TENNIS in DEPTH.

Tomas Berdych was a surprise first-round casualty at the China Open today. The fifth-seeded Czech, who reached the Wimbledon final in a breakout year on the ATP Tour, was beaten 4-6 7-5 6-4 by German qualifier Michael Berrer in two hours and 21 minutes. It proved to a good day for Germany with Philipp Kohlschreiber also accounting for sixth seed Fernando Verdasco 6-2 7-5.

There were mixed fortunes for the United States, with Mardy Fish and John Isner progressing but Sam Querrey going out. Fish was an impressive 6-2 7-6 (7/5) victor against Janko Tipsarevic while Isner was too strong for Tsung-Hua Yang, winning 7-6 (7/5) 6-3. Querrey battled hard but went down 6-3 3-6 6-2 to in-form Frenchman Gilles Simon.

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Colombian No. 2 Santiago Giraldo overturned a 40-place ranking difference to score a vital 62 64 75 win over World No. 21 Sam Querrey. The win draws Colombia level with USA 1-1 after the first day of its BNP Paribas World Group play-off tie in Bogota. Earlier American Mardy Fish made his first Davis Cup by BNP Paribas appearance since the 2009 quarterfinals worth waiting for by defeating Colombia’s Alejandro Falla 46 61 64 36 64 in Bogota.

It was not pretty tennis, but at an altitude of over 8,000 feet, it never promised to be. With seven breaks of serve in the first set, it looked as if neither Mardy Fish nor Alejandro Falla could hold a loaf of bread without dropping it. There were more errors than winners and a combination of pressure-less balls and tight hands contributed to a mountain of unforced errors on both sides.

Tied at three games each, Fish dropped serve for the third time and sent his racket flying and team USA’s personal stringer scrambling to get the racket’s tension right. Finally, it was Falla who managed to hold his nerves and serve and it was now Colombia who took the first set 64.

On a bright sunny day, the Plaza de Toros in Bogota was draped in the tricolor of the Colombian flag; yellow, red and blue. Even the potted carnations that ringed the court were red and yellow. The crowd sang chants of, “Vamos Alejo.Vamos Alejo. Vamos Alejo.”

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Stanislas Wawrinka followed up his win over Andy Murray by prevailing in a five-set epic against Sam Querrey to reach the last eight of a grand slam for the first time at the US Open.

The Swiss 25th seed triumphed 7-6 (11-9) 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 4-6 6-4 in a match lasting just shy of four and a half hours to seal a quarter-final tie with Mikhail Youzhny, who saw off the challenge of Tommy Robredo earlier in the day.

The first set went with serve to set up a lengthy tie-break, which Wawrinka eventually took 13-11.

But he then wasted four set points while serving at 5-4 in the second set to allow Querrey to force a tie-break, and the sole remaining home hope took full advantage of his second chance.

Having hit back from an early break in the third set, Wawrinka then broke in the 11th game to re-establish his lead, but 20th seed Querrey continued to battle and sent the game to a decider as he managed to take the fourth set on his sixth set point.

However, Wawrinka, who continued to receive treatment to the thigh he injured against Murray, finally sealed the win as he claimed the crucial break in the 10th game to take the final set.

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Andy Roddick booked his place in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters following a 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 win over Sergiy Stakhovsky.

After taking the first set, the two-time champion blew a 5-2 lead in the second-set tiebreaker before breaking early in the third to seal the match.

“That third set was actually a blessing in disguise. That’s the best I’ve played in months,” said the American.

But 14th seed Nicolas Almagro was beaten by Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3 6-3.

The Spaniard was the only seed to fall in the first round, while Taylor Dent, ranked 83rd in the world, set up a second-round encounter against world number one Rafael Nadal after beating Feliciano Lopez 6-3 6-2.

Tenth seed David Ferrer was taken to three sets in a 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov but 13th seed Jurgen Melzer had little trouble in dispatching qualifier Santiago Giraldo 6-1 6-4.

There were also wins for Thiemo de Bakker, Sam Querrey, Thomaz Bellucci and Michael Berrer.

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The USTA conducted a tennis clinic featuring the QuickStart play format on the White House South Lawn with Sam Querrey and doubles team Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan on Tuesday, August 3. The event was part of the South Lawn Series, a summer-long series of events that brings local children, sports leagues and community programs together to the South Lawn in support of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative to combat childhood obesity.

The clinic ran on two 78’ courts constructed on the South Lawn that housed eight 36’ courts specifically designed for children aged 10-and-under. USTA instructors partnered up with tennis players Sam Querrey and Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan to lead 100 local Washington youth from USTA National Junior Tennis & Learning chapters including the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation, CREATE Tennis, the Southeast Tennis & Learning Center and the Junior Tennis Champions Center in a QuickStart clinic that demonstrated ways for kids to get 60 minutes of active play per day. Developed to keep kids active and expose them to tennis at an early age, the QuickStart play format provides kids with an exciting introduction to tennis by scaling down the game to better fit the needs of young children by utilising smaller balls, racquets and courts.

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American Sam Querrey saved a match point on his way to defeating top seed Andy Murray in the final of the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles.

