finally!
Las Vegas gets its own honest-to-goodness ATP Tour stop.
Tennis Channel Open at the Darling Memorial Tennis Center this week.
Graf sighting.
Move over, Roddick. There's a new Andy on the block.
The backhand Andy Murray used to beat Hewitt last week in San Jose. I've also pasted the article at the bottom of the post.
Murray beats Hewitt for SAP Open tennis title
February 20, 2006
SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) - British teenager Andy Murray used another upset to secure his first career ATP Tour title.
Murray settled down after a slow start en route to a 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) victory over third-seeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt on Sunday to win the $380,000 SAP Open.
After stunning top seed Andy Roddick on Saturday night, the 18-year-old Murray struggled early in just his second career final.
Murray twice was broken in the first set, then rebounded with an impressive second set, using his backhand as his biggest weapon. He mixed in impressive drop shots along with groundstrokes in the final set to keep Hewitt off-balance.
"I didn't play a very good first set," said Murray, whose first ATP final was in Bangkok last year where he lost to world No. 1 Roger Federer. "But I felt I had some good shots in the first set."
Murray became the second-youngest player to win this event. Michael Chang was 16 when he beat South African Johan Kriek.
Hewitt was able to fight off two match points before Murray finally put away the match with a backhand crosscourt winner.
"For a big guy he played well around the court," said Hewitt, who was meeting Murray for the first time. "He obviously hit the ball extremely well."
Playing here for the first time since beating Andre Agassi for the crown in 2002, Hewitt fell to 24-13 all-time in finals.
"I didn't feel like I served at all," said Hewitt, who had 11 double faults and 10 aces. "When I wanted to step it up, I wasn't able to."
In the doubles, 47-year-old John McEnroe completed his daunting ATP Tour comeback, teaming up with Jonas Bjorkman to post a 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 10-7 triumph over Paul Goldstein and Jim Thomas.
Tennis Channel Open at the Darling Memorial Tennis Center this week.
Graf sighting.
Move over, Roddick. There's a new Andy on the block.
The backhand Andy Murray used to beat Hewitt last week in San Jose. I've also pasted the article at the bottom of the post.
Murray beats Hewitt for SAP Open tennis title
February 20, 2006
SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) - British teenager Andy Murray used another upset to secure his first career ATP Tour title.
Murray settled down after a slow start en route to a 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) victory over third-seeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt on Sunday to win the $380,000 SAP Open.
After stunning top seed Andy Roddick on Saturday night, the 18-year-old Murray struggled early in just his second career final.
Murray twice was broken in the first set, then rebounded with an impressive second set, using his backhand as his biggest weapon. He mixed in impressive drop shots along with groundstrokes in the final set to keep Hewitt off-balance.
"I didn't play a very good first set," said Murray, whose first ATP final was in Bangkok last year where he lost to world No. 1 Roger Federer. "But I felt I had some good shots in the first set."
Murray became the second-youngest player to win this event. Michael Chang was 16 when he beat South African Johan Kriek.
Hewitt was able to fight off two match points before Murray finally put away the match with a backhand crosscourt winner.
"For a big guy he played well around the court," said Hewitt, who was meeting Murray for the first time. "He obviously hit the ball extremely well."
Playing here for the first time since beating Andre Agassi for the crown in 2002, Hewitt fell to 24-13 all-time in finals.
"I didn't feel like I served at all," said Hewitt, who had 11 double faults and 10 aces. "When I wanted to step it up, I wasn't able to."
In the doubles, 47-year-old John McEnroe completed his daunting ATP Tour comeback, teaming up with Jonas Bjorkman to post a 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 10-7 triumph over Paul Goldstein and Jim Thomas.