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  • Cincinnati First Round, Third Quarter Recap

    7/30/08 6:43 AM | Ricky Dimon
    - The draw's third quarter featured two first-round withdrawals. Among those advancing out of the carnage were Ernests Gulbis, Simone Bolelli, and Gilles Simon.

    Ernests Gulbis d. Jarkko Nieminen 7-6(7), 6-2

    Gulbis dictated play throughout this affair, but sloppy groundstrokes allowed the first set to progress to a tiebreaker. The talented Latvian blew two set points and soon Nieminen had a set point on his own serve. Gulbis, however, buckled down and played a great point before eventually prevailing nine points to seven. He never looked back from there, putting on a much crisper and much smarter display of tennis in the second set. The 19-year-old won all 12 of his first-serve points in the final frame of play. Gulbis gets lucky loser Arnaud Clement in the second round.

    Simone Bolelli d. Kevin Anderson 6-3, 7-6(1)

    One break was more than enough for Bolelli in set one, because he lost only six points on serve. Anderson seemed to sink his teeth into the match in the second, but the South African could not break through against his opponent's serve despite enjoying his first break point. Set two went into a tiebreaker, where the more experienced Italian proved to be much tougher both mentally and physically. Bolelli will meet Novak Djokovic in the second round on Wednesday.

    Gilles Simon d. Rajeev Ram 7-6(5), 6-4

    This was supposed to be a rematch of the improbable Masters Series Canada semifinal between Simon and Nicolas Kiefer, but the German pulled out after his surprising run to the Toronto title match. Enter lucky loser Rajeev Ram, who perhaps caught Simon somewhat overconfident and seized an early break. Ram soon served for the first set before Smon righted the ship. The Frenchman broke back and took the set in a tiebreaker. From then on it was all academic, as Simon lost only five points in his last five service games. Simon will take on James Blake in round two.

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