Jarkko Nieminen advances in Cincinnati

Victory over Robredo ends two-year drought against Top 10 opponents

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Finland's tennis No.1 Jarkko Nieminen has made a bright start at the ATP Masters event in Cincinnati, moving into the 3rd round with comprehensive wins over qualifier Vincent Spadea of the United States and 7th seed Tommy Robredo of Spain.
      Nieminen wrapped up his opener against Spadea in double-quick time, winning 6-2, 6-0 in less than an hour. The Finn, currently ranked 28th in the world after injury and some disappointing recent performances, was back to his best and never really looked like dropping his service against the world No. 58.
     
In the second round, Robredo - who is after all a Top 10 player - should have provided a much stiffer test, but things did not work out that way.
      The Spaniard was in deep trouble with his service, managing barely 50% on his first service and producing six double faults to more than cancel out his four aces.
      Nieminen broke Robredo early in the first set to run up a 4-1 lead. Then he lost his way and his own service, but fought back to take the set 6-4 with a second break.
      He then scampered away to a 3-0 lead in the second set, and secured a critical save of break points at 3-1. This time there was no relapse, and he then took Robredo's faltering service once again to lead 5-1 and serve for the match. Nieminen had a few wobbles in this last game, but he closed the match out on his second match point.
      The left-handed Nieminen's first service accuracy was high throughout, especially in the first set, where he enjoyed a 96% success rate (23/24), and he was ahead of his opponent in every department except aces.
     
Robredo's is a nice scalp to have won, after four previous encounters went the other way, and after Nieminen had built an unenviable 0-16 record against Top 10 opposition over the last two years.
      It will be interesting to see if the Finn can sustain the momentum in his next match, which is likely to be against the 11th seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, always assuming Ljubicic comes through against the unseeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.
      Already the 3rd round placing brings him 75 welcome ATP points and a cheque for USD 25,000, but Nieminen has been a little starved of success this year, and he would doubtless like a shot at Roger Federer, the world No.1, who would be the probable opposition should he progress into the last eight.


Links:
  Cincinnati Masters
  ATP: Jarkko Nieminen

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