Jarkko Nieminen: out of the singles, but still very much in US Open doubles

Wimbledon finalist Henri Kontinen back in action in last major event as a junior

print this

Jarkko Nieminen was fairly predictably knocked out of the US Open men’s singles by 11th seed Fernando Gonzales of Chile, his 3rd round opponent.
      Gonzales came through in four sets, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1, in a match played in the early hours of Monday morning Finnish time.
      Nieminen was unseeded in the tournament this year owing to a rather lengthy slide down the rankings (he is currently outside the top 30 on the ATP lists and has lately had a troubling knack of losing his first-round matches).
     
The Finnish left-hander had disposed fairly easily of Scoville Jenkins of the United States in his first match and had come back from two sets down to beat Ivo Minar of the Czech Republic in the 2nd round, but Gonzales - silver medallist and runner-up to world No.1 Rafael Nadal at the Beijing Olympics - was made of sterner stuff.
      The Chilean's task was made a little easier by a knock Nieminen took to his shoulder when falling awkwardly at 1-3 in the fourth set. Nieminen did not win another game.
      This was their sixth encounter, and Gonzales leads comfortably, with five wins to one.
     
However, the really big story is what happened late on Monday night.
      Nieminen and his regular men’s doubles partner Robert Lindstedt of Sweden overturned the pairing of Daniel Nestor (Canada) and Nenad Zimonjic (Serbia) to progress into the fourth round - the last eight of the competition.
      Yeah? So what?
      Well, Nestor and Zimonjic were the top seeds in the tournament and are currently ranked the top doubles pairing in the world, that’s what. They were beaten finalists at Roland Garros and won at Wimbledon this year, as well as in a number of other high-profile tournaments.
      Lindstedt and Nieminen, whilst no pushovers (they have won one ATP doubles title together, and in 2007 they sensationally thrashed the world No.3 duo of American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan) are in a whole different caste: they rank 47th.
     
Hence for them to take out the top seeds 6-4, 6-7 (11-13), 6-2 in a match lasting two and a half hours is likely to cause a few ripples in the doubles pond.
      In the opening round in New York, Nieminen and Lindstedt overcame Jesse Levine and Donald Young of the United States in three sets, and then they blew away the 16th seeds Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut of France 6-2, 7-6.
      Their next opponents, standing in the way of a place in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament, will be the 7th seeds Lukas Dlouhy (Czech Republic) and Leander Paes (India).
     
Nieminen’s earnings from the men’s singles (USD 46,000) still eclipse the USD 50,000 shared by the pair for a place in the last eight of the men’s doubles, but if they win their next match, the rewards will double.
      In any event, New York has provided a welcome upturn in the fortunes of Finland’s No.1, and will give him much-needed motivation for next year.
      He really needs to claw his way back into the ATP top 25, if only to get among the seeds in some smaller tournaments and have a chance of an easier passage into the later rounds.
     
In the boys’ singles at the US Open, Henri Kontinen came through his first round match against Takanyi Garanganga of Zimbabwe 7-6, 6-3.
      Although Kontinen is seeded 4th in the tournament after his heroics at Wimbledon (where he was the beaten finalist in the boys' singles), the match was by no means a stroll in the park. The first set went to 9-7 in the tiebreak and Kontinen scored just one point more overall than his opponent. Both players broke the other’s service twice.
      The second set, too, was closer than it perhaps looks, but Kontinen’s service began to operate with more fluency and he was able to break Garanganga twice. He will now play Dino Marcan of Croatia.
     
The 18-year-old Finn’s passage to the final from the bottom half of the draw in the boys’ singles event was potentially made a little easier in the opening round by the abrupt dismissal of the 2nd seed Bernard Tomic of Australia.
      The Australian probably did not generate much fear in any case: Kontinen had given Tomic an emphatic tennis lesson at Wimbledon, putting him out in the semi-final in straight sets.
     
Kontinen is also playing in the boys’ doubles with partner Christopher Rungkat of Indonesia.
      The pairing are proven winners - they captured the boys’ doubles title at this year’s French Open at Roland Garros. Unseeded and unheralded on that occasion, they are now marked men, seeded No.2, and they duly won their first match on Monday in straight sets.
      Finland's Henri Laaksonen was also taking part in the boys' doubles, but he and his Russian partner Mihail Biryukov were overwhelmed in the first round by the Brazilian top seeds Henrique Cunha and Jose Pereira 6-4, 6-0.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Step forward Henri Kontinen, Tennis Grand Slam winner! (9.6.2008)
  Nieminen becomes victim No. 24 for Rafael Nadal (2.6.2008)
  Jarkko Nieminen wins first ATP doubles title with partner Robert Lindstedt (1.10.2007)

Links:
  US Open: Jarkko Nieminen
  Jarkko Nieminen on the ATP site
  US Open: Henri Kontinen

Helsingin Sanomat