David Nalbandian made a shaky start on Tuesday at the Barcelona Open before eventually overcoming his demons with a win over a fellow Argentine.
The third seed managed a tortured 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 second-round victory against compatriot Agustin Calleri, playing the event for the eighth time.
“I’m not happy at all with my match,” said Nalbandian, winner of his eighth ATP title this spring in Buenos Aires.
PHOTO: EPA
“It was windy and it’s so tough to play a Davis Cup teammate,” he said. “I have to really lift my level. I must improve day by day if I’m to even think about going much farther.”
Seventh seed Murray was upended in unceremonious fashion as Croatian Mario Ancic took 6-4, 6-4 revenge in their second-round clash after losing February’s Marseille final to the British No. 1. But after winning a pair last week in Monte Carlo, late wild card entry Murray admitted that he was barely motivated in his match-up with Ancic.
“I didn’t get that fired-up,” said the Scot, back in the Top 20 but far from his former Top-10 status. “I was going to be here practicing anyway, so I had hoped to get a few matches.”
Murray spent his junior days in Barcelona but finds himself still unable to compete consistently well on the surface. His only win here came in 2006.
“I was flat at the start, but my priority is to train for Rome and Hamburg. I wanted to continue form last week, but [playing here] is not the be-all and end-all,” he said. “I’ve now got four or five days to get ready for Rome. It and Hamburg are the most important ones going into the French Open. All of the major players should be there, which was not the case last week.”
Former French Open finalist Guillermo Coria took a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili.
Spanish seeds advanced without difficulty as their opponents failed to finish.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
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EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
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