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Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:24 pm Post subject: Basel
Top seed and ATP World No. 1 Roger Federer returned Tuesday to his hometown event of Basel for the first time in three years and delighted fans with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Czech qualifier Tomas Zib.
For the past two years injuries sidelined Federer during the Basel tournament, at which he served as a ballboy in his younger days. En route to winning his 12th career ATP Masters Series title in Madrid on Sunday, Federer scared Basel tournament organizers when he rolled his right ankle in the first set of the final. (It was a right ankle injury that kept Federer out of Basel last year.)
Federer's victory over Zib saw him improve his season record to 83-5 and extend his winning streak to 20 matches. It is the fifth time in his career that the Swiss has amassed a 20-match win streak, but the first time in 2006. Earlier this season Federer had three times run up win streaks of 15 matches or more, with the longest of those being a 19-match streak ended by Andy Murray in the second round of Cincinnati.
Last year Federer had win streaks of 20+ matches on three occasions, including his personal best 35-match streak, which was ended by David Nalbandian in the Tennis Masters Cup final.
Also Tuesday, Thai shot maker Paradorn Srichaphan (pictured) stared down 17 aces from German Benjamin Becker 7-6(4), 7-6(4) to reach the second round. Srichaphan fired 12 aces of his own.
American Mardy Fish ousted Czech Jiri Vanek 6-4, 6-3 and he could next meet third seed Fernando Gonzalez.
Sore Throat Sidelines Murray
Sixth seeded Andy Murray was forced to withdraw from the tournament Tuesday due to a throat infection. Murray will be replaced by German lucky loser Tobias Clemens.
Murray said: “ It’s always disappointing to have to come all the way and not be able to play. I stayed in my bed for three days when I got here. I obviously played well last year… It would have been good to play in Basel because the conditions suit me pretty well here.
“I went to see the doctor yesterday and he gave me some antibiotics for my throat. I definitely feel better than I did yesterday but there is no point in trying to play like I did earlier in the year at Davis Cup. It would eventually set me back for 4 or 5 more days.
I still feel like I don't have much energy.
“I would love to come back here last year as I think this one of the best tournaments on tour.” _________________
Chile's No. 1 player Fernando Gonzalez produced a courageous performance to reach the second round of the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel Wednesday, boosting his chances of qualifying for the Tennis Masters Cup. Fellow Shanghai hopeful David Nalbandian also advanced.
Hard-hitting Gonzalez, who last week advanced to the Madrid Masters final, dug deep to grind out a 7-6(3), 6-7(2), 7-6(3) win over Italian lucky loser Simone Bolelli in a match that featured just two breaks of serve. Bolelli claimed the first break of the match to go ahead 3-2 in the second set but Gonzalez broke back immediately.
Gonzalez, who fired 22 aces and saved four of the five break points he faced, eventually won in 2 hrs., 21 mins.
Moving three places to No. 9 in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race by reaching last week's Madrid final, Gonzalez would go as high as No. 7 if he wins the Basel title. (The top eight players in the race will qualify for Shanghai.). Gonzalez could net 40 points (50 winner's points less his current 'best fifth' result of 10 points), which would take his points tall to 417, ahead of current No. 7 James Blake (411) and No. 8 Tommy Robredo (410).
Gonzalez said: "There are just two weeks left, so I will keep trying hard to qualify for Shanghai." Check out Gonzalez's INDESIT ATP 2006 Race points breakdown
Following Nikolay Davydenko's second-round exit in St. Petersburg, Nalbandian can move to No. 5 in the Race this week by reaching the semifinals. On Tuesday the second seed defeated Croatian lucky loser Roko Karanusic 6-2, 6-4.
Argentine Jose Acasuso (pictured) , the No. 7 seed, defeated Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-4, 6-3. Acasuso is a career-best 32-18 on the season but had lost in the first round of his past three tournaments. He reached the quarterfinals in Basel last year (l. Baghdatis).
