ATP Bangkok

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Alex has made the main draw cut for ATP Bangkok which starts next Tuesday. It will be only the 2nd time he has got direct entry into an ATP event [the first time was ATP Newport in July] which reflects the progress he has made this year. He joins compatriots Andy Murray and Tim Henman in the main draw. It had been looking like Alex would be in the main draw for ATP Mumbai as on Friday he was just 1 withdrawal away from making the cut but then a spate of withdrawals followed from the Bangkok entry list due to the current political crisis over there. The field for Bangkok is a lot stronger than Mumbai but Bangkok is on Alex’s favourite surface; fast indoor hard courts while Mumbai is on slow, high bouncing, outdoor hard which doesn’t suit Alex’s game so well.

Alex has also entered for ATP Vienna which starts on 10th October. He’s 9th on the qualifying entry list so hopefully there’ll be a withdrawal from the top 8 which will enable him to be seeded in qualifying.[/b]

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Rd1: A Bogdanovic v Y Wang [Taiwan]

Preview: Yeu-Tzuoo Wang of Chinese Taipei will be Alex’s rd1 opponent in Bangkok. Wang is currently ranked 19 places above Alex at 129, he has a career high of 85 which he reached in March this year. It’s an extremely good draw for Alex considering some of the other opponents he could have faced in rd1: Ljubicic, Baghdatis, Blake, Murray, Ferrero. Wang will still be a very tricky opponent, this year he has reached rd3 of ATP Queens [beating Nicolay Davydenko and Jonas Bjorkman before losing to Dmitry Tursunov in 3 sets], the final of the Wolfsburg challenger on indoor carpet, the semis of the Recanti challenger in Italy and the Ho Chi Minh challenger in Vietnam and he’s also played all 4 grand slams. He won rounds at the Australian Open and Wimbledon but lost in rd1 of Roland Garros and the US Open [to Roger Federer]. Wang played ATP Bangkok last year, reaching the quarter-finals. Since the US Open he’s played 1 tournament, ATP Bejing on indoor hard, beating a Chinese wildcard in rd1 before losing to the eventual winner Marcos Baghdatis. Boggo and Wang have played once before, back in 2003 in rd1 of a GB futures and Wang won 6-4, 7-5. Wang’s main strengths are his speed around the court and his forehand. He doesn’t possess a particularly big serve which is a weakness indoors. He’s not the sort of player who will blow Alex off the court which his shot-making, he’ll be trying to grind him down from the baseline.

Bogdanovic v Wang is 1st on court 1 on Tuesday at 6.00am GMT [midday in Thailand].

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I reckon that Alex has a great chance of winning. He's already guaranteed to defend his 5 points from Tulsa last year [you get 5 points if you lose in rd1 of an ATP] but if he wins he'll move up into the 130s. I forgot to mention in the preview that if he wins there will be a battle of Britain in rd2 against either Henman or Murray.

Scotsman75

Oh well, I wanted it to be Murray v Boggo, but Henman will do.

Teapot

Hi there!

I just set my alarm to get up in time for the match tomorrow, hopefully I'll get to see the whole thing before I have to head off to uni. I was hoping for a Murray game too!

I just flew back from Ukraine Monday because I went to see Team GB in the Davis Cup. I was gutted Lloyd didn't put Boggo in the tie though.

Go Boggo!

Teapot

Arka

I won't be getting the match Live, but I'll follow the scores online.

Hello to everyone. Very Happy

Loving the site.

davidB

amazing site isnt it?

i can't say i'll be rooting for boggo tomorrow... but i do like him and hope that if he does beat tim that he will go far in this tournament.

admin

Hi guys, I'm pleased you all like the site so much. Welcome !

Boggo v Wang report:

Alex scored one of the best wins of his career today, overcoming Yeu-Tzuoo Wang in an epic 3 setter, lasting 2 hrs and 11 minutes: 6-7[7], 6-4, 6-4. Ultimately Alex’s accurate serving and big groundstrokes proved too much for the Taiwan number 1.

The 1st set was dominated by serve, just two points were won on the return in the opening 4 games. Wang had the only break point chances of the set at 2-2, but Alex saved both with big serves. The closest Alex got on the Wang serve was in game 6 when he pulled it back from 40-15 to deuce but Wang took the next two points to hold. The set went to a tiebreak; Wang gained the first minibreak to lead 1-0 but Alex got it back almost immediately and it went with serve until 5-5 when an unforced error from Wang gave Alex set point. Unfortunately a nervy double fault made it 6-6 and then Wang took advantage of some passive play to gain a set point at 7-6. Alex saved this but he could do nothing about the next two points which Wang won with a big serve and some powerful baseline hitting to take the breaker 9-7.

