JC is the #1 seed (again!) and faces Starace in the first round. A tough draw as he will most likely have to go through Gaudio in the quarters and Moya in the semis. Best of luck!!

(1) FERRERO, Juan Carlos ESP v STARACE, Potito ITA
DLOUHY, Lukas CZE v DI MAURO, Alessio ITA
QUALIFIER v KIM, Kevin USA
HORNA, Luis PER v (5) GAUDIO, Gaston ARG

(3) ALMAGRO, Nicolas ESP v (WC) ZABALETA, Mariano ARG
RAMIREZ HIDALGO, Ruben ESP v (WC) GONZALEZ, Santiago MEX
HARTFIELD, Diego ARG v QUALIFIER
(WC) ECHAGARAY, Bruno MEX v (8) MOYA, Carlos ESP

(6) MASSU, Nicolas CHI v MONACO, Juan ARG
GALVANI, Stefano ITA v HAJEK, Jan CZE
QUALIFIER v DEVILDER, Nicolas FRA
ROITMAN, Sergio ARG v (4) CHELA, Juan Ignacio ARG

(7) ACASUSO, Jose ARG v MONTANES, Albert ESP
VANEK, Jiri CZE v VASSALLO ARGUELLO, Martin ARG
QUALIFIER v VICENTE, Fernando ESP
MARTIN, Alberto ESP v (2) CALLERI, Agustin ARG

Posted by nana at 11:26 AM

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Nicolas Devilder of France upset second-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-0 on Wednesday, pulling off his best ever result in the Copa Telmex round robin.

Also, two of Argentina's leading hopes, third-seeded Agustin Calleri and eighth-seeded Jose Acasuso withdrew injured.

Devilder lost to Ferrero 6-2, 6-4 last week in the second round at Costa do Sauipe, Brazil, and was on course to fall in straight sets again on Wednesday when the former French Open champion cruised through the first set. But they broke each other twice in the second set, Devilder dominated the tiebreaker, and in the third set, Devilder snapped up three break chances while Ferrero squandered a trio.

Ferrero can still win his three-man group and advance to the quarterfinals if he beats Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador on Thursday.

[...]

> source

Posted by nana at 2:12 PM

Argentine wild card Guillermo Canas toppled former World No. 1 and top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6(4), 6-2 Sunday to win the Brasil Open in Costa do Sauipe - his first ATP title since 2004.

Canas was playing in his first ATP final since Oct. 17, 2004 in Vienna where he lost to Feliciano Lopez in five sets. His last ATP title came in Shanghai on Oct. 3, 2004 when he defeated Lars Burgsmuller of Germany.

The 29-year-old Argentine improved his final’s record to 7-7 (4-4 on clay). His last ATP title on clay came in Umag on July 25, 2004 (d. Volandri).

Canas is the first Argentine and the oldest winner on the ATP circuit this season.

Canas, who is No. 107 in the ATP Rankings, is also the lowest-ranked player to win an ATP title this season. (Ivo Karlovic, ranked No. 103, is appearing in the San Jose final later on Sunday).

He is the second player this year to win an ATP event as a wild card (Marcos Baghdatis in Zagreb). He is the fourth player of the season to win a tournament without losing a set (Roger Federer at the Australian Open; Luis Horna in Vina del Mar and Gilles Simon in Marseille).

Ferrero was trying to capture his first title since winning ATP Masters Series Madrid on Oct. 19, 2003 (d. Massu). The 27-year-old Spaniard has now reached his past five ATP finals, including ATP Masters Series Cincinnati last August (l. to Roddick), without going on to claim the title.

Ferrero was appearing in his 26th career final (11-15) and his 16th on clay (8-7). His last title on clay came at Roland Garros on June 8, 2003 (d. Verkerk).

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID

Canas: "I'm not sure how far can I go (in the rankings). What I can say is that I'm very happy to play in Sauipe and especially to win my first ATP title since my return to the circuit.

"The match was really close with both of us playing very well. I played better the key points of the match to win this final. I want to rest as much as possible to be able to win the Buenos Aires title in my home country."

"Not much has changed for the period I couldn't play. Some guys went up in the rankings and some others went down. I feel like I can face any player in the tour. My first goal for 2007 is reach the Top 20."

