2nd-seeded Janko Tipsarevic wins, Robin Haase loses in 2nd round of Chennai Open

The Associated Press / Times Colonist
January 2, 2013

CHENNAI, India - Second-seeded Janko Tipsarevic beat French player Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-2, 6-3 Wednesday in the second round of the Chennai Open.

Tipsarevic, who had a bye in the first round, jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and maintained the tempo to set up a quarterfinal match with Go Soeda of Japan.

Also, Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia defeated sixth-seeded Robin Haase of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-3, and fourth-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka beat German qualifier Cedrik Marcel-Stebe 6-4, 6-3.

Soeda beat Indian qualifier Prakash Amritraj 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4.

Tipsarevic was happy to start the new season well ahead of the Australian Open.

"Looks like my preparation in Doha in the off-season is paying off," Tipsarevic said. "I worked hard to improve my fitness and that will help in the long run."

The Serbian has improved his performance every time he plays in Chennai to help solidify his spot in the top 10 for the past two years.

"I lost the final (to Milos Raonic) in 2012 and hopefully will win the tournament this year," Tipsarevic said. "If I have to move into the top five, I have to improve every aspect of my game. But it won't be easy as the big players are really very good."

Meanwhile, Soeda held off a resurgent Amritraj despite his opponent enjoying the support of the crowd. Amritraj, who played well at the net, said he was happy with his overall performance at the event.

"I played 11 good sets of tennis (including in qualifying) and came through some tough matches," Amritraj said. "I didn't have enough (gas) left in the tank in the final set."