'Kick boxer' Verdasco in fighting mood

The Spanish base-liner had to summon up his A game to stop the inspired Japanese, ranked world No 73, and clinch the first-round match 3-6 6-0 6-2 after two hours and three minutes.

 “It’s always difficult to play someone you have never seen before. He was serving unbelievably, moving well, hitting good forehands and backhands and changing the direction of the ball easily in the first set. I was surprised. But after that I knew I had to play 100 per cent to come back and win. In the end I played better and was physically better,’’ said the lefthander, who fell in love with Thai boxing on his first visit here, in 2007.

“I love martial arts. I’ve been here many times but I have never seen a real Thai boxing match. If I have time today, I would love to see a muay thai fight,’’ said Verdasco, who took a lesson in the martial art from Olympic gold medallist Somjit Jongjohor during a tournament activity two years ago.

Asked to comment on fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal’s knee injury and his possible return to tennis, Verdasco said: “He is an important player for Spain and we all want him to come back. But he is the only one who knows when he is ready to play again.”

Sixth seed Viktor Troicki of Serbia, the 2009 finalist, needed time to get used to his new racquets before posting a three-set win over Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-3 in two hours 15 minutes.

“Sergiy played a good match but unfortunately he lost. I was a break up in all three sets but I let the lead slip away and he always came back. But in the end I made the crucial break and held to win. I’m happy with my first-round performance, especially with the new racquets, which I didn’t have so much time to get used to,” said the world No 31, who received the racquets only 10 days ago.

Troicki lost the final to Frenchman Gilles Simon here in 2009 here and is hoping to go one better this time around.

“People are always treated well here and that’s why I always try my best here. I reached the final three years ago so I hope I can do at least like three years ago,’’ said Troicki, who next faces the winner between Gael Monfils of France and South Africa’s Kevin Anderson.

Another former finalist, seventh seed Jarkko Nieminem of Finland, also advanced to round two yesterday after Japanese qualifier Yuichi Sugita retired at 1-6 due to an ankle injury. Meanwhile, Sela Dudi of Israel beat wild card Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland 6-4 6-4. Japanese qualifier Hiroki Moriya of Japan, No 204, continued his surprise run by battling back from a set down to upset No 50 Robin Haase of the Netherlands 2-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 in two hours and eight minutes.

 

Sharapova finds going tough

French Open champion Maria Sharapova needed more than three hours to beat Heather Watson of Britain yesterday for a place in the third round at the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament in Tokyo.

The Russian lost a service break while up twice in each set before finally taking the tie 6-7 (7/9) 6-3 6-4.

Sharapova, 25, struggled with her serve, hitting three double faults in the 10th game of the first set, having to save two set points against her.

She again hit three double faults, one while at advantage on set point at 6-5, and then missed two more points to take the set before losing it, hitting a service return into the net.

But the world No 2 rallied, attacking Watson’s second serve to hit a total of nine service return winners and finish off the match.

“I was not consistent enough. I had opportunities to win the first set and I didn’t said Sharapova. “It wasn’t the best quality match.”

The Russian hit nine aces but also had 14 double faults.

“That certainly gave her a lot of confidence. I think that’s the reason why the match was so long. My per centage [of first serves] was very low as well,” said the second seed.

“So I put pressure on myself, I hit so many second serves. Certainly I have to improve for tomorrow,” she added.

World No 1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus maintained her good form to beat Tamira Paszek of Austria 6-1 6-1.

Fourth seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic became the biggest casualty of the day when the 2011 Wimbledon champion crashed to a 6-4 6-4 defeat to Petra Martic of Croatia.

A badly off-form Kvitova double-faulted three times to lose the opening game, again lost the first game of the second set to love and was never able to overcome an uphill battle throughout the 88-minute upset.

“She has a big serve and it is tough to push her. She kept me on the defensive and running a lot, and that’s not my game. She played so well today, very aggressive,” said Kvitova, 22.

Last year’s French Open champion Li Na of China, seeded seventh, beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 7-5 4-6 6-2, while ninth seed Marion Bartoli of France defeated Germany’s Julia Goerges 6-2 7-5.