Murray exits Paris, London cast complete

Updated November 02, 2012 09:42:49

Andy Murray joined arch-rival Novak Djokovic in heading for the exit at the Paris Masters with an early-round loss to Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz on Friday morning (AEDT).

Third-seed Murray was spanked by towering Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 as the Scot followed Dkjokvic in losing early at the last event of the regular season.

World number one Roger Federer and injured number four Rafael Nadal did not play the event.

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga thrilled the home crowd with his defeat of Spain's Nicolas Almagro 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3).

That result put Serb Janko Tipsareivc into the eighth spot in the year-end ATP World Tour finals, which takes place in London next week.

Tipsarevic made his own luck as he knocked rival Juan Monaco off with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win.

London qualifier Tomas Berdych, the Czech fifth seed, came back to defeat South African Kevin Anderson 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. France's Michael Llodra ended an 11-match indoor win streak for Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-3.

Murray had never been beyond the Bercy quarter-finals and looked like having the perfect chance to fix that blemish in his record.

But beanpole Janowicz upset the form book with his huge serve, which produced 22 aces and 51 winners in just under two and a half hours.

"He played aggressive. He moves pretty good, serves very well. He's unpredictable," said Murray, who was heading to London within hours.

"When you're on your serve (with a match point) you must close the match."

The 21-year-old winner scored the biggest success of his career on his second match point and fell to the ground with his hands over his eyes lying on the court in pure joy.

"This was the most unbelievable day in my life. I beat Olympic champion, US Open champion. I beat Andy Murray.

"It's an unbelievable feeling for me. I fell like in few minutes I'm going to wake up and it's gonna be everything gone.

"I don't know actually what I supposed to say because it's really hard to describe this feeling. It's not easy for me to believe what happened actually."

Murray did not want to predict how the exits of himself and Djokovic might affect their showings in London next week.

"Only time will tell really. A lot of the players will have had slightly different run-ins to the O2. Obviously me and Novak lost early this week; Roger didn't play, and then I think the rest of the guys are still in here," he said.

"You never know, maybe the guys that go deep here they'll have confidence from having a good tournament. But they may arrive a little bit later and might take a while to get used to the conditions.

"I'll be in London tonight. I'll have some rest and I'll come back to practise on Saturday."

The defeat means that the quarter-finals will be the first in four years at a Masters 1000 event not to feature at least one of the top four players.

Janowicz had beaten a pair of top 20 opponents this week in number 19 Philipp Kohlschreiber and number 15 Marin Cilic, never facing a break point in those matches.

AFP

Tags: sport, tennis, france

First posted November 02, 2012 08:53:01

View the original article here

Aussies fall as Del Potro books London ticket

Updated October 26, 2012 08:05:45

Aussies Matt Ebden and Marinko Matosevic have missed out on the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors.

Ebden suffered a 6-3, 6-1 defeat to Russian Mikhail Youzhny, who convincingly eliminated Bernard Tomic in the first round of the tournament in Basel.

Matosevic lost a big-serving showdown with towering South African Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3.

Juan Martin del Potro secured his place in the ATP World Tour Finals with a 7-5, 6-1 defeat of American Brian Baker which gave him a place in the quarters at the St Jakobshalle.

The second-seeded Argentine, who had already increased his qualification hopes for London by winning the Vienna title last weekend, was delighted to make it into the eight-man, season-ending event for the third time.

But he was also sympathetic to the plight of Rafael Nadal who had to withdraw from the World Tour Finals, which begin a week from Monday, as he continues to battle back from the knee injury which has kept him off tour since June.

Del Potro said he knows exactly how Nadal feels after his own wrist injury absence in 2010 saw his career suffer a worrying setback.

"I'm sad for Rafa, he's really trying in his comeback. But it's not easy after such a long time away. I had the same feeling with my wrist.

"We miss Rafa a lot on the Tour. He is one of the best players in history, he will come back strong.

"I'm sure it will be very soon. He will be ready to win a big event again, I know that he can play better than me when he makes his comeback, I wish all the best to him."

