Gerry Weber Open Underway As Players Prepare For Wimbledon

June 10, 2014 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
80510313_0

With two weeks to go until the world’s top players take to the grass courts at Wimbledon for the third Grand Slam of the 2014 season, a number of Wimbledon hopefuls are in Halle, Germany for the Gerry Weber Open.

The tournament is one of the first grass-court events prior to the start of Wimbledon, and French Open champion Rafael Nadal is the tournament’s number one seed. Roger Federer, who won the Gerry Weber Open last year, is the number two seed.

While Nadal and Federer both received first-round byes, the opening round action in Germany is underway. American Steve Johnson advanced into the second round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over France’s Albano Olivetti on Tuesday. Johnson was originally scheduled to face Germany’s Tommy Haas, who won the event in 2009 and 2012, but Haas’ injury problems continue to plague him as he withdrew from the tournament because of a shoulder injury.

The 24-year old American cruised to the straight set victory over the “lucky loser” Olivetti who took Haas’ place in the draw. He now moves into the second round and a matchup with Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia who knocked off Ukrainian qualifier Illya Marchenko 6-7(9), 6-4, 7-6(4).

There were also a couple of big upsets in Halle on Tuesday, as sixth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia fell to Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic 3-6, 4-6 on Tuesday, knocking the 2013 runner up out of the tournament. Youzhny lost to Federer in the title match last year but fails to reach the second round of this year’s draw.

Fifth-seeded Richard Gasquet fell to Robin Haase of the Netherlands 4-6, 4-6 in his first-round bout on Tuesday, a disappointing defeat for one of the players considered to make a run at this year’s title. Although Haase is Dutch, he trains at a nearby club in Halle, Germany and had the crowd on his side as he was able to take down one of the tournament’s top seeds.

French Open quarterfinalist Gael Monfils will be in action later Tuesday as he will duel with Germany’s Benjamin Becker as the first-round concludes. The winner of that matchup will take on Japan’s Kei Nishikori, who also received a bye into the second round. Canadian Milos Raonic received the other first-round bye.


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
USTA NTC
Century

March/April 2024 Digital Edition