TENNIS in DEPTH.

Great Britain took an unexpected lead in the tie when the 15-year-old Robson claimed the biggest scalp of her fledgling career by beating Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1, 7-6 (8/6).

World No 4 Andy Murray, who had not lost a match in the group stages, then missed the chance to clinch what would have been Great Britain’s first Hopman Cup success when he lost to Tommy Robredo 1-6 6-4 6-3.

The Scot was made to pay for not closing out the tie as Spain completed the come-from-behind win when they then won the mixed doubles 7-6 (8/6), 7-5.

Great Britain had twice fended off championship points in an absorbing mixed doubles, but it was third time lucky for the Spanish pair when Martinez Sanchez arrowed a forehand winner down the line.

For Robredo it was the second time he has won the tournament after he successfully teamed with Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in 2002.

Murray had spearheaded Great Britain’s run to the final but it was his playing partner Robson, seven years his junior, who stole the limelight in the singles as she toppled a top-30 player for the first time.

The Australian-born left-hander did not win a match in the group stages, but saved her best until last as she fired 28 winners to upset the No 26.

The 403rd-ranked Robson was not expected to test Martinez Sanchez, who had been in top form this week having not dropped a single set, but unhinged the Spaniard’s trusted serve-and-volley game with some pinpoint passing strokes.

The teen twice broke with backhand winners in the first set as her confidence grew before serving it out with an ace.

The second set was a far tighter contest and Robson had to draw on her resolve to save a set point and pull back a break to force a tie-break.

Robson was fearless in the decider as she continued to go for her shots and, despite squandering four match points, regained her composure to fittingly secure the win with a backhand cross-court winner.

The Britons then looked to be on track for the title when Murray continued his impressive form by taking the first set against Robredo 6-1.

But from there the veteran Spaniard fought his way back into the match as Murray self-destructed on the back of 29 unforced errors.

The Scot was broken in the 10th game to concede his first set at the tournament and never recovered after immediately losing his serve in the third set as his Spanish opponent started to run him around the court.

It was at the very least a lesson in humility for the 22-year-old after he had declared yesterday that he would not lose to the 27-year-old Robredo.

And those words were made to haunt him as the Spanish pair sewed up the win in the mixed doubles.

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SPAIN has made the perfect start to its quest for a third Hyundai Hopman Cup title by beating the United States on Sunday inside Perth’s Burswood Dome.

After the top-seeds Australia suffered a shock loss to Romania on Saturday to begin Hyundai Hopman Cup XXII, Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Tommy Robredo both won their singles over America’s Melanie Oudin and John Isner to assert themselves as contenders for the championship.

Martinez Sanchez began the Tie with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Oudin and then Robredo came back from a set down to beat Isner 6-7, 6-3, 7-6.

Martinez Sanchez came into her match with Oudin not feeling her best after taking time to adjust in Perth since arriving, but she showed no signs of her discomfort on court.

She is coming off the best singles year of her career to rise to a ranking of 26 in the world, and showed why by taking out the first set 6-4 over the teenage American on the back of one break of serve.

The 27-year-old Spaniard then started strongly in the second to go out to a 5-2 lead to close in on a comfortable victory, but then Oudin showed some of the fighting qualities that saw her bounce back from losing the first set of each of her matches at Wimbledon and the US Open before making the fourth round and quarter-final at the Grand Slams.

Oudin managed to reduce Martinez Sanchez’s lead to 5-4, but the Spaniard was able to serve out the match to begin 2010 in impressive fashion. The Spaniard wasn’t feeling her best before the match, but was glad she could still close it out in the second set.

“I was not OK. I threw up also, but now I’m much better,” Martinez Sanchez said.

“At the beginning of the season it’s difficult to play matches because we went two months without playing. I was winning 5-2 and you have some doubts, but at the end I could win.”

The men’s match was a contrast in styles with the veteran battler Robredo taking on the giant Isner. Both men wouldn’t give an inch in an entertaining first set that went to the tie-break and Isner got on top and finished it off with a massive 225km/hr serve to claim it.

Robredo turned his game up another level in the second set and found some chinks in the game of the big American to race out to a 5-2 lead and he took out the set 6-3.

After Robredo secured the only break of the match in the second set, the third again stayed on serve and went to the tie-break. This time Robredo prevailed to take out the match and secure the Tie for Spain.

Robredo was tired after the 2hr 28mins match with Isner, but was glad he could tough out the victory.

“I am tired after playing two-and-a-half hours for the first match of the year, it was really tough. I’m so proud because playing against a player like John, it’s so difficult to keep focus all the time,” Robredo said.

“He didn’t break me in all the match so it really made me happy. With a player like him if you have five or six chances of making a passing shot in all the match, you have to try to make nearly four or five.”

In the mixed doubles, Spain’s prowess proved too good as Martinez Sanchez and Robredo beat the Americans 6-4, 7-5 to wrap up the Tie 3-1.

