The Hindu : Sport : Feliciano Lopez ends Safin's run

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Saturday, Jun 25, 2005

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Feliciano Lopez ends Safin's run

Nirmal Shekar

London: It wasn't going to be a happily-ever-after love story, after all. If Marat Safin's sudden change of heart vis-a-vis the grass acreage of Wimbledon was not exactly the sort of about-turn that would have sent a shiver or two down Roger Federer's spine, then, out came the truth less than 48 hours after the Russian's stunning demolition of the 2003 finalist Mark Philippoussis.

It was, after all, nothing more than a brief flirtation with the green stuff induced by his coach Peter Lundgren's post-dinner lectures regarding the importance of adapting to grass and doing well in the world's most famous tennis tournament.

Like a shot of painkilling injection on a sore arm, the effect lasted a while. But not long enough to carry Safin to the business end of the 119th Wimbledon championships.

Lopez's finest hour

Even as a 23-year old Spaniard, Feliciano Lopez, chose the moment to play his finest grass court match, dominating his opponent with a predatory elegance reminiscent of more gifted left-handers, Safin himself slowly drifted back to some half-forgotten nightmare on grass before losing the third round match 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-3 on Friday.

If it was a humbling, self-revelatory moment for Safin, seeded five, then for Lopez, who could count Rafael Nadal among his supporters in the box, it was a wonderfully self-illuminating event that would do a lot to boost his confidence. For, Spanish tennis players who enjoy playing on grass are about as rare as Eminem fans who find themselves in thrall in a Viennese opera house.

"He is very confident right now,'' said Safin. "He was serving well, moving well and he played a solid game.''

Sluggish Safin

Going into the match with a 2-1 win-loss record against Safin, the Spaniard surely would have liked his chances. And everything fell in place for him on an afternoon when the Russian failed to quickly impose himself on his opponent and appeared a tad sluggish.

Six aces in three sets on grass reflected poorly on Safin's ability to dominate with his service game but what really let him down was the quality of his returns. The Russian just couldn't handle Lopez's left handed serves, especially the ones swinging wide.

Safin leapt, lunged, berated himself time and again, bounced his racquet on the soft turf and once hit the ball into the roof of the stadium after losing a point. This was, surely, a day when the tempestuous Russian — and not his game — was meant to hit the roof.

Equanimity

But, to be sure, by Safin's standards, he was almost Borg-like in defeat. He did throw in the towel after losing the second set tiebreak but, given his track record, that was not a shock really. And Safin looked back on the contest with uncharacteristic equanimity, too.

"I just couldn't find my game today. It was not my day,'' said the Australian Open champion. "But (over the last two weeks), I have found my game on grass. I am comfortable on grass,'' he insisted.

On court, of course, the comfort level was rather low. A strangely wilted version of the man who won the entertaining heavyweight contest against Philippoussis in the second round without losing a set, Safin seemed lost in his own world after failing to convert two breakpoints in the eighth game of the first set in which he himself had lost serve in the third.

It was a match in which Safin failed to break Lopez's serve even once, losing all four opportunities to do so. And once the Spaniard closed out the second set tiebreak with a deft drop shot, the rest was a mere formality.

"It is a great opportunity for me to go far. But I am only looking at my next match,'' said Lopez. "I enjoy playing on grass,'' said the Spaniard whose breed is rare in his own country.

Hewitt through

Australian tennis players with the potential to win Wimbledon are also a vanishing breed. The land of the Lavers and the Emersons and Newcombes does not have too many players who can realistically say that they have a shot at the most coveted title of all. Towards the end of the first week, there is perhaps one Australian who can say that — Lleyton Hewitt.

The 2002 champion spent three months away from the game following a foot surgery and then ribs damaged in an accident.

He missed the French Open and came in here with very little match practice. But, for all that, he has managed to sneak into the second week with the loss of just a solitary set.

Acrobatic tennis

Today, Hewitt got past Justin Gimelstob of the United States, a gutsy `lucky loser' who made light of injuries to produce some thrilling, acrobatic tennis before the third seed closed out the third round match 7-6(5), 6-4, 7-5 in two hours and 31 minutes.

