Munich 2016
Munich 2016
Apr252016
Spaniard hits 70 per cent of first serves
No. 8 seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas began his stay in Istanbul with a win on Monday, dismissing Adrian Mannarino in straight sets 7-5, 6-1 at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open. The Spaniard broke the Frenchman six times in the win. Ramos-Vinolas next will play either #NextGen star Karen Khachanov of Russia or Aljaz Bedene of Great Britain.
Top seed Bernard Tomic will open his campaign against Diego Schwartzman, who prevailed on Monday in an all-Argentine battle against Facundo Bagnis 6-1, 6-4, in one hour and 11 minutes. Schwartzman reached the semi-finals last year in Istanbul, where he lost in three sets to Roger Federer.
Third seed Grigor Dimitrov, also a semi-finalist last year in Istanbul, will face Romanian qualifier Adrian Ungur in his first match. Ungur continued to produce inspired tennis in Istanbul by defeating Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 6-3. Ungur’s last ATP World Tour main-draw victory came in 2014 in Bucharest.
Veteran Dudi Sela put on an impressive performance in dispatching qualifier and #NextGen star Andrey Rublev, 6-3, 6-2. Sela won 71 per cent of his first-serve points and put pressure on Rublev’s serve throughout the match, earning nine break-point opportunities and converting five of them. Next up for Sela is No. 4 seed Federico Delbonis of Argentina. It will be their first meeting.
Brazilian faces Dodig in second round
Thomaz Bellucci ended a seven-match losing streak and gained the lead in his Fedex ATP Head2Head rivalry with Mikhail Youzhny on Monday at the BMW Open by FWU AG. Bellucci was up 6-3, 1-0 when Youzhny retired due to illness. The Brazilian now leads their rivalry 4-3.
Bellucci will face Ivan Dodig of Croatia in the second round in Munich. Dodig beat Latvian Ernests Gulbis 7-6(3), 6-2. The Croat landed 71 per cent of his first serves and broke Gulbis three times in the win. Bellucci leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 1-0.
Santiago Giraldo opened up play with a tight two-set victory over wild card Mischa Zverev 7-5, 7-6(5). Giraldo erased three set points while trailing 3-5 in the opening set. Next up for the Colombian is a second-round match against No. 3 seed Dominic Thiem. Giraldo won their only previous meeting in 2014 at the Barcelona Open BancSabadell.
Lukas Rosol extended his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry lead against Denis Istomin by winning 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-6(2). Rosol now leads the rivalry 3-1. The Czech will play either Tunisian Malek Jaziri or #NextGen star Alexander Zverev of Germany in the second round.
Croat loses only four points on serve in the second set
#NextGen star Borna Coric kept up his good start to the clay-court season on Monday, beating qualifier Andrea Arnaboldi of Italy 6-4, 6-1 at the Millennium Estoril Open. Coric, who made the final at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech earlier this month, erased the only break point he faced during his first-round match in Portugal.
The Croat also broke his opponent five times during the one-hour and 18-minute contest. The No. 6 seed will face German Benjamin Becker or Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva in the second round.
No. 7 seed Leonardo Mayer, the other singles seed in action on Monday, had similar luck against a home underdog, World No. 368 Pedro Sousa, who received a wild card into the tournament. The Argentine needed one hour and 20 minutes to dismiss Sousa 6-1, 6-4. Mayer next will play Italian Paolo Lorenzi or #NextGen star Elias Ymer of Sweden, who qualified for the event.
Nicolas Almagro also started another clay-court event well with a straight-set win against Frederico Ferreira Silva 6-3, 6-2. Almagro reached the final of the Argentina Open earlier this year before losing to Austrian Dominic Thiem. The Spaniard will face a home favourite in the second round, No. 4 seed Joao Sousa of Portugal. It will be their first meeting.
Qualifier Stephane Robert of France persisted through another round, beating Thomas Fabbiano of Italy 6-2, 6-2. The 35 year old next will play either German Michael Berrer or No. 5 seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
Argentine shares the last time he lost his keys and how much it cost him
Diego Schwartzman shares the last time…
I missed a flight?
The last time I missed a flight was in Chile, Santiago, Chile, 2011. I was alone… I was supposed to go to see (house music DJ) Bob Sinclar and then I missed my flight. I stayed longer than I needed to and I missed my flight to come back to (Buenos Aires).
I lost something important?
