DEL POTRO BEATS GULBIS

Gabriela Sabatini’s compatriot, Juan Martin Del Potro, has defeated Ernests Gulbis of Latvia in the pre quarter final match of ABN AMRO World Tennis tournament. Del Potro won the match in the straight sets by 7-6, 6-3.

There was a huge difference in the current world rankings of these two players and it was expected that Del Potro would dominate against Gulbis. The same thing happened. It was a power packed performance by the Frenchman. He thrashed his Latvian opponent and made his way into the final 8. The match went on for 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Both the players had a good start. In the opening set, all the 12 games went with the serve which took the set into the tie breaker.

The tie breaker was also pretty close. Both the players had won 5 points each and from that stage, the set could have gone either way. It was Del Potro who won the next two points with a couple of fine forehand shots and sealed the set.

In the second set, both the players held their serve in the first seven games and the score was 4-3 in Del Potro’s favour when the seventh game got finished. The Argentinean broke his opponent’s service in the 8^th game and then, wrapped up the match by holding his serve in the ninth game.

The last time that these two players had played against each other was in 2011. In that match, Del Potro was defeated by Gulbis. So, the Argentinean avenged that defeat.

In the post match interview, Del Potro, “Although I won but, honestly speaking, I need to put up an improved performance in the next matches. Today, I felt that I didn’t play my return shots well.”

BERLOCQ LOSES OUT

Gabriela Sabatini’s compatriot, Carlos Berlocq, has been defeated by Kei Nishikori in the second round of the Australian Open 2013. Nishikori won the match in the straight sets by 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-1.

Nishikori looked a bit rusty at the start, but, as the match progressed, he got into a very good rhythm and he looked majestic towards the end. He took 2 hours and 18 minutes to pull off the win and knock Berlocq out of the tournament.

The first couple of games of the opening set went with the serve and the scores were levelled at 1-1 at the end of the second game. Berlocq gave Nishikori the first blow in the third game, but, he dropped his serve in the very next game and lost the advantage immediately.

Both the players held their service in the next six games and the scorecard was showing 5-5 at the end of the 10^th game. In the 11^th game, Nishikori managed to get ahead by 40-30 and he had a chance to break Berlocq’s service, but, the Argentinean didn’t let that happen. He saved the breakpoint and held his service to make the score 6-5. Nishikori served out the next game and the set went into the tie breaker.

Nishikori was off to a brilliant start in the tie breaker. He won the first three points in a row to take a lead of 3-0. He maintained that lead till the end and won the tie breaker by 7-4 to seal the first set.

In the second set, Nishikori didn’t have a very good start. Berlocq broke his service in the third game and then, held his service in the next game to take a lead of 3-1. But, thereafter, Nishikori made a brilliant comeback. He got breakthroughs in the fifth and the seventh game and won the next four games consecutively to take a lead of 5-3. Berlocq held his serve in the 9^th game, but, that didn’t prove to be sufficient to stop Nishikori from winning the second set. The Japanese superstar served out the 10^th game and won the second set.

In the final set, Nishikori was at the top of his game. He lost just one game in the third set and won it easily by 6-1 to finish off the match.

In the third round, Nishikori will take on the winner of the match between Mikhail Youzhny and Evgeny Donskoy.

MONACO LOSES OUT

Gabriela Sabatini’s compatriot, Juan Monaco, has been defeated by Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia in the third round match of the BNP Paribas Masters 2012. Tipsarevic won the match by 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. With this victory, Tipsarevic has secured a quarter final berth for himself. Tipsarevic who has been given the eighth seed in this competition won the match in 2 hours and 14 minutes. This was the fourth match between these two players and Tipsarevic defeated Monaco for the third time.

Tipsarevic made a very good start to the match. His service was not broken even once in the first set. He got a breakthrough in the sixth game to take a lead of 4-2. The no. 2 Serbian player capitalized on that lead and held his serve in the seventh and the ninth game to grab the first set.

The second set was pretty much like the first one; the only difference was that it was Monaco who got a breakthrough in the sixth game this time around. The Argentinean also maintained the lead till the end of the set just like his opponent had done in the previous set.

In the final set, both the players were looking quite good till the end of the fifth game. At the end of the fifth game, the score was 3-2 in the favour of Tipsarevic. The Serb dominated after that and finished off the match by winning three out of the next four games.

In the quarter final, Tipsarevic will take on Jerzy Janowicz of Poland. Janowicz made his way into the quarterfinals by securing a close victory over the British superstar Andy Murray. Janowicz defeated Murray by 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-2. This was a great upset pulled off by the Polish player. He banged a total of 22 aces in the match and made a comeback from the verge of defeat to knock Murray out of the competition.

