Aces and Faults - yourtennisnews.com » Djokovich

Nadal in Final

anthony — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:10:24 +0000

Rafael Nadal advanced to the Shanghai Masters final on Saturday after Feliciano Lopez became the ninth player to retire from the tournament.

The unseeded Lopez said he woke up with a right foot infection, and then twisted his right ankle on the last point of the first set. He was trailing 6-1, 3-0 when he retired.

The top-seeded Nadal will play in Sunday’s final against sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, who outlasted second-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1).

“He’s playing very well today,” said Nadal, who holds a 4-2 advantage over Davydenko in their previous meetings. “He has a lot of rhythm, and he’s playing with a lot of intensity. It’s going to be a really tough match.”

Nadal only lost four points in the five service games he played against Lopez in the semifinal, which he gained when Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia retired with a left hip injury.

The Spaniard is looking for his sixth title of the year, and the first since returning from an injury layoff to recover from knee tendinitis, which prevented him from defending his Wimbledon title. He also struggled with a stomach muscle injury at the U.S. Open.

“I’m in a final and that’s very important,” Nadal said. “It’s my first final since I’ve been back and that’s a good result for me.”

Davydenko reached his fourth final of the year after a hard-fought match that lasted more than three hours. The Russian dominated the final tiebreaker, racing out to a 5-0 lead before sealing the win.

Djokovic had saved all three break points he faced in the first set, before breaking Davydenko with his second set point when the Russian smacked a crosscourt backhand wide.

Davydenko then took control of the second by breaking for a 4-3 lead when Djokovic’s forehand sailed long at 15-40. The Russian had two set points on Djokovic’s serve in the ninth game but couldn’t convert either. Instead, he served it out in the next game with two aces.

Davydenko has won all three finals he has played this year, in Hamburg, Umag and the Kuala Lumpur tournament two weeks ago.

Djokovic and Kuznetsova win China Open

anthony — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:49:29 +0000

Novak Djokovic won the China Open with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory over Marin Cilic, and Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia defeated Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-2, 6-4 in the women’s final on Sunday.

The second-seeded Serb broke Cilic’s serve in the sixth game and again in the eighth to take the first set.

The second set was much tighter, with each breaking the other’s serve three times to force the tiebreak. But Cilic then struggled, and his return at 6-4 went wide, handing Djokovic the win.

The sixth-seeded Kuznetsova needed just 1 hour, 20 minutes to complete her victory.

The third-ranked Djokovic’s path to the title was eased by Cilic’s upset of top-seeded Rafael Nadal in Saturday’s semifinal. The rain delay also appeared to have been a factor, allowing Djokovic time to regroup.

Kuznetsova has already qualified for the season-ending WTA Tour Championship in Doha at the end of the month, and will spend some time in Moscow practicing before arriving in the Persian Gulf a to acclimatize to the conditions.

Sharapova Goes Down in China

anthony — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:39:11 +0000

Maria Sharapova was eliminated from the China Open on Wednesday, losing to Peng Shuai of China 6-2, 6-4, and Svetlana Kuznetsova moved into the quarterfinals by beating Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.

Peng broke Sharapova twice in the first set, and then again in the sixth game of the second as the former top-ranked Russian appeared to show the strain of her three-set comeback victory over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus the night before. Sharapova did save two match points at 5-4 before losing.

The sixth-seeded Kuznetsova outplayed Bondarenko for much of the match and next faces Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, who defeated Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 6-4, 6-4.

In addition, fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia beat Li Na of China 6-2, 6-0.

Nikolay Davydenko of Russia advanced in the men’s field, beating Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1, 6-0. Davydenko will face Marin Cilic of Croatia, who beat Julien Benneteau of France 6-2, 2-6, 6-0.

Second-seeded Novak Djokovic trounced Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-0, while Fernando Verdasco defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-4.