In the second set, both players upped their 1st serve percentages but the key for Alex was that he started to outplay Wang from the baseline, he won 75% of the points on his 2nd serve [compared to just 50% in set 1] and on Wang’s 2nd serve he won 57% of the points [compared to just 33% in set 2.] Wang was struggling to win points in the baseline rallies but was still frustrating Alex with his big serving. However in the 5th game he cracked, missing several 1st serves and Alex broke to love. He held on comfortably to take the set 6-4.

In the deciding set, Alex started to impose himself even more on the Wang 2nd serve, winning 69% of the points. However, on his own serve he started to tense up a bit more particularly on his 2nd serve where he only won 43% of the points. Alex got off to the best possible start racing to 0-40 on the Wang serve in the opening game and he broke on his 3rd opportunity. However, he let his concentration slip and was immediately broken straight back to love. Both players held on until 4-4, when Alex pegged Wang back from 40-15 to deuce and then won the next two points to break. Serving for the match at 5-4, there were a few jitters as Alex missed 3 match points before closing in out on his 4th opportunity.

Alex now has a day off before his rd2 match against either Tim Henman or Andy Murray on Thursday.

It was a fantastic win for Alex on Tuesday, a really hard-fought battle and a very entertaining match. Alex had the edge in the end because he has a bigger serve and started to outplay Wang from the baseline.

This is our Henman-Boggo preview:

Alex will face British no 2 Tim Henman in rd2 on Thursday after Henman defeated 4th seed Andy Murray for the 1st time in 4 matches, 6-4, 6-2.

Henman was particularly dominant on the Murray 2nd serve, chip-charging at every opportunity and putting a lot of pressure on Murray who wasn't able to come up with the passing shots at key moments.In order to have a chance Alex will have to keep his 1st serve percentage high.

Alex has played Henman once before, in an exhibition match at Manchester on grass which Alex won.
Alex was in relaxed mood yesterday, speaking after his rd1 win over Wang. "I'm 22 now and the pressure is gone, really," he told the press after his victory. "However, I don't often get the opportunity to play ATP events and I've got to take these opportunities. I'm aiming to break into the top 100, and the only way I'm going to get better is trying to challenge myself against the better players." Alex felt that the turning point in the match was when he broke for 3-2 in the 2nd set "I think it was very important that at the beginning of the second set I got that momentum and broke early on, because after the first set I was obviously a little bit disappointed."

In the press: "New buzz for Bogdanovic" [Telegraph]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/...ml=/sport/2006/09/27/stbrit27.xml

admin

Match has started:

Backhand into the net from Henman, 15-0.

Good first serve from Boggo and Henman struggles to return it and hits the net, 30-0.

A little bit of a rally and Henman just hits it long, 40-0

Another good first serve which is not returned and it's a love game to start off for Boggo

1-0 Boggo.

Henman serving...

Boggo returns Henmans serve and then Henman hits a forehand into the net, 0-15.

Good first serve from Henman and Boggo tried to return it but doesn't get over 15-15.

Another good 1st serve which Boggo gets to but can't return it over and it's 30-15.

Good return from Boggo from Henman's 1st serve and it's 30-30 as Henman hits a backhand volley into the net.

30-40

Deuce

Adv Henman.

1-1 all.

admin

Boggo serving...

Forehand smash by Boggo to finish off a rally, 15-0.

1st ace for Boggo, 30-0.

Good 1st serve which Henman returns and goes long, 40-0.

40-15

40-30 now, as Boggo hits a backhand into the net.

Game Boggo with a good forehand down the line.

2-1 Boggo.

Henman serving...

15-0 as Boggo hits a backhand into the net after a good approach from Henman.

30-0, Boggo returns Henmans serve but goes long.

40-0, Returned his serve again but goes long.

Game Henman with a stunning forehand.

2-2.

admin

Boggo serving...

15-0, with a good rally from both players as a Henman forehand goes wide.

30-0, good 1st serve from Boggo which Henman can't return over the net.

40-0, another good 1st serve from Boggo and just doesn't go over the net.

40-15, good pass from Henman.

40-30, Henman finishes off a rally with a blistering forehand.

