Swinging Success for HEAD Players

HEAD players enjoyed great success at various tournaments this past weekend.

HEAD player Mikhail Youzhny of Russia reached his second consecutive final in two weeks at the Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open, but was defeated by World No. 1 Roger Federer, of Switzerland, 6-4, 6-3. Along the way, Youzhny defeated fellow HEAD player Robin Soderling, of Sweden, who plays with a Flexpoint Radical MP, in the semifinal, and had a big win in the quarterfinal, defeating World No. 2 Rafael Nadal, of Spain.

The unseeded Youzhny took the lead 1-0 by hitting a winning return off a second serve, but Federer quickly battled back after Youzhny double-faulted on break point at 2-1.

Youzhny said he wasn’t tired after reaching his second final in two weeks, but that his serve had let him down. Youzhny plays with Flexpoint Instinct.

In doubles news, HEAD players Fabrice Santoro of France and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia defeated Mahesh Bhupathi and Radek Stepanek 7-5, 6-7(3), 10-7 (match tiebreak). The victory added another chapter to Santoro’s remarkable history in Dubai, after he reached the 1993 singles final and won the title in 2002.
Santoro plays with a Flexpoint Radical MP and Zimonjic plays with a Flexpoint Prestige MP.

HEAD player Agustin Calleri of Argentina reached the semifinal round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, Mexico. The second-seeded Calleri ousted Argentine countryman Jose Acasuso 6-3, 6-4, to reach his second ATP semifinal of the season (Auckland).
Calleri was poised to reach his second final in Acapulco Friday night when leading Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4, 5-3. But a hamstring injury forced him to retire from the tournament. His weapon of choice is the Flexpoint Prestige Mid.

Russian HEAD player Marat Safin advanced to the semifinals of the Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas Friday. Safin, whose last title was the 2005 Australian Open, defeated left-handed Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 6-4 to set up a semifinal meeting with second-seeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt. Safin plays with a Flexpoint Prestige Mid.

HEAD player Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia advanced to the final round of the Qatar Total Open in Doha, but was defeated by Justine Henin. The championship battle between the tournament's top two seeds actually began in Kuznetsova's favor with an early 4-2 lead. But the top-seeded Henin regrouped, reeling off six games to steal the set and grab an early second set lead. It was one-sided from there as the Belgian got her 14th win in their 15 meetings. Kuznetsova plays with a Flexpoint Instinct.