Nadal stunned on day of upsets
ROTTERDAM (Netherlands), Feb 22: Top seed Rafael Nadal was stunned 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Italian Andreas Seppi in one of series of second-round upsets at the World Indoor Tournament on Thursday.
Second seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, third seeded Spaniard David Ferrer and fifth seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic also suffered early exits.
World No 4 Davydenko was humbled 6-3, 7-5 by unseeded Frenchman Michael Llodra, while German qualifier Mischa Zverev ousted world No 5 Ferrer 6-2, 7-5.
Unseeded Croatian Ivo Karlovic hit 17 aces as he beat Berdych 6-4, 6-4.
Thursday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Second round: Robin Soederling (Sweden) bt Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 6-4, 6-1; Robin Haase (Netherlands) bt Michael Berrer (Germany) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3; Andreas Seppi (Italy) bt 1-Rafael Nadal (Spain) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) bt 5-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 6-4, 6-4; Michael Llodra (France) bt 2-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 6-3, 7-5; Mischa Zverev (Germany) bt 3-David Ferrer (Spain) 6-2 7-5.
IVANOVIC WITHDRAWS
DOHA: Top-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic withdrew from the Qatar Open on Thursday after injuring her left ankle beating Olga Govortsova of Belarus the previous day.
The $2.5 million tournament then lost second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, who was beaten 6-3, 7-6 by Austrian Sybille Bammer, and sixth seeded American Venus Williams, defeated 6-3, 6-3 by Slovak teenager Dominika Cibulkova.
Ivanovic, runner-up to Maria Sharapova at last month’s Australian Open, slipped on the baseline when leading Govortsova 6-3, 5-1 and struggled to finish her second-round match on Wednesday.
Two top seeds did manage to advance, with third seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic beating Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-1, 6-2, and fourth seeded Russian Maria Sharapova defeating Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-2, 6-2.
Results:
Third round: 4-Maria Sharapova (Russia) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn
(Thailand) 6-2, 6-2; Li Na (China) bt 12-Shahar Peer (Israel) 6-1, 6-3; 3-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) bt Ai Sugiyama (Japan) 6-1, 6-2; Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) bt Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spain) 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3; Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) bt 6-Venus Williams (US) 6-3, 6-3; Vera Zvonareva (Russia) bt 11-Dinara Safina (Russia) 7-5, 6-3; 15-Sybille Bammer (Austria) bt 2-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 6-3, 7-6 (10-8); 16-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) bt 1-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) – walkover.
RODDICK TOO GOOD
SAN JOSE (California): Top seed Andy Roddick beat impressive Japanese teenager Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the San Jose Open on Thursday.
Nishikori won his first career title last week in Delay Beach but was no match for Roddick, who relied on a huge serve and solid play at the net to see off the 18-year-old.
In other second round matches, towering American John Isner fought off three match points to upset third seed Tommy Haas 4-6, 7-6, 6-3, while second seed James Blake moved on with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Jesse Levine.
Results:
Second round: 1-Andy Roddick (US) bt Kei Nishikori (Japan) 6-2, 6-4; 2-James Blake (US) bt Jesse Levine (US) 6-3, 6-4; John Isner (US) bt 3-Tommy Haas (Germany) 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3; Mardy Fish (US) bt Denis Gremelmayr (Germany) 6-7, 6-3, 6-3; Lu Yen-hsun (Taiwan) bt Wayne Odesnik (US) 6-4, 6-4.—Reuters