Krajicek Retires, Davenport Plays Like She Wants to Retire at Eastbourne



Posted on June 20, 2003

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
Wednesday was a Dutch treat in 's-Hertogenbosch, with all three Dutchmen in action advancing into the quarterfinals. No. 3 seed and defending champion Sjeng Schalken was the first to send a message, crushing Christophe Rochus 6-0, 6-0, followed by "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter ousting No. 2 seed Paradorn "I Can Only Play on Hardcourt" Srichaphan, and John van Lottum ending the day with a win over (Q)Cermak. Schalken's win was the first double bagel since Jerome Golmard defeated Japanese wildcard Joji Miyao in Tokyo last fall. "The match was of course not 6-0, 6-0," said the philosophical Schalken, who needs to take another look at the score. "We had four or five really tight games and they all went to me. I know how Christophe must feel, he must feel very small. I had that feeling a couple of times in my career so I know how it is." On the grass today are Dutch wildcard Van Scheppingen vs. (7)Clement, Vacek vs. (5)Grosjean, (1)Novak vs. Mutis, and Lars "No Longer on the Tennis-X Bottom 10" Burgsmuller vs. Vicente.
The Brits posted a 1-2 record in Nottingham Wednesday, with unseeded Greg Rusedski easing by Olivier "My Brother Got Housed in 's-Hertogenbosch" Rochus, wildcard Arvind Parmar losing to defending champion Jonas Bjorkman, and the youngster Bogdanovic falling to Voltchkov. The only seed to advance was (8)Dent (d. (Q)Zimonjic), while the upset victims were 6)Mirnyi (l. to Arazi) and (1)El Aynaoui (l. to 2002 runner-up Arthurs). On the lawns today are Arthurs vs. (Q)Arazi, Rusedski vs. Voltchkov, (7)Dent vs. Bjorkman, and (8)Fish vs. Popp.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
No. 3 seed Amelie Mauresmo got licked by the lawns Wednesday in 's-Hertogenbosch, the only seed tripped up in a loss to lucky loser Barbara Rittner. Seeds advancing were (1)Clijsters (d. Black), (2)Henin-Hardenne (d. Sanchez Lorenzo),(4)Dementieva (d. Callens), (5)Petrova (d.Cohen-Aloro 6-0 in the third), and (6)Tulyaganova (d. Barna), advancing toward another all-Belgian final. On court today in QF play are Clijsters vs. Pisnik (tied 1-1, with Pisnik winning her last year), Cervanova vs. Henin-Hardenne (first meeting), Petrova vs. Dementieva (Petrova leads 4-1), and Rittner vs. Tulyaganova (tied 1-1).
Only one upset at Eastbourne Wednesday, with top-seeded Lindsey Davenport barely feigning interest in a third set tiebreak loss to claycourter Silvia Farina Elia on the grass. "It's been a struggle to get motivated," said Davenport, who pulled out of the French with a toe injury, and may be looking to settle down into domestic tranquility after getting married last month. "But that was a pretty poor showing...It's the grand slams that excite me. Hopefully (Wimbledon) will inspire me." Seeds advancing were (2)Rubin (d. Tanasugarn), (3)Capriati (d. (Q)Amy "Down Went" Frazier), (4)Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova (d. Alexandra "Dr. A" Stevenson), and (8)Maleeva (d. Likhovtseva). Today's QF matches include Hantuchova vs. Martinez (Martinez leads 2-1), Dechy vs. Capriati (JenCap leads 3-0), Pistolesi vs. Rubin (Rubin leads 4-2), Farina Elia vs. Maleeva (Maleeva will move back into the Top 10 for the first time since 1996 if she wins), and some interesting doubles in Molik/Navratilova vs. Bovina/Dechy, Likhovtseva/Sugiyama vs. Capriati/Serna, and Molik/Navratilova vs. Davenport/Raymond.

WIMBLEDON MEN'S QUALIFYING LOSERS
Seeds outed in the first round of men's qualifying at Wimbledon were (22)Varlet (l. to Economidis), (2)Vliegen (l. to Guzman), (29)Charpentier (l. to Pescosolido), (17)Stoliarov (l. to Brit wildcard Lewis), (5)Thomann (l. to Luxa), (21)George "I Beat Pete Last Year" Bastl (l. to Hajek), (27)Gamonal (l. to Niemeyer), (24)Taino (l. to Simoni), (11)Mirandi (l. to Tabara), (12)Luczak (l. to Mahut), (31)Goldstein (l. to Levy), (32)Kutsenko (l. to Ram), (15)Knowle (l. to Salzenstein), and (28)A.Kim (l. to Azzaro).

TOUR NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
After losing in the second round of the French Open, Jelena Dokic parted with former coach Heinz Gunthardt, taking on unknown Croatian Barna Bikic, a friend and occasional hitting partner. She says her estrangement from her father is not affecting her tennis: "I've dealt with off-court problems before and I don't think this is affecting my game. Hopefully I'll feel better at Wimbledon next week and I'll get myself together. At the moment, I'd take what I can get. I would be happy just to win a few rounds." That's loser talk Jelena, you need a real coach, contact www.tennis-x.com...Lleyton Hewitt has filed in the Australian Supreme Court against the ATP regarding his fine from last year at Cincinnati...More signs the ATP is circling the drain: getting sued by No. 2 Hewitt, no year-end prize pool for top players, so no way to fine players for skipping Tennis Masters Series events, IMTA alternative men's anti-ATP union with plenty of signees, ESPN announcing they will no longer broadcast European TMS events in the states, and the year-end ATP Doubles Masters cancelled last year (anyone notice?)...Will the ATP and its players boycott the US Open in September as a result of the slams' refusal to kick in more money to their player fund?...Former No. 1 Thomas Muster had an 0-4 career record at Wimbledon (back when the grass didn't play like a hardcourt)...If you're in Nottingham today, check out Court 1 around noon for top seeds and French Open champions Bryan/Bryan vs. wackjobs Spadea/Tarango...Alex Corretja may not show up for his first round clash with Tim Henman at Wimbledon after becoming a father early this morning with the birth of his daughter Aroa; he caught the first flight back to Barcelona, his agent said...Richard Krajicek, who pulled out of Wimbledon earlier this week with a recurring elbow injury, today announced his retirement from tennis...The U.S. Open increased prize money for this year's event to $17 million, The New York Times reported Thursday, nearly $1 million more than last year's tournament; the men's and women's singles winners will earn $1 million each for the first time.