Spaniard's slump continues
September 24th 2009 11:00
NICOLAS Almagro’s season went from bad to worse when he exited the Bucharest Open in the second round last night.
That may sound like a bold statement for a player still nestled inside the world’s top 30 players.
But Almagro was as high as No.11 in July last year and failure in the last claycourt event of the year leaves him vulnerable to a rankings fall.
Italian Fabio Fognini was the man responsible for Almagro’s defeat despite the Spaniard failing to lose a set to him in three previous clashes.
Fognini is a tough opponent on clay, but Almagro is even more comfortable on the red dirt at his peak.
Fognini will attempt a second straight upset over a Spaniard when he takes on fifth seed Albert Montanes, who knocked out Marcel Granollers in the second round.
Spanish qualifier Santiago Ventura, who defeated Igor Andreev in the first round, advanced to the quarter-finals when countryman Alberto Martin retired due to a leg injury.
Another Spaniard, Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, ended Romanian wildcard Victor Crivoi’s campaign.
German Simon Greul and Argentine eighth seed Pablo Cuevas joined them in the final eight with respective triumphs over Austrian sixth seed Daniel Koellerer and Australian Peter Luczak tonight.
French wildcard and former world No.4 Sebastien Grosjean won his first ATP Tour-level match since last year’s Wimbledon when he triumphed 7-6(1) 7-5 over lucky loser Nicolas Mahut in Metz overnight.
The 31-year-old’s victory set up a meeting with French No.3 Gael Monfils, who had a first-round bye.
Grosjean underwent shoulder surgery last December and Metz is only his third ATP Tour event this year.
Seeds Philipp Kohlschreiber, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Andreas Beck are through to the quarter-finals, along with in-form Russian Evgeny Korolev.
World No.73 Korolev was the biggest improver inside the top 100 this week after winning the Szczecin Challenger in Poland – beating Frenchman Florent Serra and Montanes in the final and semi-finals respectively.
Korolev faces Kohlschreiber for a place in the final four.
Elsewhere, Japanese super veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm went one better than Grosjean in backing up her first win on the WTA Tour in 13 years with a straight-sets dismissal of Russian fifth seed Alisa Kleybanova in Korea tonight.
Date-Krumm turns 39 next week and reached her career-high ranking of No.4 in 1995.
Russian Maria Kirilenko also continued her good recent form with an upset victory over third seed Francesca Schiavone.
Top seed Daniela Hantuchova and seventh seed Vera Dushevina also booked their spots in the quarter-finals.
The Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan has been much more predictable than the Korea Open.
Austrian Patricia Mayr became the third seed to depart, but pre-tournament fancies Yaroslava Shvedova and Shahar Peer have had little trouble en route to the final eight.
They appear destined to contest the final, but Romanian Monica Niculescu and Russian qualifier Alexandra Panova will be hoping to stop Shvedova and Peer respectively in their next matches.
That may sound like a bold statement for a player still nestled inside the world’s top 30 players.
But Almagro was as high as No.11 in July last year and failure in the last claycourt event of the year leaves him vulnerable to a rankings fall.
Italian Fabio Fognini was the man responsible for Almagro’s defeat despite the Spaniard failing to lose a set to him in three previous clashes.
Fognini is a tough opponent on clay, but Almagro is even more comfortable on the red dirt at his peak.
Fognini will attempt a second straight upset over a Spaniard when he takes on fifth seed Albert Montanes, who knocked out Marcel Granollers in the second round.
Spanish qualifier Santiago Ventura, who defeated Igor Andreev in the first round, advanced to the quarter-finals when countryman Alberto Martin retired due to a leg injury.
Another Spaniard, Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, ended Romanian wildcard Victor Crivoi’s campaign.
Anna Kournikova's little-known cousin Evgeny Korolev is a surprise quarter-finalist in Metz.
German Simon Greul and Argentine eighth seed Pablo Cuevas joined them in the final eight with respective triumphs over Austrian sixth seed Daniel Koellerer and Australian Peter Luczak tonight.
French wildcard and former world No.4 Sebastien Grosjean won his first ATP Tour-level match since last year’s Wimbledon when he triumphed 7-6(1) 7-5 over lucky loser Nicolas Mahut in Metz overnight.
The 31-year-old’s victory set up a meeting with French No.3 Gael Monfils, who had a first-round bye.
Grosjean underwent shoulder surgery last December and Metz is only his third ATP Tour event this year.
Seeds Philipp Kohlschreiber, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Andreas Beck are through to the quarter-finals, along with in-form Russian Evgeny Korolev.
World No.73 Korolev was the biggest improver inside the top 100 this week after winning the Szczecin Challenger in Poland – beating Frenchman Florent Serra and Montanes in the final and semi-finals respectively.
Korolev faces Kohlschreiber for a place in the final four.
Japanese former world No.4 Kimiko Date-Krumm's comeback gathered steam with back-to-back successes in Korea.
Elsewhere, Japanese super veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm went one better than Grosjean in backing up her first win on the WTA Tour in 13 years with a straight-sets dismissal of Russian fifth seed Alisa Kleybanova in Korea tonight.
Date-Krumm turns 39 next week and reached her career-high ranking of No.4 in 1995.
Russian Maria Kirilenko also continued her good recent form with an upset victory over third seed Francesca Schiavone.
Top seed Daniela Hantuchova and seventh seed Vera Dushevina also booked their spots in the quarter-finals.
The Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan has been much more predictable than the Korea Open.
Austrian Patricia Mayr became the third seed to depart, but pre-tournament fancies Yaroslava Shvedova and Shahar Peer have had little trouble en route to the final eight.
They appear destined to contest the final, but Romanian Monica Niculescu and Russian qualifier Alexandra Panova will be hoping to stop Shvedova and Peer respectively in their next matches.
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