Top-Seeded Moya, Grosjean Ousted in Stuttgart; Dutch No Sucking in Amersfoort

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
It was a riotous day of dirt tennis in Stuttgart Wednesday, with three seeds shown the door, and five escaping defeat in three-set matches. Top-seeded Carlos Moya was the most surprising victim, losing to German homeboy Tomas Behrend in two tiebreaks. "I didn't play well," said Moya, not afraid to go to the I-didn't-play-well card. "He played very well and took his chances. I struggled to find my rhythm. I made a lot of easy mistakes, but I still had my chances. He deserved to win today. He played a great match." Moya was joined on the sidelines by (4)Grosjean (spanked by Volandri, the Frenchman making a BAD clay adjustment from Wimbledon) and (16)Ljubicic (l. to Ferrer). Grinding out three-set wins among the rain delays were (9)Robredo (d. Burgsmuller), (15)Corretja (d. O.Rochus, saving four match points), (6)Gonzalez (d. Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal), (12)Youzhny (d. Lapentti), and (11)Nieminen (d. A.Martin). Posting straight-set wins were (3)Schuettler (d. (WC)Abel) and (5)Novak (d. Sargsian).The Dutch, the Dutch, the Dutch are on fire...who gives a #$&@, let the mother#&$@*%% burn...something like that. Dutch wildcard Denis van Scheppingen brought the Amersfoort crowd to their feet Wednesday with a three-set win over claycourt veteran and No. 9 seed Franco Squillari, reaching his first ATP QF since '98, and breaking up an otherwise dull day in The Netherlands. (7)Massu (d. Andre "Tennis-X Bottom 10" Sa) was the only seeded player to advance, with unseeded Jurgen Melzer retiring against unseeded Albert Montanes with an unseeded left hamstring pull.

On court Thursday in Amersfoort are (3)Chela vs. Ramirez Hidalgo (first meeting), the Swiss Wawrinka vs. Dutchman (6)"Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter, Hipfl vs. Dutch homeboy van Lottum, and Verkerk-ouster Galimberti vs. Montanes. Seeds in action at Stuttgart today are Ferrer vs. (2)Coria (Ferrer leads the career head-to-head 1-0), Behrend vs. (13)Max "The Dirt Beast" Mirnyi, (15)Corretja vs. (3)Schuettler (Spaniard leads 1-0), (5)Novak vs. (12)Youzhny (Russian leads 3-2), Volandri vs. (14)Davydenko, (9)Robredo vs. (Q)Vanek, (11)Nieminen vs. (6)Gonzalez, and F.Lopez vs. (10)El Aynaoui (Lopez leads 2-1).

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
The Fed Cup quarterfinals begin Saturday, with the U.S. vs. Italy, Belgium vs. Slovak Republic, Slovenia vs. Russia, and Spain vs. France. There is also World Group Playoff action to see which countries get banished to the minor leagues for 2004, featuring Argentina vs. Hungary, Australia vs. Colombia, Austria vs. Canada, Croatia vs. Brazil, South Africa vs. Czech Republic, Indonesia vs. Germany, Japan vs. Sweden, and Switzerland vs. Israel.Fed Cup World Group Quarterfinal Match Preview:

RUSSIA AT SLOVENIA
Site: SRC Marina Portoroz, Portoroz, SLO
Surface: red clay (outdoor)
Ball Type: Dunlop Fort All Court

Slovenia is making the most of their debut year in the World Group, defeating Argentina in the first round and now with a big opportunity at home against a not-overpowering Russian team. Outspoken Russian captain Shamil "I Predict a Russian Will Win Wimbledon Next Year" Tarpischev decided to leave break-out player Maria "Orgasmo" Sharapova off the team, allowing the burgeoning teen a little more time in the oven, while going with the hot-and-cold Elena Dementieva and the wiry beauty Anastasia Myskina. Also in the fight for a Russian singles spot will be Vera "Warren" Zvonareva, and Elena Bovina. Slovenia will go with Katarina Srebotnik, who posted two wins over Argentina earlier this year, and probably Maja Matevzic or Tina Pisnik in the second singles, and Team Tina (Pisnik/Kriznan) in doubles. While Russia frequently toots it's own horn in the women's game, with a myriad of players in the Top 100, there aren't any deal breakers among the bunch. Russia gets the slight nod, but don't count out the cheering Slovenians to bring their girls through.

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Did you know that Yannick Noah's kid, Joakim Noah, is a star 6-foot-11 center on Long Island Panther's high school hoops team…The Andy and Mandy show was on Wednesday night. Mandy Moore was a guest on Dave Letterman, while beau Andy Roddick appeared on Conan O'Brien. Both shows were taped in New York City, where Andy will be busy over the next few days on a publicity tour before heading out on four straight weeks of tennis…Anna Kournikova was victorious in her World Team Tennis debut for the Kansas City Explorers Wednesday night. Anna won her mixed doubles (w/Rick Leach) and her women's doubles (w/Aniko Kapros) to help the Explorers to a 24-17 win over the Philadelphia Freedoms. Anna will play in Kansas City Friday night…In effort to lead Australia to a Davis Cup title, Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Philippoussis have agreed to play doubles together in Los Angeles and Cincinnati…Why is Andre Agassi hanging out as his pad in Racho Sante Fe, California? Because it's like a 115 degrees in Vegas…Agassi is also partnering with chef Michael Mina to open the restaurant Michael Mina in April 2004 in the lobby of the Westin St. Francis hotel in San Francisco. Agassi has other culinary interests, including being a recent investor at The Racket bar and restaurant in Vegas...The Brit's Lawn Tennis Association's (LTA) Director of Performance, David Felgate, announced the appointment of Swedish coach Martin Bohm to work with Britain's top prospects, and John McEnroe might also become involved in the LTA revival. "Martin has worked with Magnus Norman, Thomas Enqvist, Thomas Johansson, all of the top guys," the desperate Felgate told Reuters. "He is a top coach working with the Swedish Tennis Federation for many years. Martin is now coming to Britain to work with two of our players, Alex Bogdanovic and Martin Lee." The Brits sure as hell need someone, as seven of the nine Brits in last week's men's Bristol Challenger (on grass) lost in the first round...Last year the 22-year-old Luis Horna (who beat Roger Federer at Roland Garros, and is a quarterfinalist in Amersfoort this week) had his most successful year on the circuit and was the first Peruvian player to finish the season in the Top 100 since Jaime Yzaga in 1994...Martin Verkerk is out at least two weeks with a shoulder injury...Journeyman Lars Burgsmuller: "I'm playing in the U.S. the next two weeks, in Indianapolis and Washington and then I'll be back here (Germany) for the Bundesliga in August before the US Open." Still getting the club tennis in, nice...Top 10-ranked Rainer Schuettler: "I'm dreaming of participating in the Tennis Masters Cup." And we bet they've dreamed of having you there in Houston...Pete Sampras will play this weekend at the American Century Championship golf tournament in Lake Tahoe. Sampras will be joined by fellow No. 1 Ivan Lendl along with other stars like Michael Jordan, John Elway, Mark McGwire and Troy Aikman as they compete for $500,000. Radek Stepanek fans were again snubbed as the Czech star was left off the invitation list.