TENNIS in DEPTH.

Thomaz Bellucci caused an upset as he dumped second seed Fernando Verdasco out of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel Open in Acapulco. The Brazilian is ranked 27 places below his Spanish counterpart but started confidently to take the first set 6-2. Verdasco, a quarter-finalist here last season, fought back to take the second set 6-4, but Bellucci held his nerve to take the decider 6-3.

Australian Open quarter-finalist Stanislas Wawrinka overcame a second-set wobble as he booked his place in the second round. The Swiss looked to be on his way to victory against Spain’s Pablo Andujar when he took the first set 7-5 on a tie-break, but his opponent hit back to take the second 6-3 and force a decider. But Wawrinka regained his focus and proved far too strong as he romped to a 6-0 success in the final set.

Fifth seed Albert Montanes cruised through his all-Spanish tie with Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-2 6-1, while Argentina’s Juan Monaco beat compatriot Horacio Zeballos 7-5 7-6 (7/3). Eighth seed Juan Ignacio Chela made an early exit as he was forced to withdraw from his clash with Eduardo Schwank while a set to the good. Fabio Fognini saw off qualifier Maximo Gonzalez 6-3 6-4, with Pablo Cuevas also securing a straight-sets win as he beat Potito Starace 6-4 6-4. Carlos Berlocq and Ivan Navarro also progressed, while in-form third seed Nicolas Almagro, champion in Buenos Aires last week, defeated Victor Hanescu 6-3 6-2.

Bookmark It

Milos Raonic, fresh off of his first ATP tour win in San Jose, just happened to be drawn against Fernando Verdasco, the man he beat in the final in San Jose, in the first round of the Memphis event. And just to prove that his victory was no fluke, he defeated Verdasco again in a very close match 6-4, 3-6, 7-6.

By now the Spaniard must be convinced that the young Canadian is for real, and is here to stay. 

“Last week gave me a lot of confidence, and confidence makes all the little things go easier. I was happy with the outcome.” Raonic has a quick turnaround now, playing his second round match against Radek Stepanek early on the Thursday schedule.

Verdasco wasn’t the only seed to go down on Wednesday – all four first round matches saw unseeded players upset seeds. Another wildcard, Juan Martin del Potro, upset No.6 seed John Isner, 64 63; Lleyton Hewitt beat No.7 seed Yen-Hsun Lu, 64 76(3); and Florent Serra advanced when No.9 seed Xavier Malisse retired down 62 10 due to a headache. In the first two second round matches of the week, qualifier Robert Kendrick beat wildcard James Blake in an all-American encounter, 76(5) 63, and No.4 seed Mardy Fish battled two hours and 40 minutes to get past Lukas Lacko, 67(5) 64 76(3).

Bookmark It

After being unable even to get through qualifying in a season-opening tournament in India, Milos Raonic and his booming serve have loudly announced his presence on tour. Raonic became the first Canadian to win an ATP Tour title since 1995 by winning a hard-fought match Sunday over defending-champion Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) in the final of the SAP Open.

Raonic, who grew up in Thornhill, Ont., followed up a run to the round of 16 at the Australian Open last month with a win in his eighth career tournament. It’s part of a stunning start to the year that even he wouldn’t have believed possible if someone told him he would have accomplished all of this back in December. “’Are you Santa? You’re giving me all these great gifts,’” he said he would have asked a prognosticator who predicted these results. In a match that featured two tiebreakers, one break point and no breaks of serves, it was the smallest differences that decided the winner. Verdasco squandered four set points — including two on his serve — in the opening-set tiebreaker and then lost the only minibreak in the second tiebreaker when he hit a backhand into the net after a strong approach shot by Raonic to fall behind 4-2. Verdasco fought off two match points on his serve but once again had no answer for the big-serving Raonic, who won it with a 138 m.p.h. serve that Verdasco hit into the net. Verdasco was upset because a fan yelled out just as he was about to hit the ball, but the point stood despite his complaints to the chair umpire that he was distracted. “What I hope is that there are not people like that in the stadium,” Verdasco said. “If they don’t know the rules in tennis they can go see soccer.”

Raonic had 13 aces and 20 service winners in the match, reaching 149 m.p.h. on the radar gun. The 20-year-old Raonic became the youngest winner on tour since Marin Cilic won in New Haven in 2008 at age 19. Raonic has had quite a run after losing in the third round of qualifying in Chennai, India, to start the year. He went through qualifying and winning three matches in the Australian Open and then won in San Jose. He has shot up the rankings from 156th at the end of last year to a projected spot in the top 60 after this victory. “I can’t stop smiling,” he said. “I’m happy about it and I hope I can keep it going more than six weeks, for a full year schedule, and see where I am at the end of the year.” In a scheduling quirk, he will have to do it against Verdasco, who gets a shot at a rematch in the first round in Memphis on Wednesday.

