Roddick wins as Ward stuns Querrey
Source: Agencies |
June 11, 2011, Saturday
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BRITISH wildcard James Ward continued toppling the seeds at Queen's Club when he finished off defending champion Sam Querrey yesterday to reach the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon warm-up event in London while third seed Andy Roddick stayed on course for a fifth title by reaching the semifinals.
London cabbie's son Ward, ranked 216 in the world and trained by an Argentine cage fighter, returned to court level at one set all against the American after bad light interrupted the match on Thursday and showed nerves of steel, breaking serve in the seventh game of the decider to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
With rain clouds still threatening to disrupt the program the 24-year-old Ward, who knocked out fourth seed Stanislas Wawrinka in the second round, is due back on court later to face Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
There was further good news for British players, if not the fans who had bought tickets, when second seed Andy Murray got a walkover into the semifinals after Croatian opponent Marin Cilic withdrew because of an ankle injury.
American Roddick, bidding for a record fifth title at the tournament, thumped Spain's Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the last four.
Ward, who usually competes on the second-tier Challenger Circuit, a world away from the stage inhabited by Murray, had Diego Visotzky at courtside yesterday, the mixed martial arts cage fighter hired in an attempt to improve his ranking.
His performances so far suggest his unusual choice of fitness trainer is having a beneficial effect.
"Sometimes I do make him wrestle, it's part of the mental conditioning thing," the sturdy Visotzky said.
"It's conditioning so I let him beat me sometimes. If I wanted to, maybe I could kill him!"
In Halle, Germany, Philipp Kohlschreiber eliminated defending champion Lleyton Hewitt 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the Gerry Weber Open yesterday and was joined by fellow German Philipp Petzschner in the semifinals.
Petzschner advanced with a 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 victory over eighth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada.
Kohlschreiber, the 2008 finalist, and Hewitt held serve in the first set, then the German picked up a mini break for a 4-2 lead in the tiebreaker and won it five points later.
Kohlschreiber secured the only break of the match for 5-3 and finished off Hewitt with an ace on his first match point. He will face either countryman and sixth seed Florian Mayer or third-seeded Gaels Monfils of France for a spot in tomorrow's final.
First semifinal
In Birmingham, England, Ana Ivanovic reached her first semifinal since October by beating Mirjana Lucic 6-3, 6-4 at the Aegon Classic yesterday.
China's Peng Shuai, the third seed, also advanced after seeing off unseeded Marina Erakovic of New Zealand, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
A former top-ranked player, Ivanovic dropped only three points on her service games in the first set, and struck the ball so effectively that few rallies lasted more than four shots. The Serb withdrew from the doubles competition to minimize the chances of a recurrence of her recent wrist problems.
In the semifinal, Ivanovic will play Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia who beat American Alison Riske 6-2, 6-4.
London cabbie's son Ward, ranked 216 in the world and trained by an Argentine cage fighter, returned to court level at one set all against the American after bad light interrupted the match on Thursday and showed nerves of steel, breaking serve in the seventh game of the decider to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
With rain clouds still threatening to disrupt the program the 24-year-old Ward, who knocked out fourth seed Stanislas Wawrinka in the second round, is due back on court later to face Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
There was further good news for British players, if not the fans who had bought tickets, when second seed Andy Murray got a walkover into the semifinals after Croatian opponent Marin Cilic withdrew because of an ankle injury.
American Roddick, bidding for a record fifth title at the tournament, thumped Spain's Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the last four.
Ward, who usually competes on the second-tier Challenger Circuit, a world away from the stage inhabited by Murray, had Diego Visotzky at courtside yesterday, the mixed martial arts cage fighter hired in an attempt to improve his ranking.
His performances so far suggest his unusual choice of fitness trainer is having a beneficial effect.
"Sometimes I do make him wrestle, it's part of the mental conditioning thing," the sturdy Visotzky said.
"It's conditioning so I let him beat me sometimes. If I wanted to, maybe I could kill him!"
In Halle, Germany, Philipp Kohlschreiber eliminated defending champion Lleyton Hewitt 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the Gerry Weber Open yesterday and was joined by fellow German Philipp Petzschner in the semifinals.
Petzschner advanced with a 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 victory over eighth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada.
Kohlschreiber, the 2008 finalist, and Hewitt held serve in the first set, then the German picked up a mini break for a 4-2 lead in the tiebreaker and won it five points later.
Kohlschreiber secured the only break of the match for 5-3 and finished off Hewitt with an ace on his first match point. He will face either countryman and sixth seed Florian Mayer or third-seeded Gaels Monfils of France for a spot in tomorrow's final.
First semifinal
In Birmingham, England, Ana Ivanovic reached her first semifinal since October by beating Mirjana Lucic 6-3, 6-4 at the Aegon Classic yesterday.
China's Peng Shuai, the third seed, also advanced after seeing off unseeded Marina Erakovic of New Zealand, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
A former top-ranked player, Ivanovic dropped only three points on her service games in the first set, and struck the ball so effectively that few rallies lasted more than four shots. The Serb withdrew from the doubles competition to minimize the chances of a recurrence of her recent wrist problems.
In the semifinal, Ivanovic will play Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia who beat American Alison Riske 6-2, 6-4.
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