40-40, Boggo hits a backhand into the net which kills off the rally.

Adv-40, Good rally which ends with Henman hitting a forehand into the net.

Game Boggo from a lacklustre return on a 2nd serve.

3-2 Boggo.

Henman serving...

15-0, as Henman is aggresive at the net and Boggo hits it into the net.

30-0, Boggo hits a forehand long.

30-15, Good return of serve from Boggo which Henman returns which Boggo finishes off with a forehand smash.

40-15, Good 1st serve from Henman which Boggo returns but a good forehand from Henman which Boggo can't reach ends the exchange.

Game Henman after an ace.

3 games all.

admin

Henman then reached 0-30 on the Boggo serve, Boggo pulled it back to 30-30 but then Henman took the next two points and broke for 4-3

Henman serving:

Good forehand return on the Henman first serve and it's 15-30.

Boggo struggles to return and finishes off with a forehand volley 30-30.

Good 1st serve from Henman which Boggo can't return as it hits the net, 40-30.

Game Henman 5-3 after a good forehand which Boggo isn't able to return.

admin

Boggo serving:

15-15 all so far..

Good rally from both with Henman ending up hitting a forehand into the net, 15-30.

Double fault from Boggo, 30-30

Cross court forehand is just long from Boggo, 30-40 and Set point for Henman

A forehand goes long from Boggo and it's 6-3 to Henman 1st set

admin

Both players have held so far in set 2, Henman held to love in the opening game and crucially Alex held to 15.

That was vital as he'd lost 5 straight games. Hopefully he can get an early break in this set to swing the momentum his way, that was the turning point of his match against Wang

Arka

Okay.... Alex lost in three sets. But this is be a performance that he should be proud of. He was a match for an in form player playing on one of his favoured surfaces, so it shows that there is a lot of class in A Bog.

He should continue playing Tour events whenever he gets the opportunity, he is getting better all the time in my opinion.

admin

Alex lost 3-6, 7-5, 1-6 in the end after just over two hours.

Our website report:

The 2nd "Battle of the Brits" of this year's ATP Bangkok was eventually won by Tim Henman but it was far from easy, Henman winning 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 in just over 2 hours.

Alex started brightly holding to love and then forcing a break point in Henman's opening service game. However, some big serves from the British no 2 quickly snuffed out the threat and the set went with serve until 3-3. In the 7th game Alex paid the penalty for missing several first serves and Henman took charge in the resulting baseline rallies, forcing errors. Alex had a half chance to break back in the very next game, getting to 15-30 with some good returns but Henman then came up with two big serves and a forehand winner to hold for 5-3. Serving to stay in the set, Alex had 30-15 but a double fault and two forehands errors handed Henman the set, 6-3.

Alex started the 2nd set well, getting to 0-30 on Henman's serve in the 3rd game and then forcing a break point. Henman held on in that game but 2 games later Alex made no mistake, winning 4 straight points from 30-0 to break. Alex led 4-2 but in the 8th game Henman took advantage of several 2nd serves to get two break points at 15-40. Alex saved both but Henman forced a 3rd chance and Alex double-faulted under pressure to make it 4-4. Henman held for 5-4 and it looked as though he would wrap up the match in straight sets when Alex slipped to 15-30, serving to stay in the match. However, he dug deep and won the next 3 points to level things at 5-5. In the 11th game, Alex raced to 0-30 and then broke to lead 6-5. Henman had 4 break points in the next game but Alex saved all of them, one with an ace and held on to take the set 7-5 with Henman getting riled at several close line calls.

Both players held and then squandered break point chances in the opening games of the 3rd set but crucially it was Henman who struck first, breaking in game 4 and then consolidating it to lead 4-1. Alex kept fighting but Henman forced two break points in game 6 and despite saving the first, Alex could do nothing about a blistering winner on the 2nd. At 5-1, Alex had two chances to break but it was too late in the day and Henman came up with some big serves and then sealed victory on his 1st match point.

Alex will have been disappointed to lose but he can take heart from winning his first ATP match outside of the grass season and taking Henman so close on one of Tim's best surfaces. If Alex had been able to take one of those chances at the start of the 3rd set, it could have been a different story.

Speaking afterwards Henman had a lot of praise for his compatriot, saying that Alex had made life very difficult for him and he had to work very hard. He said that Alex definately played like a top 100 player and he could see him playing a regular part in future Davis Cup ties.

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