2011 Medibank International, Igor Andreev only seed to qualify for main draw
With only a week left for the prestigious Australian Open, the top 20 players are busy with their match practice.
However, most of the top 50 are involved in twin events at Auckland and Sydney.
Kicking off on 9th January was the 2011 Medibank International in Sydney at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Center. The absence of top players created many opportunities for the lower ranked players to qualify for the main draw.
The first qualifier in the main draw was Fredrico Gil from Portugal. Gil had kicked off 2011 at the Aircel Chennai Open last week though he failed to make it past the first round losing to world number six, Tomas Berdych, in straight sets.
Gil gained acceptance in the main draw of the Sydney event after hard fought battles in all three rounds. In his opening clash of the qualifying round, Gil had ousted seventh seed Dudi Sela with a loss of one set.
Meeting Marinko Matosevic in the second round, Gil bounced back from being one set down to win the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. His qualifying round final had been setup with German Simon Greul.
Racing to a lead in the first set, Gil bagged a 6-3 victory. However, he failed to maintain his form losing the second set 3-6. Determined to make it to the main draw, Gil bounced back in the third set and showing no mercy clinched a bread stick win. Gil
moved ahead to meet Jarkko Nieminen.
Joining Gil in the main draw was eighth seed Russian Igor Andreev. Ranked 79th in the world, Andreev’s start in 2011 had not been what he expected. Playing in the main draw at the Brisbane International last week, Andreev had exited in the first
round losing to Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Failing to make it into the main draw at Sydney, Andreev had instead been seeded eighth in the qualifying round. Playing Karol Beck in his opening clash, Andreev barely made it past the Slovak.
Putting up resistance, Beck pushed the first set to a tiebreaker before losing it 7-3. Refusing to let up in the second set, Beck followed closely at Andreev’s heel keeping the score tied till 5-5.It was only in the eleventh game that Andreev caught a break
winning the second set 7-5.
Andreev played Ricardos Berankis next and was only able to move ahead after securing a 6-4 victory in the first set and then clinching the tiebreaker 8-6 in the second set.
Andreev played his qualifying round final against Andrej Martin. In a match that lasted less than an hour, Andreev sailed to a comfortable 6-2 victory in the first set before wrapping up the match with a comfortable breadstick win in the second set. Andreev
moved ahead to play Jeremy Chardy.
After his first round exit at the Brisbane International last week, Bernard Tomic had gained a wild card entry into the qualifying round at the Sydney event. Moving past Igor Kunitysyn in the opening round and then upsetting second seed Michael Berrer in
the second round, Tomic had setup a final clash with fifth seed Lukasz Kubot.
Defeating Kubot by 6-3, 6-2 and maintaining his no set loss record, Tomic moved into the main draw where he will play his first round match against Alexandr Dolgopolov.
The last qualifying spot in the main draw was secured by another qualifying round wildcard entrant, Chris Guccione. Bouncing from being one set down, Guccione upset sixth seed Eduardo Schwank.
Moving ahead Guccione met and defeated Alejandro Falla in a three setter. Playing his third straight three-setter in the final, Guccione defeated Michal Przysiezny. In a match that lasted almost two hours, Guccione served thirteen aces and lost 21 of 82
points on service to secure a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(2) victory. Guccione moved ahead to play seventh seed Guillermo Garcia Lopez.
Tags: