Djokovic blows away Chardy in Rome
Source: Agencies |
April 28, 2010, Wednesday
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WORLD No. 2 Novak Djokovic made a stylish start to his Rome Masters campaign, blowing away Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-1, 6-1 in just under an hour to reach the third round yesterday.
The Serb, the 2008 Rome champion, gave Chardy a torrid time on his serve and produced some stunning cross-court winners in a performance that should raise his morale after a low-key start to the season.
Also, Lleyton Hewitt grinded out a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over ninth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny in their opening round match yesterday, a positive step in the Australian's comeback from hip surgery.
Russian Youzhny committed a whopping 59 unforced errors to Hewitt's 34 and dropped to 1-4 in his career against the former top-ranked player, who underwent surgery on January 29.
In other matches, Stanislas Wawrinka easily beat Juergen Melzer 6-1, 6-2; Feliciano Lopez advanced past Benjamin Becker 6-4, 6-3; and Italian wildcard Simone Bolelli eliminated German lucky loser Simon Greul 6-4, 6-1.
On Monday, Federer opened his clay-court season with a solid doubles victory, while former champion Juan Carlos Ferrero was upset by Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo in singles.
The top-ranked Federer paired with Swiss Davis Cup teammate Yves Allegro to beat Johan Brunstrom of Sweden and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands Antilles 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Federer never dropped his serve and showed off effective volleying skills in his first match inside the new 10,500-seat clay court stadium at the Foro Italico.
The 16-time grand slam winner was playing his first tournament on clay since winning his first French Open title last year.
It was also the first time Federer played doubles this year - having won the gold medal with Stanislas Wawrinka at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Federer and Allegro will next face sixth-seeded Simon Aspelin of Sweden and Paul Hanley of Australia.
World No. 1 Federer, who had a bye to the second round along with the other top seeds, was to play Latvian Ernests Gulbis later yesterday in his singles match.
Gulbis had an easy time in beating 2006 Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis 6-2, 6-2 on Monday.
The 76th-ranked Giraldo unleashed an arsenal of winners - 32 to Ferrero's nine - to beat the 2001 Rome winner 6-0, 6-3, requiring only 17 minutes to win the opening set.
The 12th-seeded Ferrero entered with an 18-3 record on clay this season, but Giraldo came in on a run of his own, having beaten tour veterans Nicolas Lapentti and Jarkko Nieminen in qualifying.
Also, 14th-seeded John Isner celebrated his 25th birthday by rallying to beat Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 and 16th-seeded Juan Monaco ousted Igor Andreev 7-6 (4), 7-5.
Isner, the top American in the draw following Andy Roddick's withdrawal, hit 20 aces and faced only one break point - which he lost.
It was the 2.06-meter Isner's first win on clay this season.
Julien Bennetau of France beat 15th-seeded Sam Querrey 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (2).
The Serb, the 2008 Rome champion, gave Chardy a torrid time on his serve and produced some stunning cross-court winners in a performance that should raise his morale after a low-key start to the season.
Also, Lleyton Hewitt grinded out a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over ninth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny in their opening round match yesterday, a positive step in the Australian's comeback from hip surgery.
Russian Youzhny committed a whopping 59 unforced errors to Hewitt's 34 and dropped to 1-4 in his career against the former top-ranked player, who underwent surgery on January 29.
In other matches, Stanislas Wawrinka easily beat Juergen Melzer 6-1, 6-2; Feliciano Lopez advanced past Benjamin Becker 6-4, 6-3; and Italian wildcard Simone Bolelli eliminated German lucky loser Simon Greul 6-4, 6-1.
On Monday, Federer opened his clay-court season with a solid doubles victory, while former champion Juan Carlos Ferrero was upset by Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo in singles.
The top-ranked Federer paired with Swiss Davis Cup teammate Yves Allegro to beat Johan Brunstrom of Sweden and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands Antilles 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Federer never dropped his serve and showed off effective volleying skills in his first match inside the new 10,500-seat clay court stadium at the Foro Italico.
The 16-time grand slam winner was playing his first tournament on clay since winning his first French Open title last year.
It was also the first time Federer played doubles this year - having won the gold medal with Stanislas Wawrinka at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Federer and Allegro will next face sixth-seeded Simon Aspelin of Sweden and Paul Hanley of Australia.
World No. 1 Federer, who had a bye to the second round along with the other top seeds, was to play Latvian Ernests Gulbis later yesterday in his singles match.
Gulbis had an easy time in beating 2006 Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis 6-2, 6-2 on Monday.
The 76th-ranked Giraldo unleashed an arsenal of winners - 32 to Ferrero's nine - to beat the 2001 Rome winner 6-0, 6-3, requiring only 17 minutes to win the opening set.
The 12th-seeded Ferrero entered with an 18-3 record on clay this season, but Giraldo came in on a run of his own, having beaten tour veterans Nicolas Lapentti and Jarkko Nieminen in qualifying.
Also, 14th-seeded John Isner celebrated his 25th birthday by rallying to beat Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 and 16th-seeded Juan Monaco ousted Igor Andreev 7-6 (4), 7-5.
Isner, the top American in the draw following Andy Roddick's withdrawal, hit 20 aces and faced only one break point - which he lost.
It was the 2.06-meter Isner's first win on clay this season.
Julien Bennetau of France beat 15th-seeded Sam Querrey 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (2).
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