MONACO BEATS VERDASCO

Gabriela Sabatini’s compatriot, Juan Monaco, has been defeated by Fernando Verdasco of Spain in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters 2012. Verdasco won the match in the straight sets by 4-6, 2-6.

Monaco who was given the seventh seed in the competition was completely outplayed by Verdasco in the match. Monaco had won the Malaysian Open a few days back. So, he was full of confidence before coming into this tournament. He had got a bye in the first round. So, he began his campaign by playing the second round match. He was expected to go past Verdasco easily, but, that wasn’t the case to be. The Spaniard stunned everyone by beating Monaco in the straight sets. This was the 10^th match between these two players and Verdasco has won four of them.

After winning the match, Verdasco said, “It was a perfect match for me. Monaco had been in fine form recently.  So, I was a bit nervous before the match. But, I started well and carried on the momentum till the end.”

On the other hand, Monaco was gutted after being defeated in his opening match of the tournament. The Argentinean player said, “It was certainly a forgettable match for me. I committed a lot of mistakes throughout the match and Verdasco took advantage of that. He played better than me today.”

Both the players held their service in the first two games of the first set. Verdasco got a breakthrough in the third game and then, got ahead by 3-1 by serving out the next game. He maintained his lead till the end of the set and won the first set by 6-4.

In the second set, Monaco started well and was ahead by 2-1 at the end of the third game. But, all of a sudden, he lost his composure and didn’t manage to win even a single game after that. He lost the second set by 2-6 and got knocked out of the competition.

In the third round, Verdasco will take on Marin Cilic of Croatia.

DEL POTRO WINS

Gabriela Sabatini’s compatriot Juan Martin Del Potro has defeated Ryan Harrison of America in the second round of the US Open at the Flushing Meadows. However, the America youngster gave Del Potro a run for his money. The Argentinean superstar had to toil hard for 2 hours and 34 minutes to make his way to the third round. Del Potro won the match by 6-2, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.  Del Potro had won the US Open in 2009 by defeating Roger Federer in the final and he is looking for his second title at the Flushing Meadows.

Del Potro started the match in a brilliant fashion and broke Harrison’s service in the opening game of the match. He held his service in the next game to make the score 2-0. The next four games went with the serve and the score was 4-2 in the favour of Del Potro at the end of the sixth game. Del Potro got the second breakthrough in the seventh game and then, sealed the set by serving out the next game. Harrison’s service was broken in the first game of the second set as well. Both the players held their service in the next seven games and Del Potro was ahead by 5-3 before the start of the ninth game. Harrison failed in serving out the ninth game and lost the second set by 6-3.

Harrison made a terrific comeback in the third set. He broke Del Potro’s service twice and won the third set by 6-2. The Argentinean superstar was under a bit of pressure after losing the third set. But, he showed excellent temperament in the fourth set. The first three games of the fourth set went with the serve and Del Potro was ahead by 2-1 at the end of the third game. Del Potro turned the set in his favour by sneaking a breakthrough in the fourth game. The Argentinean player again broke Harrison’s service in the eighth game and won the match. In the fourth round, Del Potro will play against his compatriot Leonardo Mayer.

BELGIUM MEN FARE BETTER

Gabriela Sabatini’s compatriot Juan Monaco has defeated David Goffin of Belgium in the first round of Men’s tennis singles tournament of London Olympics. Monaco won the match in the straight sets by 6-4, 6-1. Monaco, who won the Hamburg title a week ago, continued to perform brilliantly and won the match without having much difficulty. The Belgian player served a number of double faults which ultimately cost him the match.

Monaco made a very good start to the match and broke the service of Goffin in the second game of the first set. But, in the following game, he lost the advantage as Goffin broke his service to make the score 2-1. Thereafter, both the players held their service till the end of the ninth game and the score was 5-4. But, Goffin failed to hold his service in the tenth game and Monaco won the first set by 6-4. In the second set, Monaco played brutally and his groundstrokes were amazing to watch. He broke the service of Goffin in the second and sixth game of the second set and won the second set easily by 6-1. The Argentinean star made some mistakes in the first set, but, in the second set, he played flawless tennis.

Monaco was ecstatic after winning the first match. In the post match press conference, he said that it is a privilege to represent Argentina in the Olympics and he is determined to win a medal for his country. On being asked about his performance in the match, he said that he was not hitting the ball that well in the first set, but, he is pretty satisfied with his performance in the second set. In the second round, Monaco will play against Feliciano Lopez of Spain.