Hewitt does things the hard way. He has to. He is not the Blessed One. He doesn't have Philippoussis's serve, Roddick's forehand and Henman's volleys. On court, he is dwarfed by the big boys.

This means, in the tennis jungle, Hewitt has to hunt with extraordinary perseverance to make his kill. He has to run 10 times as much as a Federer and shoot five times as many arrows as the champion to nail his prey.

But doing that is almost second nature to the Australian who, for all his limitations, would still be a hunter rather than a scavenger. He is a patient man, and mostly gets what he wants in the end, as he did today.

Down 3-5 in the first set tiebreak after Gimelstob had fought off a setpoint in the 10th game with an ace, Hewitt pumped himself up suitably and won four points in a row, wrapping up the tiebreak with an ace down the middle.

Gimelstob, after playing a few Becker-like acrobatic volleys, needed treatment to his right shoulder but continued to fight, although once Hewitt broke to 2-1 in the second set, a turnaround looked unlikely.

Late on Thursday evening, in fading light, Mahesh Bhupathi and Todd Woodbridge of Australia, seeded six in the men's doubles event, were beaten 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-3 by Stephen Huss of Australia and Wesley Moodie of South Africa in a second round match.

Roddick prevails

Meanwhile, after the first rain delay of the championships this year, Andy Roddick, last year's finalist and seeded two, was forced to dig deep to get past Daniele Bracciali of Italy, world ranked 120.

Bracciali surprised Roddick with superb attacking tennis in the third and fourth sets but the American raised his game when it mattered to go through 7-5, 6-3, 6-7(3), 4-6, 6-3 before the heavier spell of rain arrived.

THE RESULTS

Prefix denotes seeding

Men's singles: Third round: 3-Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt Justin Gimelstob (U.S.) 7-6(5), 6-4, 7-5; 26-Feliciano Lopez (Esp) bt 5-Marat Safin (Rus) 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-3; 24-Taylor Dent (U.S.) bt Tomas Berdych (Cze) 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3; 21-Fernando Gonzalez (Chi) bt 11-Joachim Johansson (Swe) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2; 10-Mario Ancic (Cro) bt Gael Monfils (Fra) 6-3, 6-3, 6-1; 31-Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) leads Jonas Bjorkman (Swe) 7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 4-4(30-30), suspended due to rain.

Second round: 2-Andy Roddick (U.S.) bt Daniele Bracciali (Ita) 7-5, 6-3, 6-7(3), 4-6, 6-3; Janko Tipsarevic (SCG) bt Lu Yen-Hsun (Tpe) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5; 18-David Nalbandian (Arg) bt Karol Kucera (Svk) 6-2, 6-4, 6-3; Novak Djokovic (SCG) bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Esp) 3-6, 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(3), 6-4.

Women's singles: Third round: 3-Amelie Mauresmo (Fra) bt Shenay Perry (U.S.) 6-0, 6-2; 5-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt 27-Nicole Vaidisova (Cze) 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2; 6-Elena Dementieva (Rus) bt Mashona Washington (U.S.) 7-5, 6-1; 13-Elena Likhovtseva (Rus) bt 22-Silvia Farina-Elia (Ita) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4; Magdalena Maleeva (Bul) bt Antonella Serra Zanetti (Ita) 6-3, 6-2; 9-Anastasia Myskina (Rus) bt 17-Jelena Jankovic (SEM) 6-0, 5-7, 10-8.

Men's doubles: Second round: Stephen Huss (Aus) / Wesley Moodie (RSA) bt 6-Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) / Todd Woodbridge (Aus) 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-3; Karol Beck (Slo) / Jaroslav Levinsky (Cze) bt 10-Martin Damm (Cze) / Mariano Hood (Arg) 7-6(3), 6-7(2), 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; Dominik Hrbaty / Michal Mertinak (Slo) w/o Feliciano Lopez / Rafael Nadal (Esp).

First round: Jan Hernych / Tomas Zib (Cze) bt Jiri Novak / Petr Pala (Cze) 0-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(7), 4-6, 6-3.

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