2008 Medibank International Sydney

 

WHERE THE WORLD COMES TO PLAY! 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

  WHERE THE WORLD COMES TO PLAY! The world's top tennis stars are arriving in Sydney for the city's biggest annual international sporting event - the Medibank International. Justine Henin (BEL); Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS); Marion Bartoli (FRA); Richard Gasquet (FRA) James Blake (USA) and Tomas Berdych (CZE) are among the big names who have been warming up for the tournament at Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre

  January 4, 2008 - Justine Henin (BEL); Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS); Marion Bartoli (FRA); Richard Gasquet (FRA) James Blake (USA) and Tomas Berdych (CZE) have been hitting out at Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre in preparation for the tournament which starts on Sunday, January 6, and concludes with the Men's Finals on the evening of Saturday January 12.

 

 

 

 Saturday, January 5 Tomas and Lucie at Myer Sydney City

On  Saturday, January 5, from noon, at Myer Sydney City on Level One in the Lingerie Department  Czech stars Tomas Berdych and Lucie Safarova will be meeting fans and signing autographs from noon. The live draw for the Medibank International will follow the autograph signings, with top men's seed Gasquet and women's world number two Kuznetsova in attendance.

 

 MAIN DRAW

(1) GASQUET, Richard FRA v ANDREEV, Igor RUS
TURSUNOV, Dmitry RUS v WAWRINKA, Stanislas SUI
GROSJEAN, Sebastien FRA v (WC)LUCZAK, Peter AUS
LOPEZ, Feliciano ESP v (8) VERDASCO, Fernando ESP

(3) BLAKE, James USA v SANTORO, Fabrice FRA
QUALIFIER v (SE) SIRIANNI, Joseph AUS
QUALIFIER v QUALIFIER
DEL POTRO, Juan Martin ARG v (7) MATHIEU, Paul-Henri FRA

(6) HEWITT, Lleyton AUS v MAHUT, Nicolas FRA
(WC) GUCCIONE, Chris AUS v QUALIFIER
SIMON, Gilles FRA v FISH, Mardy USA
VOLANDRI, Filippo ITA v (4) BERDYCH, Tomas CZE 

(5) MOYA, Carlos ESP v KOUBEK, Stefan AUT
CALLERI, Agustin ARG v (WC) JONES, Greg AUS
SEPPI, Andreas ITA v TSONGA, Jo-Wilfried FRA
STEPANEK, Radek CZE v (2) ROBREDO, Tommy ESP
 
 
 
 DOUBLES DRAW
 

BRYAN, Bob USA BRYAN, Mike USA vs MIRNYI, Max BLR MURRAY, Jamie GBR
ERLICH, Jonathan ISR RAM, Andy ISR vs SIMON, Gilles FRA VERDASCO, Fernando ESP
ASPELIN, Simon SWE KNOWLE, Julian AUT vs MAHUT, Nicolas FRA SANTORO, Fabrice FRA
JONES, Alun AUS SIRIANNI, Joseph AUS vs BUTORAC, Eric USA ULLYETT, Kevin ZIM

GUCCIONE, Chris AUS SMEETS, Robert AUS vs GASQUET, Richard FRA TSONGA, Jo-Wilfried FRA
HANLEY, Paul AUS PAES, Leander IND vs DAMM, Martin CZE VIZNER, Pavel CZE
BHUPATHI, Mahesh IND KNOWLES, Mark BAH vs BERDYCH, Tomas CZE STEPANEK, Radek CZE
FYRSTENBERG, Mariusz POL MATKOWSKI, Marcin POL vs NESTOR, Daniel CAN ZIMONJIC, Nenad SRB

 

 

  Round 1: Tomas Berdych vs Filippo Volandri

 

Order of Play - Monday, January 7, 2008

COURT 1 Matches Start At: 11:00 AM
Filippo VOLANDRI (ITA) vs Tomas BERDYCH (CZE)
followed by
Katarina SREBOTNIK (SLO) vs Anna CHAKVETADZE (RUS)
followed by
Agustin CALLERI (ARG) vs Greg JONES (AUS)
followed by
Marion BARTOLI (FRA) vs QUALIFIER
followed by
QUALIFIER vs Elena DEMENTIEVA (RUS)

 

 

Tomas Berdych in action during his match against Filippo Volandri of Italy
during day two of the Medibank International at Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre
on Monday, January 7, 2008 in Sydney, Australia.

 

 
 Berdych Makes Winning Start in Sydney  
 
 
Top Czech Tomas Berdych, the No. 4 seed this week, made a confident start to his 2008 ATP campaign with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Italian Filippo Volandri on Monday at the Medibank International.

The 22-year-old Berdych converted on four of his 13 break point chances while denying Volandri his three opportunities during the 71-minute match to improve his lifetime record against the Italian to 4-2.

Berdych, currently No. 14 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, is making his fourth career appearance at the Medibank International and last year achieved his best event finish when he reached the quarterfinals (l. to Melzer).

 

 

 

 Tomas Berdych gets up and close with Australian wildlife

 

 

Czech star Tomas Berdych took time off the courts at the Medibank International to enjoy some of Sydney's attractions. The 22 year old dropped into the Sydney Wildlife World enclosure to check out the unique wild Australian animals on display.

