Translated material
Breakthrough of the Russian American
Tursunov played in the final of an ATP competition for the first time
Dmitry Tursunov failed to win the final of the ATP tournament with a prize fund of $500 thousand on the Los Angeles hard court. In the decisive match of the competition, the Russian lost to the German Tommy Haas - 6:4, 5:7, 3:6.During the entire match, the silver medalist of the Sydney Olympics made only two tiebreakers, and both turned out to be key. At the end of the second game, Dmitry hit the rope during the rallies with his serve and unsuccessfully hit the ball with the rim of his racket, giving his opponent the 12th game. And at the beginning of the next set, Haas won a point on his opponent’s serve, secured a three-point advantage and brought the match to victory. For Tursunov, this final was the first in his career. Before this, the best achievement of a tennis player permanently residing in the USA was getting into the top quartet at the Moscow Kremlin Cup 2005.
The loser of the final was not at all upset about his defeat: “I could blame myself if I did something wrong. But I played with dignity, Haas and I showed the audience a stubborn fight. The German served well, making it difficult for me to get active.” The winner has already won the third title this season, the second in a row on the courts of Los Angeles and the tenth in his career.
Tursunov left Russia for the United States at the age of 12. Until 2003, he competed exclusively in North American tournaments and once reached the quarterfinals of a competition in Memphis. Then, for the first time, fans of domestic tennis paid close attention to him. Last season, the captain of the national team invited Tursunov to play for the team in the Davis Cup, and Dmitry gladly agreed, after which he became much closer to Russian fans. From this point of view, the athletically built red-haired player looks in a much more favorable light than Maria Sharapova, who also lives overseas, but has not yet played a single match for Russia in the Fed Cup.
To be fair, it should be noted that Tursunov was a little lucky in Los Angeles. In the early stages, he faced far from the strongest opponents; at the quarterfinal stage, American Andy Roddick abandoned the game, having suffered a muscle strain the day before. But after an unplanned day of rest, Dmitry dealt with the famous Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, who specializes more in playing on clay. In the new ATP ranking, Tursunov rose to 29th place - this is his best result in his career, and he earned $30,600 in prize money on the California courts.
From Los Angeles, Dmitry went to the US capital, where last night a tournament with a prize fund of $600 thousand, also part of the US Open Series, began. In the standings of this series, the leading three are Haas and American James Black - 50 points each. Andy Roddick earned 47 points, Tursunov in fourth place - 35. Let us remind you that the three best players based on the results of six summer tournaments in North America will have the opportunity to earn additional money at the US Open starting at the end of August, but only if they are in Flushing Meadow is at least in the quarterfinals.
Tursunov was seeded seventh in Washington and was exempt from participation in the first round. In the second round (1/16 finals) he will play with the winner of the pair Edgardo Massa (Argentina) - Somdev Devvarman (India). Immediately from the start of the competition, the draw brought Marat Safin and Igor Kunitsyn into one pair. Our fourth compatriot Teimuraz Gabashvili meets with the Frenchman Jean-Christophe Forel. The most titled current player, Andre Agassi, continues his farewell tournament in America. He will retire after the US Open. But until September, the veteran’s opponents will have to reckon with the great master. Nikolay Davydenko prefers to compete in Europe and is considered the main favorite at the clay competitions in Sopot.
For the girls, 18-year-old Vasilisa Bardina qualified for the main draw of the first category BTA tournament on the courts of San Diego. Thus, ten Russian women will compete for the title at once. By the way, if Bardina can defeat Yuan Men, then in the next round she will take the exam in front of Maria Sharapova.
Last week, the second racket of the world, Belgian Kim Clijsters, added the 32nd title to her record. In the fight for the main prize, she defeated Patti Schneider from Switzerland - 6:4, 6:2.