French qualifier Albano Olivetti, ranked 388th and playing in the main draw of an ATP event for the first time, stunned Mardy Fish 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the second round of the Open 13 on Thursday.
The second-seeded US player rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the second set to level the match. However, Olivetti jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the decider and kept his composure to earn the biggest victory of his young career.
“That’s just a number next to his name right now,” Fish said of Olivetti’s ranking. “He won’t be there for very long if he continues to play like that.”
Photo: AFP
Fish compared Olivetti’s serve to Ivo Karlovic and John Isner.
“He puts pressure on you with his serve and that’s what big servers do,” Fish said.
“He probably has one of the hardest serves I’ve ever played against. He hit me with a serve and I almost hurt my left wrist,” Fish added.
Olivetti served 23 aces, but also made nine double-faults.
Olivetti is scheduled to meet Michael Llodra in an all-French quarter-final.
Llodra downed sixth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (5).
Llodra had 19 aces and the 2010 champion won four straight points to take a 5-2 lead in the deciding tiebreaker.
Juan Martin del Potro also advanced to the quarter-finals when a right foot injury forced Nikolay Davydenko of Russia to retire with the match level at one set apiece.
The fourth-seeded Argentine lost the opening set 7-6 (6), but took the second 6-4 when Davydenko said he couldn’t continue.
Del Potro fought back in the second set, breaking for a 4-3 lead when Davydenko double-faulted. He served his 16th ace to close it out.
He will next face Richard Gasquet, who cruised past Igor Kunitsyn of Russia 6-3, 6-2.
The fifth-seeded Frenchman broke Kunitsyn’s serve three times and saved all six break points he faced. Gasquet has now reached the quarter-finals four times this season.
Del Potro paid tribute to the victims of Wednesday’s train crash in Buenos Aires by wearing a black ribbon on his T-shirt. Fifty people died when the train crashed at a downtown station.
COPA CLARO
AP, BUENOS AIRES
Seeded players Gilles Simon of France, Fernando Verdasco of Spain and local favorite Juan Monaco were knocked out in the second round of the Copa Claro on Thursday.
Carlos Berlocq of Argentina beat the third-seeded Simon 6-2, 6-1 and Igor Andreev of Russia downed No. 7 Verdasco 7-6 (3), 6-3 at the clay-court tournament.
Argentine David Nalbandian defeated No. 5 Monaco 6-3, 6-1.
One seeded player survived: No. 2 Nicolas Almagro of Spain had an easy time beating Federico Delbonis of Argentina 6-3, 6-2.
Nalbandian was to face fellow Argentine Berlocq in yesterday’s quarter-finals.
Jesper Boqvist on Tuesday scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period as the Florida Panthers, after raising their second straight NHL Stanley Cup banner, opened the defense of the title by beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2. Mackie Samoskevich — getting his second assist, the fifth two-point game of his career — chipped the puck toward the goal and Boqvist knocked it out of the air for the lead with 10 minutes, 20 seconds left. A.J. Greer and Carter Verhaeghe also had goals for Florida, who got 17 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. Frank Nazar had a goal and an assist and Teuvo
Mexico’s teenage playmaker Gilberto Mora has lit up the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile as he basks in the limelight afforded by the absences of Barcelona and Real Madrid stars Lamine Yamal and Franco Mastantuono. “I don’t know if I’m the biggest star, and I’m not really interested in that. I think you can always give more,” 16-year-old Mora said before Mexico’s 4-1 win against host nation Chile in the round-of-16 on Tuesday, in which he provided the assist for the opening goal. Next on Mora’s schedule is a quarter-final clash against Argentina this morning Taiwan time, but after
World No. 3 Alexander Zverev on Monday said that he was playing “terrible tennis” after he was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters by France’s Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. His exit leaves Novak Djokovic as the tournament’s top-ranked player, increasing the 38-year-old Serb’s chances of winning a record-extending fifth title in the Chinese financial hub. In stifling conditions, world No. 54 Rinderknech came back from a set down to stun an increasingly rattled Zverev into submission. It is the second time the Frenchman has beaten him, after bundling him out of Wimbledon earlier this year. A despondent Zverev told reporters the match had
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Nathan Lukes hit a two-run single and Addison Barger had three of Toronto’s 12 hits as the Blue Jays bounced back After taking down the storied New York Yankees in their own ballpark in their American League Division Series on Wednesday, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ready to revel in the triumph. “Start spreading the news,” Schneider said while popping a bottle of bubbly to set off the Blue Jays’ jubilant celebration inside their Yankee Stadium clubhouse. With the party under way, the familiar lyrics from Frank Sinatra’s version of New York, New York — the Yankees’ long-time victory anthem — sounded in the background as roaring Toronto players sprayed each other with booze in the Bronx. This time, it was their
RSS