The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Fabrice Santoro ousts Andy Roddick

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Friday, Oct 26, 2007
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Fabrice Santoro ousts Andy Roddick

Wawrinka sends Nalbandian packing

LYON: Top seed Andy Roddick slumped to a 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-4 defeat by Frenchman Fabrice Santoro in the first round of the Lyon Grand Prix tennis tournament on Wednesday.

The American, though, has already qualified for next month’s season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai.

Frenchman Richard Gasquet boosted his bid to qualify for the Masters Cup with a 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over Belgian Christophe Rochus.

Fourth seed Gasquet, who won the Lyon title last year, blasted Rochus off the court with 23 aces. Gasquet is 11th in the ATP Race standings, eight points behind eighth-placed German Tommy Haas who holds the last qualifying spot for the Masters Cup.

Taking revenge

Stan Wawrinka struck a blow for Davis Cup teammate Roger Federer by ousting Madrid champion David Nalbandian from the opening round of the Swiss Open at Basel.

Wawrinka produced his fourth victory in a row over the Argentine who rallied past Federer in three sets at the weekend to deny the Swiss the Madrid Masters title. “Roger asked me to win it for him,” said Wawrinka, ranked 35th.

“This was one of my best matches ever, I served so well. And I was very happy to help out Roger, it was nice to take revenge.”

As the race to the season wrap-up in Shanghai next month intensifies, fourth seed James Blake kept his hopes alive with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Spain’s Oscar Hernandez.

But the American who lost the Shanghai final a year ago to Federer is keeping his dreams in check as he plays match by match.

At Linz (Austria), top-seeded Anna Chakvetadze needed just 47 minutes to defeat Francesca Schiavone 6-0, 6-2 to enter the quarterfinals of the Generali Ladies. She was in control of the match throughout, as Schiavone double-faulted 10 times and won only eight points on her own serve in the opening set.

The results: At Lyon: ATP Lyon Grand Prix: Second round: Christophe Rochus bt Mardy Fish 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 7-6(15); Alejandro Falla bt Olivier Marach 6-2, 6-1; Diego Hartfield bt Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-3. First round: Fabrice Santoro bt Andy Roddick 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-4; Sebastien Grosjean bt Rodolphe Cadart 6-3, 6-2; Richard Gasquet bt Christophe Rochus 7-6(5), 6-3; Alejandro Falla bt Igor Andreev 7-6(2), 6-1; Juan Monaco bt Sebastien de Chaunac 6-7(11), 6-3, 7-6(3); Diego Hartfield bt Nicolas Mahut 7-6(8), 6-4.

At Basel: ATP Swiss Open: Second round: Fernando Gonzalez bt Roko Karanusic 6-4, 7-6(5). First round: Nicolas Kiefer bt Carlos Berlocq 6-1, 6-1; Marcos Baghdatis bt Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-2; Stanislas Wawrinka bt David Nalbandian 7-6(5), 6-2; James Blake bt Oscar Hernandez 6-3, 6-4.

At St. Petersburg: ATP St. Petersburg Open: Second round: Potito Starace bt Mikhail Ledovskikh 7-6(4), 6-2; Fernando Verdasco bt Simone Bolelli 6-4, 6-4; Dmitry Tursunov bt Boris Pashanski 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. First round: Nikolay Davydenko bt Filippo Volandri 6-1, 6-1; Fernando Verdasco bt Werner Eschauer 7-6(4), 6-1.

At Linz: WTA Generali Ladies Open: Second round: Anna Chakvetadze bt Francesca Schiavone 6-0, 6-2; Dinara Safina bt Karin Knapp 6-2, 6-2. First round: Eleni Daniilidou bt Tatiana Golovin 6-4, 0-1 (retd.); Tamira Paszek bt Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 7-5.

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