“I will just pray a lot that he will hit a lot of double faults and I won’t even have to play,” Verdasco said. Verdasco lost just seven points in 12 service games, but it was the four dropped points on his serve in the two tiebreakers that was the difference. With a 6-2 lead in the first-set breaker, Verdasco hit a forehand into the net off a strong approach by Raonic to squander the first set point on his serve. Raonic held on to his serve to cut the lead to 6-5. Verdasco then hit a forehand wide to even up the set and Raonic won it with a backhand winner followed by a service winner, skipping off the court in excitement. Raonic fought off the only break point of the match in the ninth game of the second set and once again took it in a tiebreaker, completing his perfect run through the week where he lost no sets and just one service game. “When it gets close, it comes down to who gets it that day and it comes down to a few points,” Raonic said “I sort of used up my luck today and got out of that first set. In the second set, I was a bit more confident by then and it came out the way I wanted to.”

Raonic, who left Montenegro with his family during a war in 1994, became the first Canadian to win on tour was Greg Rusedski, who won in Seoul in April 1995. The Bay Area has been kind to Canadian tennis players in recent years. Aleksandra Wozniak ended a 20-year title drought for Canadian women when she won at Stanford in 2008. And now Raonic ended the drought on the men’s side in the same building where fellow Canadians such as Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley and Dan Boyle star for the San Jose Sharks. Raonic was given a Sharks jersey, a bottle of maple syrup and the winners check for US$92,000. “It’s nice to know a hockey arena isn’t new to me,” Raonic said. “I’ve been in a few of these. This feels like home.”

Verdasco’s run to the final came after a difficult preparation. He had a cortisone shot to help ease the pain of a broken bone in his left ankle after the Australian Open. Then when he was ready to return to practice, he got a fever so he missed two full weeks of practice before coming to San Jose. But he was in fine form all week, dropping just one service game. “For all the practice I did the past two weeks, I did pretty good this week,” he said.

Bookmark It

Fernando Verdasco made it to the SAP Open final for the second straight year, surviving a tough second set to beat Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals Saturday night. Verdasco will play Sunday against unseeded Milos Raonic, who advanced to his first ATP Tour final in a walkover after second-seeded Gael Monfils pulled out of the tournament with an injured left wrist. Verdasco improved to 9-0 at this tournament and is looking to follow up the title he won in three sets over Andy Roddick in last year’s final. Verdasco was tested more than he has been all week by del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open winner who is working his way back into form after missing almost all of last year with a right wrist injury. Verdasco had his run of 37 straight service holds snapped early in the second set but responded to the early deficit by breaking del Potro’s serve in two of his final three service games. He got right back into the set with a nifty forehand passing shot winner on the first point on del Potro’s next service game and then earned a set point with another forehand winner. His deep return forced del Potro to hit a forehand wide and he was back on serve at 2-3. Verdasco then survived a three deuce game on his own serve to get to 4-all and came through on his fourth break point attempt in the next game to take control. He hit unforced errors on the three break chances, barely missing a forehand winner down the line. He won it with a forehand winner and then held his final service game at love, closing the match with his fifth ace. Verdasco broke del Potro’s serve in the opening game of the match and was never threatened in the opening set, losing just three points in his five service games. Del Potro lost his serve three times in this match after losing it just once in his first three matches this week.

Del Potro has fallen from fourth in the rankings after winning the 2009 U.S. Open to 484th heading into this week as he played only three tournaments last year because of the injury and did not win a match after January. He was looking to become the second lowest-ranked player to win an ATP Tour title since the rankings began in 1973. Lleyton Hewitt was ranked 550th when he won in Adelaide in 1998.

Verdasco and Raonic have never played but will become quite familiar with each other in the next few days because of a scheduling quirk. After playing Sunday in San Jose, the two will meet again on Wednesday in the first round in Memphis. Raonic has had a strong start to the season, going through qualifying and winning three matches in the Australian Open and making it to his first ATP World Tour final. He has shot up the rankings from 156th at the end of last year to 84th heading into this week. He is expected to be 66th is he loses on Sunday and 59th if his wins the title.

“It’s nice getting that kind of attention,” he said. “But more importantly it’s nice doing well at the top level of tennis because that’s what my goals are.” The 20-year-old is looking to become the first Canadian to win a title on ATP World Tour since Greg Rusedski won in Seoul in April 1995. He has never played Verdasco.

He leads the tournament with 45 aces in just three matches, winning a staggering 87.4 percent of first-serve points. He tuned up for the final by playing Ivo Karlovic in an exhibition, losing a pair of tiebreakers to the big-serving Croat. “It’s nice to be in the final but it doesn’t matter,” Raonic said. “Tomorrow is a different match. I can enjoy that more after the tournament than during. I have to prepare for tomorrow and do what I need to do to have my best chance to win tomorrow.”

Bookmark It

Gael Monfils withdrew from the San Jose Open after beating American wild card Tim Smyczek 6-4 7-6 in the quarter-finals on Friday. The Frenchman aggravated an injured left wrist when he beat Robert Kendrick on Thursday and decided to pull out after beating Smyczek. “It’s been a month-and-a-half that I’ve had this pain,” Monfils said. “I can’t hit my backhand. I tried, but my backhand is very soft. I have a better backhand than I showed here… more powerful.” Monfils is expected to be on the sidelines for six weeks in all, meaning he will miss tournaments in Memphis and Acapulco as well as a Davis Cup tie.