Querrey, the world number 20 and second seed, won 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 after Murray missed with a backhand at match point in game 10 of the second set.

“All four matches were really exciting this week,” stated Querrey after his fourth title of 2010.

“It was nice to get through them all and it feels great. This is the first time that I’ve actually tried to defend a title.

“The last two sets today were great. Andy is one of those players who allows me to hit my shots.”

The 23-year-old Briton had been trying to win his first title of 2010, the last coming in Valencia in November.

“If you take the circumstances into consideration I have to be happy with getting to the final,” said Murray.

“I had a good week, I enjoyed it. Each match I felt better physically. I played reasonably well, better than the other matches.”

Murray had looked on course to put the Maclagan split behind him, despite rarely hitting anything like top form.

The Scot had won all four previous matches against Querrey, including a fourth-round victory at Wimbledon in June, and the American appeared overawed in the early stages as numerous errors got him in trouble.

Querrey, 22, let an early break disappear with a poor smash and a wayward forehand in game eight, and three more unforced errors in game 12 handed over the set.

Murray was not at his best but with a first-serve percentage of about 70% he was doing enough to retain control as the second set progressed, although he was fortunate not to drop serve in game five when Querrey made further errors on two break points.

The American was hanging on, with one brilliant lunging volley saving a break point at 3-4, but Murray seemed to be closing in on victory two games later, only to let the opportunity pass by.

Having earned a match point, the world number four would not take the initiative in a long rally and eventually made the error with a backhand into the tramlines.

Murray would not get such a golden chance again, with Querrey racing through the tie-break that followed soon after and then stepping up his game even further in the final set.

It was now Murray who was making the mistakes and in game six a forehand error brought Querrey a break point, which the Briton duly handed over with a tame drop shot that flopped into the net.

He was understandably furious with himself, smashing his racquet in anger, although there was to be one final half-chance for Murray when a nervous Querrey attempted to serve out the match.

But the American saved a break point with another blistering forehand winner and sealed a deserved win in two hours and 22 minutes.

Murray must now regroup before he heads to Canada for the first Masters 1000 tournament of the summer in Toronto from 9 August, with the US Open getting under way three weeks later

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Andy Murray overcame a second-set implosion to beat Feliciano Lopez 6-0 1-6 6-4 and set up a Farmers Classic final against Sam Querrey.

Murray stormed out of the blocks, winning the first seven games of the match, but then contrived to lose the next six as Lopez levelled at 1-1.

But the Scot, coachless after his split from Miles Maclagan, got an early break in the third and held on to progress.

Yesterday Murray struggled with his serve as he battled past Alejandro Falla but this time it was his Spanish opponent who could not find his rhythm early on.

Murray held confidently then broke the Spaniard and it was one-way traffic as he raced into a 5-0 lead.

And, though he needed two break points to do it in game six, he turned the first set into a whitewash.

Murray said after the victory: “Throughout the whole match until the end there, there wasn’t a point where I was playing well and he was also playing well.

“The third set was much closer but neither of us has played much since Wimbledon so maybe that explains the inconsistency.”

The Scot expects a tough match against Querrey: “He won here last year and reached the final again this year so he obviously enjoys this court and will have a home crowd behind him. It will be very difficult.”

Second seed and defending champion Querrey was involved in another tough contest before prevailing 6-7 (3/7) 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 against Janko Tipsarevic.

The American saved match point in defeating Rainer Schuettler in three sets last night and he knew he was in for another tough day as neither player could fashion a break in the first set and a tie-break was required.

Tipsarevic prevailed, but Querrey returned the favour in the next set before finally sealing victory in two hours 47 minutes.

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Top seed Andy Murray battled against his serve as well as Alejandro Falla, but claimed a 7-6 (7/3) 6-1 win to reach the semi-finals of the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles.

Murray’s first-serve percentage was just 42% for the match and an incredible 38% for the second set, but he met an opponent who struggled as much as he did.

And after battling through a tough opening set, the second, despite his service struggles, was far simpler as Murray, without a coach after he split with Miles Maclagan this week, sealed a last-four clash with Feliciano Lopez.

Lopez, who has lost to Murray in their last two meetings, said of his opponent: “Since the first time I saw him, I realised he was a very talented player and would be one of the best players in the world.”

Meanwhile fourth seed Lopez ended American James Blake’s run with a 3-6 7-6 (8/6) 6-4 win.

Second seed Sam Querrey came through testing quarter-final against Rainer Schuettler with a 6-2 3-6 7-6 (7/4) win, despite the veteran German twice serving for the match.

After going a set down, Schuettler battled back to claim the second, then broke to go 5-4 up in the third.

Querrey levelled, but again surrendered on serve, before breaking back for a second time to send the match into a tie-break, which he won.

“I was pretty frustrated the whole time, but I did a great job of playing the 5-4 and 6-5 games,” Querrey told www.atptour.com. “I played great points on those games and really battled back well.”

Waiting for Querrey in the semis is sixth-seeded Serbian Janko Tipsarevic.

The had a relatively easy time against Marcos Baghdatis, coming through 6-3 7-5 against the third seed.

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