Lu into second round, Federer pulls out of Halle tennis
Useful Links
» A new way to read online, exact replica of your daily and magazine
» For all you tweety fans out there!
» Allows you to find only those news from any date you choose!
» Search any news/ articles by author/ category/ date/ keyword
HALLE, GERMANY, JUN 07 -
Taiwan's Yen-Hsun Lu booked his place in the second round of Halle's ATP tournament with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 win over Finland's Jarkko Nieminen on Monday.
Lu, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year, finally got into his stride in the second set but admitted the transition from clay to grass is no easy task.
"It was a tough match to start the grass-court season, I know Jarkko is very good on grass," said Lu, who upset Andy Roddick to reach the last eight at Wimbledon last year.
"We were both trying to find a rhythm and get a feel for the grass.
"It was a high quality match and I am glad I won, there are lots of positives to take.
"It's not easy to switch from clay to grass, there is a lot of difference.
"You are using different muscles, the ball is a lot lower.
"I have had two days practice, I still have two more weeks (until Wimbledon), so there is plenty of time to get ready."
Lu will play a German in the second round and faces either wild-card Dustin Brown or sixth-seed Florian Mayer.
"For sure, they will want to do well at home and they will have the crowd behind them," said Lu.
"It will help them, but I can't care about that, I have to focus on my game and not lose my concentration."
However, the tournament suffered a huge blow when later on Monday they lost their main drawcard as top seed and six-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer pulled out.
The 30-year-old Swiss - who had been scheduled to face Australia's former world number one Lleyton Hewitt in a rematch of last year's final which the Aussie won - announced he did not want to risk aggravating his delicate groin ahead of Wimbledon later this month.
The 30-year-old - who was due to meet Australia's former world number one and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in the second round - said he needed to rest after a gruelling campaign at the French Open, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in four sets in the final.
"My body and especially my groin need a rest after Roland-Garros," he wrote on the tournament's website.
Seventh-seed Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine is into the second round after he recovered from losing the first set tie-breaker to beat Holland's Robin Haase 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-4.
Local favourite Philipp Kohlschreiber is also through after grinding out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 win over Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in just over two-hours.
In the days other results, Germany's Tobias Kamke progressed to the second round after compatriot Julian Reister retired injured in the first set.
Russia's Igor Andreev enjoyed a straight sets win over Potito Starace of Italy, while qualifier Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic made the second round with a hard-fought win in three sets against Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine.
Fourth-seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, who had been due to face Philipp Petzschner of Germany, has pulled out after suffering a foot injury and has been replaced in the draw by lucky loser Dominik Meffert of Germany.
Posted on: 2011-06-07 10:50
Post Your Comment