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Rafael Nadal survived another major scare before edging past Tommy Robredo to reach the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters on Thursday.

Robredo served for the match at 5-4 in the final set but was unable to close out a famous win against his fellow Spaniard.

Nadal, who saved five match points against Nicolas Almagro in the previous round, made the most of his reprieve to seal a 6-3 3-6 7-5 victory. Both Robredo and Almagro are players that Nadal should have little or no trouble in beating, yet he continues to struggle with his game. Hi s next match with Tsonga could well be his final one of this tournament.

The world number two will face France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last eight after Tsonga’s 6-2 6-3 demolition of compatriot Gilles Simon.

Tsonga qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals with victory in this event last year, and remained on course for a repeat as he overpowered Simon.

The other quarter-final in the bottom half of the draw sees Robin Soderling take on in-form world number three Novak Djokovic.

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Wild card Daniel Brands came from a set down to knock out top-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon on a day of major shocks at the International German Open in Hamburg.

The world number 120 delighted the home fans by clawing out a 3-6 6-4 6-3 win, securing the vital second-set break in the 10th game before breaking Simon early in the third and then saving break point as he served out for the match.

World number 103 Ivan Navarro also scored a big upset with powerful serving securing him a 7-5 7-6 (7/2) win over fourth seed and former champion Tommy Robredo.

Swiss fifth seed Stanislas Wawrinka was another casualty as he fell 6-2 6-4 to Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, while ninth seed Jurgen Melzer slumped to a 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 loss to Uruguayan qualifier Pablo Cuevas.

Next up for Cuevas will be eighth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber, who beat Potito Starace 6-2 4-6 6-4. There was also a first-round win for wild card Florian Mayer who beat fellow German Rainer Schuettler.

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The ATP World Tour is two months into the 2009 season and there’s already been several breakthrough achievements, including five two-time winners – two more at this stage from one year ago.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal is off to a 13-2 start by winning his sixth Grand Slam tournament in a five-set thriller over rival Roger Federer at the Australian Open. The Spaniard also reached the Rotterdam final, losing to World No. 4 Andy Murray.

The 21-year-old Murray is 15-1 on the season, 3-0 against Top 10 opponents, with ATP World Tour titles in Doha and Rotterdam. His only loss came in five sets in the the fourth round at the Australian Open to a new member of the Top 10 South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, Fernando Verdasco. The Spaniard advanced to his first Grand Slam semi-final in Melbourne where he lost to Nadal in a 5:14 marathon. Verdasco opened the season with a runner-up in Brisbane.

World No. 3 Novak Djokovic picked up his first ATP World Tour title of the year last weekend in Dubai, an ATP World Tour 500 tournament, by defeating Spaniard David Ferrer.

Top American and World No. 6 Andy Roddick has compiled a 17-3 record by winning an ATP World Tour title for the ninth straight year, best among active players, and reaching the Doha final. He also advanced to the semi-finals at the Australian Open for the fourth time.

Juan Martin del Potro, the top South American at No. 7, won his fifth ATP World Tour title since last July in Auckland. The 20-year-old Argentine, the youngest player in the Top 10, also reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open.

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga leads the ATP World Tour with the most match wins (19) and has already captured titles in Johannesburg and Marseille. Last year Tsonga didn’t win his 19th match until the US Open. Despite Tsonga’s success, he is the third-ranked Frenchman at No. 11 behind No. 8 Gilles Simon and the newest Top 10 entry, No. 9 Gael Monfils, who is coming off a runner-up in Acapulco.

No. 15-ranked Tommy Robredo has won the second-most matches (18) this season and he’s coming off back-to-back clay court titles in Costa do Sauipe and Buenos Aires. He compiled a 12-match winning streak and won 14 of 16 matches on clay after the four week Latin American circuit.

Top Czech Republic native Radek Stepanek, at 30, is the oldest player in the Top 20 South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings. Stepanek has improved eight positions to No. 18 from the ‘08 year-end rankings by winning two ATP World Tour titles and reaching another final. Stepanek, who is off to a career-best 16-3 start, opened the year with a title in Brisbane and last month won in San Jose. He also reached the final in Memphis. Stepanek won his first two career ATP World Tour titles in a span of 152 tournaments and this year won twice in his first four outings.

Top Croat Marin Cilic, who is ranked No. 19, has won 15 of 17 matches to begin the year with ATP World Tour titles in Chennai and Zagreb. He also advanced to the fourth round at the Australian Open for the second straight year.

The biggest ranking climber in the Top 50 from last season’s year-end rankings is 29-year-old Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello, who has improved 35 spots from No. 85 to No. 50. The Buenos Aires resident finished last season by winning the Lima Challenger and last week reached his second career ATP World Tour semi-final, losing to eventual champion Nicolas Almagro.

