Dolgopolov makes winning start in Umag

Written by: Global Chick on 28th July 2011

Dolgopolov makes winning start in Umag

Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine serves to Viktor Troicki of Serbia during their third round match for the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 28 May 2011. EPA/KERIM OKTEN |

Number two seed Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov sailed past Italian Filippo Volandri winning 6-1 6-2 in just under an hour at the ATP Studena Croatia Open in Umag yesterday.

The Ukrainian will play Albert Ramos of Spain in the quarterfinals. Dolgopolov had a bye in the first round. Ramos had a great win against World No. 32 Ivan Dodig of Croatia in the first round. The Spaniard took out Italian qualifier Gianluca Naso in the second round winning 6-1 6-3.

Defending Champion Juan Carlos Ferrero put a stop to local favourite Ivan Ljubicic’s dreams of winning the Studena Croatia Open on home soil this year. The former world number one took almost two hours to overcome Ivan Ljubicic in three sets 1-6 6-3 6-4.

Ferrero who won the MercedesCup in Stuttgart two weeks ago is playing well again after having to take a break from tennis to heal his injuries. By winning in Stuttgart Ferrero lifted his 16^th career title.

“It was a strange start to the match and for sure I didn’t expect the first set to finish so quickly. The key of the match for me was to stay positive at all times during the match,” Ferrero said.

Ferrero faces Carlos Berlocq of Argentina in the quarterfinals. Berlocq was due to play Spaniard Tommy Robredo yesterday in the second round but Robredo had to pull out due to a left calf injury. The Spaniard started the warm up on court and played one point and then had to retire.

In the doubles top seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Michal Mertinak lost to Czech team Leos Friedl and David Skoch 4-6 7-6 (4) 11-9 in the first round. Friedl and Skoch will face Marin Cilic and Lovro Zovko in the quarterfinals.

German team Dustin Brown and Michael Kohlmann had to fight hard to overcome Italian team Adnreas Seppi and Simone Vanozzi 1-6 7-5 10-7. Brown and Kohlmann take on Blaz Kavcic and Jaroslav Pospisil next.

The number two seeds Daniele Bracciali and Stantiago Gonzalez cruised in to the second round beating Diego Junqueira and Albert Ramos 6-0 6-4. Bracciali and Gonzalez will play the winner of Franco Ferreiro and Andre Sa or Croatian wildcard team Toni Androic and Borut Puc.

The schedule for Thursday is:

CENTRE COURT start 5:00 pm

[4] M Cilic (CRO) vs R Haase (NED)

Not Before 8:00 PM

[1] J Chela (ARG) vs P Starace (ITA)

L Friedl (CZE) / D Skoch (CZE) vs M Cilic (CRO) / L Zovko (CRO)

GRANDSTAND start 5:00 pm

O Rochus (BEL) vs [6] F Fognini (ITA)

D Junqueira (ARG) vs [7] A Seppi (ITA)

S Bolelli (ITA) / F Fognini (ITA) vs I Dodig (CRO) / A Veic (CRO)

COURT 1 start 5:00 pm

F Ferreiro (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) vs [WC] T Androic (CRO) / B Puc (CRO) 75 – To Finish 75