The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Hrbaty eliminates Ljubicic

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Hrbaty eliminates Ljubicic

ROME : Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia upset third-seeded Ivan Ljubicic 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-4 on Monday in the first round of the Rome Masters.

However, top-seeded Roger Federer had it easy against Juan Ignacio Chela, winning 6-2, 6-1.

The loss snapped Ljubicic's run of reaching the quarterfinals or better in his first seven tournaments this season.

Hrbaty, ranked 24th, took more risks than Ljubicic and had 52 winners to the Croat's 33.

"He's a very difficult player to beat. He hit a lot of lines and had a lot of net chords," Ljubicic said. "I'm not in my best condition. I haven't had time to train lately."

Ljubicic lost control in the second-set tiebreak, missing an overhead into the net and spraying a routine forehand wide to hand Hrbaty the set.

The slow clay courts at Foro Italico rendered the 1.93 metre Ljubicic's serve less effective and Hrbaty broke to close out the match in 2 hours, 48 minutes.

Hrbaty's record against Ljubicic improved to 5-2. Hrbaty also won their last meeting in December's Davis Cup final, in five sets.

Acasuso upsets Ferrer

Earlier, Jose Acasuso of Argentina upset 11th-seeded David Ferrer 7-5, 6-0. The 34th-ranked Acasuso improved to 4-1 against Ferrer, who reached the quarterfinals of last year's French Open.

Ferrer entered with a strong record in Rome, reaching the semifinals last year and upsetting defending champion Andre Agassi in the first round in 2003.

Also advancing were 10th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile and Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, who will meet in the second round.

The results:

At Rome (Rome Masters): Roger Federer bt Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 6-1; Mario Ancic bt Luis Horna 6-4, 6-4; Robby Ginepri bt Max Mirnyi 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; Florent Serra bt James Blake 6-4, 7-6 (3); Nicolas Almagro bt Nicolas Massu 7-5, 6-4; Jose Acasuso bt David Ferrer 7-5, 6-0; Mikhail Youzhny bt Andreas Seppi 6-2, 7-6(7); Fernando Gonzalez bt Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-4; Fabrice Santoro bt Juan Monaco 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; Dominik Hrbaty bt Ivan Ljubicic 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-4.

At Berlin (WTA German Open): Anne Kremer bt Ivana Lisjak 6-0, 7-6; Sybille Bammer bt Michaella Krajicek 6-3, 6-2; Anna Smashnova bt Ekaterina Bychkova 6-4, 4-6,6-4; Anna Chakvetadze bt Iveta Benesova 6-1, 6-3.

At Prague (WTA ECM Prague Open): Meghann Shaughnessy bt Viktoriya Kutuzova 6-2, 6-2; Shahar Peer bt Nikola Frankova 6-3, 6-1. — Agencies

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