One month ago, I forgot the key inside my car… I put my shoes in the trunk, and I forgot I had put my keys in my shoes… Then I needed to call a service, and they came two hours later, and it was a problem… Because I needed to pay a lot of money for them to open the trunk and the car. And then I took the key and left… It cost around $1,000. Yeah, it was too much. Argentina is not cheap.
I paid money to rent a tennis court or buy tennis balls?
Sometimes when it’s raining in Buenos Aires, you need to pay for the indoor courts… We don’t have many indoor clay courts in Argentina… The balls, I think my coach pays but I don’t know the price… Indoor courts in Argentina? Ten. In the winter, it’s really tough to play outdoors because it rains a lot.
Being famous helped me?
Sometimes that happens in Buenos Aires. I see people around my age… The boys always say, “Oh, he’s Diego Schwartzman.” I am Jewish and in Argentina, we have many Jewish (people) there, and all the people there know me…(They say), “Enjoy! Good luck this season. Come on, keep going!”
I strung a tennis racquet?
Never… I tried but it’s too difficult… Six years ago. When I was playing Futures…. Now I go to the stringer (and say), “Here’s my racquet. Do it, please.”
I cooked for myself and others?
This year, many times in Miami, Melbourne… We rent an apartment. And I stay with my coach, my physio, and my friends, and I cook. I like to cook.
I met a childhood idol?
My idol is Juan Román Riquelme… a football player in Argentina… Never met him.
I shared a hotel room with another player?
One year or two years ago.
I asked someone famous for an autograph or selfie?
I take some selfies with the football players in Argentina… last year in November, December. I put it on my Instagram.
World number five Rafael Nadal has filed a lawsuit against former French government minister Roselyne Bachelot, who accused him of doping.
“I intend to defend my integrity and my image as an athlete but also the values I have defended all my career,” the Spaniard, 29, said in a statement.
Last month, former Minister for Health and Sport Bachelot said Nadal’s seven-month absence in 2012 was “probably due to a positive doping test”.
He says he had tendinitis and a virus.
“I wish to avoid any public figure from making insulting or false allegations against an athlete using the media, without any evidence,” added 14-time Grand Slam winner Nadal.
He had already announced his intention to sue Bachelot, saying: “I am tired about these things. I let it go a few times in the past. Not any more.”
Bachelot, 69, served in Nicolas Sarkozy’s government from 2007 to 2010. She has since left politics.
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Spaniard returns to the winners’ circle
Fernando Verdasco captured his first ATP World Tour title in two years on Monday at the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy.
Verdasco swept past first-time finalist Lucas Pouille, part of the ATP’s Next Generation, 6-3, 6-2 in 75 minutes.
“I’m very happy because I won this trophy,” said Verdasco. “It was a long time since I was in this position, to win a tournament or to play in a final.
“It’s not easy to wait a day to play. It wasn’t stressful, but hard. When it rains you have to be ready to play at every moment, especially if it is a final, not a first round. I wanted to play, no matter what. We did play, even if the last game was complicated when it started raining again. I’m glad that it all ended there.”
The 32-year-old Spaniard improved to 7-13 in finals by lifting his first trophy since April 2014 at Houston (d. Almagro). He earned €82,450 in prize money and 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points for his efforts in Bucharest.
Verdasco saved three break points in a 17-point third game before breaking Pouille to love. He went on to open up a 4-1 lead and completed the 43-set on his first set point opportunity.
The World No. 60 carried the momentum into the second set, breaking Pouille to love in the opening game. He took a 5-1 lead courtesy of another break to 30 in the fifth game. Verdasco is now 13-7 on the season.
It was the first title match to be carried over to a Monday since 5 October 2015, when Tomas Berdych overcame Guillermo Garcia-Lopez for the Shenzhen title.
The 22-year-old Pouille goes onto his next tournament with €43,430 and 150 points. He had been trying to become first French winner since Gilles Simon in 2012.
“It was not easy to play my first final in these conditions,” said Pouille. “We had to wait for a long time. We didn’t know when we would play. However, it was the same conditions for both players and Fernando just played better than me today.
“I had some break points in the first set, it was close and very intense from the beginning. Then I started the second set poorly and Fernando played some really good tennis. He didn’t give me many points. Congratulations to him. As far as I am concerned, despite the loss, it was a positive week and I hope to keep on improving in the coming weeks.”