Monday, June 22, 2009
Sayer wins frustrating finals match
The former Radford standout plays through the heat and wind for the men's open singles title.
Consider Oman on notice.
Martin Sayer tuned up for Davis Cup play by winning the men's open singles division of the Roanoke Valley Invitational Tennis Tournament on Sunday at Hollins University.
The former Radford University standout beat Maryland recruit Sergio Wyss 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 in the final on a hot, windy afternoon.
Sayer has been a member of Hong Kong's Davis Cup team since 2005. He will be back in Hong Kong next month for Davis Cup action against Oman.
Is he ready?
"I really think I am," he said. "I just need some recovery time."
Playing in the heat Sunday was good preparation.
"It's going to be a lot more hot" in Hong Kong, Sayer said. "It gets to about 100 [degrees], but then it's like 90 percent humidity. So it's terrible."
The top-seeded Sayer beat fourth-seeded Jakob Gustafsson -- a Longwood assistant coach -- 6-3, 6-1 in a semifinal Sunday morning.
After playing three sets against Wyss, Sayer played in two doubles finals later Sunday.
Such a long day was also good preparation, said Sayer, because the Davis Cup matches are best-of-five.
Sayer, whose college career ended last month with first-round losses in the NCAA singles and doubles championships, won the Virginia State Open Clay Court Championships in Keswick earlier this month.
He had been looking forward to the hard-court action at Hollins so he could work on some shots and get ready for hard-court Davis Cup play.
He had hoped to work on his big forehand Sunday, but the wind didn't let him.
"Really annoying," he said to himself during the match about the wind. "It's like playing in a hurricane."
Sayer said later that it was one of his most frustrating matches because the wind kept him from playing his usual game.
He had little trouble in his first set against the seventh-seeded Wyss, a 19-year-old who lives in Bethesda, Md.
The second set was a different matter. Sayer drop-kicked a tennis ball over the net after losing that set.
"The first set, he played unbelievable -- very aggressive," said Wyss, a recent high school graduate who was born in Switzerland. "It's the first time I'm playing someone that big, such a good player, and I was too defensive.
"Second set, I said to myself, I'm just going to go for it. ... I played aggressive and my game started clicking."
Wyss developed a cramp in his left leg during the third set.
"It bothered me," he said. "It's very hot out there, and I've played lots of matches."
It was Wyss' second match of the day against a Davis Cup player. He beat third-seeded Ignaci Roca 7-6 (5), 2-6, 10-8 in a semifinal Sunday morning. They did not play a full third set, instead playing to 10 points.
Roca, whose Virginia Tech tennis career ended last year, plays for Costa Rica's Davis Cup team.
Wyss had knocked off another ex-Hokie, second-seeded Nicolas Delgado de Robles, in three sets in Saturday's quarterfinals.
Abbey Walker, whose Tech career ended in April, beat Sayer's girlfriend, ex-Highlander Cassandra Price, 6-4, 6-3 to win the women's open singles final for the second straight year.
Like that match, the finals of the men's open doubles and mixed open doubles also had a Radford vs. Tech feel.
Roca and Delgado de Robles beat Sayer and ex-Highlander Youssef Bouzidi 6-3, 6-4 in the men's open doubles final.
In the mixed open doubles final, Walker and Delgado de Robles beat defending champs Sayer and Price 6-3, 6-4.





