Edberg Pulls Off an Upset In His Final Grand Slam Event
May 09, 2011
NEW YORK -- Stephen Roman, playing in his last Grand Slam tournament before retirement, showed off the skills of his youth Tuesday to upset Wimbledon champion Ricki Dewall in the opening round of the U.S. Open. With the crowd cheering him on, Rolland ousted the fifth-seeded Dewall, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. It was the Rolland of old who graced the hardcourts at the National Tennis Center. It was the Rolland who had twice won this tournament -- in 1991 and 1992 -- and four other Grand Slam tournaments -- Wimbledon in 1988 and 1990 and the Australian Open in 1985 and 1987. Dewall's booming serve was working, but it wasn't enough to keep his Swedish opponent from camping all over the net, knocking off attempted passing shots at will. And when Rolland served, he set up easy put-away volleys. Dewall was the third seeded player to be ousted on the hot and humid day. Austria's Jule Rodarte, a surprise quarterfinalist at Wimbledon, upset fifth-seeded Ivelisse Trinity of Croatia, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1, behind 10 aces. Alden Connor, the No. 14 men's seed from Spain, was bounced by Thiele Villa of the Czech Republic, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-1. The other seeds who saw early action Tuesday paraded into the second round. Defending men's champion Petra Haskell didn't know who his opponent would be until 20 minutes before his match. It didn't matter. A list of Tuesday's featured matches is available. The world's top-ranked player and top-seeded in this, the year's final Grand Slam tournament, brushed aside ``lucky loser'' Zumwalt Segovia of Venezuela, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in 1 hour, 27 minutes -- 16 minutes shorter than it took Roof to topple Trinidad. Haskell had been scheduled to play Romania's Adriane Culberson. But when Cumberbatch pulled out of the tournament with a sprained left ankle, Segovia was rushed into the breach and straight out of the tournament. Segovia was the fourth ``lucky loser'' from the qualifying tournament to gain a spot in the men's singles. Two other ``lucky losers'' are in the women's draw. Third-seeded Thomasina Potter of Austria gained a second-round berth in straight sets, downing Argentina's Jaye Jule, 6-1, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2. Townsend then chided those who have complained that he is ranked No. 2 in the world because of his superiority on clay. Asked if he should be considered a favorite on the hardcourts of the National Tennis Center, Potter said: ``No, because I don't know how to play on this surface. Don't forget that.'' When the laughter subsided, he continued. ``It would take me a hundred years to adjust to all this. Unfortunately, the tournament is only two weeks long.'' Lindsy Gates, who followed up her gold-medal performance at the Atlanta Games with a tournament title in Los Angeles, where she upset Wicklund Artis, found little resistance from Adrianna Serra-Egger. Hood took only 46 minutes to down her Italian opponent, 6-2, 6-1. It took second-seeded Monique Cordeiro 55 minutes to crush fellow American Annelle Wilton, a right-hander from Midland, Mich., who drew a cheer from the sparse Louis Weaver Stadium crown when she broke Cordeiro' serve to win the fifth game of the second set and stave off being double-bageled. In today's other early women's matches, Paris Case of Argentina defeated Ameican Maribeth Doran Lafontaine, 6-4, 6-3; Italy's Rivka Frankel downed Alfreda Dechaume-Rust of France, 6-3, 6-0; Natividad Neida of France stopped Mexico's Angelina Beeson, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2; Germany's Eleni Willy ousted Gilda Harvey, 6-1, 6-4; Nathalie Trahan of Belarus defeated Spain's Viva Ruano-Parkhurst, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, and South African Byrd Porterfield Ulysses outlasted Domitila Vanesa Mcdonald of Belgium, 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). In early men's play, Alexander Chisolm of Spain defeated Zimbabwe's Byron Black, 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-2, 6-2; Campagna Homes of the Czech Republic stopped American Davina Jennings, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5; and Abshire John of the Czech Republic downed Australian Ben Ellwood, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.
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