Nikolay Davydenko recovered from being bagelled in the first set and then saved two match points in the second set to defeat Rafael Nadal 0-6, 7-6, 6-4 and win the Qatar Open title in Doha.
Wildcard recipient Yanina Wickmayer won the Auckland title, defeating top seed Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-2 in the final.
In another women's tennis event Down Under, Kim Clijsters defeated Justine Henin 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 in an all-Belgian final in Brisbane on Saturday.
The doubles final was won by Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka who edged Melinda Czink and Arantxa Parra Santonja in a match tie-break victory, 2-6, 7-6, 10-4.
In the men's event, Andy Roddick took the Brisbane title by holding on for a 7-6, 7-6 win over Radek Stepanek.
In the men's doubles final, Marc Gicquel and Jeremy Chardy upset no. 1 seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes in the final, 6-3, 7-6(5).
Marin Cilic has defended his Chennai title by defeating Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6(2), 7-6(3) in the final.
Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Santiago Ventura won the doubles title, defeating Janko Tipsarevic and Rendy Lu Yen-hsun 7-5, 6-2 in the doubles final.
(Images via Yahoo! Sports)
In Doha, Andy Murray defeated the other Andy, Mr. Roddick 6-4, 6-2 to win his first ATP title of the year, and ninth overall.
Fernando Verdasco failed to stop Radek Stepanek a.k.a. the Worm in Brisbane which resulted him to lost 6-3, 3-6, 4-6.
Verdasco also failed to win in the men's doubles final match. Marc Gicquel and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Verdasco and Mischa Zverev in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.
In the women's doubles Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Vania King won 3-6, 7-5, 10-5 over Poland pair Klaudia Jans and Alicja Rosollska.
Somdev Devvarman who had beaten Carlos Moya and Ivo Karlovic earlier at the Chennai Open tournament, failed to convert the final match against Marin Cilic into a win. Cilic recorded a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) victory in two hours.
Somdev's achievement last week helped him to climb from 202 to a 154 in the ATP rankings. Way to go for this young man from India!
In the men's doubles, Eric Butorac and Rajeev Ram defeated Jean-Claude Scherrer and Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-4 to take the Chennai Open title.
ATP aside, in the ITF's China F1 Futures event, world's top-ranked junior Yang Tsung-hua who has just turned pro won both men's singles and doubles titles.
Yang who partnered with Lee Hsin-han thrashed Li Zhe and Wang Yu Jr. 6-0, 6-3. Then he defeated Zeng Shao-xuan6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in the men's final.
(Images via Yahoo! Sport, sports-1apple.com.tw)
Somdev Devvarman got a walkover into the final of the Chennai Open after his semi-final opponent Rainer Schuettler withdrew from the tournament due to a wrist injury.Somdev will face Marin Cilic who has beaten Marcel Granollers in another semifinal match 6-4, 6-3.After withdrawing from the tournament, a dejected Rainer Schuettler said, "During yesterday's doubles match I started feeling pain in my left wrist. As I warmed up for the semifinal I wasn't able to hit a double handed backhanded, I felt a strong pain. I would only be able to slice and I'm also afraid that the injury would get worse. I had the same a few years ago but it wasn't as bad as now."
"I also have to pull out of Sydney. I will now fly to Melbourne and see if I can be ready in time for the Australian Open."
"I feel sorry for the crowd and the tournament. It is a very disappointing moment for me", added Schuettler.
Somdev now becomes the first Indian to make it to the Chennai Open final and also the second Indian after Leander Paes to reach the semifinals of the 14-year old prestigious event.He had a great run in front of his home crowd after beating former world no.1 and two-time champion Carlos Moya on Thursday and continued his giant killing act and upped his game by several notches to beat fourth seeded Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 7-6(4), 6-4 and storm into the semifinals.I'm crossing my fingers and hope Somdev will get his first ATP title here tomorrow.
(Via NDTV.com)
Indian wildcard Somdev Devvarman stunned two-time former champion Carlos Moya 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the second round of the Chennai Open today.The 23-year-old Devvarman, who is based in the U.S., produced an inspired display to triumph in 2 hours and 14 minutes in hot conditions in the southern Indian city to move into his second ATP tour quarterfinals.Sixth seed Moya won the first set comfortably but Devvarman, who spent his formative years in Chennai, delighted the home crowd when he grabbed the second set.The highest-ranked Indian at 202, Devvarman broke the Spaniard in the third game of the final set as he wore down the former world no. 1 for the biggest victory of his career.
Moya said he was at a disadvantage with organizers scheduling matches in the heat of the Chennai afternoon to make up for matches that had been delayed by rain.
"The heat affected me more than it bothered him,'' Moya said.
"(Devvarman) plays much better than his rankings reflect,'' Moya added.
"I was not surprised, because I saw him play two days ago and knew he was very fast and was solid from the back of court.''
Devvarman became the first Indian player to reach the quarterfinals in Chennai since Leander Paes reached the semifinals in 1998"I sent a message to him that I just wasn't going to go away," said Devvarman.
"When you see a player on the other side trying to do too much, you know he's under pressure."
"Hopefully, I'm not just quarters. I'm not one of those guys who gets content easily,'' he added.
(Via supersport.co.za, sportsillustrated.cnn.com)
Prakash Amritraj, Horia Tecau, Nikolay Davydenko and Mahesh Bhupathi
In keeping with tradition, Kingfisher Chennai Open Good Times Opening Party kicked off with a fashion show featuring the spring/summer collection of Manoviraj Khosla and Vivek Karunakaran’s uber-chic collection.
Players who did the catwalk were Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Prakash Amritraj, Nikolay Davydenko, Yves Allegaro and Horia Tecau.
Leander Paes
Mahesh Bhupathi
Here are more off court photos.
Leander Paes and dubs partner Lukas Dlouhy pose on elephant sculptures.
Alberto Martin and Pablo Andujar show us Spain's other favourite sport.
Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko advanced to the second round of the Chennai Open after beating Daniel Koellerer 6-2, 6-3.
A favourite to win at this tournament, Davydenko will next face Lukas Dlouhy, who needed three sets to beat Go Soeda of Japan.
Third-seed, Marin Cilic had little difficulty in making the second round with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Alberto Martin in 91 minutes, while Bjorn Phau did not exert much in getting past Santiago Ventura of Spain 6-2, 7-5.
Indian player Prakash Amirtraj suffered a disappointing defeat to Rainer Schuettler 2-6, 6-4, 1-6 in 85 minutes, becoming the topic of criticism on continuing to falter despite getting the wild cards in succession in the event.
Rohan Bopanna who qualified for the event after beating Michael Berrer 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 however lost in the first round to Denis Isomin 6-4, 7-6(3).
For more info and results, click here.
(Via chennaiopen.org, ptinews.com, timesofindia.indiatimes.com; Images viaatpworldtour.com)
Nikolay Davydenko recovered from being bagelled in the first set and then saved two match points in the second set to defeat Rafael Nadal 0-6, 7-6, 6-4 and win the Qatar Open title in Doha.
Wildcard recipient Yanina Wickmayer won the Auckland title, defeating top seed Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-2 in the final.
In another women's tennis event Down Under, Kim Clijsters defeated Justine Henin 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 in an all-Belgian final in Brisbane on Saturday.
In the men's event, Andy Roddick took the Brisbane title by holding on for a 7-6, 7-6 win over Radek Stepanek.
Marin Cilic has defended his Chennai title by defeating Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6(2), 7-6(3) in the final.