 

 

 

  Round 2: Tomas Berdych vs Gilles Simon

 

Order of Play - Wednesday, January 9, 2008

COURT 1 Matches Start At: 11:00 AM
Gilles SIMON vs Tomas BERDYCH
followed by
Sebastien GROSJEAN vs Fernando VERDASCO
followed by
WTA match
followed by
Richard GASQUET / Jo-Wiflried TSONGA vs Martin DAMM / Pavel VIZNER
followed by
Carlos MOYA vs Agustin CALLERI

also the doubles on Wednesday

Court 6 Matches Start At: 11:00 AM
Andreas SEPPI vs Radek STEPANEK
followed by
Fabrice SANTORO vs Steve DARCIS
followed by (After suitbale rest)
Mahesh BHUPATHI / Mark KNOWLES vs Tomas BERDYCH / Radek STEPANEK

 

 

Tomas Berdych in action during his match against Gilles Simon of France
during day four of the Medibank International at Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre
on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 in Sydney, Australia.
 
 
     Berdych serves against Simon     SEE PHOTO   

 

 

 Tomas Berdych is safely through to the quarter-finals

 

Fourth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych assumed the place as the highest seed remaining in the Sydney draw, booking his place in the quarterfinals with a 7-6(3), 6-2 win over Frenchman Gilles Simon.

Simon failed to serve out the first set, allowing the Berdych to stage a successful comeback. After winning the first-set tie-break, the Czech converted on both of his break point chances in the ensuing set to notch his first win in three matches against the 23-year-old Simon.

Berdych also reached the quarterfinals last year in Sydney. He awaits Aussie wild card Chris Guccione who defeated four-time defending champion Lleyton Hewitt. Aussie Chris Guccione, who came into Sydney ranked No. 125, took on the role of giant-slayer against his compatriot, Hewitt, in the first meeting between the Davis Cup teammates. He fired 23 aces in a match that featured no breaks of serve to emerge with the 7-6(4), 7-6(2) upset.

 

 

 successful in doubles as well...

 

The Indian challenge at the Medibank International Tennis 2008 at the Sydney Olympic Park ended Wednesday, when Mahesh Bhupathi and his partner Mark Knowles were ousted in the first round by Czech pair Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek.

Bhupathi and Knowles lost 4-6, 4-6 in just under an hour and a quarter in the first round.

 

 Quarter-final: Tomas Berdych vs Chris Guccione

 

Order of Play - Thursday, January 10, 2008

CENTRE COURT Matches Start At: 11:00 AM
Simon ASPELIN (SWE) Julian KNOWLE (AUT) vs Alun JONES (AUS) Joseph SIRIANNI (AUS)
followed by
Justine HENIN (BEL) vs Ana IVANOVIC (SRB)
Not Before 1:30 PM
Nicole VAIDISOVA (CZE) vs Svetlana KUZNETSOVA (RUS)
followed by
Chris GUCCIONE (AUS) vs Tomas BERDYCH (CZE)
Not Before 7:30 PM
Dmitry TURSUNOV (RUS) vs Sebastien GROSJEAN (FRA)
followed by
Fabrice SANTORO (FRA) vs Evgeny KOROLEV (RUS)

 

also doubles on Thursday


COURT 1 Matches Start At: 12:00 PM
Nathalie DECHY (FRA) Dinara SAFINA (RUS) vs Jie ZHENG (CHN) Zi YAN (CHN)
followed by
Alicia MOLIK (AUS) Tiantian SUN (CHN) vs Tatiana PEREBIYNIS (UKR) Tatiana POUTCHEK (BLR)
followed by
Agustin CALLERI (ARG) vs Radek STEPANEK (CZE)
followed by (After Suitable Rest)
Tomas BERDYCH (CZE) Radek STEPANEK (CZE) vs Mariusz FYRSTENBERG (POL)Marcin MATKOWSKI (POL)

 

 Late Withdrawal    Stepanek withdrew from the doubles quarter-final last night because of knee soreness. He had been scheduled to partner his compatriot Berdych against Poles Mariuz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski.

 

 

Tomas Berdych in action against Chris Guccione, AKA "The Gooch"

 

Guccione fought back from being match point down to Berdych

Australia's Chris Guccione  has had one of the biggest wins of his career, beating world number 14 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals of the Sydney International.

Guccione dropped the first set but fought back to win 4-6, 7-6, 6-4. Berdych had one match point at 6-5 in the second set tie-break.

The world's 125th-ranked player will meet Berdych's compatriot Radek Stepanek in the semi-finals. Stepanek beat Argentina's Agustin Calleri 6-2, 6-4.

 

    Tomas in action against Guccione     SEE PHOTO    

    Tomas in action against Guccione     SEE PHOTO   

 
 
  Résumé:
 
Berdych Tumbles out in Sydney!  Tomas Berdych suffered a surprise defeat to local favourite Chris Guccione in the quarter-finals of the Medibank International on Thursday. The fourth-seeded Czech went down 4-6 7-6 (8/6) 6-4 to the Australian wild card.

 

 

 

 




Article ajouté le 2008-01-05 , consulté 697 fois

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