Tim Henman converted four of nine break point opportunities and served 11 aces in his 6-2, 6-3 win over Belgian Christophe Rochus. Henman won the Basel title in 2001 (d. Federer) and in 1998 (d. Agassi). The Briton reached the Basel semifinals or better for five consecutive years between 1997-2001 and had never fallen before the quarterfinals in nine career appearances until last year, when he suffered a third-set tie-break first-round loss to Davis Cup team mate Andy Murray. _________________
This is definitely not good news for Davydenko... he might have to count on Paris next week to sneak into the Masters Cup. _________________ "Satan is behind Illegal Immigration."- Don Larson, Utah County Republican Tennis Wallpapers, presented by leftys_rock and myself
ATP World No. 1 Roger Federer booked his place in the semifinals, after a 6-3, 7-6(14) victory in one hour and 27 minutes over fifth-seeded David Ferrer.
Spaniard Ferrer failed to convert six set points in the second set tie-break. Federer earned his fifth successive career win over Ferrer on his fourth match point.
Federer now holds a 33-14 tie-break record, which is more than any player in 2006. The Swiss, who was a runner-up at his hometown event in 2000 (l. to Enqvist) and 2001 (l. to Henman), also improves his Basel record to 17-6.
This year Federer is 85-5 and will look to improve his ATP match record against Paradorn Srichaphan on Saturday (head-to-head). Srichaphan made it four wins out of four against Jose Acasuso, this week's No. 7 seed, in a 7-6(2), 6-3 win.
Meanwhile, Stanislas Wawrinka will play third seed and defending champion Fernando Gonzalez in the semifinals (head-to-head).
Wawrinka knocked out reigning Tennis Masters Cup champion David Nalbandian 7-6(7), 6-2 for his 32nd ATP win of the season. The result leaves Nalbandian, who had beaten Wawrinka at the Australian Open and Roland Garros earlier this year, at No. 6 in the Race to Shanghai just six points behind No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko.
Gonzalez lived to fight another day with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 quarterfinal win over Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro on Friday. The Chilean’s has now won 23 of his last 29 matches, with final appearances in Vienna (l. to Ljubicic) and ATP Masters Series Madrid (l. to Federer) in the last couple of weeks.
Gonzalez, currently No. 9 in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race, now trails No. 8 Tommy Robredo by 21 points. Should Gonzalez defend his title he will leap to No. 7 in the race to secure one of four remaining berths at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai. _________________
I bet Federer won the most tiebreaks... He's played 90 matches for crying out loud... won 85 of them. Not too shabby. _________________ "Satan is behind Illegal Immigration."- Don Larson, Utah County Republican Tennis Wallpapers, presented by leftys_rock and myself
Wawrinka is picking up some form. Also is Paradorn Srichaphan. Who hasn't seen form since the Pacific Life Open. Federer should go over Paradorn pretty easily. _________________
Gonzalez def. Wawrinka 64 64. _________________ "Satan is behind Illegal Immigration."- Don Larson, Utah County Republican Tennis Wallpapers, presented by leftys_rock and myself
Federer's in control, leading 63 62 33. _________________ "Satan is behind Illegal Immigration."- Don Larson, Utah County Republican Tennis Wallpapers, presented by leftys_rock and myself
Roger Federer won the Swiss Indoors for the first time, beating defending champion Fernando Gonzalez 6-3 6-2 7-6. He used to serve as a ballboy here when he was younger. This is his 11th title of the season. This win moves his record for the year to 87-5, a personal best. He has won 24 matches in a row, stretching back to the US Open.
Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor, who have already qualified for Shanghai in 4th place, won the doubles title. They beat Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 4-6 6-4 10-8 in the final. They also won this title in 2003. This is their 5th title of the season.
Yeah, it is amazing that it took Federer so many tries to win at home.
Basel last year was the first breakthrough for Baghdatis where he made the final. He was practically unknown. So his struggles in defending points began. He has decided to skip Paris in order to let his shoulder heal completely. His next tournament will be Qatar and then Sydney in preparation for defending his Final at the AO next.
Way to go Knowles and Nestor! Canada's only pride.
Fed, finally wins his home tourney, what was with the paradorn match?? He's been scraping through some strange ones this season, but hey, a win is a win.
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Canada's only pride.