Two Americans in Newport Semis; Federer Walks Into Gstaad Semis; Palermo Still a Mess

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
Only three of the four quarterfinals were played Friday due to rain in Bastad, with (1)Moya (d. Bjorkman), (5)Mariano "I'm a New Ball Again!" Zabaleta (d. (4)Youzhny), and (6)Lapentti (d. Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal 7-6 in the third, saving five -- count them, five (5) -- match points) advancing, with (2)Robredo vs. Volandri to be played on Saturday. "I'm not too disappointed," said the 17-year-old Prodigy, who like the young Pete Sampras has yet to realize he needs to be pissed off when losing matches he should have won. "I've beaten some very good players," Nadal said. "I'm still young and I'm still learning. But I'm not sure what I learned from today's match, though." We'll tell you what to learn son, learn how to WIN when you have five match points. You'd benefit from the Tennis-X coaching philosophy, which involves one smack on the side of the head for each match point you blow. In Gstaad, things just keep getting better for top-seeded Roger Federer -- first that Wimbledon thing, and yesterday a walkover into the semis at Gstaad when opponent David Sanchez pulled with a leg injury. Joining Fed in the semis were (3)Novak (d. (5)Chela), (4)Gaudio (d. Koubek), and (8)Stepanek (d. (2)Rainer "I'm Still Going to Houston" Schuettler). It is the second straight Gstaad semi for Stepanek, who now faces good friend and countryman (1)Novak. "I feel very good that I have defended the semifinals here," said the talkative Stepanek. "Today it was working perfectly and I was serving big. I beat a Top 10 player today (Schuettler) and I feel very confident. I knew Rainer would fight for every point. Tomorrow will be a special match against Jiri and we'll see who will win. He's so solid. We spend a lot of time together. Gstaad is a great place. It's one of the nicest tournaments on the tour." You're happy, you're in the semis, we get it. One of the not-so-nicest places to be on Friday was in Newport, where between five hours of rain delays, the unhappy quarterfinalists eventually got their matches in with no lack of grumbling. Sorry fellas, since most of you are barely ranked within the Top 100, we'll get that domed grasscourt built right away. Wildcard Bob Bryan was already in the semis with a match played Thursday, and he was joined Friday by (4)Ginepri (d. Miranda), (8)Melzer (d. Salzenstein, fought off a set point), and Carraz (d. (7)Gimelstob 7-6 in the third, after previously downing the top-seeded Blake). "If I have to be honest, they (the playing conditions) were poor," Melzer said of the slick grass. "I'm glad I won it and I'm not injured." The highlight for fans was the giant hairdryers brought out to blow the grass dry between the misting rain. At least that was our highlight. "Hey, set it to 'super curl'."

The Saturday semifinals in Bastad are Volandri or (2)Robredo (tied at 1-1 in the first) to play (6)Lapentti, and (1)Moya vs. (5)Zabaleta (Moya leads the head-to-head 3-0). The lucky Lapentti, whose season thus far has been in the toilet, will face either the spent Robredo or Volandri in a first-time match-up. The Gstaad semis are (3)Novak vs. (8)Stepanek in an all-Czech confrontation (Stepanek leads 1-0), and (1)Federer vs. (4)Gaudio in an interesting first-time meeting. In Newport, if it ever stops raining, the semis will be (WC)B.Bryan vs. (8)Melzer, and (4)Ginepri vs. the unseeded giant-killer Carraz.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Hey, at least someone in the Safin family is realizing their potential. In quarterfinal action at Palermo Friday, (9)Dinara "Baby Sis" Safina ousted local favorite (3)Schiavone in quick fashion. It is the first semi of the year for Safina, who last year as a 16-year-old won the highly-coveted Sopot (Poland) title. Joining her in the semis are the unseeded Cervanova (d. Nagyova in three), (4)Srebotnik (d. Fedak in three), and the unseeded Medina Garrigues (d. (8)Razzano in a third set breaker). The semis on Saturday will see (9)Safina vs. the unseeded Cervanova, and (4)Srebotnik vs. the unseeded defending champion Medina Garrigues. Entry to the tournament site will be free on Saturday to any fans that can guess the first names of any of the semifinalists.

TOUR NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Next week's ATP Amersfoort (Netherlands) draw was released Friday (what's the hurry?), and to give you an idea of the quality of field (and perhaps an argument for less events at the tour level), the top seed is Martin Verkerk (yikes)...28-year-old Bohdan Ulihrach, who should be hunkering down with his lawyers to sue the ATP for their shirts, returns to the tour this week after his (alleged) drug suspension to play the qualifying at Amersfoort...Yesterday the Associated Press wrote that Cyril Saulnier beat Bob Bryan at Newport -- stone!...ATP Trouble Update: Dealing illegal substances to its own players, bad marketing deals, unsuccessfully begging the slams for more money, being sued by Lleyton Hewitt, reportedly having ATP tournament directors asking the slam committee to start a competing tour, likely to be sued by Bohdan Ulihrach, threatening a potential slam boycott, players joining anti-ATP unions, CEO Mark Miles pissing off the ITF and the management companies, and players getting pressure from all sides, including their own clothing companies, to stop a boycott...With Wayne Black off on his honeymoon this weekend, Israel jumped out to a 2-0 lead Friday in their Davis Cup Euro/African Zone Group One match -- nice priority Wayne!...To placate the small army of media photographers and camera crews when Roger Federer received a walkover in his match Friday in Gstaad, organizers put on a 20-minute exhibition game for Federer with up-and-coming countryman Michael "The Slammer" Lammer...Lleyton Hewitt's drop from 2 to No. 5 on the ATP Rankings is only the beginning as the two-time year-end No. 1 has a lot of work to do to even qualify for the year-ending ATP Masters-Houston, featuring the Top 8 players.