In a period when the top players are taking time off to properly prepare for the long clay-court season leading to Roland Garros, Spaniard Tommy Robredo wrote a sensational comeback story in Casablanca, where he claimed his 10th red dirt crown.
Once a top 10 contestant, Robredo has struggled in recent years, falling out of the limelight in 2010. Things took a turn for the worse last season, when the former world No. 5 saw his ranking go down as far as No. 471 following an extensive leg injury that sidelined him for more than five months. Thus, just when everyone was expecting him to throw in the towel, Tommy showed he still has plenty of gas left in the tank, stunning the first two seeds to cap a memorable week in Morocco. The Spaniard recovered from a terrible start to overcome top seeded Swiss, Stanislas Wawrinka, 1-6,6-3,6-2 in the semis, before defeating the second seeded South African, Kevin Anderson, 7-6,4-6,6-3 in the final. The win marks his first trophy in two years, his last success coming in 2011 in Santiago.
Once a top 10 contestant, Robredo has struggled in recent years, falling out of the limelight in 2010. Things took a turn for the worse last season, when the former world No. 5 saw his ranking go down as far as No. 471 following an extensive leg injury that sidelined him for more than five months. Thus, just when everyone was expecting him to throw in the towel, Tommy showed he still has plenty of gas left in the tank, stunning the first two seeds to cap a memorable week in Morocco. The Spaniard recovered from a terrible start to overcome top seeded Swiss, Stanislas Wawrinka, 1-6,6-3,6-2 in the semis, before defeating the second seeded South African, Kevin Anderson, 7-6,4-6,6-3 in the final. The win marks his first trophy in two years, his last success coming in 2011 in Santiago.
"I have been practising very well during a month in Barcelona before coming here,” said Robredo. “I knew that I could play a good tournament here and you never know what can happen. I went match by match and kept winning. Today, I was pretty nervous since this is very important for me. I really wanted to win this.
“I'm very happy to win a title again after my injury. It's just great! Those points will help me a lot in the ranking. The goal is to arrive in Roland Garros in the best form possible. After that I will sit down and have a look at my goals.”
Robredo, a former fourth time quarterfinalist at the French Open, will look to maintain his winning streak going into Paris, although Rafael Nadal, world No.1, Novak Djokovic, or clay-court specialists David Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro, will surely stand in his way.
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| Robredo completed a stunning comeback from a lengthy injury to claim his 10th clay court crown. He defeated South African Kevin Anderson 7-6,4-6,6-3 to win the title in Casablanca. |
photos (top-down): ?, AP
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