Two Frenchmen also celebrated wins, with Paul-Henri Mathieu overcoming Russian veteran Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4 and Benoit Paire lining up a quarter-final date with Roger Federer after his 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Lukasz Kubot.

The 23-year-old Paire is buoyed by being at his highest ranking of 46 and fresh from an upset of fifth seed Andreas Seppi in the first round.

"I played a good match against Kubot, I'm very satisfied," said Paire, who admits that he has been working to curb his notorious temper.

"I've always admired Roger. It is a dream to be able to play him in his home. Of course he will be the favourite, but I want to put in my best effort and play as well as I can."

Paire nudged his 2012 record to 25 wins against 24 losses as he took down Kubot.

The Frenchman overcame the Pole in just under 90 minutes with six aces and three breaks of serve.

"It's great to be in a quarter-final and to be playing Roger Federer," added the Frenchman.

"I had a good match against Kubot which gives me confidence. And of course beating Seppi may have been a surprise.

"Federer had a tough time playing (Thomaz) Bellucci in the second round, it went to three sets. Anything is possible in tennis and I have my chances if things go well for me."

AFP

Tags: tennis, sport, switzerland, australia, argentina

First posted October 26, 2012 07:11:50

View the original article here

Del Potro stays in race to London with Vienna win

Updated October 22, 2012 07:32:14

Juan Martin del Potro spoiled the day for Slovenian tennis but kept his own hopes of qualifying for the ATP year-end finals alive with a 7-5, 6-3 defeat of qualifier Grega Zemlja to win the Austrian Open.

The Argentine, who had missed a month of play after the Davis Cup due to a right wrist injury, prevented Zamlja from becoming the first Slovenian to win an ATP title.

Del Potro stands provisional seventh in the points race for one of three remaining positions in the ATP World Tour Finals starting on November 5 in London. He will continue his quest next week in Basle as second seed behind Roger Federer at the Swiss Indoors.

The South American claimed his title in Vienna on his third try after losing the 2011 final. He was forced to quit before his first match during his debut in 2008 and now stands 8-1 in the Austrian capital.

Zemlja had already set several personal bests during his unexpected run this week, beating Tommy Haas for a first top 20 win, reaching the final over Janko Tipsarevic for a first top 10 victory and raising his level consistently throughout the best week of his career.

Del Potro, the top seed, spent more than an hour winning the first set against the number 70 playing in the first final of his career and finished the job on his first match point after one hour 41 minutes.

Del Potro added Vienna to trophies claimed this season in Marseille and Estoril.

He now owns 12 titles from 17 finals.

"He played an unbelievable match and I really had to play well to beat him, I served well and managed, it feels good right now," the winner said of his European challenger.

"It feels good to finally win this title.

"It took a really really tough match against a player who played really well.

"This is a great win after the wrist recovery, I'm getting better match by match. I'm making improvements in my game and my confidence is growing," warned Del Potro.

The South American, who rained down 10 aces, went down a break of serve in the opening set as Zemlja took a 4-2 lead. But that was quickly brought under control in the eighth game for 4-4 as Del Potro began taking command.

Prior to Vienna, the 26-year-old Zemlja, who trains in Austria, had never reached even a quarter-final at ATP level.

"I made history two or three times this week," joked the surprise finalist.

"I'm the guy for that. But this week was really something special. Even if I lost I'm pretty satisfied."

Zemlja almost did not play this tournament.

"It was an interesting and difficult situation for me before the tournament," said the 26-year-old. "I was preparing last week for Vienna and found out I was the first on the waiting list to get into the main draw in Stockholm.

"I was deciding whether to go to Stockholm or play in the qualification here. I said I'd rather play here.

"I had a good feeling. it was a pretty good decision and I don't regret it."

AFP

Tags: tennis, sport, austria

First posted October 22, 2012 07:28:01

View the original article here

London summer hits Wimbledon

Published:Tuesday, June 21, 2011 4:38 AEST

A tennis fan uses her umbrella to shelter from the rain on the first day of the 2011 Wimbledon tennis championships in south-west London, on June 20, 2011.

Tags: sport, tennis

View the original article here