Roger Federer landed in Stockholm on Monday afternoon to make good on the promise he was unable to keep two years ago, with the Swiss keen to bounce back after his finals loss to Andy Murray in Shanghai.
The 16-time Grand Slam winner announced on his Facebook page in the early evening that he was finally on the ground in the Swedish capital after leaving China earlier in the day. He will begin his Stockholm Open campaign tomorrow evening in the second round after playing there in 2000 and losing in the second round to Sweden’s Andreas Vinciguerra.
The world No. 2 will take to the court against the winner of the match between American Taylor Dent and Michael Przysiezny from Poland.
Photo: EPA
In 2008, Federer withdrew from much of the autumn season to rest after beating glandular fever earlier in the year. One of his scheduling victims was the modest Stockholm event, now run by former playing colleagues Thomas Johansson and Jonas Bjorkman.
There is now no stopping the Swiss from fulfilling what he believes is an important obligation to the event.
“I felt like I owed Stockholm to come back there,” he said in Shanghai after losing his title bid in straight sets on Sunday to Murray.
Stockholm is the beginning of the end of Federer’s season which still includes his home event in Basel from Nov. 1, the Paris Masters and the eight-man season final in London next month.
“I hope also by playing Stockholm is going to help me to play well in Basel, Paris and then London. There are still a lot of points to pick up and many important events for me,” said the owner of a mere two titles (Australian Open, Cincinnati Masters) this year.
Federer admits that part of the reason for his stepped-up autumn program is his lack of success at the two summer Grand Slams.
“The French and Wimbledon [quarter-final defeats at both] were nothing as brutal as last year. That’s why also for me it was a big priority at the beginning of the year to play Shanghai. I was considering either playing the week before Shanghai or the week after,” he said.
With Federer heading the seeding, Swedish rival Robin Soderling — who lost 6-1, 6-1 to the Swiss in a Shanghai semi-final blowout — stands second ahead of Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych and Croatian Ivan Ljubicic.
Federer’s compatriot, the fifth seeded Stanislas Wawrinka, was the star on show on Monday and won 12 of 14 games on his way to beating Italian Andreas Seppi 6-2, 6-2.
The 21st-ranked wild card winner went through in 79 minutes, converting on five of 16 break chances and improved to 32-16 for the season. Swedish world No. 392 Michael Ryderstedt earned his first ATP-level win of the year with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 defeat of Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver. Finn Jarkko Nieminen struck 45 winners and recovered from a break in the final set to knock out German Michael Berrer 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
? KREMLIN CUP
AP and AFP, MOSCOW
The joint WTA and ATP Kremlin Cup tournament saw an upset yesterday, as fifth-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy was eliminated in the first round, losing to Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
The 23rd-ranked Pennetta struggled on her serve in the third set.
She saved three break points in the second game and two more in the fourth before Vesnina eventually broke for a 3-1 lead. Vesnina earned two match points with a precise crosscourt forehand and converted the second when Pennetta failed to return her crosscourt shot.
The upset came the day after another one, when Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, fourth seed, lost to Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.
Cibulkova, 31st in the WTA rankings, won 7-6 (7/5), 2-6, 6-0 in two hours 13 minutes to level her head-to head record with Pavlyuchenkova at one all.
“I have nobody to blame for the defeat except myself,” Pavlyuchenkova said. “I played well in the first set and won the second but lost concentration completely in the third. The defeat is my fault only.”
The opponents both looked nervous from the start, producing a series of unforced errors but kept their serves until the seventh game, when the 19-year-old Pavlyuchenkova broke.
Cibulkova broke back immediately but Pavlyuchenkova produced another break in the 11th game. However, the 21-year-old Slovak leveled again forcing a tiebreak, which she won clinching a one-set lead after one hour, two minutes.
Pavlyuchenkova, 21st in the world, replied positively, breaking her rival’s serve twice in the second set to level at 1-1, while Cibulkova replied with a break on one occasion.
However, in the third set Pavlyuchenkova suddenly lost her nerve, producing a series of errors, while Cibulkova added power to her attacks to break her rival throughout the set. She took it without losing a game to reach the second round.
Spanish eighth seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez beat Russia’s Alla Kudryavtseva 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 in one hour, 45 minutes to record her second win over the 22-year-old Moscow-born player in as many meetings.
The lefthander came into the match full of confidence, breaking twice from the start for a 3-0 lead before Kudryavtseva, who appeared in the main draw courtesy of a wild card, chalked up her first game, also with a break.
However, Barcelona resident Martinez Sanchez, 28, produced two more breaks to take the opening set in 23 minutes, while her opponent made a string of errors.
The pair traded breaks throughout the second set but Kudryavtseva hit with slightly more accuracy to level at one set all after one hour, 17 minutes on court.
In the deciding set the Spaniard was in complete control, breaking twice for a commanding 5-0 advantage before going on to win the set and the match.
In the ATP section of the event Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, seeded seventh, advanced into the second round with a hard-fought win over unheralded American Michael Russell.
Stakhovsky, 35th in the world, broke mid-way into the opening set and managed to keep his lead to lift take the first set in 39 minutes.
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