March 14, 2006

(Sunrise, FL) – Eighth seeded Czech Tomas Zib had never played Frenchman Michael Llodra before – but says he’s very familiar with his game – so he knew that he would have to win every point in their first-round match on stadium court.

“I knew he would give me just one chance and if I didn’t take it, it would be tough to win,” Zib said. The match went the distance, with three tie-break sets.

“Mike Llodra is a good player, especially on a hard court,” Zib said. “And the court is fast, so it’s easy to hold serve.” After narrowly losing the first set, Zib outlasted Llodra 6-7, 7-6, 7-6. Zib said the winning edge may have been mental.

“He had a match point in the second set, so I had an advantage. It’s psychologically tough to stay in the match if you miss the match point. Also I was trying to play fast and I know he doesn’t like that.”

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The tournament’s top seed Florent Serra (ATP ranking 38) faced fellow Frenchman Olivier Patience in the marquee night match Monday. They’ve known each other, and practiced together since they were 15 – so they know each other’s games. Serra, who has had an erratic few weeks – lost in the first round of the Pacific Life Open (to Phillip Kohlschreiber) and was glad to get a few more matches under his belt before the Nasdaq-100 Open later this month. Serra said he had lost some confidence – but in Monday night’s match he felt it coming back.

“I tried to be aggressive, to go to the net,” Serra said. “And I have to practice tomorrow, to continue to be aggressive. Today my first serve was not very, very good sometimes. When I have the opportunity I have to go to the net and to put pressure on my opponent.”
One signature Serra shot worked well throughout the match – a deadly dropper that won him the game on his serve at 4-3, setting him up for a 6-4, 6-4 straight set win.
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In other round one matches - Ramon Delgado (PAR) defeated Raemon Sluiter (NED).
7-6, 5-7, 6-2. Simon Greul (GER) defeated seventh seed Robin Vik (CZE) 6-1, 6-3; and Jiri Vanek (CZE) defeated Thierry Ascione (FRA) 7-6(3), 7-5. Rik DeVoest (RSA) defeated popular American Bobby Reynolds 75, 63.

In doubles – Petr Pala and Robin Vik defeated another Czech team, Tomas Zib and partner Lukas Dlouhy 4-6, 6-3, 11-9. U.S. partners Robert Kendrick and Todd Widom defeated the Spanish team of Alberto Martin and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 4-6, 10-6.
Australian Ashley Fisher and his American partner Tripp Phillips won the day’s last match against U.S. partners Alex Clayton and Andy Lake 6-4, 7-6(5).

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In the final qualifying matches Tuesday, Amer Delic faced Australian Chris Guccione. After a tight 7-6 (6) first set – won by Guccione – Delic rallied to win the second in another tiebreak, 6-7 (5). At 5-4 in the third, Delic went down with an ankle injury and had to retire.

Robert Kendrick won the first set of his qualifier against Alex Bogolomov Jr. 4-6. Kendrick was up 4-1 in the second, when he pulled a thigh muscle. After an injury timeout he came back out to drop that set, 6-4 – drawing a code violation for racket-throwing. Kendrick had his chances in the third – but the final set went to Bogomolov, 6-4.

In the other qualifier matches, Colombian Alejandro Falla defeated American Alex Kusnetsov in straight sets 6-1, 6-2, and American Todd Widom won a tough three-setter against Italian Simone Bolelli 6-7(3), 7-5, 7-6(2).

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Jack Heiling, Media Director
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Gabe Norona, Tournament Director
(954) 328-2283
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