By Sunder Iyer
Tashkent Challenger
Media Team

Belgian Christophe Rochus once ranked as high as 38 has had a roller coaster year. The current year has seen many ups and down for the player. Scoring an easy first round win at the Tashkent Challenger Rochus spent some time to talk to us   .

Q. Christophe it was quite a fast first round match are you satisfied with the way you are playing?
Rochus : I played good tennis , it was a fast match , I like the courts and feel nice

Q. What brings you to play a Challenger in Uzbekistan when you could have played bigger events?
Rochus :  I play in Moscow next week and I have entered the event as it will be a good practice event to get me prepared , also the event is big as it has many good players in the draw. The event is tough and will surely help me in preparations

Q. What do you think of your chances of taking the title here?
  Rochus: It’s a tough tournament you have 10 guys in the Top 100 player playing here; the level is high and a tough event. Everyone wants to win such a big event including me. But if I’ve entered the event  it is surely to win

Q. Your favorite is clay, but you are at home on these fast courts too?
Rochus: All the Belgian players like playing on Clay, but we also play on hard courts in winter and so our players are used to both the surfaces. I’ve been playing on indoor hard courts since I was 10 years old and find it comfortable.

 Q. The year has been mixed for you having beaten players like Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey, Richard Gasquet, Fabrice Santaro early in the year, it doesn’t seem to show on your rankings?
Rochus:  Yes, the way I played early in the season I should have been around 50 – 60 in the rankings , but someway in between I lost my way. I played bad tennis in the middle of the year and that is one of the reasons it didn’t help my rankings.

Q. What happened, was it injury or form that affected your performance?
Rochus: Frankly I played too many tournaments and traveled a lot around the world. This made me mentally tired. On the circuit it is important to be 100% mentally fit to win matches as the other players are very good and don’t give you much chance.

Q. Tell us about your future plans?
Rochus: The first is to be in the main draw of the Australian Open next year. Also next year probably will be my last year on the Tour. I would like to retire and hopefully I’ll play well to ensure I’ll have a good end to my career.

Issued by Media Team
Tashkent Challenger 2009

Tashkent October 12: Top seeded Yen Hsun Lu of Taipei and  Seventh seeded Somdev Devvarman of India the seeds in action today made it to the second round of the $1, 25,000 Tashkent Challenger, an ATP Challenger series event being played at the Olympic tennis Stadium.
In the first round matches Lu outplayed wild card entrant Rohan Bopanna of India     6-4,6-2  in 1.06mins while seventh seeded Indian Somdev Devvarman demolished 281st ranked Spanish player Gillermo  Olaso 6-3,6-2 in 1 hr.07 mins.
Lu broke Bopanna in the 7th game in the first set , and broke the tall and lanky Indian Davis Cupper  in the 3rd and 7th games in the second set  to win his opening  match.“ I was extremely focused and am happy that I served well and played an all round game” said Lu the title holder of the event.
It’s very difficult to play the 1st round at any event and playing first round with player like Bopanna is tougher, but I’m happy with the way I played” said Lu after the match. Lu and Bopanna will now pair up for the doubles event where they are ranked second.
Seventh seeded Indian star Somdev Devvarman played solid tennis to demolish Olaso 6-3, 6-2 in a one sided encounter. In the first set Somdev broke Olaso in the 6th game. In the second set he broke the Spaniard in the 3rd and 7th games to wrap the match. In the second round Somdev will take on the winner of the match between Latvian Deniss Pavlovs and Russian Alexandre  Kudryavtsev.
Ito Tatsuma of Japan  ranked 237 found himself a lucky entrant into the second round as Sixth seed Rajeev Ram of USA retired after a painful back spasm  with the scores 6-5 (Duece) . “I lost to him at Chennai Open earlier, but I’m lucky this time”, said a relieved  Ito the third ranked Japanese after the match.
Oleksandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine ranked 159th played some acrobatic tennis to account for Spanish player Inigo Cervantes – Huegun 6-4,3-6,6-3 in a 1 hour 56 minute battle . “I’ve been playing well in the last 2 and half months in spite of my elbow injury. I prefer clay courts but I feel pretty comfortable here”, said the colourful Dolgopolov after his match. Dolgopolov will now take on Top seed Lu Yen Hsun in the second round.
In a first round doubles match Martin Klizan of Slovakia and  Yuri Schukin of Kazakhstan upset third seeded pair of  Konstantin Kravchuk and Alexandre Kudryavtsev(Rus)  4-6,7-6(10),12-10  to make it the last eight.

Following are the results ( First Round )

Ito Tatsuma (Jpn) bt  S.6 Rajeev Ram (USA) 6-5(retd)
Rohan Bopanna( Ind)  Yen Hsun Lu ( Tpe)   6-4,6-2
Somdev Devvarman (Ind)  Guillermo Olaso (Esp)
Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. (Ukr) bt Inigo Cervantes – Huegun (Esp) 6-4,3-6,6-3

Doubles (First Round)

Martin Klizan( Svk)/ Yuri Schukin (Kaz) bt(S.3) Konstantin Kravchuk/Alexandre Kudryavtsev(Rus)  4-6,7-6(10),12-10 
Rifat Biktyakov/ Sarvar Ikramov bt  Abduvoris Saidmukhamedov / Sanjar Fayziev (Uzb)  6-2,6-2
Jiri Krkoska ( Cze) /LukasLacko(Svk) Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. / Ivan Sergeyev(Ukr) 6-2,6-2

Issued by Media Team
Tashkent Challenger 2009

Tashkent October 11 : Sarvar Ikramov  was the lone Uzbek player to qualifier to make it to the  main draw of the $1, 25,000 Tashkent Challenger, an ATP Challenger series event being played at the Olympic tennis Stadium.
In the final round qualifying played here today Ikramov outwit countryman Arsen Asanov 6-3,6-1. “I’m thrilled to qualify for the ATP Challenger for the first time in my career , said Ikramov after the match”.
Other players who qualified were Andrei Gorban  of Maldova , Konstantin Kravchuk of Russia and Jiri Krkoska of Czech Republic.
In an intresting match Andrei Gorban came back from being 0-4 down to win 11 games in row to stop the run of Uzbek junior player Sergey Shipilov 6-4,6-1

Following are the results ( Final Round Qualifying)

Sarvar Ikramov (Uzb) bt  Arsen Asanov (Uzb)  6-3,6-1
Andrei Gorban(MDA) bt   Sergey Shipilov(Uzb)  6-4,6-1
Konstantin Kravchuk (Rus) bt  Abduvoris Saidmukhamedov (Uzb)  6-3,6-1
Jiri Krkoska ( Cze) bt  Aziz Yuldashev  (Uzb)  6-3,6-3