click here for the Eastbourne Herald

2010 Tuesday news

AEGON International | Eastbourne

Wily Ward rides his luck

At last something for British fans to cheer after wildcard James Ward, a decent grass court player, had arguably the best result of his career - albeit through his opponent retiring on Centre Court.

Ward's big serve and strong of solid shots from the back of the court saw the industrious Brit pull off a real coup by leading Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 5-4 before the Spaniard waved the white flag and retired with a shoulder injury.

Ward, not particularly impressive at the net, had the crowd behind him for virtually every point after a couple of disappointing ladies matches beforehand.

click here for profileAnd with Lopez (pictured left) among the favourites to win Eastbourne after seeing off Rafael Nadal at Queen's Club the previous week, Ward must have dreaded the match - on paper at least.

But the British never-say-die attitude saw Ward, world no344, come out swinging at everything and getting to grips with the blustery weather better than Lopez, the no2 seed and world no30.

Although hard-hitting Lopez served up twice as many aces as Ward with a dozen stunning shots outwitting the 23-year-old, it was Lopez's groundstrokes that let the tricky left-hander down.

AlmagroNicholas Almagro (pictured right), the other Spaniard tipped for big prizes and a healthy future on the ATP Tour, also struggled with the windy conditions but just did enough to edge past Lukasz Kubo 7-5, 7-6.
And for Pole Kubot, the world no53, made it six opening round defeats in the past seven tournaments although the 28-year-old could have so easily caused a shock had he managed to take Almagro to a third and final set.

Free live scores | Player profiles | Free text alerts

Matches played


11:30    Y-H.Lu defeated K.Beck 6-4 6-4                             
12:45    I.Marchenko defeated H.Zeballos 7-6 6-3                
13:00    R.Schuettler defeated A.Golubev 6-2 6-3                
14:00    J.Ward defeated F.Lopez 6-3 5-4 retired
15:15    G.Garcia-Lopez defeated F.Fognini 6-2 6-2
15:30    N.Almagro defeated L.Kubot 7-5 7-6         

Match of the day preview

(no1 seed) Nicolas Almagro vs. Lukasz Kubot

Top seed Nicolas Almagro has yet to claim a singles title in 2010, and Eastbourne is definitely his best chance as he is one of the most in-form players in the draw.

The Spaniard (left) beat today's opponent Lukasz Kubot in their only previous career meeting - a three set success at the 2010 Rome Open.

The 24-year-old has had a remarkable season, including a romp to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and the semi-finals at the Madrid Masters in Spain - both halted by compatriot Rafael Nadal. Almagro has a win-loss record of 28-14 record this season.

Pole Kubot, the world no53, also makes his debut at the AEGON International but has stuttered in recent tournaments with five defeats in the past six events for the 28-year-old.

2009 Tuesday results

2009 AEGON International | 13-20 June

F. Dancevic defeated. I. Andreev || 6-2, 7-6  
J. Benneteau d. M. Youzhny || 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
I. Ljubicic d. J. Goodall || 6-3, 7-5 
F. Santoro d. R. Ginepri || 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
G. Garcia-Lopez d. Y-H. Lu || 6-4. 6-7, 7-6
J. Tipsarevic d. B. Klein || 7-6, 6-1  

CLICK FOR LIVE SCORES FROM EASTBOURNE

2009 Tuesday news

2009 AEGON International | 16 June
Wildcard Ivan Ljubicic defeated Britain’s Josh Goodall in the second round on Centre Court 6-3 7-5. 

The British no3 from Basingstoke could not cope with the sheer accuracy and power from the giant Croatian and admitted: “I now know what I have got to work on as I was missing pretty simple shots. 

"At the moment I am just losing by one break and I feel like today was a step in the right direction. This week was my first tour event win as I’ve had nine chances but some difficult draws. It’s is a big confidence booster, especially after the Nottingham Challenger event where I made semi-finals a couple of weeks ago. I’ve prepared myself well for Wimbledon.”

And Igor Andreev, the top seed was outplayed by Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic 6-7(6) 2-6 in the opening match on Centre Court that was played in front of a poor crowd as the focus was on ex-world no1 Jelena Jankovic on no1 court in the very strong ladies draw.

Dancevic, world ranked outside the top 100, is no fool on grass courts having enjoyed a marvellous 2008 by capturing the Challenger title in Surbiton, England, prior to his shock success over Argentine David Nalbandian in the first round at Wimbledon.

Dancevic faces British no4 James Ward next, the wildcard eased past Victor Crivoi 6-1 6-3 in his opening match.

French veteran Fabrice Santoro, the no4 seed, is taking part in his last ever season on the ATP Tour and stepped up a few gears in the final set to end the interest of American Robbie Ginepri.

And seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez narrowly beat Yen-Hsun Lu by winnning a third set tiebreak to end his disappointment of losing the second set without winning a single tiebreak point.

Janko Tipsarevic made a slow start against Australian qualifier Bryden Klein but his magnificent serve enabled him to edge back and surprisingly win the opening set tiebreak on the compact no2 court. Both players were unhappy, like the previous match's competitors, about the bounce and bumps around the baseline on the south-facing side of the court. 

With Tipsarevic's trio of entourage encouraging him to 'keep calm' and 'say nothing', the short Serbian gradually grew in confidence to seal a routine victory to progress with ease.

2009 tennis videos 

Click here for video playlist 1

Click here for video playlist 2

Click here for video playlist 3

CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT ATP TOUR WORLD RANKINGS