Verkerk Through to Quarters, Goran Goes Out
INDESIT ATP MILANO INDOOR 2004
FEBRUARY 12, 2004
Verkerk Through to Quarters, Goran Goes Out
Defending champion Martin Verkerk advanced to the quarterfinals of the
INDESIT ATP Milano Indoor 2004 with a straight sets victory over Frenchman
Nicolas Escude. Verkerk, the No. 2 seed, extended his record in Milan to an
unbeaten 7-0 with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Escude, who won the title in Doha
in the first week of the year.
Verkerk now meets Escude's fellow Frenchman Gregory Carraz, who recovered
from the loss of the second set after missing five match points to eventually
overcome Karol Beck of the Slovak Republic 6-4, 6-7(14), 7-6(5) in 2 hours,
30 minutes.
Meanwhile, Goran Ivanisevic's bid for a third title in Milan was cut short
by third seed Tommy Robredo. The Spaniard was pushed all the way by the
former Wimbledon champion Ivanisevic before reaching the quarterfinals
with a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4) victory. Ivanisevic, playing in his first ATP
tournament since last June, won his first round match against Bohdan
Ulihrach in a third-set tie-break but could not repeat the feat against
Robredo.
The Spaniard now goes on to meet another Croatian in Mario Ancic, who upset
Robredo's countryman Rafael Nadal, the No. 6 seed, 7-5, 6-2.
Nadal was one of three seeds to be sent crashing out in the second round as
No. 7 seed Sargis Sargsian went down at the hands of Karol Kucera and No. 8
seed Domink Hrbaty, who had won 12 of his 13 matches on the ATP circuit in
2004, went down 6-4, 6-3 to Mikhail Youzhny.
Elsewhere, Sweden's Thomas Johansson continued his comeback from knee
surgery in 2003 with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Raemon Sluiter. The 28-year-old,
who finished 2002 at No. 14 but missed the entire 2003 season, now meets
Kucera for a place in the semifinals.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:
Ivanisevic: "I played bad and good. I served very good but I returned very
bad. He's not a big server but I saw the statistics and from 90 points, I
won 20 on his serve. So that was the key to the match - if I put more balls
back in, I would win the match.
"I've got two more tournaments coming up - I've got a wild card in Rotterdam
next week and then I've entered Marseille, and then I'll see what I'm going
to do."
Ancic: "We played in Auckland, just before Auckland and I lost 7-6, 7-6, but
I also had my chances in that match, so I knew it was going to be tough
today. I knew I had to be aggressive and attack his second serve, not give
him any rhythm from the back of the court. He has a huge forehand, so I
wanted to play to his backhand. I tried to play my game and be as aggressive
as I could be."
On Ivanisevic: "He's been hitting the ball really nicely, serving okay. The
only question for him is how fit he is because he's not played many matches.
Tennis wise, we all know he can play unbelievable matches, as he showed
against Ulihrach, which I thought was going to be a really tough match for
him."
For more audio quotes from Milan and elsewhere on the ATP circuit this week in English and Spanish, log on to: www.atptennis.com/en/audio/
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★ 你要支持Escude到什麼時候？
To : 廢話！當然是到死為止！
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