sseemiller
Rookie
Let's start with Dubai. And I just want to say Vamos, Rafael! :mrgreen:
RESULTS - THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2004
Singles - Second Round
(1)R Federer (SUI) d T Robredo (ESP) 63 64
I Ljubicic (CRO) d (7)P Srichaphan (THA) 76(6) 46 75
A Pavel (ROM) d (Q)T Zib (CZE) 75 16 61
F Lopez (ESP) d (Q)P Kohlschreiber (GER) 63 64
Doubles - First Round
Cibulec/Friedl d Ljubicic/Schalken 76(2) 60
Doubles - Quarterfinals
(1)Bhupathi/Santoro d Davydenko/Lopez 61 64
(2)Bjorkman/Paes d Hanley/Zimonjic 63 36 63
DRAWS
For the Dubai singles draw, go to: http://www.atptennis.com/posting/2004/495/MDS.pdf
For the Dubai doubles draw, go to: http://www.atptennis.com/posting/2004/495/MDD.pdf
ORDER OF PLAY - FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2004
Centre Court start 2:00 PM
R Nadal (ESP) vs M Youzhny (RUS)
I Ljubicic (CRO) vs F Lopez (ESP)
Starting at 7:00 PM
(1)R Federer (SUI) vs A Pavel (ROM)
J Nieminen (FIN) vs (8)S Schalken (NED)
Court 1 start 2:00 PM
Pala/Vizner vs Cibulec/Friedl
Kohlmann/Schuettler vs Nadal/Robredo
ATP MEDIA NOTES - THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2004
FEDERER CHARGES INTO QUARTERFINALS
Top seed and INDESIT ATP 2004 Race leader Roger Federer defeated talented Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4 Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships. Federer, the defending champion in Dubai, improved to 13-1 on the year and next meets dangerous Romanian Andrei Pavel.
Pavel defeated Czech qualifier Tomas Zib 7-6(6), 1-6, 6-1 to reach his first ATP quarterfinal of the season. Pavel, who reached the BNP Paribas Masters final (l. to Henman) in the last week of the 2003 season, pushed Federer when they met last month in the second round of Rotterdam. Federer won that encounter 7-6, 7-5.
Croatian Ivan Ljubicic defeated seventh seed Paradorn Srichaphan 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 to also reach the quarterfinals. Ljubicic is enjoying a big season in the Middle East, having reached the Doha final in the first week of the year.
Ljubicic next meets Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who defeated German qualifier Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-4.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Federer: "I thought I played pretty well. Today I was consistent and I always felt if he was going to come back that I could have controlled the match which was a good feeling and took pressure off my serve."
"I served well again at the moments I had to and I played aggressive on break points. Obviously I would like to minimize the break points because right now there are too many so that has to improve for the next few rounds."
On Robredo: "I don't think he played his best match today. He wasn't hitting his shots as cleanly as he usually does even though the conditions are extremely slow here so I'm sure that has something to do with it."
Srichaphan: “It was exactly the same as in Bangkok. 7-5 in the third, losing my serve at 5-all. I was down a break in the second set and came out with nothing to lose, just trying to put the ball in the court and play good tennis.”
“I tried to go for it a little too much at the end and missed it which gave him a chance to serve for the match with new balls.”
About his ankle injury: “I twisted my ankle in the Australian Open and then again in practice in Rotterdam. It’s getting much better though.”
Ljubicic: “It was almost the same match as in Thailand. He had chances in the first set, especially in the tie-break, but I played a couple of good points there and won the set by just two points.”
“Everything looked good when I had the break in the second and I felt good and confident. Suddenly I lost my serve, so I had to fight back.”
“My tactic was to serve well. I knew I had to do that and try to make him play as much as possible as he hits so hard that it wouldn’t be smart to try and hit even harder than him.”
On his next round: “I’ve never played against Lopez so we’ll see how it goes tomorrow. We are both serving well and I think a couple of points will decide the whole match.”
Robredo: “I think that it's tough to play against Roger as he’s playing at such a good level right now. I think I played a great match in everything apart from my serve. I served my worst match all year.”
