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Djokovic wins 27th consecutive match

May 1, 2011

HEAD racquet rebel Novak Djokovic kept his historic unbeaten run alive by claiming the title in front of his home crowd at the Serbian Open. Despite heavy conditions on slippery clay, Djokovic managed to win his 27th straight match this season with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 victory in the final over Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.

The ATP No. 2 ranked Serb will now take his YouTek IG Speed MP to the Madrid ATP Masters 1000 event where he is seeded second behind Rafael Nadal. Djokovic has not lost an ATP match this season and claimed already his fifth ATP title in 2011. His runaway start to the year is the best since Ivan Lendl started 29-0 in 1986.

“I’m definitely happy to win another title and to move on. Now, there is a period of two months in front of me, which are really important,” said Djokovic. “I need to stay healthy and I need to stay fit in order to play well. The streak is something I don’t really think about. I am flattered that people compare me to greats like Lendl, McEnroe, Federer, and Nadal — guys who have made history on the tennis court. But I have more goals to achieve this year. Obviously the No. 1 ranking is still far away, even though I’ve been winning every match I’ve played this year and won five titles in a row. But I know I need to do more and if I ever get to that No. 1 in the world it would be a dream come true for me because it has been the ambition of my tennis career.”

At the Barcelona WTA event, 42nd-ranked Italian Roberta Vinci (YouTek IG Extreme Pro) took her second title at the tournament in three years, defeating Czech Lucie Hradecka 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. “I love Barcelona,” said the winner. “I always play well here. The key to the match was to be aggressive and focused. This is really my tournament.” The 28-year-now boasts four WTA singles titles since 2007.

On the clay of Estoril near Lisbon, Anabel Medina Garrigues (YouTek IG Extreme MP) won her first title in two year against German fellow HEAD player Kristina Barrois. I played very aggressive today. Obviously I am very happy with my performance today.”

The victory in Estoril was the 10th in Medina Garrigues career and the ninth on clay, tying her with Venus Williams for most clay court titles among active players. Johanna Larsson reached the semi finals before falling to Kristina Barrois. Argentinian Pablo Cuevas also reached the semi finals of the men’s draw.

In Munich, Florian Mayer (YouTek Prestige MP) reached his second ATP World Tour final after Stockholm last October. After a hard fight the German lost 3-6, 6-3, 1-6 to Nikolay Davydenko. “It was a fantastic week. Of course I’m a little disappointed losing the final but I see the positives,” said Mayer. “I had never won a match in Munich coming into this year’s tournament. It’s a great feeling to break into the Top 30 for the first time in my career, now I want to go even higher.”

HEAD did take doubles honours in Bavaria, with Italy’s Simone Bolelli (YouTek Prestige MP) teaming with Argentine Horacio Zeballos (YouTek Extreme Pro) for a title victory over Germans Andreas Beck and Christopher Kas 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.