Capriati’s Olympic gold – Barcelona 1992
Online video Score: 5 / 5
Online video Score: 5 / 5
Andy Roddick’s countryman, John Isner, has defeated Nicolas Almagro of Spain in the final match of the US men’s clay court championship. Isner won the match in the straight sets by 6-3, 7-5.
Isner had reached the finals of this tournament last year, but, couldn’t win the title. He didn’t let that happen this year. With a classy performance, he got better of Almagro and won the title. This is the 6th title won by Isner in his career.
After winning the title, Isner said, “I was playing on the clay courts after September last year and in the first couple of games, I was not fluent. But, I peaked at the right time.”
“Today, I got exactly the kind of start that I was looking for and once I got on top, I didn’t let the pressure come off him.”
In the opening set, both the players held their serve in the first couple of games. In the third game, Isner dropped his serve to go down by 1-2. The next two games went with the serve before the American broke back in the 6th game to level the scores.
Isner broke Almagro’s serve again in the 8th game which gave him a lead of 5-3. He easily won his next service game and sealed the first set by 6-3.
In the second set, Almagro put up a better performance. He was looking good on his serve and was making Isner battle hard for the points.
In the first 10 games of the second set, there were no breakthroughs. But, in the 11th game, Almagro ruined all his hard work. Some poor shots by him gave Isner a break chance which he pounced on.
That serve break took the American player ahead by 6-5. He didn’t waste the advantage after that. A serve hold by him in the next game secured his win.
Lleyton Hewitt has defeated Lukas Rosol of Czech Republic in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open. Hewitt won the match by 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
It took Hewitt 95 minutes to get better of Rosol. This was Hewitt’s first match against Rosol.
Talking to the reporters after securing victory in the match, Hewitt said, “It was quite chilly out there and the conditions were definitely not ideal for tennis. In the opening set, I had the opportunity of getting a breakthrough early, but, I lost that chance. Fortunately, that didn’t cost much and I managed to get a breakthrough in the 7th game which won me the set”
“In the second set, I served really badly. My return shots were also pretty loose and Lukas took advantage of that. In the final set, I was looking for an early breakthrough which I managed to get. Thereafter, I got more confident and played aggressive tennis for the rest of the match.”
In the first set, the first six games went with the serve. Hewitt broke Rosol’s serve in the 7th game and then, got ahead by 5-3 by serving out the next game.
Rosol decreased the lead to 4-5 by holding his serve in the 9th game. It was necessary for Rosol to get a breakthrough in the next game in order to take the set further, but, Hewitt didn’t let that happen. He held his serve and finished the opening set in style.
In the second set, Rosol started in a blistering way and won 5 out of the first 6 games with a couple of breakthroughs. However, he dropped his serve in the 7th game and then, a serve hold by Hewitt in the next game brought down the lead to 3-5. But, Rosol had done so much damage in the first few games that this slight comeback by Hewitt didn’t matter much. The Czech player served out the 9th game to win the second set.
In the last set, Hewitt’s performance was absolutely brilliant. He broke Rosol’s serve in the 4th and the 6th game and held his entire serve to win the decider by 6-1.
In the next match, Hewitt will face John Isner of USA.
Venus Williams has defeated Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia in the first round of the Brasil Open on Tuesday. Venus won the match in the straight sets by 6-3, 6-3.
The scores suggest that the victory came very easily for Venus, but, it’s not the true story. The 30 years old Croatian veteran showed great resistance in the initial parts of the opening set and towards the end of the second set, but, in between, she played some poor tennis and that’s why, she got defeated by such a profound margin.
In the opening set, the first two games went with the serve. Baroni gave Venus the first blow in the third game, but, the Croatian couldn’t maintain that lead for too long. She dropped her serve in the next game and the scores got equalized at 2-2. Read more »
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