TENNIS in DEPTH.

Top seed David Nalbandian crashed out of the Movistar Open in Chile with a straight-sets defeat against unseeded Horacio Zeballos. In the night match in Santiago, Nalbandian had been expected to progress from his last-16 clash without too many problems. However, he was shocked by his unfancied Argentinian opponent as he crashed to a 6-2 7-5 defeat, outclassed in the first set and putting up a futile fight in the second.

Also on Thursday, Colombian Santiago Giraldo beat Igor Andreev 7-6(7) 5-6 6-2 and meets Juan Ignacio Chela next, after the Argentinian beat Brazil’s Caio Zampieri 6-2 6-3. Italy’s Potito Starace beat Pablo Andujar 6-4 6-1.

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David Nalbandian saved two match points as he won an epic contest against home hope Lleyton Hewitt at the Australian Open. The Argentine prevailed 3-6 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7/1) 9-7 in a classic contest lasting four hours and 48 minutes. The clash, a rematch of the 2002 Wimbledon final, was clearly the pick of the first-round ties when the draw was made and it lived up to expectation. It was a rollercoaster affair. Hewitt took the first set but Nalbandian appeared to be in control when he won the second and immediately opened a 2-0 lead in the third. However, the Australian stormed back by winning eight of the next nine games to open a two-sets-to-one lead with an early break in the fourth set. The see-saw nature of the match continued though as Nalbandian levelled the set before sweeping through the tie-break to force a decider. The Argentine broke Hewitt in the third game of the final set and stepped up to serve for the match at 5-4.

But with the clock well past midnight, Hewitt, roared on by those fans who had stayed to see the finish, managed to break back and stay alive. Hewitt, who beat Nalbandian 10-8 in a fifth set at the 2005 Australian Open, saved two break points in the following game and then held match points in game 12 as the atmosphere on Rod Laver Arena reached fever pitch. However, a superb half volley from Nalbandian saved the first before a nerveless volley snuffed out the second chance. Former world number one Hewitt again staved off break points as he moved 7-6 ahead. Hewitt, who is now down at 54 on the ranking list, again found trouble on serve at 7-7 though and lost the game to love, gifting it away with a double fault. Nalbandian managed to serve out int he following game and the quality of the fifth set was summed up by the superb lob the 27th seed produced to seal victory well past 1am local time.

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 David Ferrer needed barely an hour to dispense with Argentine rival David Nalbandian to capture the 2011 Heineken Open singles title, 6-3 6-2. The tournament top seed made no race of a match that promise so much, running down anything his rival had to throw at him and eventually breaking down his game in convincing fashion. “I think David did not have a good day and when I broke him to win the first set, he lost concentration,” reflected Ferrer. “I knew to win, I had to make the points long and the match long to make him tired … but it wasn’t a long match today.” Nalbandian started the stronger and had chances to break service twice early in the opening set, but could not convert them. Gradually, Ferrer turned the momentum his way. He achieved his only break of the first set at 4-3 and Nalbandian showed his frustration by smashing his racquet into the court. He was never the same from that point. “I had some chances and didn’t take them,” he lamented. “Sometimes, I missed easy shots … one an easy backhand on break point. “If that had gone in, it might have been different.” Ferrer served an ace to close out the set and immediately had Nalbandian’s serve under pressure in the to start the second. He broke at 2-2 and won the final four games to wrap up the contest in 68 minutes.  

This is Ferrer’s second title in Auckland and the 10th of his career. 

Earlier, Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Tommy Robredo saw off Swede Johan Brunstrom and Aussie Stephen Huss to capture the Panasonic Doubles title. The eventual winners broke once to capture the opening set, but had to withstand a strong comeback from their rivals in the second. Brunstrom and Huss staved off one match point at 5-3, but squandered a chance to steal the set at 6-5 in the tiebreak. The Spanish duo held their nerve to win the final three points for victory.

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A clinical David Ferrer overcame Colombian Santiago Giraldo 6-3 7-5 to set up a final showdown against Argentinian David Nalbandian at the Heineken Open in Auckland. The nimble-footed Spaniard came to the net with ease and drove forehands regularly past the world number 64, who was playing in his first ATP Tour semi-final. It told as Ferrer stepped up his game in the eighth game to break the Colombian’s serve. But, to his credit, Giraldo did not give in and made Ferrer fight for his serve. He lost the set, but his head was held high. The second set got off to the worst possible start for the rookie, when he was broken by Ferrer, before the top seed held his own serve to claim a 2-0 lead. But the unseeded South American’s fan club lifted him, and he broke Ferrer’s serve in the sixth game. All of a sudden, the momentum was with Giraldo as he took a 4-3 lead. The Colombian support crew were ecstatic, and the crowd hopped on board to lift Giraldo, but instead gave Ferrer the motivation – summed up by the Spaniard breaking serve to take a 6-5 lead and serve for the match.

Nalbandian, meanwhile, progressed to the final by defeating second seed Nicolas Almagro 6-4 6-2. The world number 27, who is scheduled to play Lleyton Hewitt in the first round of the Australian Open, looked patchy early on as he returned many of Almagro’s serves into the net. On his own serve, however, the Argentinian looked the part. Some long rallies ensued before the sixth seed had his first break-point opportunity in the ninth game. He duly converted to have the advantage heading in to the second set. Almagro’s first appearance in the semi-finals of the Auckland tournament looked to be over as early as the first game of the second set, where he was broken by Nalbandian after a long deuce game. He was broken again in the seventh game to hand the Argentinian a 5-2 lead and a fired-up Nalbandian served for the match and booked his ticket to the final – without having dropped a set.

