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2010 Saturday news

AEGON International | Eastbourne

Final report

AEGON International | 19 June 2010

Mauresmo gives Llodra lift to title

French ace Michael Llodra was crowned 2010 Eastbourne champion after brushing aside Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in their baseline battle, following vital tactical advice from compatriot and ex-Wimbledon winner Amelie Mauresmo.

Veteran Llodra hit 11 aces to dismiss the Spaniard in the rain-interrupted final to win 7-5, 6-2 in quickfire 67 minutes and earn his second title of the season.

World no46 Llodra, who had hit 50 aces at the tournament to reach the final showdown, had few problems with his magnificent serve to hold all 10 service games against Garcia-Lopez.

The opening set was a tight cat-and-mouse contest, with Llodra securing the only serve break in the 11th game for a deserved 6-5 lead and nine aces. 

Left-hander Llodra was constantly getting caught out by Garcia-Lopez's powerful passing shots, so had to abandon his usually reliable serve and volley tactics.

The 30-year-old served out the set to edge ahead without facing a single break point, and held Garcia-Lopez to just two points on the return in the first set.

When rain briefly interrupted play during the third game of the second set, the Centre Court crowd were feeling the cold and hoping for a ray of sunshine to break through.

But the only brightness was Llodra's much improved game after the short delay. After further advice from on-watching short-term coach Mauresmo, Llodra lifted his game to move up a gear and outplay his clay court expert opponent.

The Spanish world no41's costly double fault gave Llodra the lead but then the French ace made a meal out of completing the rout.

Llodra had to save two break points, the only ones he face in the final, and was cagey in breaking Garcia-Lopez's serve in the eighth game of the second set to capture the title.

This was Llodra's fifth career title and his second on grass after triumphing at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2004.

Llodra said: "I know I can play well on grass, but you still have to do the job out there on the court. It's always a pleasure to win a title, it doesn't happen every week so you have to enjoy it when it happens. 

"It's been a great week and I felt good right from the beginning. At 6-5 in the first set it was a great time to break and I knew that if I stayed focused I would get my chances. Then it helped to serve first in the second set.”

"When I came here I had a good sensation and it was a very good week, it's been really nice. I've been working with Amelie [Mauresmo] for two weeks now, we discuss a lot my game outside the court so I now feel more comfortable. I know the job I have to do, I can win or I can lose but I feel very relaxed, so I have to say a big thank you to Amelie."

Final preview

AEGON International | 19 June 2010

Michael Llodra (FRA) vs Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)

French ace Michael Llodra has been a dangerous floater this season on grass but has taken his compact, high energy game to a higher level thanks to coaching from compatriot Amelie Mauresmo.

With an exceptional game on hard courts, the ex-Wimbledon champion injection of ideas and tactics for the grass court season seems to be paying dividends for Llodra (pictured left) with 50 aces served so far in previous rounds of the 2010 AEGON Championships.

The world no46 is seeking a second ATP Tour title this campaign following success in front of home fans at February's Marseille Open. Llodra has four titles from eight finals during his esteemed career.
In contrast Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, the world no41, is bidding to capture only his second-career ATP World Tour title.

The Spanish no5 seed, playing his first final since winning the 2009 title in Kitzbuhel, has had to work hard to reach the final with stuttering victories over veteran Marc Gicquel and compatriot Julien Benneteau, the no4 seed.

Garcia-Lopez reached the final after bouncing back from a set down to battling Uzbezistan star Denis Istomin in a marathon 117minute semi-final showdown 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

This is the first career meeting between the two players.

2009 final report

AEGON International | 20 June

Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) defeated Frank Dancevic (Canada)  6-3, 7-6

"It’s good to win, it doesn’t matter which surface it is on,” served up newly-crowned Eastbourne 2009 singles champion Dmitry Tursunov after capturing his first title of the season.

The Miami-based Russian, originally from Moscow, had struggled in the first three rounds to overcome opponents but had few problems in sealing success at the AEGON International at the expense of qualifier Frank Dancevic 6-3, 7-6.

