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DAVIDOFF SWISS INDOOR
Basel, Switzerland
Federer Falls, Roddick Rolls
Ivan Ljubicic grabbed his place in the quarterfinals on Thursday at the
Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel after upsetting No. 2 seed Roger Federer.
Ljubicic did not lose serve during the 2 hour, 23 minute match and pelted the
Wimbledon champion with aces in his 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-4 win. Ljubicic will next
face Nicolas Lapentti, who defeated Tomas Behrend, 7-6(2), 6-1 to advance into
the quarterfinals.
The Basel seeds were 3-3 on Thursday with No. 5 seed Jiri Novak and No. 8 seed
Tommy Robredo joining Federer in the loss column. Top seed Andy Roddick avoided
the losing trend by defeating Belgium qualifier Gilles Elseneer in straight
sets, 6-3, 7-6(5). Roddick now remains two victories away from reclaiming the
top position in the ATP Champions Race - a spot he relinquished last week to
Juan Carlos Ferrero in Madrid.
Spain's Feliciano Lopez ended the Tennis Masters Cup Houston qualifying hopes
of Novak when he recovered after dropping the first set to defeat the Czech
Republic native, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. Novak, a played in last year's season-ending
championship in Shanghai, needed a good week in Basel to remain in contention
for one of the two remaining spots for Houston. Similarly, Robredo was also
removed from the qualifying mix for Houston following his 7-5, 6-1 loss to
Belgium's Olivier Rochus.
David Nalbandian's hopes of qualifying for Tennis Masters Cup Houston received
a massive boost Thursday when he defeated Frenchman Arnaud Clement to advance
to the quarterfinals of the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel. Clement was forced
to retire from the match midway through the first set with an upper thigh
injury at 4-1. The Argentine will next face Tim Henman, a 6-3, 6-4 winner
against lucky loser Tomas Zib.
Nalbandian, seeded No. 4 this week in Basel, is eighth in the ATP Champions
Race and is hoping to secure one of the two remaining spots to the elite eight-
man season finale. Today's win means than ninth-placed Mark Philippoussis would
need to reach the final of next week's BNP Paribas Masters in Paris to have any
chance of overtaking Nalbandian.
Nalbandian faces a bigger threat from 10th-placed Sebastien Grosjean, who moved
to within one point of Philippousssis today by reaching the St. Petersburg
Open quarterfinals. Back in Basel, No. 3 seed Guillermo Coria, playing his
first tournament since the US Open, edged past French qualifier Michael Llodra
6-2, 6-7, 7-6.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Guillermo Coria: “It was a very tough match. I’m happy to have won. I’m
happy with my game but I’m not on the level I was at the US Open.”
About playing Lopez: “I’m looking forward to it. It will be a difficult match
, I hope I will be playing well.”
David Nalbandian: “I’m playing very well in the first few games. I never
thought he would retire. It was strange. I have enough energy for the next
match, it wouldn’t have matter if I had played three sets.”
Andy Roddick: “I played a little bit better than yesterday. I’m still not
where I want to be, I need to step it up. It will just take one solid
performance to get back on track. I hope to improve the in the next couple of
matches.”
About playing Rochus: “That will be fun, he is amazing to watch. He is a very
good tennis player, I have to play well.”
Ivan Ljubicic: “It’s one of my best performances this year. I served well in
the first two sets and
I think I played well on the important points. To win the first set was huge.
He played well at the end of the second set. He lost a bit of concentration in
the first game of the third set, that cost him the match.”
“I felt he wasn’t a hundred percent in the beginning.”
Roger Federer: “I had some physical problems. I didn’t think it was going to
affect me that much. I don’t know what kind of injury it is but it hurts. I
was handicapped, I couldn’t serve and return fully.”
“I tried my best but it wasn’t to be, it’s a shame it happened at home.
It’s not fun when you realize you can’t play better. I tried everything.
It’s important to recover, I hope I’ll be fit for Paris.”
Tim Henman: “It’s tough when you are waiting around. It was difficult. I
certainly didn’t play my best. It’s a strange day and a long one. I didn’t
play my best but I won. He was a lucky loser but I think he went out of luck
today.
”
QUARTERFINAL MATCHES
Top seed Andy Roddick looks to move closer to regaining the top position in the
ATP Champions Race 2003 when he takes on Olivier Rochus. Roddick, who has a
66-15 record and six titles this year, must reach the final this week in Basel
in order to move past Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero for the top position. Roddick
is looking to add Basel to a title list that already this year includes the US
Open, Tennis Masters Series wins in Montreal and Cincinnati, a grass court
title in Queen's, clay court triumph in St. Poelten and Indianapolis. The
22-year-old Rochus is 22-29 this year and has reached the quarterfinals three
times this year (Marseille, Hamburg TMS and Basel). This will be their first
career meeting.
Guillermo Coria has come back strong after missing the last month of action and
is looking to continue his winning ways against Feliciano Lopez. The Argentine
has dominated Lopez in their previous six meetings, but lost their last
encounter - first round at Canada TMS - when he was forced to retire due to a
bothersome hamstring problem. However, Coria is 5-1 against the Spaniard and
looking to his fifth ATP title of the year. Lopez reached the semifinals at
both Stuttgart and Kitzbuhel, but was denied title hopes by Coria in each of
those occasions. Lopez has a 33-29 record this year.
No. 4 seed David Nalbandian is having a solid week after missing the last month
with abdominal and wrist injuries. The Argentine has strengthened his hold on
the 8th position in the ATP Champions Race this week and can improve his
chances of reaching the Tennis Masters Cup Houston even more with a win against
his quarterfinal opponent, Tim Henman. Nalbandian and Henman have met twice
already this year with the British star prevailing in the fourth round at
Wimbledon and the Argentine scoring a second round victory en route to the
final in Montreal. Nalbandian is 39-18 on the year, while Henman is 25-16.
After upsetting No. 2 seed Roger Federer in the second round, Ivan Ljubicic
will look to reach the semifinals for the fourth time this year when he faces
Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti. Ljubicic has a 28-24 record in 2003, including
semifinal appearances in Milan, Dubai and Bangkok. Lapentti reached the final
in Bastad back in July, but hasn't reached a semifinal since that tournament
and has a 25-21 record this year. Ljubicic and Lapentti have each won two of
their four previous meetings. This will be their third match this season with
Ljubicic winning both matches in Cincinnati and Lyon.
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