STOCKHOLM, 24 October 2003 — Swede Jonas Bjorkman edged toward a satisfying end to a season of improvement yesterday after booking his second quarterfinal in three tournaments with a 6-1, 6-4 win over John van Lottum at the 650,000-euro Stockholm Open.
The Dutchman was unable to repeat the heroics he staged to knock out defending champion and top seed Paradorn Srichaphan a day earlier as he fell in 73-minutes to the former Stockholm champion.
Bjorkman, the 1997 holder at the Kungligahallen, reached the last eight a fortnight ago in Vienna, eventually going out to Tim Henman. He was beaten in the second round of last week’s Masters Series in Madrid.
The 31-year-old Swede joined compatriot Joachim Johansson in the quarters.
If either three-time champion Thomas Enqvist or teenager Robin Soderling win later matches, it will mark the first time since Long Island in 2001 that three Swedes — Bjorkman, Enqvist and Thomas Johansson — got this far at an ATP event.
Bjorkman extended his Stockholm record to 13-9. He reached the final in Marseille and played a semi-final in Nottingham this year
Italian veteran Davide Sanguinetti reached his first quarterfinal since San Jose in February as he outlasted Frenchman Gregory Carraz 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.
American Robby Ginepri earned a quarterfinal place after saving two match points to beat compatriot Taylor Dent 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.
Unseeded Ginepri refused to be discouraged by Dent’s fine serve-volley technique in the first two sets and the turning point of the match came when he was 6-4 down in the second set tiebreak and facing defeat.
Dent blew his first match point with a double fault and Ginepri saved the second one with a superb forehand passing shot down the line. Ginepri then broke Dent for 8-7 and served out the set.
Nalbandian Goes Through After Clement Injury
In Basel, Switzerland, defending champion and fourth seed David Nalbandian moved into the quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoors yesterday after Arnaud Clement was forced to retire with injury.
Fifth seed Jiri Novak, however, was knocked out after falling to a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 second-round defeat to Feliciano Lopez, who will face third-seeded Guillermo Coria in the last eight.
Nalbandian, who defeated Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez in the final last year, won the opening four games with two breaks of serve before Clement got on the scoreboard at 4-1.But the 25-year-old Frenchman retired because of a strained muscle in his right thigh, leaving Nalbandian to face either Briton Tim Henman or Czech Tomas Zib in the quarterfinals.
Coria joined fellow Argentine Nalbandian in the last eight with a 6-2, 6-7, 7-6 victory over French qualifier Michael Llodra.
He was made to work hard for his victory despite comfortably taking the first set against Llodra, who lost his only previous meeting with the world number five in the French Open in 2000.
Coria, playing in his first tournament since the US Open, lost the tie-break in the second set, which lasted 64 minutes, as world No. 192 Llodra leveled matters.
But the Argentine gained the only crucial break of serve in a third set tie-break to take victory.
Czech Novak had won the first set against Lopez with a single break, only for the Spaniard to take the match to a deciding set after breaking his opponent with the scores level at 5-5 in the second.
Dispirited Kafelnikov Bows Out of St. Petersburg Open
A lackluster Yevgeny Kafelnikov bowed out of the St Petersburg Open yesterday after a 6-2, 6-2 second-round defeat by fellow Russian Mikhail Youzhny. The former French and Australian Open champion’s dispirited performance left a big question mark over his immediate future.
“This match didn’t mean anything for me because, simply speaking, I don’t have any goals for myself anymore,” said Kafelnikov, who indicated on Wednesday that the encounter might be his last competitive match.
