Tennis Capsules: No. 1 Nadal wins grass-court opener at Queen's
LONDON (AP) — Just three days after winning the French Open for a sixth time, Rafael Nadal began his preparations for Wimbledon with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden in his opening match at Queen's Club on Wednesday.
The top-seeded Spaniard was never at his best, but broke in the opening game of each set to beat his 168th-ranked opponent comfortably and move into the third round.
While Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer both pulled out of their scheduled Wimbledon warmup events this week, Nadal opted to play despite the short turnaround after the French Open.
It was midnight when Nadal returned to his hotel after beating Federer on Sunday for his sixth title at Roland Garros. After a few hours' sleep, he was up early on Monday for a photocall at Disneyland Paris before heading to London later the same day and straight to the practice courts at Queen's Club.
There wasn't even time for a glass of champagne to celebrate matching Bjorn Borg's record for French Open titles.
"To celebrate the victory, I'm going to have time later," Nadal said. "I have to be focused on the grass-court season."
Nadal's movement was often awkward on the grass Wednesday, and he let out a yelp of frustration at 3-2 in the second set when a routine forehand drifted into the tramlines.
Ebden, playing only his 11th match at this level, went on to earn his one and only chance to break serve in the match, but Nadal found a big first serve when it counted to weather the threat.
"It's impossible to be playing well the first day," said Nadal, the 2008 Wimbledon champion. "The energy is not in the perfect condition right now but I'm here to try my best as usual.
"I'm here because I love this tournament ... but at the same time, it works for me to try to start to have the feelings on grass. Sure, my conditions are not perfect because I feel everything (his muscles) a little more tighter than usual."
Nadal, who will face Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in the third round, was kept waiting in the locker room on Wednesday by several rain delays — and a three-set match between second-seeded Andy Murray and Xavier Malisse.
Murray, who reached the French Open semifinals last week despite injuring his ankle earlier in the tournament, beat Malisse 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 to set up a third-round meeting with Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia.
Murray, who won at Queen's in 2009, said his ankle was still giving him some pain as he prepares for his Wimbledon campaign — and another attempt to win his first Grand Slam title.
"I want to play as many matches as possible, but I also want to go into Wimbledon pain free," Murray said. "Obviously playing on it and doing what I did at the French Open is not exactly the best course of action to get the ankle better.
"The good thing is from playing the match, I'm not necessarily doing it more damage, but also the pain is not going away."
Murray was leading 3-1 against Malisse when play was interrupted by a heavy downpour.
The second-seeded Briton wrapped up the first set when the players returned, but Malisse cut out the errors and the 2002 Wimbledon semifinalist snatched the second set when he broke for the first time at 6-5 after Murray went long with a forehand.
Murray broke early in the decider and again in the last game to give the home crowd a welcome tonic amid the gloomy weather.
"It was tricky," Murray said. "The court's playing very, very slow for a grass court so there were quite a lot of rallies. I had a little chance at the end of the second set but didn't take it and Malisse got back into it and started playing better, but I managed to turn it around in the end. It's good to get through."
In other matches, the 14th-seeded Tipsarevic defeated American Michael Russell 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), while eighth-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia also advanced, beating French qualifier Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-4.
David Nalbandian defeated Serbian qualifier Ilija Bozoljac 6-4, 6-4, and 15th-seeded Kevin Anderson swept past Donald Young of the United States 6-2, 6-4.
In a late match, Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina beat Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round, where he will face Gilles Simon of France.
Ivanovic off to strong start in Wimbledon tuneup
BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic needed less than 45 minutes to get off to a strong start in her tuneup for Wimbledon.
Ivanovic launched winner after winner with her groundstrokes, tearing apart Georgia's Anna Tatashvili's serve in a 6-1, 6-0 win Wednesday at the Aegon Classic.
The Serb is the tournament's highest remaining seed at No. 2, and despite any doubts instilled by seven months without a title, she is a strong favorite to win in Birmingham.
"I had forgotten how lovely the grass is. It's great to be back on it," she said.
"I lost the first game because I was feeling a bit passive, but when I stepped in a bit more it changed the match."
So encouraged was Ivanovic with the way she felt, she even allowed her thoughts to consider Wimbledon ambitions.
"I really would like one day to win that trophy," she said.
Ivanovic next plays Rebecca Marino of Canada, and could have a semifinal with the resurgent Mirjana Lucic, a Wimbledon semifinalist at the age of 17 who last month reached her first WTA quarterfinals in 12 years.
The day was even more trying for Alison Riske, who had to endure five rain delays, which meant the American's 6-3, 6-4 win over Sarah Gronert of Germany took 5½ hours to complete.
