MUNICH, Germany, 3 May 2007 — Fourth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis struggled past German rookie Matthias Bachinger 6-7 (7/9), 6-2, 6-4 yesterday to reach the quarterfinals of the BMW Open.
Baghdatis, a 2006 Australian Open finalist, faced a 20-year-old German player making his ATP tour debut. After he dropped the first set, the Cypriot delayed play for five minutes arguing calls.
The 211th-ranked German, who entered two challenger tour events this season, let a 4-2 lead in the final set slip away.
“I just ran out of gas,” Bachinger said.
Third-seed Mikhail Youzhny joined Baghdatis in the quarterfinals, a day after top-seeded Tommy Haas was beaten and No. 7 Guillermo Canas retired from his match with abdominal muscle problems.
Youzhny beat Benjamin Becker of Germany 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3), while Alexander Waske advanced by downing Daniel Brands 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5).
Davydenko Makes Early Exit
In Oeiras, Portugal, unseeded Olivier Patience of France upset Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 6-1 yesterday in the first round of the Estoril Open. The top-seeded Russian, who won at Estoril in 2003 and lost in last year’s final, is ranked fourth in the world.
Second-seeded Tommy Robredo eliminated Albert Montanes of Spain 6-4, 6-3. In the second round, Paul-Henri Mathieu beat Igor Kunitsyn of Russia 6-2, 6-1.
Top-seeded Marion Bartoli reached the quarterfinals of the women’s event by beating Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-3, 6-3.
Third-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic also advanced, beating Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Safarova will meet Lordes Dominguez Lino in the quarterfinals. The Spaniard easily beat Alberta Brianti of Italy 6-1, 6-1.
Williams Through to
J&S Cup Second Round
In Warsaw, Poland, Venus Williams beat Michaella Krajicek 6-4, 6-3 yesterday in the first round at the clay-court J&S Cup.
Williams traded breaks early in the first set with the 18-year-old Krajicek before breaking again at 5-4 to win the first set.
She broke her Dutch opponent again to lead 4-2 in the second set and cruised from there.
“I think that when I make mistakes that I’m able to correct it on the court, and I think that’s really important,” Williams said. “Clay is definitely about a rhythm, staying in a rhythm.”
The former top-ranked American is playing in her fourth tournament this year after an injury-plagued 2006. She next plays seventh-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia.
In the second round, Mara Santangelo upset fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova 6-3, 6-3; third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova rallied past Kateryna Bondarenko 2-6, 6-2, 6-1; sixth-seeded Anna Chakvetadze beat Tathhiana Garbin 6-2, 6-2; and Alona Bondarenko topped Agnieszka Radwanska 0-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The 31st-ranked Santangelo easily won the first set, but the ninth-ranked Petrova jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second. Santangelo then won the next six games.
Nadal Wins ‘Batle
of the Surfaces’
In Palma De Mallorca, Spain, Spanish champion Rafael Nadal won his “battle of the surfaces” one-off exhibition clash on world No. 1 Roger Federer yesterday, the claycourt king edging the grass giant 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (12/10) on a dual surface court.
The pair brought a 6,800-capacity crowd to the “Palma Arena” for the one-off best of three sets match between the world’s top two players, though the occasion was marred by some of the blustery conditions sweeping across Spain during much of the afternoon.
Organizers had laid down 1,500 kilos of traditional Spanish red clay on one side of the court and 400 square meters of grass across the net for the unique encounter, groundsman Andreu Puigserver charged with creating a surface part-designed for serve and volley and part for baseline grind.
Shoe changes at changes of ends were de rigueur for the 1.2 million euro exhibition match designed to promote tourism on the island.
Nadal, who hails from Mallorca, is the undisputed king of clay having won his 72nd straight match on the dirt on Sunday in Barcelona. He also defeated Federer in the Monte Carlo Masters final a week earlier as well as in the French Open final last year.
On grass Federer held the upper hand, having beaten the Spaniard in the last Wimbledon final for a fourth straight win on the surface.
Nadal has never won a grasscourt title whereas Federer has won eight, including four Wimbledons and the Swiss has recorded 48 match wins on the surface on a roll.
The hybrid surface proved not especially to Federer’s liking as he lost his serve on the grass to fall 3-1 behind in the opening set after Nadal had opened up holding on clay.
But Federer roared back, winning three games on the trot to level only for his young rival to redouble his efforts and break the Swiss service from the grass end to love to get his nose in front.
