Madrid Masters
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Stepanek, Gulbis Advance To Second Round
Czech Radek Stepanek cruised past Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-1, 6-1 in just 53 minutes Sunday for a place in the second round of the Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid. The pair had previously met at 2005 Ho Chi Minh City, which Stepanek won in straight sets.
Stepanek, currently No. 29 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, won 23 of 26 points on first serve and converted five of seven break points. He improved to 31-17 on the season, highlighted by one runner-up finish in San Jose (l. to Roddick) and four semifinal exits.
Monaco, who last won an ATP match en route to the Poertschach final in May (l. to Davydenko), dropped to 26-17 on the season. The 24-year-old missed two months of the year – between June and August – due to an injury.
Stepanek will next meet second seed Roger Federer of Switzerland, the 2006 winner. Federer is competing at his first ATP tournament since clinching his 13th career Grand Slam title at the US Open last month (d. Murray).
Latvian Ernests Gulbis will look to avenge his Wimbledon second round defeat to ATP World No. 1 and 2005 titlist Rafael Nadal of Spain in the second round.
Gulbis hit 10 aces to edge German Nicolas Kiefer with a 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 win in two hours and 24 minutes. The 20-year-old improved to 22-19 on the season, highlighted by three quarterfinal exits at Las Vegas (l. to Ginepri), Roland Garros (l. to Djokovic) and ATP Masters Series Cincinnati (l. to Djokovic).
Czech Radek Stepanek cruised past Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-1, 6-1 in just 53 minutes Sunday for a place in the second round of the Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid. The pair had previously met at 2005 Ho Chi Minh City, which Stepanek won in straight sets.
Stepanek, currently No. 29 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, won 23 of 26 points on first serve and converted five of seven break points. He improved to 31-17 on the season, highlighted by one runner-up finish in San Jose (l. to Roddick) and four semifinal exits.
Monaco, who last won an ATP match en route to the Poertschach final in May (l. to Davydenko), dropped to 26-17 on the season. The 24-year-old missed two months of the year – between June and August – due to an injury.
Stepanek will next meet second seed Roger Federer of Switzerland, the 2006 winner. Federer is competing at his first ATP tournament since clinching his 13th career Grand Slam title at the US Open last month (d. Murray).
Latvian Ernests Gulbis will look to avenge his Wimbledon second round defeat to ATP World No. 1 and 2005 titlist Rafael Nadal of Spain in the second round.
Gulbis hit 10 aces to edge German Nicolas Kiefer with a 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 win in two hours and 24 minutes. The 20-year-old improved to 22-19 on the season, highlighted by three quarterfinal exits at Las Vegas (l. to Ginepri), Roland Garros (l. to Djokovic) and ATP Masters Series Cincinnati (l. to Djokovic).
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