Riske had both happy memories and an exciting prospect to sustain her. Last year, having given up the chance of a degree at Vanderbilt University, she played so well here in progressing through qualifying and into the semifinals that she was awarded a Wimbledon wild card. This year, having crept to the verge of the top 100, Riske has gained a Wimbledon place on merit.
Three more seeds were eliminated: No. 6 Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, No. 9 Ayumi Morita of Japan, and No. 11 Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan. Half of the 16 seeded players in the draw have been sent packing.
Third-seeded Peng Shuai had to survive a scare. The Chinese player has just reached the world's top 20 for the first time but went a break down in the final set before squeezing through for a 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2) win over British qualifier Naomi Broady.
-- Richard Eaton
Berdych beats Hernych to reach Halle quarterfinals
HALLE, Germany (AP) — Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych beat Jan Hernych 6-3, 7-6 (7) to reach the quarterfinals of the Gerry Weber Open on Wednesday.
The seventh-ranked Berdych broke twice in the first set and closed out the second-round match against his fellow Czech on his fourth match point at the grass-court tournament.
On Tuesday, Berdych saved three match points before beating Belgian qualifier Ruben Bemelmans.
"Missing two serves on match points, you just have to think about it after the match," said Berdych, the 2007 champion. "But I got back into it and was mentally strong."
Berdych will play 12th-ranked Viktor Troicki, who ousted Igor Andreev of Russia 6-3, 6-1. The Serb completed the victory in 53 minutes, breaking five times and losing just five points on his first serve.
"It will be a really tough game," Berdych said. "Only the ranking position could make me the favorite. He is really playing well the last couple of weeks."
Also Wednesday, defending champion Lleyton Hewitt won his first-round match against Argentina's Leonardo Mayer 6-2, 6-3.
Hewitt is playing in his first event since Indian Wells in March after struggling with foot and ankle injuries. The Australian said "I didn't have a lot of high expectations going out there. But things got better as the match went on."
Mayer was the lucky loser replacement for Roger Federer, who withdrew Monday.
"I wasn't worried about the draw," Hewitt said. "I was more worried about how my body feels and getting it right. I just need to play matches and face break points so they become second nature."
Also advancing to the quarterfinals were Canadian Milos Raonic, a 7-6 (2), 6-3 winner against Tobias Kamke of Germany; and Philipp Petzschner of Germany, who got past Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver, 6-2, 6-4.
Barthel beats Zahlavova Strycova in Copenhagen
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — German qualifier Mona Barthel knocked out fifth-seeded Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open on Wednesday.
The 20-year-old Barthel, playing in only her third WTA main draw, won her first tour-level match only this week.
Eighth-seeded Italian Alberta Brianti also advanced to the quarterfinals after a hard-fought 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Zuzana Kucova of Slovakia.
Also, Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine beat Kathrin Woerle of Germany 6-0, 1-6, 6-2, while 112th-ranked Petra Martic of Croatia hit a dozen aces in defeating Simona Halep of Romania 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 50 minutes.
Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki faces Angelique Kerber of Germany in the second round on Thursday.
Non-Tournament Capsules
Li's French Open win watched by 116M in China
LONDON (AP) — The WTA says Li Na was watched by 116 million TV viewers in China when she won the country's first Grand Slam singles title at the French Open.
The 29-year-old Li beat defending champion Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-6 (0) on Saturday.
WTA chairman Stacey Allaster says the audience was the biggest for a tennis match in China and is a "fantastic sign for the continued growth potential of women's tennis in China."
Citing figures from state broadcaster CCTV, the WTA says the previous highest Chinese TV audience for a sporting event this year was when 60 million viewers saw Li lose to Belgium's Kim Clijsters in the Australian Open final in January.
Austrian ATP tour event renamed as Erste Bank Open
VIENNA (AP) — The ATP tour event known for 25 years as Tennis Trophy will be renamed the Erste Bank Open after longtime sponsor Bank Austria pulled out.
The sponsor pulled out after tournament venue Wiener Stadthalle announced a sponsorship deal with main business rival Erste Bank.
Tournament director Herwig Straka said Wednesday that "the change of the main sponsor after a quarter century marks the start of a new era for the event."
The 37th edition of the $650,000 indoor hard-court event is scheduled for Oct. 23-31.
Cal's Juricova wins Honda Award for tennis
NEW YORK (AP) — Cal's Jana Juricova has won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top college women's tennis player.
The native of Slovakia won this year's NCAA singles title, going 36-4 in her junior season.
The other finalists were Lauren Embree of Florida, Maria Sanchez of Southern Cal and Stacey Tan of Stanford. The winner is determined by balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools.
As one of the Honda winners in 12 sports, Juricova is eligible for Collegiate Female Athlete of the Year honors, which will be awarded June 27 in New York.
