Week 1 Summary

Hey guys,

The Argwus-Team decided, that with this new tennis year looming in, we want to try out some new stuff. From this moment on, every week we will present you a summary of the latest tournaments. This will be like a pill, that contains all that was worth noticing during the week on court. Hope U enjoy our ride across the world of tennis tournaments.
Ok, so let's start...

Doha (ATP, 250)

It was a battle of two Andy's in which the crowd could see a stunning performance of this younger one. Andy Murray managed to win his second stright title in Doha after beating Andy Roddick 6/4 6/2.

"The semi-final and final matches were very good against two top players so I am very pleased. It is great to start the season with a title. I have defended my title in three different tournaments now so I like to go back to the same places. I've always felt very comfortable in Doha." said Murray.

Throughout the whole week Andy showed great form and he is now considered to be a main title contender of the upcoming Australian Open. In the semifinal he won his third straight encounter against former world No.1 Roger Federer (6/7 6/2 6/2).

The tournament from the start seemed to be a game of the big four, so everybody expected great semifinals. One of them included Roger and Andy, but as an opositon to what everyone expected the second one lacked nr 1 seeded Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard unexpectly lost his quaterfinal to Gael Monfils (4/6 4/6) who impressed the crowd serving many aces and hitting the ball very hard into the corners.

Still, it wasn't enough to beat Andy Roddick in the semifinal. He lost a match of about 80 winners 6/7 6/3 3/6.

It is tough to say something more about the actual form of Roger and Rafa. Before Doha, Rafa hasn't played a single match since last October. What is easier to say, is that Andy Murray is definitely in great shape and we will see a lot from him through out this year.

The spectators on the side-courts could witness an amazing match between Slovakia's Karol Beck (coming back from his doping ban) and Poland's Michał Przysiężny (known as an unfulfilled talent with a top 20 potential). The Pole blew a 5/3 third set lead and lost an amazing chance to play World No.1 Rafael Nadal in the next round.


Brisbane (ATP,250)

Radek Stepanek won the battle of the WTA-beauties boyfriends in Brisbane's final as he was able to defeat Ana Ivanovic's love Fernando Verdasco, coming from a set down 3/6 6/3 6/4.


Stepanek had more luck this week than his fiancee Nicole Vaidisova, who fell in the second round in Auckland in straight sets.
“It’s my third title and my first tournament of the new season. I have the trophy, so I can’t find the words right now. I’m very happy with the way I played this week; I fought from the first point to the last point in every match. Three times I came back from a set down. I played very good tennis and here is the reward for it." Stepanek said.

Fernando Verdasco, who still was carried by the wave of his success, which he achieved in the Davis Cup final last Dercember winning the deciding point for Spain, could be very satisfied with his week in Brisbane.

The shock of the tournament came early, as the main title contender, world No.3 Novak Djokovic was ousted in the first round by Ernests Gulbis (you find his view on the win HERE). Djokovic, had he won one more match than Federer that week, he would have overcome the great man in the rankings for the second spot.

Brisbane's No.2 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga didn't go deep into the tournament ever, as he lost in the quarters to fellow Frenchman - Richard Gasquet 6/1 4/6 2/6. Tsonga came up with an unbelievable win a round earlier as he came back from a first set drumming to beat Finland's best - Jarkko Nieminen 0/6 7/6 7/6.
Also worth noticing is the comeback of Taylor Dent, who won his first round match against Steve Darcis pretty easily before succombing to Richard Gasquet (blowing an amazing 5/2 lead in the first set)


Chennai (ATP, 250)

It was the 14th time India has held the ATP event in Chennai. 32 men were participating, but only one stood tall at the end - Marin Cilic, The Croat scored his second victory on the ATP World Tour by beating India's Somedev Devverman 6/4 7/6(3), having won the tournament in New Haven last year.


"It's great to start the year with a title win, I've been in training hard for the new season. I always enjoy coming back to Chennai. This was already my third time here and I always enjoy the passion of the crowd. Today it was a bit different of course since they supported Somdev and I'm glad that I managed to win in two sets. Somdev has been impressive this week and if he continues playing like this he can be in the Top 100 by the end of the year." said the winner

Devvarman himself somewhat overshadowed Cilic. The player ranked 202 in the world was a sensation, as is his story.
It was only last year that the Indian played at University level, where he won everything that there was to win. The Indian-born Devvarman has reached the NCAA singles championship three times, won two singles titles, and went undefeated his entire senior season. He studied History and Sociologists and now he turned pro and made his first ATP World Tour level final. He scored two fantastic wins - over former World No.1 Carlos Moya and the ace-king Ivo Karlovic.
"Losing is not fun, not converting the break points wasn't my best move." Devvarman said.

The tournament in Chennai begun with a major upset, when the Italian qualifier Flavio Cipolla crushed world No.13 Stanislas Wawrinka 6/4 6/1. The two had already met last year at the US Open, but the Swiss was victorious, coming from two sets down to beat the feisty Italian.

This wasn't the only shock news. The tournament's top seed Nicolay Davydenko had to pull out with a left heel pain. This injury forced him to withdraw from the Australian Open, starting next Monday. More on that you can find HERE.


