Posts Tagged ‘claycourt’

Djokovic rues Federer, Nadal claycourt domination

Djokovic rues Federer, Nadal claycourt domination
Rome, Apr 30 (AFP) World number two Novak Djokovic insisted he would be one of the best claycourt players in the world, if only it were not for Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Read more on Press Trust of India

Do you think that Venus Williams can will the Roland Garros if she has a good clay-court season?

She lost today, but at least she made the quaterfinals of Bausch and Lomb. The same way that Serena Williams did to comeback and won Australian open just playing 1 tournament, and the Australian, that’s huge. I wonder Venus can do the same when she plays Roland Garros. What do you think?

Nadal won the Monte Carlo Master Title

Rafael Nadal finished up a fifth successive Monte Carlo Masters title and is overcoming preferred to create it five in a row at the French Open, but his uncle and coach Toni is still not pleased.

World No.1 Nadal played a 6-3 2-6 6-1 triumph over Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday to equal the five titles achieved by New Zealander Anthony Wilding a century before.

He is now 23-1 in clay court finals, with his only defeat coming at Hamburg in May 2007 to Roger Federer and has attracted level with the Swiss with 14 Masters Crowns.

Nadal said, “He performed a good third set, but it’s understandable he must play superior to this week”. He was losing a little confidence in his game and you could see that his serve was amazingly weak. But it’s the first tournament on clay this season for him and I hope that with some more matches, it’ll get better. We award that there’s a lot of work to do before Roland Garros. But he still achieved. It’s a very imperative tournament for us and to win for a fifth time is incredible.”

Nadal, who has now a 139-4 winning record on clay since 2005, insists that thoughts of a fifth French Open victory are at the back of his mind with the Barcelona and Rome Masters to come in between a return to Paris.

Nadal further said after gathering his third title this season following the Australian Open and Indian Wells Masters, “I am not thinking about Roland Garros so far, I’m paying attention on Barcelona and Rome, there are more significant tournaments before Paris”.

“It’s amazing to win and achieve five titles in Monte Carlo. If I had to choose one Masters Series to win before the season it would be here. I found myself very well physically and mentally on the court.”

Djokovic, the world number three, valued Nadal’s claycourt power.

“You just have to pay attention on every single point because you have a player on the other side of the net that doesn’t actually give you any points,” said the Serbian. You could see him at 5-1 in the third set; he played like its 5-all. He really doesn’t worry about the consequence. He just wishes to provide his best every solitary point. Therefore he’s very exclusive and unique and that’s why he’s the most excellent now.”

Wozniacki downed Aleksandra at Ponte Vedra Beach

The second top player Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark crushed the Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1 6-2 on Sunday to gain the Ponte Vedra Beach WTA claycourt tournament.

Second seeded Denmark’s Wozniacki created just 14 unforced faults and succeeded to win 84 per cent of points on her first serve to lift the trophy.

Wozniacki said, “In fact my plan was to play violent and make her run, this is a huge beginning to the clay court season, a truly good start. I showed I can hit these better players.”

Wozniak, the fifth seed who had disturbed top seeded Nadia Petrova in the semi finals, went after 3-1 in the starting set and yield two more games with double faults. Wozniacki prepared the first break of the second set to lead 4-2, and Wozniak won just three points in the last two games. Wozniacki arrogate her fourth career title and her first of 2009.

Wozniacki played and performed with her right thigh bandaged for the second straight match, but she said her wounded leg no longer hurt and she sensed as fast as ever on the court.

She prescribed, “The speed is one of my pluses.”

She as well dealt superior with the warmth, after experiencing dizziness and nausea in her semi final triumph over Elena Vesnina. She reserved and kept ice bags near her chair and used them at times during the changeovers to make herself cool down.

She said, “They were defensive, I didn’t wish for the similar thing to occur today as happened Saturday.”

Frustrated Wozniak said, “I rose up short, which is coming back from a torn tendon in her right shoulder. I lost key shots and she took benefit of all my faults. You obtain so close and then lose, it is sad.”

She said,” lingering pain in her shoulder added to her six double errors. It’s getting well but still distresses every time I serve. You just try to not think about it.”

Hewitt race to initial round Houston win

Lleyton Hewitt started and opened up his 2009 claycourt movement in style with an attack beginning round win at Houston Open. Hewitt required immediately 65 minutes to release Argentine seventh seed Diego Junqueira 6-0 6-2.

Hewitt prescribed, “I didn’t know what to wait for. It’s my primary clay court tournament since last year. He further said, “I wasn’t raised on clay so it’s a matter of making your footwork downward and getting the anxiety out of the way.”

Though Hewitt has achieved and won just one title on clay, at Delray Beach in Florida a decade ago, he has a sound career record of 80-37 on the surface.

He said, “I must be doing something right.

Now on the other hand Australian top one ahead faces another Argentine, Sergio Roitman, for a berth in the quarter finals.

Top two seeds of the tournament, Americans James Blake and Mardy Fish, were both did away with on Tuesday. Blake lost 6-4 6-4 to Argentine Guillermo Canas, while Fish succumbed 6-3 5-7 6-3 to German Bjorn Phau.

Canas, who has drooping to 113th in the world, used his claycourt experience to end a sorry run of six directly first round overcomes this year.

Canas said, “It’s tough to increase self-assurance when you misplace in the first round, this year has been a tough start. I haven’t played and performed very well for the past two months. Now for me, I expect to carry on on with the tournament.”

Blake neglected to 39-41 in career claycourt matches.

He said, “At times, I hit myself out there. I completed a lot of faults. He type of violence you into that the way he plays defence. It’s no reason for some faults, particularly the ones I built at key times. If you wait for to win matches, you have to put that around big points.”

The 28th ranked, Fish was the crowd preferred at the beginning of the match but by the third set, Phau’s resolute to play opening drawing dotted applause. In the third game of the decisive set Phau cracked Fish game and ruled out the triumph with one more smash in the eighth game.

Phau described, “At the starting, I didn’t suffer as well but I began to feel improved by the third set, I struggled to obtain into a rhythm and I think I got it.”

In additional matches, veteran Tommy Haas punch fellow Germany Denis Gremelmayr 6-3 6-3.