Marseilles Open Report – First Round Rundown

Matthew Zemek — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:02:42 +0000

The Open 13 in Marseilles, France, an ATP 250 event played on indoor hardcourts, has completed most of its 14 first-round matches. The tournament field was supposed to include Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro, but the two stars pulled out of the event for different reasons (and, for that matter, with different levels of justification).

Murray pulled out of the event in 2009 and angered tournament organizer Jean-Francois Caujolle, only to promise that he’d compete in 2010. However, the 2010 Australian Open finalist removed himself from the Marseilles draw last week, making himself persona non grata in this Mediterranean city. Del Potro, the reigning U.S. Open champion, stepped away from the week-long competition because of his injured wrist, which was never fully whole in Australia.

The big story from the first round came on Tuesday, following a smattering of Monday matches at the Palais des Sports. Fifth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon, who cracked the top 10 late in 2008 and reached the 2009 Australian Open quarterfinals, got bounced from the tournament by unseeded Belgian veteran Olivier Rochus.

After the two players split the first 10 games of the match, Rochus won eight of the next 10 games to sprint to a 7-5, 6-2 triumph. The defeat marks the continuing decline of a player whose tennis IQ has remained high as ever, but whose relatively thin body has been punished by the grind of the ATP Tour calendar.

Simon has never played an attack-based game, and he relies on defense to frustrate opponents. That style worked extremely well in 2008 and the early portions of 2009, but the accumulated mileage on his legs has worn down the 25-year-old over time.

Without a huge serve and other kinds of weapons that can win large stacks of cheap points, Simon – a superb tactician – has found himself outgunned and overwhelmed in recent months. This match only furthered that trend.

Here are the other scores from the first round of the 2010 Open 13 tournament, a 28-player event in which the top four seeds get a first-round bye:

Top four seeds: [1] Robin Soderling, [2] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, [3] Gael Monfils, [4] Tommy Robredo

First Round Results

Michael Llodra d. Edouard Roger-Vasselin, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4

Andreas Seppi d. Arnaud Clement, 7-6 (2), 7-5

[8] Julien Benneteau d. Stephane Bohli, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3)

Sergiy Stakhovsky d. Simone Bolelli, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4

Josselin Ouanna (lucky loser) d. Denis Istomin, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3

Ilia Marchenko (lucky loser) d. Ruben Bemelmans (qualifier), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

[7] Marcos Baghdatis d. Daniel Brands, 6-3, 6-2

Florent Serra d. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-3, 6-3

Mischa Zverev d. David Guez (wild card), 7-6 (3), 6-4

Walkover: Christophe Rochus (lower back injury; was scheduled to play Istomin in first round; replaced by Ouanna)

First-round matches scheduled for Wednesday, yet to be completed:

Jan Hajek vs. Yannick Mertens (qualifier)

Guillaume Rufin (wild card) vs. [6] Mikhail Youzhny

First Round Doubles Results

Sergiy Stakhovsky/Rogier Wassen d. Josselin Ouanna/Edouard Roger-Vasselin, 6-3, 6-4

Rik de Voest/Aisam-Ul-Haq-Qureshi d. Paterne Mamata/Gael Monfils, 6-1, 6-4

Sanchai Ratiwatana/Sonchat Ratiwatana d. David Guez/Florent Serra, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 (super tiebreak)

Julian Knowle/Robert Lindstedt d. Thierry Ascione/Marcos Baghdatis, 6-4, 7-6 (3)

Marc Lopez/Tommy Robredo d. Simone Bolelli/Andreas Seppi, 3-6, 6-3, 10-7 (super tiebreak)

Julien Benneateau/Michael Llodra d. Philipp Marx/Igor Zelenay, 6-1, 7-6 (2)

Arnaud Clement/Nicolas Mahut d. Colin Fleming/Ken Skupski, 7-6 (4), 6-3

First round match yet to be completed:

Rohan Bopanna/Jeff Coetzee vs. Christophe Rochus/Olivier Rochus – match to be played on Wednesday

Tennis Tournaments » Open 13

Marseilles Open Report – First Round Rundown

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