Murray, Djokovic Advance; Boss Bids Farewell

Top players on both sides today and, for the most part, all came away with a win. Wildcard Marco Chiudinelli (of immense cuteness fame) thrilled the Basel crowds by knocking out eighth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber; I only saw the end of the first set, but I thought Chiudinelli was playing really well. Kudos. And Novak Djokovic was untroubled in a straight sets victory over Andi Beck, 63 75. The dream final lives through the first round.

Things were a bit more exciting in Valencia, as five of the top seeds graced the Agora and came away with wins. Ferru won the intramural battle with Almagro in three tough sets; it also took Robredo three, somewhat bizarrely, after bagelling Christophe Rochus in the first, but he got through in the end. Simon and Monfils managed it in straights, as did – drumroll! – Andy Murray, who beat wildcard Gimeno-Travers 63 61. My stream was extremely bad so I couldn’t draw too many conclusions; we’ll see how he does against stiffer opposition, but for now, he’s through. Hooray.

Fine upstanding young gentleman. Anyway, there was more rejoicing for me as the unseeded Argentines posted straight sets victories – Pico over Vassallo Arguello, Horseface over the fading force that is Igor Andreev – but it’s a sad day for all of us as Boss lost to Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 63 in the third after being 62 52 up.

To quote a wise and eloquent friend of mine, “the proud patriarch of Valencia is no more”. I’m feeling the urge to recite some Anglo-Saxon poetry right about now. It’s the stuff for when you’re feeling elegiac, trust me.

Basel

Singles – First Round
[2] N Djokovic (SRB) d A Beck (GER) 63 75
[WC] M Chiudinelli (SUI) d [8] P Kohlschreiber (GER) 76(5) 36 75
V Troicki (SRB) d B Becker (GER) 62 76(5)
J Nieminen (FIN) d J Benneteau (FRA) 75 62
[Q] M Lammer (SUI) d D Koellerer (AUT) 36 62 75
J Hernych (CZE) d [Q] P Luczak (AUS) 63 64
[Q] E Korolev (RUS) d S Bolelli (ITA) 36 76(4) 62

Doubles – First Round
[1] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d L Arnold Ker (ARG) / F Gonzalez (CHI) 46 63 10-5
[2] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) d [WC] Y Allegro (SUI) / I Ljubicic (CRO) 61 64
J Cerretani (USA) / A Qureshi (PAK) d [WC] M Chiudinelli (SUI) / R Federer (SUI) 64 63

Valencia

Singles – First Round
[1] A Murray (GBR) d [WC] D Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 63 61
[5] G Simon (FRA) d I Kunitsyn (RUS) 63 62
[6] G Monfils (FRA) d [WC] M Granollers (ESP) 64 62
[7] T Robredo (ESP) d [Q] C Rochus (BEL) 60 57 63
[8] D Ferrer (ESP) d N Almagro (ESP) 75 67(3) 62
P Cuevas (URU) d J Ferrero (ESP) 26 76(4) 63
J Monaco (ARG) d M Vassallo Arguello (ARG) 63 62
L Mayer (ARG) d I Andreev (RUS) 63 63

Doubles – First Round
V Hanescu (ROU) / H Tecau (ROU) d [1] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) 63 36 11-9