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Memphis seniors Friday results |
Friday’s Results
At The Racquet Club of Memphis
Memphis, Tenn.
Purse:$140,000
Surface: Hard-Indoor
Round Robin Singles
Round Robin Group B
Aaron Krickstein, United States, def. Pat Cash, Australia, 6-3, 6-3
Magnus Larsson, Sweden, def. Todd Martin, United States, 6-3 , 6-4
Round Robin Group A
Wayne Ferreira, South Africa, def. Jim Courier, United States, 7-5, 6-2
John McEnroe, United States, def. Mats Wilander, 6-1, 7-5
Schedule for Saturday, Oct. 7
Starting at 2:00 pm
Mats Wilander, Sweden, vs. Wayne Ferreira, South Africa
Followed by
Todd Martin, United States, vs. Pat Cash, Australia
Starting at 6:30 pm
Magnus Larsson, Sweden, vs. Aaron Krickstein, United States.
Followed by
John McEnroe, United States, vs. Jim Courier, United States.
LARSSON AND FERREIRA GO 2-0 IN ROUND ROBIN PLAY WITH UPSET WINS FRIDAY
Magnus Larsson continued to make his Outback Championship Series debut a success, beating Memphis favorite Todd Martin in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 Friday at the Stanford Championships. The big Swede is now 2-0 in his first ever Outback Champions Series event after beating Pat Cash on Thursday. Both Larsson and Martin won the Memphis ATP event during their playing careers, and Friday both players showed that they still have the serving power and accuracy of their youth.
“I can still serve pretty well but not quite like I used too,” said a modest Larsson. “Today I did pretty well, but tomorrow I may double fault 20 times.”
In the first set, Larsson was able to break Martin in game four to take the advantage. Both players held serve through the rest of the set, and Larson came away with a 6-3 first set win. The second set brought much of the same, as neither player was able to break the other’s serve. Finally, with score notched at 4-4 Larsson came up with several good returns and forced Martin to make a few crucial errors. He reeled off two straight games and took set two 6-4.
“I played really well in the first set,” said Larsson. “In the second, Todd picked his game up a little bit, but I go a few breaks and was able to get the win.”
Wayne Ferreira also moved to 2-0 in round robin play, upsetting Champions Cup points leader Jim Courier 7-5, 6-2 Friday evening. In back-to-back nights in Memphis in his second Outback Champions Series event, Ferreira has now beaten the top two points leaders after he defeated John McEnroe in three sets Thursday.
The first set featured a lot of hard-hit balls and long rallies. Courier broke Ferreira’s fourth service game of the night, but Ferreira broke back and when he broke Courier again in Courier’s sixth service game, he merely needed to hold serve to win the first set 7-5. Ferreira just kept Courier on the run in the second set, and the best Courier could do was force the South African to play 18 points on his last serve, fighting off match point four times before Ferreira closed out the 6-2 second set win.
McEnroe registered 13 aces in defeating Mats Wilander 6-1, 7-5 also on Friday night.
“The second set could have gone either way,” McEnroe said. “There was a lot of great tennis in that set.”
McEnroe’s serve helped him dictate play in the first set, as three different times at deuce, he cranked out a service ace. Wilander would try to get his serve and volley game going, but McEnroe would break Wilander’s serve a second time to go up 5-1. To close out the set, 6-1, McEnroe ran down a Wilander forehand volleyball deep and sent it behind Wilander on the other side of the net.
The second set found McEnroe again breaking Wilander’s serve, seizing a quick 2-0 advantage in the match. But this time, Wilander broke back and put the match back on serve and with a number of outstanding volleys and passing shots, the duo went end up knotted at five all. A pair of back hand errors and a McEnroe volley put Wilander back in the hole on serve, 0-40, and when he lobbed up a ball he had scrambled to off his backhand side, the lefty McEnroe slammed away the overhead for the service break and a 6-5 lead. He would close out the match with a pair of service aces in his last service game.
Aaron Krickstein kicked off the early session recovering from his loss to Todd Martin on Wednesday with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Pat Cash. Krickstein looked much more confident in his Friday’s match, and Cash seemed as though he may have been hampered by an ankle injury sustained in his match with Magnus Larsson on Thursday.
“I really like the pool format we use on in the series,” Krickstein said. “Even if you come out with a bad opening match, you still have a chance to play your way back in and make the championship match or the third place match.”
Krickstein rallied from a 40-15 deficit to hold serve in the first game of set one. Cash returned the favor in game two, showcasing some of the same power volleys that he was regarded for in his younger days. Krickstein then reeled off four consecutive games to take control of the set.
In the second set Krickstein broke Cash in the first game before jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead. Cash held serve in the third game and rallied in game four to even the set at 2-2. However, the Aussie was too inconsistent to mount a serious threat to Krickstein, whose serve appeared much crisper than it did against Martin on Wednesday.
“I tried out a new racquet on Wednesday, and I really lost confidence about half way through the second set,” Krickstein said. “Today I served much better, and obviously when you out serve your opponent you have a better chance to win points.” |
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