Odesnik, Korolev advance at Delray Beach
Tuesday, 23rd February, 2010
Top-seeded Tommy Haas was upset by Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia 7-6 (3), 7-5 at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships on Monday.
This marks the third consecutive year Haas, who won the title in 2006, has lost in the first round of this tournament.
“He came up with some big shots at the right time,” Haas said. “I had my chances, but for some reason I couldn’t win the points that maybe would’ve turned it around for me today.
“Maybe I was just a step slow to get to the ball to make something happen. These guys are hitting the ball so big these days you have to be there every single point.”
Haas also became the sixth top seed in the tournament’s 18 year history to fall in the opening round.
Gabashvili, who has been hampered by health issues over the past year, was playing in his third tournament of the year. It was only the second ATP Tour match he’s won since July.
The 24-year-old Russian won a first round match against Karol Beck of Slovakia at the Moscow tournament in October.
Gabashvili was diagnosed with anemia and also had surgery to remove colon polyps in December.
“I wasn’t excited the last six months because I had a lot of health problems, low hemoglobin in the blood,” said Gabashvili, who lives most of the year in Barcelona. “I was losing every match, I couldn’t win.”
Haas, who became an American citizen in January but is still playing as a German, was trailing 5-3 in the opening set but fought back to a tiebreaker where he netted a backhand volley to lose the set.
In the second set, Gabashvili went ahead 2-0, but lost his serve in the third game to let Haas even the score.
Haas surrendered the match in the final game when he smacked a backhand into the net.
South Floridian Wayne Odesnik and Evgeny Korolev, a Russian-turned-Kazakhstani, were first round winners.
Despite falling and twisting his ankle at 3-1 in the first set, Odesnik cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over fellow American Rajeev Ram on Monday.
Korolev, who reached the final as a qualifier in Delray Beach last year, scored a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 victory over Nicolas Lapentti.
By Robert Kemp
“He came up with some big shots at the right time,” Haas said. “I had my chances, but for some reason I couldn’t win the points that maybe would’ve turned it around for me today.
“Maybe I was just a step slow to get to the ball to make something happen. These guys are hitting the ball so big these days you have to be there every single point.”
Haas also became the sixth top seed in the tournament’s 18 year history to fall in the opening round.
Gabashvili, who has been hampered by health issues over the past year, was playing in his third tournament of the year. It was only the second ATP Tour match he’s won since July.
The 24-year-old Russian won a first round match against Karol Beck of Slovakia at the Moscow tournament in October.
Gabashvili was diagnosed with anemia and also had surgery to remove colon polyps in December.
“I wasn’t excited the last six months because I had a lot of health problems, low hemoglobin in the blood,” said Gabashvili, who lives most of the year in Barcelona. “I was losing every match, I couldn’t win.”
Haas, who became an American citizen in January but is still playing as a German, was trailing 5-3 in the opening set but fought back to a tiebreaker where he netted a backhand volley to lose the set.
In the second set, Gabashvili went ahead 2-0, but lost his serve in the third game to let Haas even the score.
Haas surrendered the match in the final game when he smacked a backhand into the net.
South Floridian Wayne Odesnik and Evgeny Korolev, a Russian-turned-Kazakhstani, were first round winners.
Despite falling and twisting his ankle at 3-1 in the first set, Odesnik cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over fellow American Rajeev Ram on Monday.
Korolev, who reached the final as a qualifier in Delray Beach last year, scored a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 victory over Nicolas Lapentti.
By Robert Kemp
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