Nalbandian eliminates Malisse in Stockholm Open 1st roundOctober 19, 2011 - 10:57 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Argentina’s Armenian-born David Nalbandian saved two match points to rally past Belgian Xavier Malisse with a 4-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(3) scoreline and reached the second round of Stockholm Open, an ATP World Tour 250 Event, being played in Stockholm, Sweden, TennisEarth reported. Nalbandian and Malisse first clashed in the Wimbledon semi-finals back in 2002. Nalbandian edged it in five sets (7-6 6-4 1-6 2-6 6-2) and has gone on to enjoy the better career, reaching a career best ranking of three in 2006 and making the semi-finals or better at all four majors. In another first-round encounter, Canadian Milos Raonic overcame a strong challenge of Marcos Baghdatis and earned a hard-fought win in the end with a 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-4 scoreline. Raonic fired 22 aces during the two-hour, 22-minute match that saw only a single break of serve. Fifth-seeded South African Kevin Anderson will take on German veteran Tommy Haas in the second-round. Anderson edged past Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6(1), 7-6(4). In another first-round encounter, World No. 109 Tobias Kamke earned his 14th tour-level win of the season as he beat eighth seed Tommy Robredo 6-2, 6-3. Top stories Armenian gymnast, Olympic bronze medalist Artur Davtyan has reached the finals of the World Cup. Gor Manvelyan has denied reports alleging that he has expressed a desire to one day play for the French national team. Roma midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is not considering FC Spartak Moscow as his next haven, according to fresh reports. 10 Armenian lifters will compete in the 2021 World Championships scheduled to be held from 7 to 17 December in Tashkent. Partner news | Putin congratulates Pashinyan’s birthday Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his birthday on June 1. Opposition motorcade en route to Gyumri for large rally A motorcade of protesters headed by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is heading to the city of Gyumri. Ruling MPs, Foreign Minister talk Armenia-Azerbaijan processes MOs from the ruling Civil Contract party met with the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the Armenian parliament. Russia: Armenia’s frozen membership weakens CSTO position in Caucasus A Russian envoy said any step that could alienate the CSTO member states from each other is “deeply wrong”. |