Russians Advance In Rotterdam
Russian Dmitry Tursunov recorded his first ATP World Tour win of the year at the season's first ATP World Tour 500 tennis tournament, with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over French qualifier Arnaud Clement in 69 minutes at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam on Monday. Fellow Russians Nikolay Davydenko and Mikhail Youzhny also advanced on day one.
Tursunov hit eight aces and lost just 11 points in the first set against No. 81-ranked Clement, who hit seven double faults. This year 26-year-old Tursunov has made first round exits at Doha (l. to Peya), Sydney (l. to Gasquet), the Australian Open (l. to Cipolla) and Zagreb (l. to Gulbis). The World No. 30 will next meet either Johannesburg champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France or No. 177-ranked Jesse Huta Galung of the Netherlands.
Third seed Davydenko also breezed into the second round with a 6-3, 6-2 win over countryman Igor Andreev. Davydenko was playing his first match since the first week of the season, when he withdrew from the Chennai Open with inflammation of the left heel prior to his second-round match.
"I have never really had long injury breaks or never had to take a long rest before, so it has been strange," Davydenko said. "I just want to come back and start to play well. From the end of last season I had almost two months without playing any tournaments so my confidence is very low. I hope I can play better. I played good today but it can always be better. The most important thing was to start with a win and I just want to carry on playing tournaments."
Former champion Mikhail Youzhny avoided a fourth first-round exit in five years Monday, after beating No. 189-ranked Laurent Recouderc of France 6-4, 6-4 in 84 minutes for a place in the second round. The former World No. 8, who captured one of his four ATP World Tour titles at Rotterdam in 2007 (d. Ljubicic), won 28 of 31 points on first serve and saved both break points he faced. He has a 2-3 record on the 2009 ATP World Tour season.
France's Julien Benneteau (pictured) handed Feliciano Lopez of Spain to a third successive first round defeat after the World No. 50 won 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to set up a second round meeting against a Russian, either third seed Nikolay Davydenko – competing at his first ATP World Tour tennis tournament since injuring his left heel in Chennai – or Igor Andreev. Benneteau finished the 2008 season with a runner-up finish at Lyon (l. to Lyon) and has a 2-3 record in 2009.
source : atptennis.com
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