Finals action in Stockholm and Moscow

Written by: Global Chick on 23rd October 2011

Finals action in Stockholm and Moscow

Gael Monfils of France reacts after winning winnong a point against Kevin Anderson of South Africa during their quarterfinal match of the ATP Stockholm Open tennis tournament, in Stockholm, Sweden, on 21 October, 2011. Monfils later won the match 7-5, 7-5. EPA/HENRIK MONTGOMERY * SWEDEN OUT * |

If Stockholm Open

Gael Monfils and Jarkko Nieminen will face each other in the Stockholm final tomorrow. Both players needed three sets to advance into the final.

Top seed Gael Monfils came back from a set down against Milos Raonic of Canada in Saturday’s semi-final. Monfils won the match in just over two hours 6-7 (6) 6-4 6-3. The Frenchman stepped up in the third set and broke the Canadian’s serve for the third time, he got the break and then served out the match. “I had some opportunities in the first set and I didn’t make them. Maybe I got a bit nervous at the end of the tiebreak,” the World No. 10 said.

Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen will play his third Stockholm Open final. He reached the finals in 2001 and 2006 but has never lifted the trophy. The former World No. 13 defeated American James Blake 7-6 (5) 5-7 6-2 in the semi-final in the bottom half of the draw.

Nieminen and Monfils met a couple of weeks ago at the PTT Thailand Open and Monfils was the winner in straight sets. Monfils said of Sunday’s final, “I expect a tough match from the baseline.”

The If Stockholm Open doubles final will be between top seeds Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Brazilian duo Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares. The South American team surprised the number two seeds Eric Butroac and Jean-Julien Rojer in the semi-final winnign 7-6 (4) 6-3.

SCHEDULE – SUNDAY, 23 OCTOBER, 2011  CENTRE COURT start 12:45 pm

[1] R Bopanna (IND) / A Qureshi (PAK) vs [4] M Melo (BRA) / B Soares (BRA)

Not Before 3:00 PM

[1] G Monfils (FRA) vs J Nieminen (FIN)    

Kremlin Cup – Moscow

In the final of Kremlin Cup in Moscow the number one and the number two seed will square off in the final. The final will be an all-Serbian affair between Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki.

The number one seed Tipsarevic overcame the former world number three Nikolay Davydenko 6-2 7-5 in yesterday’s semi-final. The match nearly turned into a three set battle after Davydenko had three set points at 4-5 in the second set. Tipsarevic pulled his game together and broke the Russian and then served out the match. “Nikolay is one of the best groundstroke players I had to mix it up,” Tipsarevic said.

Viktor Troicki downed French qualifier Jeremy Chardy 6-4 6-4 to advance into the final. Troicki broke Chardy’s serve at 4-4 in the first set and then went on to claim the first set in 40 minutes. The second set was exactly the same scenario with a break late in the second set. “I had to play my best tennis to beat Chardy today. I knew I had to concentrate on my return games and I was happy I was able to do that,” Troicki said.

The doubles final will be played between the number one seeds Frantisek Cermak and Filip Polasek and Carlos Berlocq and David Marrero.

Schedule – Sunday 23, October 2011

Not Before 3:00 PM

[1] J Tipsarevic (SRB) vs [2] V Troicki (SRB) – ATP

[1] F Cermak (CZE) / F Polasek (SVK) vs C Berlocq (ARG) / D Marrero (ESP) – ATP

Topics: Gael Monfils, Janko Tipsarevic, Viktor Troicki