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16 août 2011 2 16 /08 /août /2011 00:15

Columna: El Gladiador

 

Por Marcelo Salazar Medina:

 

No comentaré la película ni mucho menos un libro, sino que expresaré que no respetamos a nuestros ídolos. Esa maldita frase cliché que siempre corroe nuestra piel. Esa que nos pone de mal humor y a la cual siempre respondemos con un “nada que ver esa cuestión”. No respetar a nuestros ídolos nos lleva -en lo deportivo- a pensar en un personaje en especial que sabe de victorias y abismos: Nicolás Massú.

 

Nómbrenme otro tenista que haya obtenido dos medallas de oro en una misma olimpiada o que haya ganado una final en Argentina mientras iba un set abajo y perdiendo el otro 6-2 en el tie break. O acuérdenme de algún tenista que estando dentro de los 500 del orbe haya perdido en dos set ante un jugador número 1200 del ranking ATP. (Massú las ha hecho todas).

 

¿Por qué no me nombran ahora las personas que, siendo honestas, apoyen al “vampiro” o que mantengan la afirmación de que sea un jugadorazo? Les aseguro que cero. Incluso, expresarían números negativos, pero puede ser comprensible. Es innegable el retroceso por el cual atraviesa el oriundo de Viña del Mar, provocándose casi una “metamorfosis” entre su histórico noveno lugar el 2004 y su actual puesto (433°).

 

Pero pocos recuerdan que por Massú, muchos jóvenes tenistas pueden recibir un aporte de ADO (aunque sea mísero) para formar su carrera. Además, nos hicimos un nombre en los JJ.OO de Atenas del 2004 y que los partidos más extensos de la Copa Davis los ha jugado el “Nico”. Eso es porque no sabemos valorar a un deportista que siempre se caracterizó más por su garra que por sus talentos, que nunca dio un partido por perdido y que “fastidiaba” con su resistencia física.

 

Es increíble que lo comentado con anterioridad sea la fiel comparación a lo que es la vida: intentar no mostrar mucho los talentos, sino la pasión que ejerce uno por lo que en realidad nos parece correcto. Romper con los esquemas, mostrando que esa garra que caracteriza a Massú es una de las virtudes que deberían exigirse a todos los deportistas de elite. Más aún si representan a una nación, su nación.

 

Nicolás Massú es uno de nuestros héroes nacionales. Es una persona que no conoce la palabra imposible. Es un deportista que aguantó más de una hora con un calambre mientras definía una serie de Copa Davis ante el austríaco Jürgen Melzer. Es un personaje que no es valorado por lo que es: un gladiador.

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11 août 2011 4 11 /08 /août /2011 11:22

Nico jugará este miercoles ante Greg Jones (AUS, 222° ) en la segunda ronda del Challenger de Binghamton tercer partido en cancha central.Mas tarde en cancha 1, jugará en dobles con Paul Capdeville ante TC Huey (PHI) y F.Nielsen (DEN).

 

In the second round of the Binghamton Challenger, Nico is playing Greg Jones , born in Australia in 1989 and currently # 222° at the ATP ranking.

 

They have played each other once and Greg Jones won.

 

2011 : Los Angeles (USA), Hard : Nico lost 4/6 0/6

 

 

 

Order of play 11/08/2011

 

Matches start at 10h (NY time)

Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA) vs Adam El Mihdawy (USA)

 

 

Followed by

James Ward (GBR) vs Paul Capdeville (CHI)

 

 

Followed by Greg Jones (AUS) vs NICO MASSU (CHI)

 

 

Not before 17h

Junior Exhibition

 

Not before 17h30

Alex Kunznetsov (USA) vs Wayne Odesnik (USA)

 

 

 

Court 1

Cerca de las 17h

 

NICO MASSU / Paul Capdeville (CHI) vs T.C Huey (PHI) / F.Nielsen (DEN)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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10 août 2011 3 10 /08 /août /2011 00:23

Play has been suspended for today due to rain.

 

Todos los partidos estan suspendidos por lluvia hasta el miercoles.

 

Order of play 10/08/2011

 

Center Court

 

Matches start at 10h (NY time)

Carsten Ball (AUS) vs Luka Gregorc (SLO)

 

Followed by ( to finish 4-5)

Rhyne Williams (USA) vs Paul Capdeville (CHI)

 

Followed by

Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) vs NICO MASSU (CHI)

 

Followed by

Yuichi Sugita (JAP) vs Evgeny Dongskoy (RUS)

 

17h(NY time)

Fast serve Contest

 

Not before 17h30

F.Bagnis (ARG) / F.Romboni (BRA) vs C.Ball / C.Guccione (AUS)

 


 

 

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9 août 2011 2 09 /08 /août /2011 01:31

En la primera ronda Nico enfrenta este martes a Juan Sebastian Cabal (234°).

