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January
31, 2007
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Mayer,
Garcia-Lopez First Into the Delray Beach Quarterfinals
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 Delray
Beach, FL
(January 31,
2007)—Fifth
seed Florian Mayer headlined the winners in round robin play at the Delray Beach
International Tennis Championships Wednesday. The German’s win secured him a
spot in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Seventh seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain also advanced to the quarterfinals
with a victory Wednesday. Other winners in their round robin matches were Fort
Lauderdale, FL resident Ryan Sweeting, a wild card; Boca Raton, FL resident
Jesse Levine, a qualifier; big-serving American Robert Kendrick; and Colombia’s
Alejandro Falla.
Mayer, 23, beat Andrei Pavel 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, giving him a 2-0 record in his round
robin group. The German broke Pavel three times and lifted his career mark at
Delray to 4-1 with the win. He reached the quarterfinals in his debut last year
too (l. to Malisse).
Mayer has an ATP Ranking of No. 50 and reached a career-best No. 33 in 2004. His
record is 5-3 in 2007 and he reached the third round of the Australian Open (l.
to Haas).
Garcia-Lopez, 23, defeated Kristian Pless of Denmark 6-3, 7-6(5). He too is 2-0
in his round robin group. Garcia-Lopez broke Pless twice and didn’t face a break
point on his own serve.
Like Mayer, Garcia-Lopez is in the quarterfinals here for the second straight
year. Last year, in his ITC debut, Garcia-Lopez ousted Andre Agassi in the
quarters before losing to Malisse in the semifinals. “I played very well today
and am happy to be in quarterfinals. It’s fun and comfortable playing here, ”
said Garcia-Lopez, who has a career-best ATP ranking of No. 65.
Sweeting, 19, downed Simon Greul of Germany 6-2, 6-2. The American broke Greul
four times and wasn’t broken himself.
“It was a good feeling to get the wild card and to get two wins under my belt,”
Sweeting said. “I was a lot more focused today. I didn't want to give away any
points.”
Sweeting is 1-0 in his round robin group. Next, he will play No. 8 seed Vincent
Spadea. "This is his home turf,” Sweeting said of Spadea, who lives in nearby
Boca Raton. “He's playing well and I'll have to bring my 'A' game."
Sweeting moved to Fort Lauderdale, a short drive from Delray Beach, after living
in the Bahamas until the age of 11. His two wins this week account for 40
percent of his five career ATP victories (against four losses). He is ranked a
career-best No. 363 and will move up next week.
 Levine,
19, upended veteran fellow American Kevin Kim 6-2, 6-2. The University of
Florida freshman, who promised he will return to school when the tournament
ends, dominated Kim, winning 56 points to Kim’s 27. Levine broke Kim four times
and was broken only twice himself.
“I was ready for battle and had some fun today,” Levine said. “He (Kim) played
really fast. No time to think. It played to my advantage.”
Levine is 1-0 in his round robin group after taking his elimination round match
Monday. The two wins in Delray Beach are the first of his ATP career. Levine is
No. 1 on the University of Florida tennis team and No. 508 in the ATP Rankings.
He will jump up next week.
Kendrick, 27, defeated compatriot Scoville Jenkins 6-4, 6-4, evening his round
robin record at 1-1, following his loss to James Blake Tuesday. Kendrick hit
eight aces and won 78 percent of his service points, compared to 56 percent for
Jenkins.
“The new (round robin) format has given me a second chance to play,” Kendrick
said. “Today I was loose, served well. But it was gusty, and I had to adjust.”
Kendrick, who was two points from beating Rafael Nadal in the second round of
Wimbledon last year, needs Jenkins to handily beat top seed Blake to advance to
the quarterfinals.
Falla, 23, beat Germany’s Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 6-3, evening his record at 1-1
in his round robin group. Falla lost to Xavier Malisse in his first round robin
match Tuesday. Falla needs Schuettler to decisively beat No. 3 seed Malisse to
reach the quarterfinals.
Falla’s win over Schuettler was his first ATP victory of the year. He lost in
the first round at Chennai (to Mahut).
Ticket packages to the 2007 event are now on sale and can be
purchased by calling 561-330-6000. The Reserved Series
package for all tournament sessions is $250 while the
Weekender package—including the quarterfinals, semifinals
and finals—is $200. Box seat packages range from $980 for
two seats to $2,200 for four seats.
For more
information on the 15th annual tournament and its ancillary
events, visit
www.YellowTennisBall.com. |
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