The decision also means that his semi-final opponent in San Jose, Canada’s Milos Raonic, advances to the final in a walkover. He beat Richard Berankis 6-4 7-6 on Friday. Elsewhere, top seed and defending champion Fernando Verdasco broke once in each set to record a 6-4 6-4 win over fifth seed Denis Istomin. “I tried to play a game he doesn’t like, with a lot of spin, and it went well,” the Spaniard said. “I played well on the important points, like I did yesterday, which was good too. I knew it would be tough. Denis made it to the semi-finals here last year and the conditions benefit him.”

Juan Martin del Potro continued his comeback from the wrist injury that kept him out of action for most of 2010 with a comfortable 6-2 6-3 win over Lleyton Hewitt. The Argentine will next face Verdasco in the only semi-final to be played on Saturday.

Bookmark It

Defending champion Fernando Verdasco moved into the quarter-finals of the SAP Open in San Jose with a straight-sets win over Ivo Karlovic. Big-serving Croatian Karlovic fired down 14 aces during the contest but it was Verdasco who secured the two breaks in the match to seal a 7-5 7-5 success.

Juan Martin Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, is also through as he completed a straightforward 6-1 7-6 (7/1) triumph over Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko. The Argentinian will now meet seventh seed Leyton Hewitt in the last eight after the Australian overcame a slow start to defeat Del Potro’s compatriot Brian Dabul 3-6 7-5 6-3.

Denis Istomin required two tie-breaks to overcome America’s Michael Russell as the fifth seed secured a 7-6 (9/7) 7-6 (7-4) success. Wild card Tim Smyczek defeated Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-4 3-6 6-1 while France’s Gael Monfils was a 6-2 5-7 6-4 victor over America’s Robert Kendrick.

Bookmark It

Benjamin Becker upset third-seeded Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-3 Tuesday in the first round of the Brisbane International. “It’s always good to get a win under your belt … it’s not every day you beat a top 10 player,” Becker said. “I had a good game plan and it worked well today.” Becker, ranked 53rd, raced through the first set in 30 minutes, with Verdasco failing to hold serve until the sixth game. The 27-year-old Spaniard, the 2009 Brisbane runner-up, recovered a break in the second set and leveled the match by winning the tiebreaker but dropped his opening service game in the third set and Becker didn’t let him back into the match.

Radek Stepanek, the 2009 champion and runner-up here last year, beat Germany’s Tobias Kamke 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, while South African Kevin Anderson beat Australia’s Peter Luczak 6-4, 6-4 and veteran Frenchman Arnaud Clement went down in straight sets to Richard Berankis of Lithuania.

Czech Lucie Safarova reached the women’s quarterfinals for the third straight year when she beat second-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in 2 1/2 hours. The former Australian Open quarterfinalist is the girlfriend of 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych. “Of course people ask me about Tomas, but so far it (Berdych’s success) is motivating me to do better and to try to reach a better level of tennis,” Safarova said.

Russian No. 5 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova also won her second round match, beating Serbian Bojana Jovanovski 6-2, 7-5.

In women’s first-round matches, Italy’s Roberta Vinci had a 6-2, 7-6 (2) win over American Christina McHale, a late replacement for Fed Cup champion Flavia Pennetta, who withdrew due to sickness.

Bookmark It

Fernando Verdasco, is the fourth top 10 player to start their Australian summer in Brisbane. Joining the current singles champion and world No. 8, Andy Roddick, world No.5 Robin Soderling and Queensland’s own Samantha Stosur, ranked No.6, Verdasco will return for his second attempt at a Brisbane International title after making the final of the event in its inaugural year. “Fernando was a finalist in the singles and doubles at the Brisbane International in 2009,” Tournament Director Steve Ayles said. “I remember in his post-match speech that he promised he would come back and go one step further. Now he is confirmed to contest the event, he can do just that. “The Spaniard has had a great year with two ATP title wins. One against Robin Soderling in a close three-set match at the Barcelona Open BancSabadell and the other against Andy Roddick at the SAP Open in San Jose, which ended the American’s chances of winning the title for the fourth year in a row. “As such I would imagine there will be quite a bit of rivalry between these three come January. “The 26 year old is a crowd favorite on and off the court and he is a great addition to the 2011 event. I look forward to welcoming him back,” Ayles said.

Verdasco is currently the third-highest ranked Spanish tennis player on the ATP circuit, behind world No.1 Rafael Nadal and No.7 Ferrer. The Spaniard has won five ATP titles and has been a finalist on a further eight occasions. He has also played a major part in winning two Davis Cup’s, playing the deciding match in both 2008 and 2009. Verdasco’s best result at a Grand Slam was in 2009, following the Brisbane International, where he made the semifinals of the Australian Open. Verdasco lost to compatriot Nadal, 7-6(4) 4-6 6-7(2) 7-6(1) 4-6, in an epic match that went for five hours and 10 minutes.

Bookmark It