2010 Friday news

AEGON International | Eastbourne

PREVIEW 18 June 2010

Michael Llodra (no8) defeated Oleksandr Dolgopolov
6-3 7-5

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Michael Llodra's grass court season has beeen impressive, and he will be a dangerous floater at The Wimbledon Championships.

The French left-hander easily beat Marin Cilic at Queen's Club, London, and annihilated compatriot Gilles Simon, no3 seed, in the yesterday's quarter-final 6-1, 6-3.

Aleksandr Dolgopolov’s skipped the most difficult opponents, with Spaniard Feliciano Lopez and German Rainer Schuettler ousted. The Ukraine ace faced British no5 James Ward on Centre Court but the wildcard showed nerves to fall 6-3, 6-4.

Although shock semi-finalist Dolgopolov’s game is not naturally suited to grass, he has relied on powerful and accurate serving. But Llodra has been in empahtic form so should ease through to the final.

Denis Istomin lost to
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (no5)
6-3 3-6 5-7

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Unseeded Denis Istomin, who tested Rafael Nadal at Queen's Club, London, has continued his rich vein of form on grass.

The Uzbekistan ace had a generous draw, full of clay court experts -  Eduardo Schwank, Illya Marchenko and Nicolas Almagro - to reach the semi-finals without dropping a set.

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, the no5 seed, had a tough tak to see off French star Julien Benneteau 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 in a marathon match.

The Spaniard made the last four at Eastbourne 2009, and will do well to see off Istomin and make the final.

Friday matches

2009 AEGON International | 19 June


Frank Dancevic (qualifier) vs Fabrice Santoro (no4 seed)
Dimitry Tursunov (no2 seed) vs Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (no8 seed)

Friday news

2009 AEGON International | 19 June

The two men's semi-finals were not as badly hit by the biting winds on Centre Court, as Canadian Frank Dancevic and Russian Dmitry Tursunov reached the final with few problems.

But with the crowd less than enthusiastic because of the bitterly cold winds and only odd spot of sunshine, the ambience for such a grand occasional as the semi-finals of a world-class event was sadly lacking.

But world no126 Dancevic surprised even himself by knocking out top seed Igor Andreev on Monday and has breezed through the draw to book his deserved place in the final against Tursunov. His latest victim was French veteran Fabrice Santoro, whose delightful and elegant play was the highlight of an otherwise tame semi-final that Dancevic won .6-4, 6-4 and served seven aces.


"It's been a really fun experience getting to the finals," said Dancevic. "I've faced some great players but ust taken it match-by-match. I actually twisted my leg in qualifying and thought I wouldn't be able to play the next day.  It's been a really tough road to the finals."

Veteran Tursunov turned on the style to surprisingly outclass tall Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2 6-2 in 70 minutes and is the overwhelming favourite to capture the inaugural AEGON International tournament to add to his five ATP Tour titles.
 
The world no27, seeded no2 after a number of higher profile players withdrew because of injury, smiled: “it was good to get this one done particularly as they weren’t the easiest conditions to play in. I’m pleased it was a quick match today as I’d had some longer matches at the start of the week."

And with virtually 100 world ranking places dividing the finalists, the serve and volley tactics by the canny Canadian does not mean that Tursunov will be able to dictate play like he did against baseliner Garcia-Lopez.

"This surface suits him because he likes to come into the net,” admitted Tursanov. "It will be a tough match and the difference in ranking doesn’t matter, his results this week speak for the quality of his game.”
 
Australian Rennae Stubbs, who on Friday with compatriot Sam Stosur reached the women’s doubles final against Akgul Amanmuradova and Ai Sugiyama, beamed: “It’s been great having the guys around!” 

2009 tennis videos 

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Click here for video playlist 2

Click here for video playlist 3