Ebden falls short in Sydney

Updated January 07, 2013 18:45:31

Australian wildcard entry Matthew Ebden has been knocked out in the first round of the Sydney International in a tough three-set loss to Spain's Marcel Granollers.

The 25-year-old Perth native started strongly and looked headed for victory before the world number 34 re-took the momentum and eventually the match 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 in 2 hours 21 minutes.

Ebden - ranked 105 in the world - was a set and a break up at 5-4 in the second set, but Granollers summoned a big effort to take the next three games and level the match.

Granollers then broke Ebden's serve and held his own to go 3-1 up in the deciding set.

The crucial fifth game then went to five deuces as the Spanish player tried to strike again for a decisive double break.

Ebden saved a number of break points before finally losing the game to go 4-1 down.

Granollers held his serve again before breaking the Australian for the third time to take the set and the match.

Earlier, another Australian wildcard James Duckworth bowed out following a tight three-set struggle against Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin.

The 20-year-old Duckworth, ranked 209 in the world, won the first set before Istomin finally triumphed 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

It was an encouraging showing from Duckworth against Istomin, who beat Lleyton Hewitt en route to making the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International last week.

Fifth seed Florian Mayer of Germany accounted for Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-1, 6-1.

In the women's draw, Serbia's former world number one Jelena Jankovic defeated Austria's Tamira Paszek 6-2, 7-6(7-5) and Italy's Roberta Vinci upset eighth-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova 7-5, 7-5.

Tags: tennis, sport, sydney-2000

First posted January 07, 2013 13:52:01

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Federer makes short work of Tipsarevic

Updated November 07, 2012 10:15:18

Roger Federer started his bid for a seventh ATP Tour Finals title in record-breaking fashion as the Swiss great crushed Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-1 at London's O2 Arena.

Federer's victory took him to 40 match wins in his 11 appearances at the prestigious season-ending event, breaking the previous record of 39 held by Ivan Lendl.

The 31-year-old already has a record six titles in the event after winning the tournament for the last two years and he looks in the mood to complete a hat-trick on the evidence of this emphatic Group B victory over the Serbian eighth seed in just one hour and eight minutes.

"I'm very happy I played so well because Janko's a great player," Federer said.

"I've had a great year but I hope it's not over yet.

"It's my third trip to London this year. The other two were pretty good and I hope something similar is going to happen this week."

Tipsarevic had been suffering from a virus for several days leading up to the tournament and was forced to withdraw from his Paris Masters quarter-final last week due to exhaustion.

It was hardly ideal circumstances to face a fired-up Federer and the Swiss showed no mercy, breaking in the second game and racing into a 3-0 lead.

Federer had won all five of his previous meetings with Tipsarevic and, with the Serb having no impact on his opponent's serve, the first set was over in 30 minutes.

Tipsarevic staved off two break points in the third game of the second set, but Federer kept dictating play from the baseline and he finally induced a miscued forehand from the Serb to break for a 2-1 lead.

Scenting blood, Federer delivered the killer blow with a blazing forehand for another break that ended any hopes of a Tipsarevic revival.

"I was striking the ball well today," Federer said.

"I hope it's a sign for more to come. I'm happy the first one went so well and it takes the pressure off looking ahead in the next couple of matches."

Meanwhile, Spain's David Ferrer extending his winning run to 11 matches with a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Juan Martin del Potro.

"I am very happy. It was a top match," Ferrer said.

"It was very difficult to play against Juan Martin, but I hope the people enjoyed our tennis.

"I don't know the secret of my good form. It has been the best season of my career. Maybe it's because I didn't have a big injury."

AFP

Tags: tennis, sport, england, united-kingdom

First posted November 07, 2012 07:23:06

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