Sport | Tennis
Mixed fortunes for top players
Top seeded players ran into mixed fortunes at the Dubai Aviation Cup IFT F1 Futures being held at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.
- By Alaric Gomes, Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:15 November 19, 2008
- Fatma Al Nabhani of Oman in action against Sophie Cornerotte during the ITF at Dubai Aviation Club in Dubai. Cornerotte won 6-2, 6-3.
- Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News
Dubai: Top seeded players ran into mixed fortunes at the Dubai Aviation Cup IFT F1 Futures being held at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.
Pavel Chekhov, the top seed in the men's competition got past qualifier Mark Verryth from Australia 6-4, 6-3, while women's top seed Magali De Lattre from Portugal easily beat Croatian wild card Mara Zovko 6-2, 6-1 to book their rightful place in the quarterfinals starting today.
While the women's competition very much followed the trend without too many upsets of the top seeds, it was the men's singles coming up with some unexpected results as only three of the top eight remain in contention for the title.
"It was not as easy as it seems," Chekhov stated.
Chekhov's win pits him against Swiss Marco Chiudinelli, while German qualifier Tobias Klein - who knocked off second seed James Ward in the first round - takes his place against fifth seed Ivan Sergeyev in the quarters.
"I will need to concentrate even more against Marco [Chiudinelli]," added the top seeded Russian about his quarterfinal opponent.
Momentum
Also impressing was fourth seed Ivo Klec from Slovakia with a fighting 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 win against Frenchman Jean-Noel Insausti, while the Gulf's top player Mohammad Al Gareeb fought past Frenchman Laurent Rochette 6-7 (1), 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Klec was not off to the best of starts as he lost the opening set 6-0, the player blaming the chair umpire for a faulty decision.
"I think it was a lapse in concentration due to the decision," Klec admitted.
But that only added to his resolve as Klec played some astonishing tennis thereon to breeze through the next two sets 6-3, 6-3 and set up a quarterfinal meeting against eighth seed Chris Eaton from Great Britain.
"It's good to win after playing bad. Hopefully, I will be able to keep up the winning momentum," said Klec.
"I am happy to be in the quarters as this is actual start of the tournament," he added. Al Gareeb was glad to get past his French opponent.
"He has improved from the last time I played him. It's important for me to focus on my next match [against sixth seed Benjamin Balleret].
The women's competition witnessed just one upset with Czech qualifier Zuzana Linhova coming off a slow start to knock off sixth seed Katerina Polunina 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 to set a meeting against fourth seed Sophie Cornerotte from Belgium.
Top seed Magali De Lattre and second seed Alexandra Damaschin had identically easy wins against Mara Zovko and Ofelya Poghosyan respectively.
Damaschin won 6-1, 6-0 against Poghosyan to set a meeting against Cornerotte, while De Lattre got past Zovko to meet seventh seed Lara Rafful, who defeated Russian qualifier Nadezda Samoylo 6-2, 6-0.
RESULTS
Men's singles:
Pavel Chekhov vs Mark Verryth 6-4, 6-3; Marco Chiudinelli bt Younes Rachidi 6-2, 6-3; Ivo Klec bt Jean-Noel Insausti 0-6, 6-3, 6-3; Chris Eaton bt Denys Molchanov 7-5, 6-4; Benjamin Balleret bt Stephane Robert 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3); Mohammad Al Gareeb vs Laurent Rochette 6-7 (1), 7-6 (4), 6-2; Ivan Sergeyev bt Alexey Kedryuk 7-5, 6-4; Tobias Klein bt Eissam Al Taweel 6-3, 6-1.
Women's singles:
Magali De Lattre bt Mara Zovko 6-2, 6-1; Lara Rafful bt Nadezda Samoylo 6-2, 6-0; Karolina Nowak bt Yulia Georgieva 6-0, 6-0; Marta Sirotkina bt Vladislava Kuzmenkova 6-2, 6-4; Zuzana Linhova bt Katerina Polunina 6-7, 6-4, 6-1; Manana Shapakidze bt Dalila Jakupovic 4-6, 6-1, 6-4; Sophie Cornerotte bt Fatma Al Nabhani 6-2, 6-3; Alexandra Damaschin bt Ofelya Poghosyan 6-1, 6-0.
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