AN ATP MASTERS SERIES EVENT
11th - 19th OCTOBER
ATP News : 2007
QUEENS: NADAL WINS
Top seed Rafael Nadal made an impressive transition to grass after his recent French Open triumph, taking just over an hour to defeat Juan Martin del Potro and reach the third round of the Artois Championships
www.artoischampionships.com Before Nadal, World No. 4 Novak Djokovic was made to work hard by American Robert Kendrick before getting his debut at The Artois Championships off to a winning start on Wednesday. Djokovic, who was the star of Episode 2 of the Artois Tennis Podcast , recovered from the loss of the first set before winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to book his place in the third round against Frenchman Arnaud Clement. “I'm happy to win considering the fact that this is my first grass court season match,” said Djokovic. “I didn't get an easy draw. I played against a player who plays really well on this surface, and he had a couple of matches before this one, so he was very well prepared. You could see that in the first set.” The 20-year-old from Serbia was playing in just the 10th grass court match of his career – the lowest of any of the world’s Top 10 – while Kendrick, who led Rafael Nadal by two sets at Wimbledon last year before losing in five, was fresh from his straight sets win over Ernests Gulbis in the first round. |