PETE ZIEBRON
Nicolas Mahut and Alejandro Falla, two players off the radar on the ATP Tour, yet who made news two weeks ago at Wimbledon for their dramatic 5 set, 1st round losses to John Isner and Roger Federer respectively, will meet in the 1st round at the Hall of Fame Championships tomorrow in Newport, Rhode Island. Mahut who needed a Wild Card to gain entry into the event donated his shirt and one shoe from his epic 11 hour 5 minute match at Wimbledon to the Hall of Fame.
Mahut, who will be making his 5th appearance at the tournament this year, reached the Newport Final in 2007 and lost to countryman Fabrice Santoro. It was the second grass court final Mahut lost that year as he also got to the Queens Club Final in London only weeks earlier and lost to Andy Roddick. Alejandro Falla, the tournament's #2 seed will be making his debut in Newport this year. His tennis heroes as a youth were grass court legends Pete Sampras and Boris Becker.
Two weeks ago Falla held a 2 sets to love advantage over another grass court master, top seeded Roger Federer in the 1st round at Wimbledon but was unable to win the match. It was actually the 3rd time in 5 weeks that Falla faced Federer, also losing to him in the 2nd round at Roland Garros as well as the 2nd round on grass in Halle, Germany.
Later this year, Falla and his hard hitting countryman Santiago Giraldo look forward to hosting the United States in Davis Cup action as the World Group Playoffs will be contested on September 17-19 in Bogota, Columbia. Falla sports a 27-7 record in Davis Cup competition, including an 18-2 mark in singles. The Columbians have selected clay as their surface of choice and hope to stymie the American effort.
Mahut defeated Falla in their only previous meeting 7-5 6-4 on a hard court in 2007 in Chennai, India. **Falla defeated Mahut in a 2005 Challenger in Cordoba, Spain on a hard court 6-3 7-6(8).
7.6.10 Nicolas Mahut defeated Alejandro Falla 6-3 1-6 6-3 in 1 hour and 23 minutes. Mahut who held serve for 68 consecutive games in the 5th set against John Isner at Wimbledon had his serve broken twice in the 2nd set by Falla. Meanwhile, Mahut hit 5 aces in today's match, far less than the 103 he belted against Isner. Mahut advances to the 2nd round and will face Canadian Frank Dancevic in the 3rd match on Center Court on Wednesday.
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