 

In the first round of the Binghamton Challenger, Nico plays Juan Sebastian Cabal, born in 1986 in Colombia and currently 234° at the ATP ranking, on tuesday, last match on center court.

 

Order Of Play 09/08/2011

 

Center court

 

Matches start at 10h (NY Time)

Alexander Domijan (USA) vs Grega Zemjla (SLO)

 

Followed by

Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA) vs Facundo Bagnis (ARG)

 

Followed by

Frederik Nielsen (DEN) vs Michael Venus (NZL)

 

Followed by

Rhyne Williams (USA) vs Paul Capdeville (CHI)

 

Not before 17h

PRO AM FINAL

 

Not before 17h30 (NY Time)

Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) vs NICO MASSU (CHI)

 

 

 

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8 août 2011 1 08 /08 /août /2011 23:19

Nicolás Massú derrotaron 7-6 1-6 12-10 a dupla Bemelmans & Millot y avanzan a la segunda ronda en Binghamton.

 

Nico and Paul Capdeville won their first round match against Millot and Bemelmas on the score of 7/6 1/6 12/10.

 

 

sb-bing-080811.jpg

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7 août 2011 7 07 /08 /août /2011 22:56

Nicolas juega en dobles con Paul Capdeville en el Challenger de Binghamton.La pareja chilena se medirá en la primera ronda con el binomio Ruben Bemelmans (230°, BEL) y Vincent Millot (672°, FRA) este lunes.

 

Nico plays doubles with Paul Capdeville in the Binghamton Challenger and in the first round on Monday they will play the team V.Millot (FRA) / R.Bemelmans (BEL) around 2pm.

 

 

Nico's part of the draw (Doubles)

 

F.Bagnis (ARG) / F.Romboli (BRA) vs (WC) A.Haggai (FRA) / A.Vayner (UZB)

(4) C.Ball / C.Guccione (AUS) vs R.Borvanov ((MDA) / M.Venus (NZL)

 

P.Capdeville / NICO MASSU (CHI) vs R.Bemelmans (BEL) / V.Millot (FRA)

D.King / H.Lewis (BAR) vs (2) T.C.Huey (PHI) / F.Nielsen (DEN)

 

 

 

Order of play 08/08/2011

 

Court 1

 

Matches start at 10h (NY time)

Dimitar Kutrovsky (BUL) vs Jason Tahir (USA)

 

Followed by

Luka Gregorc (SLO) vs Darian King (BAR)

 

Not before 13h

F.Bagnis (ARG)/F.Romboli (BRA) vs A.Haggai (FRA)/A.Vayner (UZB)

 

Followed by

P.Capdeville / NICO MASSU (CHI) vs R.Bemelmans (BEL)/ V.Millot (FRA)

 

Not before 16h30

A.Kuznetsov (USA) / J.Sirianni (AUS) vs W.Mendler/ A.Tsai (USA)

 

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7 août 2011 7 07 /08 /août /2011 01:03

Esta semana ,Nicolas juega el Levene Gouldin & Thompson Tennis Challenger en Nueva York. Le dieron invitación al main draw . En la primera ronda enfrentará a Juan Sebastian Cabal (221°).

 

Nico is now in New York to play the Levene Gouldin & Thompson Tennis Challenger,on hardcourt.He got a Wild Card to the main draw,and in the first round he will face Juan Sebastian Cabal, born in 1986 in Colombia and currently 221° at the ATP ranking.

 

They have never played each other at an ATP event.

 

Location: Binghamton,New York

Date:  6-14 Agosto

Surface : Hard Deco turf

Prize money : 50 000$

 

Nico's part of the draw :

 

(7) Arnau Brugues-Davi (ESP) vs Greg Jones (AUS)

Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) vs (WC) NICO MASSU (CHI)

 

Robert Farah (COL) vs Vincent Millot (FRA)

(WC) Alexander Domijan (USA) vs (4) Greg Zemlja (SLO)

 

(5) Rogerio Dutra Da Silva (BRA) vs Yuichi Sugita (JAP)

Carsten Ball (AUS) vs Qualifier

 

James Ward (GBR) vs Qualifier

(WC) Rhyne Williams (USA) vs (2) Paul Capdeville (CHI)

 

Official Site : http://tennischallenger.com/

 

 

 

 

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6 août 2011 6 06 /08 /août /2011 01:49

Olympic champion Massú joins LG&T Challenger field

 

 

 

Chile's Nicolas Massu returns the ball to U.S. players Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan during a Davis Cup tennis doubles match in Santiago, Chile, Saturday, March 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Roberto Candia)
Chile's Nicolas Massu returns the ball to U.S. players Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan during a Davis Cup tennis doubles match in Santiago, Chile, Saturday, March 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Roberto Candia) / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Seven years after making history at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Nicolas Massú will look for his first taste of success in Binghamton.

 

Massú, a double gold medalist and six-time ATP Tour champion, was announced Thursday as the first wild-card selection for the upcoming Levene Gouldin & Thompson Tennis Challenger at Recreation Park.