The second-biggest ranking jumper in the Top 50 from last year is 22-year-old Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, who has climbed 24 spots to a career-high No. 49. Chardy reachd his first ATP World Tour final in Johannesburg where he lost to countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and advanced to the semi-finals in Delray Beach. His 10 match wins already equals his total from last season.

2009 ATP World Tour Match Wins Leaders
Player Win-Loss
1 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 19-3
2 Tommy Robredo 18-4
3 Andy Roddick 17-3
4 Radek Stepanek 16-3
5 Andy Murray 15-1
6 Marin Cilic 15-2
7 Novak Djokovic 14-4
8 Rafael Nadal 13-2
9 Gael Monfils 13-5

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Tommy Robredo won titles in consecutive weeks for the first time in his career Sunday by toughing out a 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(5) win over 2007 champion Juan Monaco in the final of the Copa Telmex, an ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in Buenos Aires.

Robredo extended his winning streak to 10 matches following his title run last week at the Brasil Open. Robredo now has won nine ATP World Tour titles, with eight of those victories coming on clay.

Collecting $93,000 and 250 South African Airways ATP Rankings points, Robredo boosts his chances of qualifying for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Robredo, 26, who also needed three sets to win the Costa do Sauipe final over Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci last week, lost momentum when rain interrupted the final in the second game of the second set. And in the third set he was down 0-3 and later 2-4 before fighting back.

Having worked his way into a winning position late in the match, Robredo was unable to convert three break point opportunities at 0/40, 5-5 on Monaco’s serve in the third set. And in the deciding tie-break he let slip a 6/2 lead before closing out the match on his fourth match point.

“Coming back from the rain break I felt a bit tired,” Robredo said. “All of a sudden I wasn’t moving as well. But in the third set I picked back up and played great tennis.

“Juan played very well and the truth is the match was decided by a few points. Anyone of us could have won the match.

“I am very happy for having won back-to-back titles for the first time in my career. It feels great.

“I trained hard to be able to play well in consecutive weeks. I have to thank my team for helping me to get ready for this week.”

The Spaniard boasts an ATP World Tour-best 12-1 record on clay this season and a 16-3 overall match record. Last week in Costa do Sauipe he won the singles and doubles titles (w/Granollers) at the same tournament for the first time in his career

Robredo was playing in Buenos Aires for the first time since suffering a second round exit (l. to Vicente) on debut in 2001. He finished in the Top 30 for eighth straight year in 2008.

Monaco said: “I had my chances in the third set when I was up 3-0 and 4-2 with opportunities to go up 5-2. I have to give the credit to him for fighting hard and playing the important points very well. At 5-4 in the third set, he played two very good points from 30-all to win his service game. In the end of the day I had my chances but it was fair for him to win the match.

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Spanish Team doctor Angel Ruiz-Cottoro has diagnosed Nadal’s knee injury as tendinitis that will require several days treatment, followed by several days of rest. After more tests are made following his rest, Rafa may start light on-court training, if he feels any sign of pain he must agree to a period of complete rest and no exercise if he wishes to avoid a knee operation. Davis Cup coach Emillio Sanchez says he will not select Nadal to represent Spain if he is not 100% fit. Rafael has been quoted as saying that he will do almost anything possible to play against Argentine, but will abide by any decision that is made by coach Sanchez and his own coach Uncle Tony. He knows an early return could be disastrous to his playing career, and at just 20 years of age it is the toughest position he has ever had to face.

Emilio Sanchez is faced with a tough decision. He knows that without Rafa the Spanish team will be the under dogs, he also knows that his choice of players has to be based not only on their current rankings but also on their ability to rise to the occasion and play their best on the unfamiliar courts in Buenos Aires. Spain does have many top players that Sanchez can select, David Ferer was to be Nadal’s teammate as the second singles player even though he has been in a slump and has dropped from 6^th. to 12^th. place. The doubles pair were to be Fernando Verdasco(ranked #16) and Felix Lopez(ranked #31). Veteran Tommy Robredo who is currently ranked at #19 might be the choice to join the team, this would provide Coach Sanchez with several options as to who he uses for singles and who he pairs up to play doubles.

The team from Argentine now looks to be the strongest in singles, but has made a change in the selection of the doubles pairing which lost to the Russian team in the semi final. Guillermo Canas has been replaced by Jose Acasusa, since his ranking has dropped to 77^th.

Without Nadal in the mix, the whole picture changes. Spain is no longer guaranteed to win any singles matches, it would have been hard to believe that had he played Nadal would have lost both of his matches, and winning two singles matches out of the four that comprise the Davis Cup might rest on the shoulders of Ferrer and Verdasco. Tommy Robredo is a ‘big’ match player, he sometimes plays better than his ranking would suggest, he is also experienced and might just take a match from the young Argentine player del Potro who will be under extreme pressure playing in front of his home country fans, and tired from playing in the Shanghai Masters Cup. Spain should win the doubles with any combination of players, and it will be the coaches decision as to who he uses against Nalbandian and del Potro in singles..

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