Roddick to Make Debut with Gilbert; Krajicek Sees Off Flip

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
Oh to be the big-serving Mark Philippoussis and the No. 14 seed on the grasscourts at Queen's...until you draw unseeded former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek in the opening round, and your tournament is over on Monday. Flipper joined No. 15 seed Robby Ginepri (l. to Rusedski) and former Wimbledon winner Goran Ivanisevic (l. to Vacek) as notables exiting on day one at Queen's. Seeded winners were (9)Nieminen (d. Beck) and (10)Gambill (d. Enqvist). Seeds in action Tuesday are (15)Roddick vs. (Q)De Voest (first meeting), Sanguinetti vs. (7)Henman, Luczak vs. (2)Agassi, (4)P Srichaphan vs. Ancic, (12)Mirnyi vs. (Q)George "I've Beaten Pete" Bastl, (8)Malisse vs. (Q)Karlovic, Kendrick vs. (11)Dent, and Belgium's Dick Norman vs. (13)Fish.
The three seeds in action Monday in Halle advanced effortlessly on the grass in (2)Schuettler (d. Carlsen), (3)Novak (d. (WC)Dreekman), and (5)El Aynaoui (d. (WC)Koderisch). Younes won so easily he played another set with the local Koderisch. "I was happy to play another set," El Aynaoui said. "I've never done that before. But the crowd was happy about it. I won 6-1. I wouldn't normally do that with other players, but all the conditions were right to keep playing. He's a young guy. He was excited to play some more and it was a great ambience on court. There were a lot of people still in the stands and no one was scheduled to play after us. I thought maybe he'd play a little better in the third. He was a local guy, a little nervous at the start so I just figured why not play another set." Way to throw him a bone, you could have let him win more than one game. Today's seeds in action at Halle are (1)Federer, trying to shake off his Roland Garros debacle, against the smooth Sargis Sargsian (Fed leads series 3-1, with a loss on grass); Kucera vs. three-time Halle winner and No. 4 seed Yevgeny "Retiring as Fast as I Can" Kafelnikov (Y-Man leads 4-3); French comer Mathieu vs. (6)Youzhny; and the oft-injured (8)Clement vs. (Q)Niemeyer.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Three seeds were in action Monday in Vienna and three advanced in No. 5 Fernandez (pasted Ashley "There's Some Anna in Me" Harkleroad 6-0, 6-0), No. 7 Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova (d. (WC)Fauth), and No. 8 Matevzic (d. Roesch). The final round of qualifying was also finished, with Sprem (CRO), Ani (EST), Fislova (SVK), and Leon Garcia (ESP) clawing into the main draw on the red dirt. Highlights on court today are Farina Elia vs. Leon Garcia, Majoli vs. Fislova, Schett vs. Pistolesi Mandula vs. Ani, and Barna vs. Nagyova. Sorry, those are lowlights.
On the grasscourts in Birmingham, the local media were abuzz with Brit wildcard Jane O'Donoghue playing Brit wildcard Elena Baltacha, as it appeared a Brit might advance to the second round. O'Donoghue advanced when Baltacha strained her back, quelling the drama. No. 13 Emilie Loit was the only seeded casualty Monday, losing to French countrywoman Marion Bartoli. Seeds advancing included (9)Granville (d. Cargil), (10)Tanasugarn (d. Serra Zanetti), and (16)Pisnik (d. Obata in three). The qualifying was also finished, with Osterloh (USA), Vento-Kabchi (VEN), Snyder (USA), and Yoshida (JPN) moving into the main draw. Matches of note today include Raymond vs. Rodionova, Bovina vs. Asagoe, O'Donoghue vs. Maleeva, Koulikovtskaya vs. Sharapova, Mikaelian vs. Osterloh, Morariu vs. Snyder, and Lee vs. Weingartner.

2003 SINGLES TITLE LEADERS (through June 9)
4--Andre Agassi (USA) Aussie Open, San Jose, TMS-Miami, Houston
4--Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL) Dubai, Charleston, Berlin, French Open
3--Kim Clijsters (BEL) Sydney, Indian Wells, Rome
3--Roger Federer (SUI) Marseille, Dubai, Munich
3--Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) TMS-Monte Carlo, Valencia, French Open
3--Serena Williams (USA) Aussie Open, Paris, Miami
2--Guillermo Coria (ARG) Vina del Mar, TMS-Hamburg
2--Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) Adelaide, Estoril
2--Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) Scottsdale, TMS-Indian Wells
2--Carlos Moya (ESP) Buenos Aires, Barcelona
2--Anastacia Myskina (RUS) Doha, Sarasota
2--Magui Serna (ESP) Estoril, Budapest
(39 players tied with one title)

2003 DOUBLES TEAM TITLE LEADERS (through June 9)
4--K.Clijsters/A.Sugiyama (BEL/JPN) Sydney, Antwerp, Scottsdale, French Open
4--M.Knowles/D.Nestor (BAH/CAN) Memphis, Acapulco, Houston, Hamburg
3--S.Kuznetsova/M.Navratilova (RUS/USA) Gold Coast, Dubai, Rome
2--W.Arthurs/P.Hanley (AUS) Rotterdam, TMS-Rome
2--M.Bhupathi/M.Mirnyi (IND/BLR) Estoril, TMS-Monte Carlo
2--B.Bryan/M.Bryan (USA) Barcelona, French Open
2--L.Huber/M.Maleeva (RSA/BUL) Miami, Warsaw
2--P.Mandula/P.Wartusch (HUN/AUT) Estoril, Bol
2--V.Ruano Pascual/P.Suarez (ESP/ARG) Charleston, Berlin
(41 teams tied with one title)

TOUR NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Anna Kournikova has pulled from this week in Birmingham and next week in Eastbourne with a chronic back injury: "I'm very disappointed, actually devastated, not to be able to play in Birmingham. Grass is my favorite surface and I love playing in England. So having to pull out because of my back is the last thing I wanted."...Venus Williams has committed to play Fed Cup for the U.S. against Italy, July 19-20 in Washington, D.C., with the rest of the team T.B.A...Goran Ivanisevic is still suffering from shoulder and elbow problems: "I'm not sure if I'm going to play at Wimbledon, but there's still time. It's like going to Rome and not seeing the Pope, it's frustrating to come to England and not go to Wimbledon. Maybe I can cut some grass, or paint some lines, or serve some strawberries."...Richard Krajicek likes the look of countryman Martin Verkerk: "I practiced with him in St. Poelten and he beat me pretty badly. It was 6-1, 6-2 or something like that, and I didn't play that badly. I told his coach that if he plays like that, he could be Top 30, Top 20. Now he's 15, so I couldn't have predicted that. If he improves his movement, he could play well on all surfaces and could become a Top 5 player."...Rainer Schuettler debuted in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings this week, the first sign of the apocalypse: "I really like to play on grass, it fits my game. It's better than on clay, I'm more confident on grass."; Houston, you have a problem...Only Serena, Venus and Lindsay, of the Top 15 players on the WTA Tour, will not be competing the week before Wimbledon.