Lisicki qualifies for main draw; Nishikori, Mirnyi win qualifying matches

Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy student Sabine Lisicki has qualified for the main draw of the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells. Lisicki defeated Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 7-6(6), 6-4 in the second round of qualifying. Lisicki will face WTA veteran Greta Arn in the first round. Arn, who also qualified, is ranked #145 in the world and is from Hungary. Good luck to Sabine in the first round!!

Two other players who train at the Academy – Kei Nishikori and Max Mirnyi – both won their first round qualifying matches on Tuesday. Nishikori defeated Alex Bogdanovic 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 and will face Candian Frederic Niemeyer in the second round. Mirnyi beat eleventh-seeded Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4 and will take on Frenchman Mathieu Montcourt in the second round. If Nishikori and Mirnyi win they will both qualify for the main draw.

Men’s main draw out

The draw for the ATP side of the Pacific Life Open is out. In top-seeded Roger Federer’s draw are two Andy’s – Roddick and Murray. Potentially, Roddick and Murray could face each other with the winner taking on Federer in the quarters. The first seeded player Federer could see would be #25 Nicolas Almagro. Remember, Federer lost his second round match here last year to Guillermo Canas, but before that he won this tournament three years in a row.

Defending champion, Rafael Nadal, has three very talented Frenchman in his quarter - #8 Richard Gasquet, #14 Paul-Henri Mathieu, and #17 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Ninth-seeded James Blake is also in his quarter, as is #19 Carlos Moya and #32 Feliciano Lopez. Nadal will face either Austrian Werner Eschauer or a qualifier in the second round.

This year’s Australian Open champion, Novak Djokovic, has fifth-seeded David Ferrer in his quarter. The first seeded player Djokovic could face would be #27 Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany. Kohlschreiber knocked Andy Roddick out of the 2008 Australian Open, playing brilliant tennis. Also in Djokovic’s quarter are #10 Tomas Berdych, #16 Guillermo Canas, #18 Marcos Baghdatis, #21 Juan Monaco, and #26 Jarkko Nieminen. NBTA student Jesse Levine is also in Djokovic’s quarter. Levine, who received a main draw wild card, will face Stanislas Wawrinka in the first round.

Finally, fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko headlines the last quarter. He will face either American John Isner or Italian Simone Bolelli in the second round. His potential quarterfinal opponent would be seventh-seeded David Nalbandian. Also in this quarter are #12 Fernando Gonzalez, #13 Mikhail Youzhny, #22 Juan Carlos Ferrero, #24 Lleyton Hewitt, #29 Radek Stepanek, and #31 Igor Andreev.