When you hold a quarterfinals on a beautiful but hot Thursday in Newport, RI, the home of the tennis hall of fame, and three of the four players contesting the two quarterfinal matches are ranked well north of No. 100 in the rankings (Matthew Eden–249, Tobias Kamke–185 and Peter Gojowcyk–131), there’s a good chance there won’t be overflowing crowds attending and it’s not going to be particularly pretty.
When Ebden prevailed in the opening quarters, taking out Kamke in three sets, already Ebden was nursing a strained groin, but when he fell to the grass after the last point, he also strained an abdominal muscle. It’s been that kind of event here this week, but amidst the Challenger-laden crew vying for the 41st Hall of Fame Championship title (Dennis Novikov no. 203 and Bjorn Frantangelo no. 142 play John Isner no. 21 and Pierre-Hughes Herbert no. 72 in the other quarterfinals matches tomorrow) there’s been some interesting characters and storylines gracing this only American grass-court event.
Yesterday, Adrian Menendez-Maceiras went down in three tight sets to Herbert, and the 31-year-old Spaniard had finally broken through in his first round win against Stefan Kozlov to nab his first ATP tournament win. Menendez-Maceiras is the right handed Spanish version of Feliciano Lopez, quite adept at serving and volleying.
Victor Estrella Burgos, 36, playing Newport for the first time couldn’t follow the footsteps of other diminutive players who have come here and had successful runs, Fabrice Santoro, Ollie Rochus, Dudi Sela and Lleyton Hewitt come to mind, when he lost in the first round. And Rajeev Ram, 33 and ranked no. 235, called his singles career quits when he lost here in the first round.
Finally, there was Brydan Klein, the Aussie-turned-Brit, who lost to Eden in three sets in the qualis, said he believes he needs one more win next week, the last week for results that effect the US Open draws, where he will play in the Qualis of Atlanta after Frantangelo will get moved into the Main Draw if he makes the semis here. Otherwise, Klein, who’s still in Newport today, would have to rent a car and drive to the Challenger in Birmingham.
Klein, speaking of his default at the hands of noted tennis ump, Mohammad Lahyani in the Nottingham Challenger before Wimbledon, said Lahyani had given him a penalty point early in the match for abuse of a ball and calling a lines woman “old.” Klein understood why he got that penalty although he said he’s heard Andy Murray and others ask umpire to change lines people because of their age and bad eyesight. But on his second penalty point that led to Lahyani defaulting him, Klein was at break point, set point against Sam Groth after dropping the first set, when he yelled out, “Stupid person,” after netting a backhand return of serve. Klein later challenged the $2000 fine he received for being defaulted and the fine was overturned.
Klein is quite the character, but when you come to a tournament like Newport, characters rule the court. Like the doubles team of Purav Raja and Divij Sharan of India who lost today in the quarters to the Aussie duo of John-Patrick Smith and Matt Reid. Sharan and Raja are ranked no. 51 and 52 respectively and won the inaugural ATP event last year in Los Cabos. This year they lost at Wimbledon in the second round to Ram and Raven Klassen, 8-10 in the fifth set.
But Raja at 31 looks like he could do a commercial for the Indian beer, Kingfisher. He’s got a nice gut and hits his serve with a quick mini-backswing motion and generally looks like he could be playing at the local public courts. In Newport though, Raja fits right in.
When Ebden prevailed in the opening quarters, taking out Kamke in three sets, already Ebden was nursing a strained groin, but when he fell to the grass after the last point, he also strained an abdominal muscle. It’s been that kind of event here this week, but amidst the Challenger-laden crew vying for the 41st Hall of Fame Championship title (Dennis Novikov no. 203 and Bjorn Frantangelo no. 142 play John Isner no. 21 and Pierre-Hughes Herbert no. 72 in the other quarterfinals matches tomorrow) there’s been some interesting characters and storylines gracing this only American grass-court event.
Yesterday, Adrian Menendez-Maceiras went down in three tight sets to Herbert, and the 31-year-old Spaniard had finally broken through in his first round win against Stefan Kozlov to nab his first ATP tournament win. Menendez-Maceiras is the right handed Spanish version of Feliciano Lopez, quite adept at serving and volleying.
Victor Estrella Burgos, 36, playing Newport for the first time couldn’t follow the footsteps of other diminutive players who have come here and had successful runs, Fabrice Santoro, Ollie Rochus, Dudi Sela and Lleyton Hewitt come to mind, when he lost in the first round. And Rajeev Ram, 33 and ranked no. 235, called his singles career quits when he lost here in the first round.
Finally, there was Brydan Klein, the Aussie-turned-Brit, who lost to Eden in three sets in the qualis, said he believes he needs one more win next week, the last week for results that effect the US Open draws, where he will play in the Qualis of Atlanta after Frantangelo will get moved into the Main Draw if he makes the semis here. Otherwise, Klein, who’s still in Newport today, would have to rent a car and drive to the Challenger in Birmingham.
Klein, speaking of his default at the hands of noted tennis ump, Mohammad Lahyani in the Nottingham Challenger before Wimbledon, said Lahyani had given him a penalty point early in the match for abuse of a ball and calling a lines woman “old.” Klein understood why he got that penalty although he said he’s heard Andy Murray and others ask umpire to change lines people because of their age and bad eyesight. But on his second penalty point that led to Lahyani defaulting him, Klein was at break point, set point against Sam Groth after dropping the first set, when he yelled out, “Stupid person,” after netting a backhand return of serve. Klein later challenged the $2000 fine he received for being defaulted and the fine was overturned.
Klein is quite the character, but when you come to a tournament like Newport, characters rule the court. Like the doubles team of Purav Raja and Divij Sharan of India who lost today in the quarters to the Aussie duo of John-Patrick Smith and Matt Reid. Sharan and Raja are ranked no. 51 and 52 respectively and won the inaugural ATP event last year in Los Cabos. This year they lost at Wimbledon in the second round to Ram and Raven Klassen, 8-10 in the fifth set.
But Raja at 31 looks like he could do a commercial for the Indian beer, Kingfisher. He’s got a nice gut and hits his serve with a quick mini-backswing motion and generally looks like he could be playing at the local public courts. In Newport though, Raja fits right in.