“When I was playing from the baseline it was very good and I was winning a lot of the points. I think the point of the match was that I couldn’t serve today.”
Kohlschreiber: On his week in Dubai: “I wasn’t expecting much coming here. I just wanted to play tennis in the qualifying event and I did well and I hope I go on at this level in the next tournament so that I can play against the top players again.”
QUARTERFINALS
Russian Mikhail Youzhny meets Rafael Nadal of Mallorca in quarterfinal action Friday in the pair’s first meeting. This is Nadal’s first appearance in the quarterfinals at Dubai, and Youzhny is enjoying his best showing at the tournament after having lost in the first round in 2002 and 2003.
Ivan Ljubicic lands his third consecutive quarterfinal appearance at Dubai, losing last year in the semis to eventual winner, Roger Federer. Ljubicic has enjoyed much success this year, following an appearance as a finalist at Doha. He is 8-4 on the year and maintains an INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking of 22. This is Feliciano Lopez’s second straight Dubai quarterfinal appearance; he lost to Tommy Robredo in the same round last year. Lopez is 3-3 on year and he maintains a INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking of 32. The players have never met before.
Eighth seed Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands advanced to the quarterfinals after a tough three set victory over Fabrice Santoro, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, in the round of 16. Schalken meets Finn Jarkko Nieminen, who currently stands 10-6 on the year. The Dutchman won the pair’s only meeting (Stockholm, 2001), outlasting the Finn in a five-set marathon, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Currently, Schalken maintains a 11-4 record and is ranked 17th in the INDESIT ATP 2004 Race.
Defending champion Roger Federer expelled Tommy Robredo in Thursday’s action and will meet Romanian Andri Pavel in the quarterfinals. Federer, who improved his Dubai record to 8-1 and advanced his overall 2004 record to an impressive 13-1, was last beaten by Tim Henman in Rotterdam. Federer is 5-1 versus the Romanian, including a record of 3-0 on hard. Pavel is 7-4 on the year, and he currently maintains an INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking of 33.
RESULTS - THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2004
Singles - Second Round
(1)R Federer (SUI) d T Robredo (ESP) 63 64
I Ljubicic (CRO) d (7)P Srichaphan (THA) 76(6) 46 75
A Pavel (ROM) d (Q)T Zib (CZE) 75 16 61
F Lopez (ESP) d (Q)P Kohlschreiber (GER) 63 64
Doubles - First Round
Cibulec/Friedl d Ljubicic/Schalken 76(2) 60
Doubles - Quarterfinals
(1)Bhupathi/Santoro d Davydenko/Lopez 61 64
(2)Bjorkman/Paes d Hanley/Zimonjic 63 36 63
DRAWS
For the Dubai singles draw, go to: http://www.atptennis.com/posting/2004/495/MDS.pdf
For the Dubai doubles draw, go to: http://www.atptennis.com/posting/2004/495/MDD.pdf
ORDER OF PLAY - FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2004
Centre Court start 2:00 PM
R Nadal (ESP) vs M Youzhny (RUS)
I Ljubicic (CRO) vs F Lopez (ESP)
Starting at 7:00 PM
(1)R Federer (SUI) vs A Pavel (ROM)
J Nieminen (FIN) vs (8)S Schalken (NED)
Court 1 start 2:00 PM
Pala/Vizner vs Cibulec/Friedl
Kohlmann/Schuettler vs Nadal/Robredo
ATP MEDIA NOTES - THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2004
FEDERER CHARGES INTO QUARTERFINALS
Top seed and INDESIT ATP 2004 Race leader Roger Federer defeated talented Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4 Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships. Federer, the defending champion in Dubai, improved to 13-1 on the year and next meets dangerous Romanian Andrei Pavel.
Pavel defeated Czech qualifier Tomas Zib 7-6(6), 1-6, 6-1 to reach his first ATP quarterfinal of the season. Pavel, who reached the BNP Paribas Masters final (l. to Henman) in the last week of the 2003 season, pushed Federer when they met last month in the second round of Rotterdam. Federer won that encounter 7-6, 7-5.
