LAS VEGAS, Nevada—Headliners Exit Early
Perhaps the writing was on the wall when Lleyton Hewitt was drawn to face Marat Safin on opening night – the Tennis Channel Open’s main marketing attractions have all been sent packing following the first two rounds of the tournament.
As if losing Safin and Hewitt in the opening days of the tournament wasn’t enough, No. 1 seed Fernando Gonzalez was upset by 20-year-old Russian Evgeny Korolev on Thursday afternoon, only to be followed by Marcos Baghdatis bowing out to Robby Ginepri during the evening session.
“At least we still have the Americans,” tournament director David Edges said, referring to Ginepri, Sam Querrey the Bryan twins, who have been popular with the Vegas crowds thus far.
Robby’s Resurgence
American Robby Ginepri continued his impressive start to the 2008 campaign scoring a straight set victory over No. 4 seed Marcos Bagdhatis on Thursday night in front of a partisan Ginepri crowd. Notorious for his quickness around the court, Ginepri demonstrated new found variety throughout the first career meeting between the two.
“He is so dangerous off both wings, and he was really firing away at the beginning of the match,” the Georgia native said. “I was able to turn things around by varying my game a little.
“I had trouble finishing points all night,” said Baghdatis. “He got a lot of balls back.”
Ginepri, who hired renowned tennis guru Jose Higueras late in 2007, is now 8-2 on the season. Reflecting on his recent success after a period of drift, Ginepri indicated that there is a sense of urgency at this stage of his career. “I’ve been around the block,” he said. “I realize there is a short window of opportunity.”
Sesil Sighting
Who was that young girl absolutely crushing groundstrokes on an outer practice court earlier in the week? Sesil Karantantcheva, thank you very much. The Bulgarian, now 18, is back on the ITF circuit after serving a highly publicized two-year ban for steroids that began in January of 2006.
At that time, Karatantcheva was No. 35 in the world and had been tabbed as a future champion. But everything changed when it was revealed that she had tested positive for the steroid nandrolone at the 2006 French Open. Karantantcheva denied the allegations, citing the fact that she had been pregnant as the reason for the positive test.
Her abundance of talent notwithstanding, the road back to the upper echelon of the game will certainly prove to be a long one. Karantantcheva lost all of her ranking points as a result of the ban, so she is currently relegated to lower tier tournaments where points (and money) are scarce.
In fact, they are so precious that Karantantcheva recently chose to skip out on Bulgaria’s Fed Cup match last month, opting instead to play the qualifying for a small $25,000 event at La Quinta. The decision drew sharp criticism from the Bulgarian Tennis Federation, who further alleged that the controversial teen had breached her contract with the Federation.
Karantantcheva qualified for the Hilton Cup in Las Vegas, an ITF event. Ironically, she defeated Elena Bovina, once ranked as high as No. 14 in 2005, in the final round. But she subsequently lost to American Madison Brengle in three sets in the first round of the main draw.
Meeting of College Giants
Not only has South African qualifier Kevin Anderson managed to notch his first two ATP victories this week to set up a quarterfinal matchup with last year’s quarterfinalist Evgeny Korolev, yesterday he garnered his first victory over former college nemesis John Isner.
The two met twice during their prolific college careers – both were All-Americans – with Isner winning both meetings, including a No. 1 singles showdown when Isner’s Georgia Bulldogs defeated Anderson’s Fighting Illini at the 2007 NCAA Team Championships.
Anderson, who at 6’7’’ is still two inches shorter than Isner, was able to turn the tables on the lanky American in their first professional encounter by winning the serving battle.
Anderson won 84% of his first serve offerings, including a remarkable 14 out of 14 in the second set. He also enjoyed a 74% success rate on second serve points.
By contrast, Isner, who aced his way to an opening-set victory over Roger Federer at the 2007 U.S. Open, won 73% of his first serve points overall, while managing just 56% on second serves.