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DRAW|Singles| Qualifying | Doubles 


2009 champion tursunov

Final

player one result player two
D. TURSUNOV [2] 6-3, 7-6
 F. DANCEVIC 


Tursunov turns on the style

Boos greet qualifier Dancevic | Final countdown

No2 seed Dmitry TursunovWithdrawals of top players Gael Monfils and Radek Stepanek, as exclusively revealed by eastbournetennis.net, initially left the men's draw looking flat compared to the strongest ever women's draw. And the fears were realised as boos from the Centre Court's North Stand rang out as qualifier Frank Dancevic was introduced to the crowd.

Little-known Canadian Dancevic was not playing his usual serve and volley game for the first time since the qualifying event, which proved costly in the final against the formidable hitting of powerful no2 seed Dmitry Tursunov (pictured).

On paper it should have been a breeze for the world no27 from Russia to capture his sixth ATP Tour title. But the Canadian serve and volley expert Dancevic showed that he was no pushover, despite having never won an ATP Tour title and being world ranked no127 going into the final.

But after Tursunov raced away with the opening set, the second set became a tighter contest that was decided on the second match point for the Russian to claim his first title of 2009 with a 6-3, 7-6 success and only his second tournament following a two month ankle injury.
 
And Tursunov required treatment for an ankle knock in the closing stages. The California-based Russian formerly from Moscow explained: "It’s good to win, it doesn’t matter which surface it is on. It is human nature to want to beat someone else because it feels good to win whether it’s Eastbourne, Wimbledon, a Futures or a Challenger event or beating your grandmother at chequers," explained
 
He added: “Playing on grass can be tough because we only get three or four weeks on it, so players are a bit like cats in water. It’s given me some practice on grass, which is very important in the lead-in to Wimbledon, and it seems like a good surface to me. Last season I didn't play as many matches ahead of Wimbledon.” 

And Dancevic will be disappointed that this was the second time he had lost an ATP Tour final, and each time Tusunov has been the victor. The Canadian defeated American Andy Roddick in the semi-finals at 2007 Indianapolis and was seeking revenge at Devonshire Park for the reversal to Tursunov. 

Yet Dancevic almost didn't make it through to his Centre Court debut on Monday 15th June, where he completely outwitted top seed Igor Andreev from Russia.

Dancevic said: "I actually twisted my leg in qualies and thought I wouldn't be able to play the next day. But I've had some great treatment from the physios here this week and I've faced some great players. But I have just taken it match-by-match starting with the qualies."

The draw on June 13th was a real anti-climax after the intriguing women's match ups were revealed, and in terms of star quality names the weak men's draw deteriorated fast during the week. Seeds were scattered from the initial Sunday - when the first round kicked off - until Thursday's thrilling matches when all three remaining seeded players survived scares.

But the Lawn Tennis Association offered wildcard entries to a set of British players with Joshua Gooding and James Ward impressing. And Ward surprised even himself with a straightforward first round triumph over Czech Ivo Minar before being bounced out in two sets on Centre Court by Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic.  

Dancevic saw off Russian no1 seed Igor Andreev in round one and breezed into the semi-final where he beat 37-year-old veteran Fabrice Santoro (no4 seed). The French ace is playing in his farewell ATP Tour and only made the last four at the unfortunate expense of a freak ankle injury to Croatian Ivan Ljubicic in their second set.

Dmitry Tursunov (pictured), the no2 seed, had little difficulty in making the semis despite being given a Centre Court scare by Brit Alex Bogdanovic. The Russian destroyed in-form Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, the no8 seed, who on Friday needed three sets to end the run of crowd favourite Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia on Centre Court.

Although the men's main draw has generally only been on a parallel to the women's qualifying draw, the positive news for the tournament organisers has been the domination of home-grown talent that attracted the interest from Britain's Davis Cup skipper John Lloyd for two days. But the negative news has been the crowds constantly flocking away from the Centre Court to watch some of the big names in the women'sgame who are past their sell-by date.

Although the overall lack of interest in the ATP Tour's event at Devonshire Park was not just from spectators but also competitors, which was highlighted by the lack of entrants for the men's qualifying draw so extended an invitation to a promising local 16-year-old to take part. Accordingly, the ATP Tour considered the first two rounds of qualifying to be of such a low standard - more like a lower tier Challenger event - that for those who failed to progress past the first two rounds of qualifying received no world ranking points and no prize money!

