Fuente: © Australian Open
http://www.ausopen.org/

AUSTRALIAN OPEN: Roddick Reigns, Argentines Progress

/noticias.info/ by Paul Gough
Monday, 16 January, 2006


World No.2 Andy Roddick has breezed into the second round of Australian Open 2006 with a straight sets victory over Switzerland's Michael Lammer on Rod Laver Arena on the opening evening.

Roddick was rarely challenged by 23-year-old Lammer and disposed of him 6-4 6-2 6-2 in a little over an hour-and-a-half, but things did not go so smoothly for Argentine David Nalbandian who was given a huge scare by Thai battler Danai Udomchoke earlier in the day.

Udomchoke, who qualified for the main draw for the first time after having tried unsuccessfully in each of the past six years, pushed the No.4 seed to five sets and left Rod Laver Arena to a standing ovation after Nalbandian finally prevailed 6-2 6-2 1-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 in just over three-and-a-half hours.

However while Nalbandian survived, fellow seeds Taylor Dent (No.27) and Carlos Moya (No.32) weren't so lucky.

Dent went down in straight sets to 91st-ranked Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 7-6 (7/4) - who upset Moya in the first-round last year - while 29-year-old Moya, runner-up here in 1997 and the 1998 French Open champion, lost to 67th-ranked Andrei Pavel 6-4 7-6 (7/5) 4-6 3-6 6-3.

Nalbandian was lucky not to join them as his 24-year-old Thai opponent, who is ranked 121, looked capable of springing a huge surprise when he won the fourth set tie-breaker seven points to four to level the match at two sets all.

However Nalbandian, who has reached the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park in the past three years, immediately broke Udomchoke in the opening game of the fifth set as the Thai crucially double-faulted at 30-30.

That was effectively the end of the contest as Udomchoke tired noticeably and even needed treatment on his back when trailing 3-0 in the final set.

Nalbandian later said he was relieved to still be in the tournament but admitted he was not yet feeling 100 per cent after having just recovered from illness.

"It's not the best way to start but it is always good to win," he said.

"I was sick in the beginning of the week and I don't feel 100 per cent yet and in the middle of the third set I lost power, lost everything and I didn't feel good."

In stark contrast Nalbandian's countryman Gaston Gaudio could not have had an easier passage to round-two after his Romanian opponent Razvan Sabau was forced to retire hurt in only the second set.

The No.8 seed, who has never progressed past the third-round in six previous visits to Melbourne, was on court for only 56 minutes in winning 6-2 5-0 after Sabau was forced out with an elbow injury.

Gaudio said he wasn't disappointed he didn't get the chance to have a longer hit-out in his opening match.

"It's always good to win like this," he said. "Two sets was enough, I was feeling good. I was hitting the ball great and I felt good on the court."

However Gaudio doubted the short first-round match would help keep him fresher for the later rounds of the tournament.

"If maybe the same thing had happened in the quarter-finals, it might help in the final rounds but in the first round it doesn't matter much," he said.

The 2004 French Open winner was the first man through to round-two on the opening day of the tournament and he was soon joined by American No.13 seed Robby Ginepri.

Ginepri, who reached the fourth-round here two years ago, was on court only slightly longer than Gaudio in needing only 79 minutes to dismantle outclassed Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-1 6-4 6-2.

Other seeds to progress were No.10 Thomas Johansson who defeated Frenchman Cyril Saulnier 6-1 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 and No.20 James Blake who downed Argentine Jose Acasuso in four sets - 6-2 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7/4).

Chilean Nicolas Massu was unable to recapture the form that saw him claim two Olympic gold medals in Athens in 2004 as he tumbled out of the Open at the hands of Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-7 (6/8) 2-6 6-3 6-4 3-6.

Perennial British hope Tim Henman was another first-day casualty, going down to hard-hitting Russian Dmitry Tursunov 7-5 3-6 4-6 5-7 on Margaret Court Arena.

In other first day results Spain's No.11 seed David Ferrer beat France's Florent Serra, the surprise winner of the Next Generation Hardcourts in Adelaide, 4-6 6-3 6-1 6-4 while No.17 seed Czech Radek Stepanek scored a 6-1 6-2 6-2 win over Sweden's Bjorn Rehnquist and No.31 seed Feliciano Lopez beat German Tomas Behrend 6-2 7-5 6-3.

It was a bad day for the Swedes with veteran Jonas Bjorkman, a two time quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park, beaten 3-6 6-2 6-0 6-1 by German Denis Gremelmayr while Taipei's Yeu-Tzuoo Wang downed Argentine Mariano Zabaleta 6-2 7-5 4-1 after Zabaleta retired due to cramp.

There was no joy for Australian wildcard Marc Kimmich, who went down in straight sets to No.26 seed Jarkko Nieminen 6-2 6-3 6-1, while fellow Aussie Chris Guccione lost to Croatian seventh seed Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 7-6 (7/3).

Former finalist Rainer Schuettler was beaten in four sets by fellow German Lars Burgsmuller 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7/2) 6-3, No.18 seed Mario Ancic downed Argentine Agustin Calleri 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-4, Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka beat Spain's Albert Montanes 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-0, Italy's Daniele Braccali progressed with a 6-1 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 win over Taipei's Yen-Hsun Lu and Czech Jan Hernych beat Spain's Fernando Vicente 2-6 6-3 7-6 (7/5) 6-2.

Spain's No.16 seed Tommy Robredo beat Czech Jiri Vanek 6-4 7-6 (8/6) 6-3, French qualifier Jean-Christophe Faurel was a 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 7-6 (7/2) winner over German Alexander Waske, South African Wesley Moodie downed Spain's Oscar Hernadez 3-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 6-2 while Fabrice Santoro beat Vince Spadea 3-6 6-0 6-2 6-3. notas_de_prensa_archivo