DOHA, 3 January 2008 — Andy Murray, the 20-year-old Briton who hopes to climb up the top ten during 2008, was forced to endure a worrying 40 minutes and to dig deep into his armory before reaching the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open.
Murray won 1-6, 6-0, 6-1 against Rainer Schuttler, who only managed to get into the tournament on a wild card, but who for one set played as well as he had while winning the title here back in 1999.
The former world No. 4 from Germany hit the ball hard and flat and won so many of the aggressive exchanges that eventually Murray felt the need to change his tactics.
He did that by introducing more slice as well as topspin in the rallies and sometimes bringing Schuttler forward. Eventually he got completely on top, delivering some thunderous serves as he did so.
He next plays Thomas Johansson, the former Australian Open champion from Sweden, who won 6-3, 7-5 against another German, Michael Berrer, whose improvement has brought him close to the top 50 for the first time. The winner is likely to play the top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, who won well for the second day in a row, overcoming another former titleholder, Fabrice Santoro, 6-3, 6-3.
Malisse Sets Up Youzhny
Clash in Chennai Open
Russian No. 2 Mikhail Youzhny overcame early season rust to beat unseeded Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-5, 1-6, 6-2 and reach the ATP Chennai Open third round yesterday.
Defending champion Xavier Malisse of Belgium continued his impressive comeback from a long injury layoff, upstaging Austrian Jurgen Melzer 7-6, 6-2 to set up a third round clash with the Russian fourth seed.
Unseeded Malisse, whose dream start to 2007 turned sour following a serious wrist injury that left him ranked 112th in the world, showed his class to oust the sixth seed. Fourth seed Youzhny, the world No. 19, made a sluggish start and had to dig deep in the first set after his 97th ranked French rival raced to 5-0.
The 25-year-old produced sublime tennis as he fought back, reeling off the next seven games and conceding just four points to his 24-year-old opponent. Roger-Vesselin still raised hopes of only his second win over a top-20 player as Youzhny’s game again tailed off in the second set, only for the Russian to restore order in the decider.
Youzhny, who featured in Russia’s Davis Cup final loss to the United States in December, blamed the break coming into the tournament. Malisse, who was restricted to just five tournaments in 2007 after a fresh knee ligament injury late in the year, clinched a tight first set 7-3 in the tiebreak.
He then wore down left-handed Melzer, the world No. 60, in the second set as the Austrian made desperate forays to the net.
Davenport Overcomes Lapse
to Advance in Auckland
Former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport overcame a mid-match concentration lapse before claiming her place in the quarterfinals of the Auckland Classic yesterday.
The American, competing in only her fourth tournament after taking a year out to give birth to her first child, beat fifth seed Anabel Madinah Garrigues of Spain 6-1, 4-6, 6-0.
Top seed Vera Zvonareva, the runner-up in each of the past two years, had no trouble booking her quarterfinal berth, beating Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden 6-2, 6-3. She will now play local wildcard Marina Erakovic, who reached her first WTA Tour quarterfinal with a 7-6, 7-5 win over American Ashley Harkleroad.
Russian second seed Maria Kirilenko beat Czech Klara Zakopalova 6-4, 6-1 while third seed Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-0, 6-1 and No. 6 Tamira Paszek also advanced.
However, seventh seed Eleni Daniilidou of Greece suffered a shock defeat, beaten 7-5, 6-4 by Aravane Rezai of France.
