INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, 20 July 2005 — Wimbledon doubles winner Wesley Moodie reached the second round of the $600,000 Indianapolis ATP event, then revealed his sudden Grand Slam windfall has re-launched his tennis career.
The 26-year-old South African belted out a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Jean-Rene Lisnard of France, setting up a third career meeting against Briton Greg Rusedski, the seventh seed at the opening event of the US Open series run of tournaments.
A fortnight after Moodie and Australian journeyman Stephen Huss defied the odds to win the Wimbledon doubles crown as qualifiers, Moodie is still waiting for the full sum of his achievement to sink in. But he’s sure of one thing: he has earned financial freedom.
Moodie, ranked 116 without a career singles crown, is particularly keen to join forces on a full-time basis with fellow South African physical trainer Richard Sutton.
“I’m hoping he can join me in the next few weeks. I worked with him during the last half of 2004, but it was always a struggle and the pressure to pay his salary. “Now, it doesn’t matter, I’ve got some money in the bank.”
Moodie and Huss, whose Wimbledon wonder came at their first top-level event together, are playing at Indianapolis in the doubles draw.
Russian Dmitry Tursunov, who stunned Brit Tim Henman in the Wimbledon second round, won his opening match over Yen-hsun Lu of Taipei 6-3, 6-4.
Top seed American Andy Roddick, playing for the first time since a second consecutive defeat in a Wimbledon final at the hands of Swiss star Roger Federer, took to the practice court for a second straight day.
Shortly after his Sunday arrival in the Midwest, the two-time champion, went to work. The 2003 US Open winner was at it again on Monday. Roddick will open his campaign against Tursunov, the world ranked No. 119 who improved to 6-4 on the season with his win over Lu.
In the night match, France’s Gregory Carraz beat American James Blake 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5.
Kuerten Comes Crashing
Down Again
In Stuttgart, Germany, three-time French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten’s slump continued yesterday as he was knocked out of the ATP event in the first round.
The 28-year-old, a former winner in Stuttgart in 1998 and 2001, lost in straight sets 6-4, 6-1, to the unheralded American Hugo Armando, ranked 189 in the world.
The former world No. 1 who has slipped to the 142 ranking position in the world is desperately trying to rekindle his form.
He missed six months from last September after undergoing a second hip operation but has had a dire season after first round defeats at the Monte Carlo Masters tournament and French Open events.
Eighth Seeded Peschke Unable
to Stop Losing Skid
In Cincinnati, Ohio, Russia’s Tatiana Panova beat Kveta Peschke 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) on Monday in the opening round of the $170,000 WTA tournament, handing the eighth seeded Czech her fourth-consecutive loss.
The 40th-ranked player in the world, Peschke dropped both of her Fed Cup matches in a World Group tie a week ago.
Peschke, 30, was the only seeded player in action Monday in the hard-court event, where Swiss Patty Schnyder and Russian Vera Zvonareva are the top two seeds.
Schnyder, who has a 33-13 record this season, is in search of her second title of the year. She won the Gold Coast tournament in Australia in January.
Ranked 15th in the world, Zvonareva is coming off a loss to Peschke in the second round of Wimbledon. She won a hard-court title at Memphis in March and reached the final here last year, losing in straight sets to Lindsay Davenport.
Other winners were Aiko Nakamura of Japan and Isreal’s Shahar Peer. Nakamura, who rallied for a 6-7 (4-7), 6-0, 6-3 victory over American Abigail Spears, could face Schnyder in the second round.
American Chanda Rubin posted a 6-3, 6-4 victory over countrywoman Laura Granville and Puerto Rico’s Kristina Brandi coasted to a 6-3, 6-1 triumph over American wild card Jessica Kirkland.
