Great win for Slabba, and it looks from the stats that his serve was on fire, which is what he needs to do to compete at this level.

Rochus will be tough, but not totally unwinnable if he plays at his very best (or the other option is to hope there's a LL spot going and Rochus tanks the match)

Very bad online translation...

The young British confirms his good service of the first turn by dominating Fernando Vicente, head of series n°7 of the qualifications, in less than one hour (6/2 6/4).

Already in difficulty at the time of the first turn where it has to battle three sets to be left there, Fernando Vicente did not hold the shock vis-a-vis Alexander Slabinsky. The British, very regular in the exchange, imposes his rate/rhythm which the Spaniard does not manage to follow.

Result: it breake twice Vicente and gains logically the first sleeve (6/2).
The second set is only the reflection of the first, overflowing Slabinsky the Spaniard too just physically. To 2/2, it again manages to make the station-wagon thanks in particular to an acceleration of blow right more than effective.

The British has a perfect command of his setting concerned then, with a good first ball, to impose itself finally in less than one hour of play (6/4).

Alexander Slabinsky has shown to interesting things, for two days, and will be a serious competitor with the Belgian, Olivier Rochus, whom it will meet with the 3rd turn for a place in the final table.

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'station-wagon' what the hell is that !!! LOL from worldlingo.com

Can always count on online translations to provide a laugh

Still better than I would have done!

FREERIDER says

playing again later today?

There is a potential of 4 brits in 4 different atp's this week all outside of britain how amazing would that be!



4? Andy, Rich and Slabba who is the 4th?

laura robson and i just realised what a silly comment that was haha meant on the tour ;)

Cheesy report, as promised - I'm not gonna get to do this often, so I may as well have fun with it...

I believe in Slabba

Lyon's Palais de Sports, venue for this week's ATP tournament, is just a stone's throw away from the city's only English-speaking Anglican church. Sadly, however, their timetables this morning were not quite in sync. As a result, the tennis fan stopping at the latter to pray for British success here, in Basel & in Madrid arrived at courtside with the first prayer already half-answered. With the scoreboard showing Slabinsky 1 set up on the 7th seed Fernando Vicente in his 2nd round qualifying match, it certainly appeared that the heavens were smiling on British tennis today.

Followers of British tennis, however, have learnt not always to put their faith in the statistics where Slabinsky is concerned. His impressive rise up the rankings, decent results at home in the grass court season, and his relatively smooth transition to the world of Challengers point to a player able to make waves at this higher level: some unexpected losses in seemingly simple matches suggest otherwise. So, like Doubting Thomas, I needed to see the evidence with my own eyes before I could believe 'Slabba' ready to hold his own in ATP qualifying.

First signs were distinctly promising. The demeanour of the players was markedly different; Vicente seemed agitated, glancing discontentedly at line judges, umpire & ballboys, while Slabinsky looked resolute and undistracted. The early games of the second set were pretty routine, in terms of the score, but still the Spaniard looked worried. Slabinsky's serve, feted by the tournament's website after his previous encounter, lived up to the hype, and several points were won by well-timed injections of power.

The break of serve came at 2-2, through nothing more than consistency on Slabinsky's behalf - never flashy, just solid and accurate. Tellingly, he followed it up with a very convincing hold - 3 aces in the game leaving no way back for Vicente. Even when losing points, as Vicente held the next game with a sweet drop shot, Alex never looked uncomfortable - the margins were small, and the pressure was maintained. I had hoped to see him look competitive at this level, I hadn't expected him to look this assured.

Serving for the match, his body language betrayed a few nerves. Vicente muttered to himself thorughout the set, Slabinsky's output was restricted to a wee moan after a line decision on the second point. A few extra deep breaths before each point seemed to restore his sang-froid, the serve held good with 2 more aces, and even a long rally at 30-30 didn't faze him. The victory was as convincing as the scoreline suggests, and another sceptic is a lot closer to being converted. Whatever the result against top seed Christophe Rochus tomorrow, Slabinsky seems to have proved that he is at home at this level.

The players that have thrived this weekend (De Bakker particularly, plus Lapentti, Ascione & Eysseric, unfortunate to face the latter in round 2) have done so through a good blend of power and consistency. On today's evidence, Slabinsky can match any of them for both of these attributes, and fully deserves his place in the final round of qualifying.

God willing, he may even go further...



Small chance I'll make it on Tuesday, fingers crossed there'll be British action to report again.