Brisbane International (WTA, $220,000)

It took her five attempts, but Victoria Azarenka the has finally made it. She won her maiden title by defeating France's Marion Bartoli 6/3 6/1.


"The way I was thinking on court was very different from before, I was playing every point, no matter what happened. I wasn't thinking about the fact that I was playing in a final. I was thinking it was a regular match, regular points. That helped me today. I don't really believe I've won yet. Everybody says the third time is the charm, but for me it's the fifth - I'm just glad I finally got it!"

The fast rising Belarus shooting star will now go into the Australian Open as some sort of a dark horse. She was an outstanding junior and in the soming months will be looking to crack the top 10.
But Azarenka wasn't the only one with a good week. Marion Bartoli made only her second final after reaching the Wimbledon title match.

"I'm just pleased to have been in the final. I want to keep some energy for Melbourne, which is the most important event right now."

The weeks action also saw the revival of Amelie Mauresmo. The former world No.1 reached the semifinal before having to retire because of a left thigh injury. Mauresmo made a clear statement she might be back, after easily defeating French Open champion Ana Ivanovic 6/3 6/2 in the quarters. The crowd was looking forward to this match after both girls had to save match points in their 2nd round matches in order to get there. Mauresmo faced 3 mp's against Julie Coin (5/7 6/2 7/6), Ivanovic saved 2 mp's against Roberta Vinci (6/7 7/5 6/1).

One of the tournament's stories was the comeback of Jelena Dokic. The former World No.4 hasn't had it easy the last couple of years, having to struggle on and off court. The Aussie didn't have much luck with the draw, as she had to face Amelie Mauresmo in the 1st round. Dokic lost 6/7 6/7 having wasted 5 set-points in the first set. On one hand she might be upset, she lost such a tight encounter, on the other she might take comfort in the way she went toe to toe with the two time Grand Slam champion.



Auckland International (WTA, $220,000)

The crowd in New Zealand could witness an all Russian final this year. In the battle of Elenas it was the more expirienced Dementieva who defeated Vesnina 6/4 6/1 for the title.


"It was a pleasure to come here and play this tournament. We all really felt at home here, it was very nice. And for the first time my mom isn't here with me, so I'm especially happy to take this trophy back home for her."

Dementieva was the top seed and made the most of it. After a rather sluggish start to the tournament (where she was 1/5 down against Yung-Jan Chan, but managed to reel of 9 straight games), the Olympic champion just cruised through the draw without losing a single set.
It is the 12th career title for Dementieva and for sure a great preparation before the Australian Open.

The losing finalist Elena Vesnina enjoyed a great week herself as she managed to reach a first final of a WTA event in her career (compared: Dementieva played her 25th) and score some great wins along the way.

"It was a great week for me. I'm really happy my first final happened here in Auckland. It's a very nice place to be - from the first match, I really fell in love with this city. I'd like to congratulate Elena for her great week - she played really well and deserved this title."

Worth noticing was the run to the semis by the British No.1 Anne Keothavong. The 25-year old iss only the second British player to make a WTA semi-final in 15 years, after Jo Durie in 1992 and Keothavong herself in 2007.

The week was overshadowed by a protest, that intention's was it to force the Isreali Shahar Peer out of the tournament. More about this HERE

Hopman Cup

It was a week full of surprises as a last seeded pair from Slovakia managed to beat Russia in a spectacular final. Dominik and Dominika beat Safin and Safina after two dramatic 3- setters.


Nobody expected rising star Dominika Cibulkova and her 11 years older friend Dominik Hrbaty to perform so effectively. In final match Dominika beat Dinara 6/7 6/1 6/4. In third set Cibulkova led 5/1 before losing three games in a row. Still, she was too strong for current nr 3.In the second match of the final two friends who have met on court 15 times before showed a awesome display of tennis. After 192 minutes it was Hrbaty who eventually prevailed leveling up their head to head 8-8. The glory was even sweater for Slovak two day later when he proposed to his girlfriend.
More on that you can find HERE.


DOUBLES WATCH

It wasn't the best start of the year from Rafael Nadal, but there was something what made him smile again. He prooved one more time, that he can play not only singles, but also doubles.

For the first time in his career he paired-up with Marc Lopez and they surspisingly won the title beating the best pair in the world Nestor/Zimonjic 4/6 6/4 10/8 in the final.

Marc, remember, no one bites trophies like Rafa ;)

In the same competition a Polish-Russian tandem Kubot/ Tursunov won their first round and then lost to number ones Nestor/ Zimonjic. Meanwhile one of the tournaments favourites Fyrstenberg/ Matkowski lost their oppenning match against Petzschner/ Peya. We are sure that the better form will come in their next event.

Another success worth mentioning is the great effort from Polish girls Klaudia Jans and Alicja Rosolska. They destroyed the much favoured team of Hantuchova/ Sugiyama in the semifinal before losing the final against Groenefeld/ King 6/3 5/7 5/10.
Shame. They had opportunities in the second set when they led 5/3 and served for the match. Next time will be yours, girls - there's no doubt.

~jachal
~shaw