Double trouble hits draw

Men's main draw on Sunday alongside qualifying

gael monfils requires surgery and may miss eastbourneGael Monfils and Radek Stepanek have withdrawn from Eastbourne's inaugural AEGON International with injuries, prompting the tournament organisers to bring the first round forward by 24 hours to Sunday.

And although eastbournetennis.net exclusively revealed that the provisional top two seeds have been on the injured list, tournament director Gavin Fletcher has failed to call in any big names as wildcards.

Monfils missed the event with a left wrist and left kneecap injury while Stepanek's ankle keeps even brings his partipation at Wimbledon into doubt.

Although French ace Monfils already had a severe left kneecap problem he played in the French Open and, more surprisingly, at Queen's Club. But the 22-year-old withdrew from the 2009 AEGON Championships in London with yet another injury, this time to his wrist following the second round struggle over Russian Andrey Golubev.

And Czech star Stepanek's ankle injury is likely to keep him out of the pre-Wimbledon event in his race be fit for the more lucrative Championships at SW19.

Organisers have long known that their top two provisional seeds have been doubtful and were aiming to lure Britain's Andy Murray as a wildcard, but Murray has breezed through the draw at the grass court tournament at Queen's Club in London.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) told eastbournetennis.net on Friday: "Stepanek and Monfils are still entered into the tournament." 

But eastbournetennis.net learned that neither player was fully fit to compete at Devonshire Park.

Stepanek's doctor, Dr Rene Kloc, confirmed about the ankle injury to the 30-year-old: “The ligaments are not torn but are badly swollen, his involvement in Wimbledon is uncertain.”

And Monfils said: “I think I twisted my wrist, my wrist is not very good.”

Indeed Monfils' wrist injury has resulted in him recently withdrawing from other ATP Tour events including the 2009 Australian Open.

Murray was a typical dour Scot after his exit at Roland Garros and said about his involvement at Queen's Club: "You want to play matches to get used to the courts and the movement on grass, but it's not the end of the world if you lose early. There are a lot of exhibition events the following week and the Eastbourne tournament's not a long way away. If you feel like you want competitive matches you can go there, though ideally I'd have a decent run at Queen's."

andy murray could play eastbourneBut the bad news for organisers at Eastbourne is that Murray had an excellent run at Queen's Club, partly because that tournament was lacking the usual array of tennis stars that have sparkled at the prestigious event over the years.

With Murray given no real competition en route to winning the 2009 AEGON Championships in London, the Scottish ace was not keen to be worn out before his best ever shot at Wimbledon. And the 22-year-old has a tendency to run out of steam at larger tournaments, particularly best of five set matches.

The LTA told eastbournetennis.net: "With regard to Andy Murray, he has not entered the tournament yet. If he should request a wildcard, while there are still wildcards available, then he will be given one."

Monfils' latest injury setback gives him the chance to rest as he requires surgery to his ongoing left kneecap injury, but the French star has decided to wait until the grass court season finishes before considering going under the knife.

Monfils continued his annual heroics at the French Open, beaten in the last eight by eventual champion Roger Federer in 2009 having reached the semi-finals in 2008, despite the French Tennis Federation (FTF) revealing that his left kneecap requires urgent surgery.

Having only played one ATP Tour match on clay in the previous six weeks going into Roland Garros, easily brushed aside at the Monte Carlo Masters, Monfils needed to do well at Paris in order to pick up precious world ranking points after briefly slipping out of the world's top 10 for lack of matches.

Stepanek retired injured at the Prosrejov Challenger event in early June, immediately after reaching the third round at Roland Garros, and skipped Eastbourne 2009. Stepanek has suffered many injuries in the past, which has jeopardised his progress as a regular top 10 player.   

That takes the tally of three major players missing from the men's draw  - following the suspension of crowd-favourite Richard Gasquet - and means that no one from the world's top 20 features for the first ever AEGON International. 

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Gasquet hit by suspension

gasquet missing his eastbourne debutRichard Gasquet has been hit by a provisional suspension from the ATP Tour as from May 12th. The French ace will miss Eastbourne's first ever AEGON International because he tested positive for cocaine at a tournament in March.