He previously competed in Binghamton in 1999, losing to Adam Peterson of the United States in the first round. Massú's return marks the first appearance of an Olympic gold medalist at the Binghamton event.

 

Massú turned pro in 1997 and has been ranked as high as No. 9 in the world, but his career highlight was a historic showing in Athens, where he became the only male player to win both singles and doubles gold medals in the same Games since tennis was restored as an Olympic sport  in 1988.

 

He also made history for Chile, earning his home country its first gold medal in his doubles win with Fernando González. Massú and González defeated Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schüttler of Germany on Aug. 21, 2004.

 

The next day, Massú defeated Mardy Fish of the United States in five sets to capture his second gold and earn Athlete of the Day honors from the Athens Olympics' organization.

 

Massú has 257 career victories, including 22 in Grand Slam singles competition. His most recent ATP Tour match was a straight-set loss to New Zealender Artem Satik in qualifying for the Legg Mason Tennis Classic on Sunday.

 

Much of Massú's early success came due to strong showings at Challenger tournaments, including back-to-back victories in Ecuador and a 1999 win in Santiago that pushed him into the Top 100 in the world.

He achieved his No. 9 ranking in 2004. Massú is currently ranked No. 469.

 

 

Joining him in the LG&T Challenger Draw are 22 other players from around the world, none ranked lower than 224. Play begins with qualifying rounds at 9 a.m. Saturday. The first round of singles and doubles competition is set for Wednesday, and the tournament concludes with finals on Sunday, Aug. 14.

 

South African Izak Van der Merwe is the top-ranked competitor, currently No. 113. He reached the semifinals in two of his four most recent events, and won the Johannesburg Challenger earlier this year.

 

Top-ranked Chilean Paul Capdeville, currently No. 118 in the world, returns to the LG&T after winning the tournament in 2008 and 2009.

 

Former Vanderbilt University standout Bobby Reynolds will make his fifth appearance in Binghamton. Reynolds, ranked No. 122, has reached the final at three Challenger events this year, defeating Andre Begemann of Germany for a tournament victory in Leon, Mexico.

Reynolds suffered a 6-3, 6-1 loss to former world No. 4 James Blake in the final of the Nielsen Pro Tennis Challenger on July 2 in Winnetka, Ill.

 

Arnau Brugues-Davi of Spain comes into the tournament on a hot streak, ranked No. 155 after wins on the Challenger and Futures Tours in the past month. Brugues-Davi has jumped 206 spots in the rankings since the start of 2011.

Wayne Odesnik, ranked No. 161, won Challenger events in Lexington, Ky., and Savannah, Ga., already this year.

 

Grega Zemlja (130) of Slovenia, Rogerio Dutra Da Silva (132) of Brazil, Augustin Gensse (144) of France, Ruben Bemelmans (145) of Belguim, Lucas Lacko (153) of Slovakia, Yuichi Sugita (166) of Japan, Vincent Millot (167) of France, Facundo Bagnis (169) of Argentina, Julio Silva (172) of Brazil, James Ward (174) of Great Britain, Evgeny Donskoy (177) of Russia and Frederik Nielsen (197) of Denmark are the other Top 200 players scheduled to compete.

Chris Guccione (224) of Australia and Fritz Wolmarans (219) of South Africa were added to the tournament as replacements for Tatsuma Ito (102) of Japan and Amir Weintraub (195) of Israel, who withdrew.

 

Eduardo Schwank (205) of Argentina, Danai Udomchoke (209) of Thailand and Juan Sebastian Cabal (221) of Colombia round out the field.

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31 juillet 2011 7 31 /07 /juillet /2011 19:54

Nico cayó 7-6(4) 6-2 ante Artem Sitak (389º) en la Ronda Final de las Clasificaciones en Washington.

 

Nicolas lost 7/6(4) 6/2  in the last round of quallies in Washington vs Sitak (389°)

 

 

sb-washington-310711.jpg

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31 juillet 2011 7 31 /07 /juillet /2011 01:10

Nicolás ganó 2/6 6/3 y 6/1 ante el Dominicano Estrella en 1h44 de juego.En la ultima ronda de la qualy de Washington, enfrentará a Artem Sitak (389°) de Nueva Zelanda, cerca de las 11h30 en cancha 1.

 

Nicolas won 2/6 6/3 6/1 vs Estrella in the first round of Washington qualy and will play Artem Sitak, born in 1986 in New Zealand and currently # 389 at the ATP ranking,on court 1 around 11h30 to try to qualify to the Main draw.

 

They have never played each other at an ATP event.

 

Order of play 31/07/2011

 

Court1

 

Matches start at 10h (Washington time)

Matthew Ebden (AUS) vs Philipps Simmonds (USA)

 

Followed by

NICO MASSU (CHI) vs Artem Sitak (NZL)

 

 

 

sb-washington-300711.jpg

 

 

 

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