anything wrong.

About his Davis Cup preparation: "I have 11 hours of tennis so I am pretty satisfied physically with how I feel. Now I just need to rest and try to recover and get ready for the tie."

Talk about game variety!!