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News & Press
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Dlouhy/Paes Advance To Toronto Semifinals
Seventh seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes advanced to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup with a 6-4, 3-6, 10-5 victory over fourth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles on Friday in Toronto.Currently fourth in the Stanford ATP Doubles Race, Bhupathi/Knowles were enjoying their best tournament run since reaching the Masters Series Monte-Carlo final, having fallen in the opening round at their past four events. They began the year in fine form, capturing two titles at Memphis and Dubai.Dlouhy/Paes have now reached the semifinals or better at their past three tournaments together. The Czech/Indian team finished runners-up at Halle (l. to Youzhny/Zverev) before going on to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon (l. to Nestor/Zimonjic). They also made a semifinal exit at Roland Garros (l. to eventual champions Cuevas/Horna). While the 25-year-old Dlouhy is through to the semifinals for the first time, the 35-year-old Paes, a former World No. 1 (June 21, 1999), is a two-time champion, capturing the title in 1997 and 2004 with former long-time partner Bhupathi. In the semifinals, Dlouhy/Paes will face second seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic, who knocked out Paul-Henri Mathieu and Mikhail Youzhny 7-6(4), 6-4 to reach sixth straight ATP semifinal
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Darcis back in Dutch Open final
Defending champion Steve Darcis continued his run of success at the Dutch Open on Saturday.
The third-seeded Belgian is back in the final of the red clay event after defeating top-seeded Frenchman Marc Gicquel 7-6 (7/3) 3-6 7-5 in the semi-finals.
Darcis will will try to run his win streak here to nine matches and make it back-to-back titles on Sunday when he meets fifth-seeded Albert Montanes, a 6-1 6-3 winner over fellow Spaniard Oscar Hernandez in the other semi-final.
Outside of winning a championship in Memphis - where he did not face a top 40 player - it has been a lacklustre year for the 56th-ranked Darcis, who entered this event just 12-14 this campaign.
Much like his run in Memphis, the 24-year-old is taking advantage of a limited field here and is now on the verge of his third career title.
Before toppling Gicquel, the highest ranked player in the field at 52, Darcis needed only to get by 122nd-ranked Alberto Martin and world number 115 Christophe Rochus. This will be his first career meeting with Montanes, who is ranked 63rd.
Montanes, 27, has never won a title and heads into Sunday's final with an 0-4 record in championship matches.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Davydenko crashes to Becker
Fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko tumbled out of Wimbledon at the first hurdle, beaten in straight sets by Germany's Benjamin Becker. A break of serve in each set was enough to give Becker a 6-4 6-4 6-4 victory on Court Two and maintain Davydenko's dismal record at the All England Club. The Russian becomes the highest ranked player to be eliminated in this year's first round. It was Davydenko's fifth first-round exit in seven visits to Wimbledon - his best run coming last year when he made it through to the last 16. However, it was back business as usual on Court Two today as Becker - hardly brimming with grand slam pedigree having lost in the first round of his last six majors - made a mockery of Davydenko's lofty ranking. The German seized control of the match from the start, serving consistently and never once losing his advantage as he marched into the second round. "Losing my serve in first, second and the third sets... it doesn't matter against who I play, I need to play well. I need to have my serve going well and the return also needs to be as good as possible but today my return was really bad," Davydenko said. (source)
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