China Open, Beijing, Oct 5-11

[getta]

The next stop on Marcos' Asia tour will be Beijing.

Official site: www.chinaopen.com.cn/en/2009/

Main draw will take place within a few minutes.

[getta]

Main Draw

www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2009/747/mds.pdf


Marcos most likely suffers the dizzy chicken syndrome (DCS). Hope he proves me wrong and grows some wilanders.

It's about time.

[choupi]

NADAL, Rafael ESP v BAGHDATIS, Marcos CYP
BLAKE, James USA v QUALIFIER
ACASUSO, Jose ARG v SAFIN, Marat RUS
FERRER, David ESP v GONZALEZ, Fernando CHI

DAVYDENKO, Nikolay RUS v KUNITSYN, Igor RUS
KOHLSCHREIBER, Philipp GER v KARLOVIC, Ivo CRO
BENNETEAU, Julien FRA v DANIEL, Marcos BRA
ANDREEV, Igor RUS v CILIC, Marin CRO

SODERLING, Robin SWE v CHARDY, Jeremy FRA
ROBREDO, Tommy ESP v BECKER, Benjamin GER
MATHIEU, Paul-Henri FRA v LJUBICIC, Ivan CRO
QUALIFIER v RODDICK, Andy USA

VERDASCO, Fernando ESP v QUALIFIER
ALMAGRO, Nicolas ESP v FERRERO, Juan Carlos ESP
QUALIFIER v TROICKI, Viktor SRB
HANESCU, Victor ROU v DJOKOVIC, Novak SRB

Well well, some will speak of some bad luck...but Marcos got nothing to lose.

[getta]

Tuesday OoP

CENTER COURT

Matches Start at 11:00am
Jose ACASUSO vs. Marat SAFIN

Not Before 12:00m
Maria SHARAPOVA vs. Victoria AZARENKA

followed by
Lucasz KUBOT vs. Andy RODD_ICK

followed by
Rafael NADAL vs. Marcos BAGHDATIS

[getta]

www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/10/Beijing-Tuesday-Nadal-Makes-Winning-Comeback.aspx

China Open
Nadal Makes Winning Comeback

Beijing, Chinaby ATP Staff, 06.10.2009


Reigning ATP World Tour Champion Rafael Nadal made a winning return from the abdominal strain that has kept him sidelined since the US Open, defeating wild card Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the first round of the China Open Tuesday in Beijing.

Top seed Nadal, who had not played since a US Open semi-final loss to Juan Martin del Potro, was tested by 2006 Beijing champion Baghdatis and needed two hours and 10 minutes to edge the Cypriot.

Nadal clinched a closely-fought first set with the first break of serve in the 10th game, taking advantage of a Baghdatis double fault. Former World No. 8 Baghdatis hit back immediately in the second set, though, and broke serve twice to level the match. Nadal, who had beaten Baghdatis in all five of their previous meetings, bided his time in the third set and gained a key service break in the ninth game before closing out victory.

[getta]

www.chinaopen.com.cn/news/en/2009-10-06/2115148.shtml

Nadal needs three sets to beat Baghdatis

2009/10/06　21:15

The first round match at the 2009 China Open wasn't an easy one for No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal. The No. 2 player in the world needed three sets to advance, beating Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 on Tuesday.

Baghdatis was given a wild card for the 2009 China Open, but his talent is better than his 101-world ranking indicates. Baghdatis won the China Open in 2006 and made it to the final of the Australian Open that same year, so Nadal wasn’t expecting an easy match when he saw he'd be playing Baghdatis in the first round.

"A tough match, for sure,"Nadal said in his post-match press conference. "He’s always a very dangerous player."

Both players were even through the first set until Nadal broke Baghdatis in the last game when Baghdatis hit back-to-back double faults. Down love-40, Baghdatis’ second serve was called good by the linesperson, then overruled by the chair umpire. Baghdatis challenged and the replay showed the ball missed by a fraction of an inch.

The next point, a fan yelled in the middle of Baghdatis' ball toss on his second serve and the Cypriot missed into the net. The chair umpire reminded the crowd to please remain silent during play before the start of the second set.

Baghdatis quickly responded, breaking Nadal's serve with a forehand winner that put him up 1-0 to begin the set. Baghdatis got his second break in the last game when a Nadal backhand hit off the net cord and bounced wide, giving Baghdatis the set.

The high quality tennis continued in the third set as both players challenged each other on their service games. Eventually, Nadal broke Baghdatis when he sent a big forehand down the line for a winner to go up 5-4.

During the changeover, half the crowd was yelling, "Marcos" while the other half was yelling, "Nadal" with large Cyprus and Spanish flags waving throughout the stadium.

Baghdatis won the first two points of Nadal's service game, but Nadal took the last four to win the match. On match point, Nadal hit a crosscourt forehand approach shot to Baghdatis’ backhand, whose attempted passing shot went into the bottom of the net.

Nadal will play James Blake in the second round. Blake also won his first round match in three sets Tuesday, beating qualifier Florian Mayer. (By Matt Schiffman)

[getta]

The full transcript of Rafa's presser:

www.chinaopen.com.cn/news/en/2009-10-06/2150149.shtml

Press Conference: Rafael Nadal (ESP)

Date: Oct. 6th 2009 Time: 20: 30

Q: You had a tough match today, and we are concerned about your body. How does your body feel? How is the injury?

A: My body today is okay. I hope it be okay today and tomorrow and after tomorrow.

Q: Since 2005, you are winning more and more fans in China. Have you noticed that they were waiting for you outside the hotel and cheered for you on the court?

A: Sure the fans show emotions here. It’s always good for every sport and for me, especially here back in Beijing. I know some people are waiting for me at the hotel. Just wanted to say thank you very much to all the people here in China because they make me feel very well. My third time here in Beijing, so every time was very good.

Q: Just tell us a little bit about the match, and how you felt during it. Did you feel anything at all? Were you pleased with the result?

A: I think I didn’t play my best tennis. That’s true. But I improved in the third a lot. Especially in the last four games I played much better. For the rest of the match, I think I played very well on the second set. The first set was close, but I had a few mistakes at 5-4. For the rest, it was tough to have the break. It was very important moment for me in the first set with 2-1, I think, love-30. It was a very important comeback for me. After that I feel much better and calm. The victory is important because for me, he’s a very good opponent, and this tournament every opponent is very tough. We are playing here the top 45 of the world, so every match is going to be very difficult.

Q: Marcos has dropped in the rankings, but everyone knows how talented he is and what he’s capable of. What was your reaction when you saw that you were going to play him the first round?

A: Tough match. Anyway if he was outside the competition for a few time, he is very good. Very good player. He’s a very dangerous player. I am happy to see him back here, to see Marcos here because he’s a very good player and he’s a nice person and a very important person for our sport. He has always very good tactic on court. Each one of these players, I’m very happy for him to see him back here.

Q: I actually wanted to follow up on the question about when you were serving 1-2, down love-30 and you hit a volley into the open court. How much energy did that give you? Did it give you more energy, more confidence? Because you both looked pretty tired before that.

A: No, no. The volley was an easy volley. The volley wasn’t a very important shot. The way how I played this point, having a very good first serve and playing very aggressive with the forehand and going to the net. Having the decision to play more aggressive than I did in the past was good for me, and if I want to be in the top positions next year, I have to play aggressive. I have to play hard with my forehand, improve a little more my serve. The only way to be in the top is to play aggressive.