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Top seed David Ferrer secured his place in the semi-finals of the ATP Heineken Open in Auckland with a gritty three-set win over Philipp Kolhschreiber. The Spaniard, number seven in the world, was on court for two hours and 43 minutes against the eighth seed, getting off to a solid start with a 6-3 opening-set win. Kolhscreiber hit back to level matters on a tie-break, before Ferrer saw the match out 6-3 6-7 (4/7) 6-3.

The 28-year-old will now face Colombian Santiago Giraldo in the last four, after he brushed past Thomaz Bellucci. After taking the first set 6-2, Giraldo needed just one break of serve to take the second 6-4.

The other semi-final will be between David Nalbandian and wild card Nicolas Almagro. Nalbandian earned and took just one break point throughout his clash with John Isner, taking the first set 6-4 and then winning the second on a tie-break, 7-6 (7/3). Almagro needed just over two hours to knock out France’s Adrian Mannarino, serving 11 aces as he won 7-6 (7/3) 6-7 (1/7) 6-2.

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Argentinian David Nalbandian was made to work hard against Italian Fabio Fognini before prevailing 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 in his first-round match at the Heineken Open in Auckland. The first set went to the tie-break after some extravagant exchanges between the pair, but it was the sixth seed who held his nerve to edge ahead in the match. Nalbandian then broke Fognini’s serve to secure a straight-sets success, but his form will have left his vocal supporters anxious heading into his second-round match after he missed many easy points on his way to victory.

Seventh seed Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil also toiled to reach round two, eventually getting past American qualifier Michael Russell 6-4 6-7 (4/7) 7-5. The 31st-ranked Brazilian capitalised on his third match-point to triumph in two hours and 48 minutes and set up a meeting with 2007 runner-up Tommy Robredo. Fifth seed Juan Monaco did not fare so well, though, Frenchman Adrian Mannarino defeating the Argentinian 6-4 6-3.

Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Germany’s Tobias Kamke also advanced in straight sets at the expense of American Bobby Reynolds and Spaniard Pere Riba respectively. Kamke will face top seed David Ferrer in round two. Frenchman Arnaud Clement battled from a set down to beat Belgium’s Xavier Malisse 4-6 6-2 7-5 while German Philipp Petzschner edged Dutchman Thiemo De Bakker 6-1 6-7 (5/7) 7-6 (7/3). Romanian Victor Hanescu also needed three sets to get the better of South African Kevin Anderson 7-6 (9/7) 6-7 (3/7) 6-4 and Robin Haase recovered to beat Pablo Cuevas 3-6 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (7/3).

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The 2011 Heineken Open looks set to be another blockbuster tournament with plenty of new talent, experience and crowd pleasers. There are two former champions and the defending champion in the 19-player field. Four players who have been ranked in the world’s top five, including former No1 Juan Carlos Ferrero as well as a number of new players to the tournament.

World No7 David Ferrer of Spain, the 2007 champion will be the top seed and has just completed playing at the ATP World Tour finals in London. Ferrer along with countrymen Albert Montanes won two ATP singles titles each in 2010. Another Spaniard, Juan Carlos Ferrero took away three titles this year. The second seed is the defending champion, world No19 and the man who won the longest professional tennis match in history, John Isner. The 2.06m (6’9”) American won the 2010 Heineken Open in dramatic fashion over Frenchman, Arnaud Clement for his first and only career title. He has been a beaten finalist in three other tournaments this year – Memphis, Belgrade and Atlanta as well as playing the historic 11 hour five minute match at Wimbledon.

The third seed, with a ranking of 25, Montanes had a remarkable year, starting by reaching the semifinals at the Heineken Open he won the tournament at Estoril, beating Roger Federer in the semis and also claimed the title at Stuttgart as well as making the semis at three other events and the quarters at two tournaments. Fourth seed is Heineken Open regular visitor, Juan Monaco of Argentina. The world No26 reached one ATP final (Santiago) three semifinals – Buenos Aires, Acapulco and Shanghai and the quarters at the Indian Wells Masters Series. It will be his sixth visit to Auckland. Also seeded will be No27th ranked David Nalbandian. The former No3 and Wimbledon runner up from 2002 has 11 career singles titles to his credit, including winning at Washington this year.

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Andy Murray had to dig deep to progress to the third round of the Paris Masters after injuring his wrist during a 2-6 6-4 6-3 win over David Nalbandian. Nalbandian broke twice early on to quickly wrap up the first set. But Murray then opted to serve and volley and the more aggressive approach paid dividends as the Scot broke serve in the 10th game of a tense second set. Unforced errors from Nalbandian in the eighth game of the third set allowed Murray to serve out the match.

In the day’s other matches, defending champion Novak Djokovic was far from his best but progressed to the third round with a workmanlike 6-4 6-3 win over Juan Monaco of Argentina Monaco started with intent and broke Djokovic in the third game of the first set, but the Serb recovered and saved another break point in the ninth game before winning the first set. The second set was more straight forward for Djokovic, who had won his three previous encounters against Monaco, as the Argentine struggled to maintain the ferocity of his earlier play.

Djokovic will play John Isner or Michael Llodra in the next round, while Andy Roddick faces Ernest Gulbis of Latvia. Roddick looked in superb form as he hit nine aces to comfortably beat Finland’s Jarkko Niemien 6-1 6-4 in the second round.

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