The tournament no2 seed walked away with the opening set as Canadian serve and volley expert Dancevic played defensively. And Tursunov's participation was in slight jeopardy after he required treatment to his ankle midway through the second set, which had previously resulted in a two-month rest from the ATP Tour.
 
“It's a great feeling. I suffered a bit in the second set but now I feel great,"  admitted Tursunov. "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, but it seems like a good surface to me. Obviously it’s given me some practice on grass, which is very important in the lead-in to Wimbledon as last season I didn't play as many matches ahead of Wimbledon."

Road to men's final

Preview by Ross Hudson

Russian no2 seed Dmitry Tursunov (world no27)
vs.
Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic (world no126)

FRANK DANCEVIC ||| Canadian, Unseeded 
At 6'1" Canadian Frank Dancevic may not have been a giant but he has been the giantkiller of the first ever ATP Tour event at Eastbourne and has constantly played on Centre Court.

He managed to pick up the pieces in the main draw after squeezing through the qualifying rounds despite a slight injury that jeopardised his involvement against the top seed on Monday. 

Had he not faced such an opportunity as playing someone in the world's top 30 - and on Centre Court - then Dancevic may well have rested for next week's Wimbledon. And he played out of his skin to spectacularly see off Russian Igor Andreev, 7-6(6), 6-2. 

Given slightly more trouble to dispatch British wildcard James Ward, who at world no224 was the only player ranked lower than him that he's faced in the main draw, Dancevic edged through the second round contest 7-6(6), 6-4 in the second round.

He avoided playing a seed in the quarter-finals because France's Julian Benneteau upset no5 seed Mikhail Youzhny, a quarter-finalist at Queen's Club the previous week, and Argentina's Leonardo Mayer beat Benneteau. The encounter against world no70 Mayer proved to be Dancevic's toughest match en route to the final despite the 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 result.

"It was a difficult match and I was lucky to hang in there," said the 24-year-old. "I came into this tournament wanting to get a few matches before Wimbledon and I'm on a pretty good roll. Grass is definitely one of my favourite surfaces and when I play on grass I feel at home."

In a one-way semi-final Dancevic defeated no4 seed Fabrice 'The Magician' Santoro. The French veteran remains a force to be reckoned with, despite playing his final year on the ATP Tour, but Dancevic survived the legendarily tricky shots coming from the other side of the net to progress 6-4, 6-4.

"I played super aggressive today against Fabrice," admitted serve and volley expert Dancevic. "It was a difficult match because of the way he plays and the wind, but I went out thinking I'm going to go for everything and hit the ball as hard as I can."

Dancevic has played in one ATP Tour final, beaten by Dmitry Tursunov at 2007 Indianapolis.

Final record || won 0 lost 1
 
DMITRY TURSUNOV ||| Russian, Seeded no2
As expected, Dmitry Tursunov has reached the inaugural ATP Tour final at Devonshire Park. The world no27 opened his campaign by struggling against enthusiastic Italian Fabio Fognini 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

 The 26-year-old Russian was almost out of the tournament in the second round when he was fully stretched by Alex Bogdanovic in a three set thriller on Centre Court.

Tursunov found himseld trailing 5-3 in the final set tiebreak to the ace British qualifier before grabbing the next four points to seal a nervy 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(5) success.

And Tursunov admitted: "I thought I played well, I played a good tiebreaker," said Tursunov. "He's a difficult guy to play, he's got all the shots. I definitely think he should be ranked much higher than he is but he just needs to put everything together."

The entertaining Russian's brush with failure has since seen him in emphatic form. He pulled off victory in a very close quarter-final to oust Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 7-6(6), 6-4, who had seen off no6 seed Sam Querrey.

But Tursunov's most comprehensive win was surprisingly reserved for his semi-final showdown with Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. The no8 seed seemed to have run of out steam after impressively defeating Russian Evgeny Korolev, Andy Murray's Olympic conquerer Yen-Hsun Lu, and Serbian grass court expert Janko Tipsarevic.

Although Garcia-Lopez hit a string of winners off that showed more variety in his tactics than the Russian, it was Tursunov's trademark power that paid dividends with a flattering 6-2, 6-2 result. But his lack of volleys give the game away as to why the sturdy Russian is not really a force to be reckoned with among the world's top 10.