Ginepri Returns To the ATP Trophy Platform
Finally Ginepri Returns To The Winners Circle
Indianapolis, Indiana
Robby Ginepri is finally back in the winner’s circle again at his latest ATP World Tour victory, defending No.3 seed Sam Querrey 6-2, 6-4 in an all-American final Sunday at the Indianapolis Tennis Championship. This was his third career ATP title.
Ginepri collected $80,000 and 250 South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings points with the victory at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament. He also assumed the lead in the Olympus US Open Series Bonus Challenge standings following the first week of the North American summer hard-court circuit. This accolade isn’t expected to last. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will be back in action next week as well as Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro. After the top five players return, things will change drastically.
“This tournament is very special for me. Having won twice here is an amazing feeling,” said Ginepri. “When I won here in 2005 I was about in the same position, around No. 100. This one has to be more special as I really never expected it.”
Ginepri struggled to break the big serving Querrey, but did twice in the opening set and was given an opportunity to serve out the match when Querrey choked and doublefaulted on a break point in the ninth game of the second set. Ginepri finally prevailed on a triple match point when Querrey returned an overhead smash volley that went long.
“Sam has a big serve, but I got onto it early in the match,” said Ginepri. “If I hadn’t run him around court he would have taken control. I had to step up with my shots today and try to dictate. When I serve well, I play better.”
Querrey said: “I didn’t have rhythm on serve today, it was not there. He’s such a good returner – he puts a lot of pressure on you. He played well and had very few unforced errors. It was not my best day, but I still made him play a lot of balls. I’ve practiced 100 times with him but a match is different. Still, I knew what to expect from his game. He got better as the week went on.”
The 26-year-old Ginepri was making his first appearance in a tour-level final since winning the Indianapolis title in 2005 (d. Dent), while Querrey was making his second successive final appearance after finishing runner-up to countryman Rajeev Ram in Newport two weeks ago.
Coupled with the Newport final – the first all-American championship since New Haven in August 2007 – it marked the first time since 2003 on the ATP World Tour that there had been all-American final in consecutive U.S. tournaments. This is due to the strong influence of international tennis players pouring out of Serbia, Spain, Russia and Croatia. Americans have been struggling, particularly abroad and on clay and grass surfaces. The only exception being Andy Roddick who has had a stellar year so far and looks to reestablish his service dominance on hard courts like the Rogers and Cincinnati Masters. Andy Roddick owns one grand slam trophy, which just happened to be on the hard court of Flushing Meadows, New York.
Ginepri improved to 3-0 in ATP World Tour finals, also winning the grass-court title in 2003 at Newport. The former World No. 15 had entered the week at No. 95 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, but is expected to climb as many as 40 positions with his recent title in Indiana..
Ginepri, a Georgia resident, had been slowed early in the year by a nine-day hospital stay due to an appendicitis, returning to action 30 pounds lighter last May, and had only won 4 of 17 matches coming into Indianapolis. He improved to a 9-13 season mark, and an 18-7 event record in Indianapolis – placing him fifth on the all-time match wins list at the hard-court event in Indiana.
“I’ve only played 10-11 matches this season but I got the job done,” said Ginepri. “I really had no expectations but I had no pressure either. It’s funny how things work out.”
NOTES:
This is a good launching pad for Ginepri to prepare for the Rogers cup in early August and another tournament that will surely provide him much support, the Cincinnati Masters where list of the dailies catching him Ginepri is a crowd favorite. The hardcourt surfaces seem to suit Ginepri and he has high hopes for is chances at not only the Rogers cup and the Cincinnati Masters, but he believes he has a better than average chance of going deep in Flushing Meadows, once the U.S. Open begins.
American James Blake, a good friend of Robbie Ginepri, was in the audience in Indiana to watch Ginepri win in the Indianapolis final, while he is nursing a minor wrist injury. Blake, is on schedule to be ready for the Rogers cup, he told reporters. “But it’s really not a big thing, mostly preventative.” said Blake.
Roger Federer, the current World No.1, and his wife Mirka are proud parents of twin baby girls.