Croatian Ivan Ljubicic defeated seventh seed Paradorn Srichaphan 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 to also reach the quarterfinals. Ljubicic is enjoying a big season in the Middle East, having reached the Doha final in the first week of the year.
Ljubicic next meets Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who defeated German qualifier Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-4.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Federer: "I thought I played pretty well. Today I was consistent and I always felt if he was going to come back that I could have controlled the match which was a good feeling and took pressure off my serve."
"I served well again at the moments I had to and I played aggressive on break points. Obviously I would like to minimize the break points because right now there are too many so that has to improve for the next few rounds."
On Robredo: "I don't think he played his best match today. He wasn't hitting his shots as cleanly as he usually does even though the conditions are extremely slow here so I'm sure that has something to do with it."
Srichaphan: “It was exactly the same as in Bangkok. 7-5 in the third, losing my serve at 5-all. I was down a break in the second set and came out with nothing to lose, just trying to put the ball in the court and play good tennis.”
“I tried to go for it a little too much at the end and missed it which gave him a chance to serve for the match with new balls.”
About his ankle injury: “I twisted my ankle in the Australian Open and then again in practice in Rotterdam. It’s getting much better though.”
Ljubicic: “It was almost the same match as in Thailand. He had chances in the first set, especially in the tie-break, but I played a couple of good points there and won the set by just two points.”
“Everything looked good when I had the break in the second and I felt good and confident. Suddenly I lost my serve, so I had to fight back.”
“My tactic was to serve well. I knew I had to do that and try to make him play as much as possible as he hits so hard that it wouldn’t be smart to try and hit even harder than him.”
On his next round: “I’ve never played against Lopez so we’ll see how it goes tomorrow. We are both serving well and I think a couple of points will decide the whole match.”
Robredo: “I think that it's tough to play against Roger as he’s playing at such a good level right now. I think I played a great match in everything apart from my serve. I served my worst match all year.”
“When I was playing from the baseline it was very good and I was winning a lot of the points. I think the point of the match was that I couldn’t serve today.”
Kohlschreiber: On his week in Dubai: “I wasn’t expecting much coming here. I just wanted to play tennis in the qualifying event and I did well and I hope I go on at this level in the next tournament so that I can play against the top players again.”
QUARTERFINALS
Russian Mikhail Youzhny meets Rafael Nadal of Mallorca in quarterfinal action Friday in the pair’s first meeting. This is Nadal’s first appearance in the quarterfinals at Dubai, and Youzhny is enjoying his best showing at the tournament after having lost in the first round in 2002 and 2003.
Ivan Ljubicic lands his third consecutive quarterfinal appearance at Dubai, losing last year in the semis to eventual winner, Roger Federer. Ljubicic has enjoyed much success this year, following an appearance as a finalist at Doha. He is 8-4 on the year and maintains an INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking of 22. This is Feliciano Lopez’s second straight Dubai quarterfinal appearance; he lost to Tommy Robredo in the same round last year. Lopez is 3-3 on year and he maintains a INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking of 32. The players have never met before.
Eighth seed Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands advanced to the quarterfinals after a tough three set victory over Fabrice Santoro, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, in the round of 16. Schalken meets Finn Jarkko Nieminen, who currently stands 10-6 on the year. The Dutchman won the pair’s only meeting (Stockholm, 2001), outlasting the Finn in a five-set marathon, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Currently, Schalken maintains a 11-4 record and is ranked 17th in the INDESIT ATP 2004 Race.
Defending champion Roger Federer expelled Tommy Robredo in Thursday’s action and will meet Romanian Andri Pavel in the quarterfinals. Federer, who improved his Dubai record to 8-1 and advanced his overall 2004 record to an impressive 13-1, was last beaten by Tim Henman in Rotterdam. Federer is 5-1 versus the Romanian, including a record of 3-0 on hard. Pavel is 7-4 on the year, and he currently maintains an INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking of 33.