The player admitted to returning a positive urine sample at Miami's Sony Ericsson Open.

Gasquet explained in a statement dated 10th May: "The test of the B sample submitted at the end of March 2009 confirmed the positive result of the A sample taken on the same day. I want to prove my innocence and will explain myself at an appropriate time."

Gasquet's suspension means that a hearing takes place around 60 days later, meaning that he will be able to explain the results to an anti-doping tribunal around mid-July. He will be unable to compete at the French Open, Eastbourne or Wimbledon during that period. This will be a personal and financial blow for the Frenchman, who was a hot favourite to capture the 2009 Eastbourne title.

“Tennis on grass has always been special to me," said Gasquet, who has twice won at Nottingham and reached the final four at 2007 Wimbledon.

Monfils heads strong set

monfils is provisional top seedGael Monfils looks most likely to be named as the top seed for the inaugural AEGON International at Devonshire Park, left kneecap injury permitting.

But he faces some stiff competition to take over as no1, as the seedings are expected to follow the current world rankings at the time of the main draw on June 13th.

Compatriot Richard Gasquet, who has twice won the pre-Wimbledon event at Nottingham has been forced to miss the event at Eastbourne as well as the grand slams at Roland Garros and SW19.

The other players who would be seeded are Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek (no2), Russian Dmitry Tursunov (no3), Austrian Jurgen Meizer (no4), Russian Igor Andreev (no5), Italian Andreas Seppi (no6) and the France pair of Paul-Henri Mathieu (no7) and Fabrice Santoro (no8). 

Although there are a number of dangerous opponents for the seeds to avoid early on who are rapidly climbing the world rankings, these include youngsters Fabio Fognini and Teimuraz Gabashvili as well as veterans Tommy Haas and Ivan Ljubicic. But Ljubicic, who reached the dizzy heights of world no3 earlier in his career, could easily deny Santoro - another veteran - of being seeded.

However, the exact seeds are not determined until the draw takes place on Saturday 13th June and are anticipated to follow the world rankings at that time.

But with Monfils doubtful of competing and his French compatriot Gasquet definitely a no-show, the organisers may need to tempt some stars out the world's top 10 to compete in the highly anticipated inaugural AEGON International as the men's draw is not anywhere as near impressive as the entrants in the ladies tournament.

Serving up a new era

2009 AEGON International | 13-20 June

men's tennisDevonshire Park will play host to the combined tennis tournaments at Eastbourne for the first time in June 2009. 

The ATP event, formerly held in Nottingham, moves to the English south coast resort for a five-year stint as the premier Wimbledon tune-up event.

The 2009 AEGON International will bring together the world's leading players on the ATP Tour and WTA Tour. And there should be plenty of excitement for fans because this tournament is the final chance for players to warm up before Wimbledon, which starts the following week. 

The ATP's 2008 event in Nottingham saw Ivo Karlovic retain his title to register a three set thriller over Spanish livewire Fernando Verdasco. And the Croatian ace saved a match point to register a 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-6(8) triumph. 

The 2009 AEGON International tennis feast kicks off on the sunny courts of the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club from 13-20 June. If you want to know what is going on, then why not sign up for free text alert details. And everyone who signs up is entered into monthly draw to win a mobile phone if they also provide their postcode, name and email address.

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No ordinary world

Cavendish: No Tom, Dick or Harry welcome

Cavenish hotelWith two first-class hotels in Eastbourne having always proved popular with the leading names from the sport during the pre-Wimbledon tournament, there had long been whispers around the town that some of the top players will visit the south coast in June.

And rumours were rippling in the gentile town centre of Eastbourne in January that four players currently in the world's top 10 had provisionally booked their accommodation to compete in the AEGON International. But with the names of players now available, it would take a minor miracle for there to be more than one or two in the top 10 when they step onto the grass at Devonshire Park.

Ashley Proctor, manager of the seafront Cavendish hotel, revealed that she has tennis stars staying and said: "We've already got all the top players staying here for the tournament so I don't want any Tom, Dick and Harry staying, otherwise I'll have to sort out more security!"

So, if you consider yourself to be a "Tom, Dick or Harry", forget stopping at the Cavendish in Eastbourne! There are surely plenty of other hotels and guesthouses that would be much more welcoming that Ms Proctor. 

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Free text alerts | May 2009 | Features