HEINEKEN OPEN SHANGHAI
SHANGHAI, CHINA
September 23, 2003
Novak Prevails, Canas Returns with First Comeback Victory
Top seed Jiri Novak and wild card Guillermo Canas were among the first
round winners on Tuesday at the Heineken Open Shanghai. Novak was very
instrumental last week in guiding Czech Republic to victory over Thailand
in Davis Cup play and the 28-year-old has kept his high level of play intact
this week with a 6-2, 7-6(5) win against Dennis van Scheppingen.
Novak will next face Robert Kendrick after the young American battled
through three tie-breaks with German qualifier Bjorn Phau for a spot in the
second round. Kendrick's 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 7-6(5) win snapped a six match
losing streak in ATP events and was his first victory since reaching the
finals in Delray Beach.
Canas, playing for only the second time since sustaining a wrist injury in
January, fought through a pair of tie-breaks to defeat qualifier Alex Kim,
7-6(8), 7-6(0). The Argentine, whose solid play in 2002 guided him to a
career-best ATP Entry Ranking of No. 12 and his first Tennis Masters Series
title in Toronto, will take on American Eric Taino in the second round.
Taino scored the day's upset by toppling No. 6 seed Hyung-Taik Lee,
6-3, 7-6(4). Lee was coming off a solid week in Seoul where he won the
Challenger event in his native country but faltered against Taino, who won
his fifth ATP match this year.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Jiri Novak: "I won the first set pretty easy. I was leading all the time.
I had so many break points int he second set but I didn't take them. I saw
the Czech national flag and four or five girls flying it. I'd just met them
in the restaurant and spoken to them for a few minutes, so it was nice to
see them holding my flag in the crowd."
"The main reason I came here to Shanghai was because I had such a good time
at the Masters Cup. I was always dreaming to make the Masters and while I
was playing here, I decided I had to come back for the tournament as well
to refresh my memories of such a great time here. I was also playing Davis
Cup in Thailand and wanted to stay in Asia."
WEDNESDAY MATCHES
All six remaining seeds will be in action Wednesday at the Heineken Open
Shanghai. Top seed Jiri Novak, who defeated Dennis van Scheppingen in
Tuesday's first round match, returns to the court on Wedneday where he'll
face American Robert Kendrick. Novak is looking to add the Shanghai title
to a mantle that already this year includes the Gstaad title he won in July.
The Czech Republic native is 38-21 this year, with one of those victories
coming from a straight sets route of Kendrick during the second week of the
year in Auckland. Kendrick, who is 3-8 this year in ATP circuit matches, is
trying to find the form that advanced him to his first ATP semifinal in
Delray Beach back in March.
No. 2 seed Martin Verkerk has struggled to a 2-7 record since reaching the
final at Roland Garros and is looking to return to winning ways in his first
round match against Chinese wild card Shao Xuan Zeng. Verkerk has a 23-21
record on the year, while Zeng has a 1-1 mark with both matches being played
in Davis Cup action.
Third seed Mark Philippoussis takes the court in Shanghai for his first round
match when he faces Sweden's Andreas Vinciguerra. Philippoussis comes
straight to China from Melbourne, where he was a member of Australia's Davis
Cup squad that advanced to the finals on Sunday. The 26-year-old San Diego
resident is 30-16 on the year and is looking to secure his first ATP title
since winning Memphis in 2001.
Undefeated two-time winner Magnus Norman will also be in action when he
faces up-and-coming Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. Norman, the Shanghai
champion in 1999 and 2000, improved to 11-0 at the tournament following
Monday's straight sets victory against Ben-Qiang Zhu. Verdasco had a
career-breakthrough at the US Open where he stunned Tommy Robredo in the
first round before falling to Paradorn Srichaphan in the third round. The
19-year-old has a 5-9 mark this year.
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