Americans Robby Ginepri and Sam Querrey Advance

Written by: Staff on 9th March 2012

Americans Robby Ginepri and Sam Querrey Advance |

Robby Ginepri overcame a one-set deficit and staged an emotional comeback for fans as he defeated Italian Paolo Lorenzi in the first round of the 2012 BNP Paribas Open. Temperatures were hot and the American went down in flames in the first set, 6-1. But Ginepri battled back, capturing the 2nd set 6-3. It became a battle of attrition. Ginepri used veteran will power to outlast Lorenzi during long and physically grueling points to capture a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory. The turning point in the match came when Ginepri was able to handle Lorenzi’s high topspin crosscourt shots and place them down-the-line, causing havoc to the Lorenzi defense. Ginepri followed up his down-the-line rockets with solid net play throughout the 2nd and 3rd sets and eventually won match point with a volley winner. The crowd was emotional and fully behind Ginepri the entire match, shouting encouragement whenever there was a chance. So far he has garnered the highest amount of applause of any match here at the BNP Paribas this year and is the sentimental favorite in Americans’ eyes. Ginepri is returning to the ATP world circuit coming back from a broken elbow injury sustained while bike riding in his hometown.

Sam Querrey made his return to the BNP Paribas Open as a wild card entry. He faced fellow American Tim Smyzcek who went through two qualifying rounds before making it into the main draw. Sam was Tim’s 2nd American opponent thus far, having dispatched veteran Michael Russell in the final round of qualifying. Sam sported a new Babolat Aero Drive racket and coach in the form of Brad Gilbert. Sam has been working with Gilbert since December/January but has yet to ink a deal with him due to schedule conflicts. One thing is for sure, Querrey’s serve and forehand are bigger than before and with Gilbert in his corner, he’s much more likely to use those weapons in matches from now on.

The match between these two was tight, Querrey dominated the first set tiebreak then continued to pepper the corners with his forehand. Smyzcek’s body finally gave out and called for an injury timeout to try recover, but Querrey remained focused and eventually broke to win 7-6 (1), 6-4.

Other wildcard entry Jack Sock was also not so fortunate but still put on a good showing. Sock lost in three sets to Santiago Giraldo 7-5 6-0 6-1, the rising star only able to win one game in the final 13 games. Another American and former college standout at Tennessee Rhyne Williams also lost in the first round after going through two rounds of qualifying. He took Frederico Gil to three tough sets 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-4 but was unable to seize his chance at winning his first round in an ATP 1000 event.

Ryan Harrison ignited the fans during the night session in his blitzing of Flavio Cipolla 6-1 6-2. Everything was working for this young American and he has proven time and time again against top ranked players that he is a force to be reckoned with. Despite his losing record against top 10 players, the fact that he’s played against so many ranked that high (usually in first round matches), his experience playing against the highest level has trained him to become even better against those outside the top 10. Tonight was example of this top level and the scoreline shows that Cipolla was absolutely no match for the powerful Harrison.

Finally, wild card Jesse Levine was able to put up a good showing against Albert Ramos but was unable to edge him, losing 6-7(10), 7-6(2), 6-2. That totals up three American wild card entries out, while the one (Robby Ginepri) is still alive. The positive news is that those three put up solid score lines and are looking like solid contenders for the top 100.

Topics: Albert Ramos, Flavio Cipolla, Jesse Levine, Paolo Lorenzi, Robby Ginepri, Ryan Harrison, Sam Querrey