The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Kendrick ousts Spadea

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 12, 2006

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Sport - Tennis

Kendrick ousts Spadea

NEWPORT (USA): Robert Kendrick showed his strong second round match against Wimbledon finalist Rafael Nadal was no fluke, upsetting fifth-seeded Vince Spadea 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 at the Hall of Fame tennis championships.

Kendrick, a wild card who missed nearly eight months due to right wrist surgery last July, followed up his stellar match at Wimbledon by using a powerful serve to beat Spadea, the 2005 Newport runner-up.

Kendrick took control in the final set by breaking Spadea for 3-1 when Spadea's backhand failed him on three consecutive points, missing long and wide twice.

Failing to close it out on his first three match points, Kendrick unloaded a serve that Spadea was barely able to get his racket on before the ball sailed onto the adjacent sun-drenched court.

Comfortable start

In Gstaad, Switzerland, top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic made a comfortable switch from grass to clay in beating Spanish veteran Albert Portas 6-3, 7-6(5) in the Suisse Open first-round match on Monday.

Coming off his best run at Wimbledon — three rounds — Ljubicic was satisfied with the ease of his return to clay. He broke Portas at 4-3 in the first set, and hit 10 aces.

Next up for the world No.4 is 341st-ranked Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland, who defeated Davide Sanguinetti of Italy 6-3, 6-2. Also advancing were third-seeded Fernando Verdasco and sixth-seeded Feliciano Lopez, both of Spain. Verdasco topped Belgian qualifier Dick Norman 6-4, 6-3, and will next meet Italy's Daniele Bracciali, the champion in Casablanca who rallied to beat Brazil's Flavio Saretta 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.

Lopez defeated Italy's Filippo Volandri 6-4, 6-4 and now faces compatriot Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, who routed Swiss wild card Robin Roshardt 6-1, 6-4.

The results:

ATP Campbells Hall of Fame championships: First round: Robert Kendrick bt Vince Spadea 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; Igor Kunitsyn bt Bobby Reynolds 7-5, 6-2; Paul Capdeville bt Gilles Muller 7-6(7), 6-2; Rik de Voest bt Lukasz Kubot 6-2, 6-2; Jurgen Melzer bt Razvan Sabau 7-5, 7-5.

ATP Allianz Suisse Open: First round: Philipp Kohlschreiber bt Alessio Di Mauro 6-3, 6-1; Richard Gasquet bt Simon Greul 6-3, 6-3; Christophe Rochus bt Fernando Vicente 6-1, 4-6, 6-2; Marin Cilic bt Andreas Seppi 6-3, 7-6(6); Gaston Gaudio bt Marcos Daniel 7-6(4), 6-2.

Feliciano Lopez bt Filippo Volandri 6-4, 6-4; Daniele Bracciali bt Flavio Saretta 5-7, 6-1, 6-4; Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo bt Robin Roshardt 6-1, 6-4; Marco Chiudinelli bt Davide Sanguinetti 6-3, 6-2; Fernando Verdasco bt Dick Norman 6-4, 6-3; Ivan Ljubicic bt Albert Portas 6-3, 7-6(5).

ATP Swedish Open: First round: Nicolas Almagro bt Tomas Berdych 6-2, 7-6(7); Luis Horna bt Thomas Johansson 6-4, 6-2; Jarkko Nieminen bt Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4, 5-7, 6-1; Jose Acasuso bt Guillermo Coria 2-6, 6-2, 7-5; Evgeny Korolev bt Florent Serra 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; Agustin Calleri bt Peter Luczak 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. — Agencies

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