Russell wins LA opener

"Landep News"

Russell wins LA opener

Michael Russell has struggled through the second term in Los Angeles after overcoming sixth favorite Dmitry Tursunov 6-7, 6-0, 6-2. Next up for the American will be either compatriot Ryan Harrison or Richard Berankis.

Russell hit five aces past the Russian, finishing the game with an impressive 71 first serve percentage and seven break points out of 19 tries. On the other side, Tursunov, who hasn’t won any title so far this season, committed a couple of double faults, and grabbed just two breaks of four tries. Russell conceded the first set on tie-break though he could have stunned his opponent late in it.

Tursunov won the breaker at five, but would lose the pace in the next two terms.  The American broke him three times in the second set to power through to a consistent lead which brought him a clean leveler. As for the third game, the decider saw the same crowd favorite take an early two-game lead which he eventually concerted into a big win in the night session.

Russell picked three more breaks and conceded just one, sufficient for a clear progress into the next term where he’ll be playing either Harrison or Berankis. Tursunov, who had previously defeated Russell at the 2009 BNP Paribas Open, finished the game also with a poor 36 return percentage, winning just 42 percent of service points.

The same day Yen Hsun Lu made an easy win after beating Robby Ginepri 6-4, 7-5. The Taipei player broke his opponent three times out of 12 opportunities, conceding just one service throughout the entire meeting, in the second set. Ginepri had a poor first service percentage of 57 and a 30 one on return, while Lu came up with a 65 first service percentage, four aces and 12 break-point opportunities, winning at the same time 70 percent of service points. Next up for the Chinese is Marcos Baghdatis who has directly flown into the second term thanks to a BYE favor.

Finally, Ryan Sweeting beat Somdev Devvarman 6-4, 7-6 to make the progress into the second term where he will be playing either Chilean Fernando Gonzalez or Igor Kunitsyn. Sweeting needed six breaks to get rid of the Indian who has failed to reach superior phases this term. The American committed nine double faults, but that didn’t stop him to stay in touch with the victory.

Sweeting also had a poorer first serve percentage of 55, compared to Somdev who had a 62 percentage. Ryan counter-balanced his poor showing by winning crucial points and converting six of seven break-point opportunities. Both players won 50 percent of the total points, but it was the crowd favorite to advance through.

Top seed Mardy Fish, winner of the Atlantta event last week, is to make his debut against the winner between Gilles Muller, who follows a great week in Atlanta, and Steve Johnson. On the second half of the draw, second favorite Juan Martin Del Potro is currently favored by a BYE, being expected to meet either James Blake or Michael Berrer in the second round.

Xavier Malisse and Ernests Gulbis are also expected to fight for a second term berth, while Tim Smyczek, Thomaz Bellucci and Alejandro Falla are still expecting their first term opponents. Finally, Grigor Dimitrov has been drawn with a clash against Tommy Haas, while Alex Bogomolov, who left the previous tournament in Atlanta early in the first term, is to meet compatriot Greg Jones.

Los Angeles Prize Money and points:

Winner – $113,000 and 250 points ATP

Runner-up – $50,400 and 150 points ATP

Semi finalist – $32,200 and 90 points ATP

Quarter finalist – $18,350 and 45 points ATP

R16 – $10,800 and 20 points ATP

R32 – $6,410 and zero points

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