Ferrero: "Canas is a very good player. He defends incredibly well and also has a good serve. The first set was very important because we both played two tough matches yesterday."

"Even though I lost the first set I kept fighting and had a few chances to get back in the set but he just played better than me. I leave Sauipe with a record of 4 wins and 1 loss, so I'm happy about that."

Posted by nana at 3:59 PM

JC's next tournament starts this week in Buenos Aires. They're using the new round robin format in which he's placed in Group 8. Hopefully he's able to bounce back from his loss in Brasil. Vamos!!

Group 1:
(1) NALBANDIAN, David (ARG)
HORNA, Luis (PER)
ME6

Group 2:
(5) MOYA, Carlos (ESP)
MONACO, Juan (ARG)
ME2

Group 3:
(4) ALMAGRO, Nicolas (ESP)
VASSALLO ARGUELLO, Martin (ARG)
ME1

Group 4:
(7) CHELA, Juan Ignacio (ARG)
MARTIN, Alberto (ESP)
(ME4) ANDREEV, Igor RUS

Group 5:
(6) GAUDIO, Gaston (ARG)
RAMIREZ HIDALGO, Ruben (ESP)
ME3

Group 6:
(3) CALLERI, Agustin (ARG)
MONTANES, Albert ESP [Montanes replaces MASSU, Nicolas (CHI)]
ME8

Group 7:
(8) ACASUSO, Jose (ARG)
ROITMAN, Sergio (ARG)
ME7

Group 8:
(2) FERRERO, Juan Carlos (ESP)
LAPENTTI, Nicolas (ECU)
ME5

Finals Round:

Winner Group 1 vs. Winner Group 2

Winner Group 3 vs. Winner Group 4

Winner Group 5 vs. Winner Group 6

Winner Group 7 vs. Winner Group 8

> round robin draw (pdf)

Posted by nana at 8:17 AM

Top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain defeated Sergio Roitman of Argentina 6-4 6-4 in the first round of the Brasil Open in Costa do Sauipe.

Ferrero, beaten in round one in 2006, won three straight games at the start of the second set as he gained his second win in four matches this year.

Third seed Nicolas Almagro beat fellow Spaniard Fernando Vicente 6-0 6-1.

Spaniards Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo and Albert Montanes and Czech player Lukas Dlouhy also advanced.

Posted by nana at 7:28 AM

Terça-feira
Horários de Salvador (+1h de Brasília, +3h GMT)

Quadra Central – 14h30
Gustavo Kuerten (BRA) vs. Filippo Volandri (ITA)
Diego Hartfield (ARG) vs. Agustin Calleri (ARG)
Não antes de 18h00
Flávio Saretta (BRA) vs. Alessio Di Mauro (ITA)
Não antes de 20h00
Sergio Roitman (ARG) vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)

Posted by nana at 2:23 PM

JC is the #1 seed and faces Sergio Roitman in the first round. Best of luck!!

(1) FERRERO, Juan Carlos ESP v ROITMAN, Sergio ARG
DEVILDER, Nicolas FRA v (WC) DUTRA SILVA, Rogerio BRA
PATIENCE, Olivier FRA v VASSALLO ARGUELLO, Martin ARG
STARACE, Potito ITA v (5) GAUDIO, Gaston ARG

(3) ALMAGRO, Nicolas ESP v VICENTE, Fernando ESP
DLOUHY, Lukas CZE v ANDREEV, Igor RUS
SARETTA, Flavio BRA v DI MAURO, Alessio ITA
(WC) KUERTEN, Gustavo BRA v (7) VOLANDRI, Filippo ITA


(6) CHELA, Juan Ignacio ARG v MARTIN, Alberto ESP
RAMIREZ HIDALGO, Ruben ESP v GALVANI, Stefano ITA
MONACO, Juan ARG v VANEK, Jiri CZE
ALVES, Thiago BRA v (4) MOYA, Carlos ESP

(8) HORNA, Luis PER v QUALIFIER
QUALIFIER v (WC) CANAS, Guillermo ARG
MONTANES, Albert ESP v QUALIFIER
QUALIFIER v (2) CALLERI, Agustin ARG

Posted by nana at 3:44 AM