Coria, Roddick, Moya, Clijsters Collect Titles

Argentina's Guillermo "The Wizard" Coria has become an unstoppable claycourt juggernaut since reaching the semifinals of the French Open, a little over a week ago crushing the competition in winning the Stuttgart title, then yesterday winning his second title in two weeks at Kitzbuhel. "I was surprised that the match went so fast," said El Mago, who rolled over unseeded Chilean Nicolas Massu 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 for his third title on the year. "Massu has played well all week. It was a tougher match than the results shows. The match was decided on a few points only. Massu made too many mistakes today, maybe he was rushing a little bit...I want to dedicate this victory to the people of Santa Fe suffering from the flooding a couple of months ago. I come from the same area and we have to fight together." In the doubles final, No. 2-seeded Czechs Martin Damm and Cyril Suk won their third title of 2003 (Doha, 's-Hertogenbosch) by defeating the unseeded Austrian wildcard team of Jurgen Melzer and Alexander Peya 6-4, 6-4.

At Indianapolis, Andy Roddick served his way to a 7-6(2), 6-4 win over Paradorn Srichaphan for his third title of the year. It was A-Rod's third tournament win in five events, and on his third different surface (St. Poelten (clay), Queen's (grass) and Indianapolis (hard)). "Andy was changing it up a little bit, coming into the net to try to end the point," said Srichaphan, who seemed to be bothered with a leg injury in the second set. "I was serving well -- only got broken one time but he took advantage of that." In the Indy doubles final, Croatian Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic and Israel's Andy Ram defeated Diego Ayala and Robby Ginepri 2-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 to win their first doubles titles in their first time playing together as a team.

In Umag, top-seeded Carlos Moya won his third title of 2003, and fourth career title in Umag, grinding out a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over No. 7-seeded Italian comer Filippo Volandri. "I never thought I was going to lose at any point, maybe that's why at 4-0 I relaxed a little bit and let him back in the match," said the former No. 1 Moya, who lost five straight games in the third set. "At 4-5 I was thinking, 'This is the first time in his career he's been serving for a championship,' so I was still confident and I think he made a few errors. It was a great match, he played well and I think we both played better than in our match at Roland Garros. If he can just improve his serve some he will be dangerous because he's so tough from the backcourt -- but he gets no free points on his serve." It was the first ATP final for Volandri, who moves into the Top 50 for the first time on the ATP Entry Rankings. In the all-unseeded doubles final, Lopez Moron/Nadal beat Perry/Shimada 6-1, 6-3, the first ATP title for The Prodigy.

No seeds in action on Day One at Washington or LA; seeds on court on the dirt in Sopot are Rosset vs. (4)Nalbandian, and (6)Sanchez vs. Norman (see weekly tournament previews).

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Jennifer Capriati tried but was denied in the Stanford final, as Kim Clijsters came back from a set down to beat the American 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, and end her effort for a first title since the 2002 Australian Open. Jen Jen finished the match with a characteristic double fault to give the top waffle her fifth title of the year, closing the gap on No. 1 Serena. "I get the feeling of how it would be to play myself when I play her," Capriati said, running out of gas in the match par usual. "I got a little more tired at the end than she did." Capriati has shown a penchant for losing the tight ones in 2003, with 11 of her 12 losses coming in three-set matches, and with an ailing shoulder in the Sunday final contributing to the loss. In the doubles final, (1)Black/Raymond beat Cho/Schiavone, with both teams playing together for the first time.

On court today in Sopot are Nagyova vs. Pistolesi, Talaja vs. Domachowska, Safina vs. Sakowicz, Benesova vs. Sprem, Kurhajcova vs. Medina Garrigues, Chladkova vs. Cohen-Aloro, and An.Serra Zanetti vs. Barna. On court in San Diego today of note are Grande vs. Daniilidou, Serna vs. Granville, Pierce vs. Razzano, Molik vs. Haynes, and Sanchez Lorenzo vs. Frazier.

THE NEXT RUSSIAN SEX SYMBOL?
Great stuff from the Russian newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, which conducted a poll among staffers as to the next Russian sex symbol. Note the entertaining Euro-English:
"Anastasia Myskina is the number one. The stance on the court, the left cross and all movements in the play that the girl in a short black skirt does are touching for every man. Even outside the tennis court Anastasia is extremely gracious and has wonderful taste for clothes.
Maria Sharapova is the candidate number two. The 16-year-old girl is also called "the thunder of Wimbledon" and "the Russian grass Queen". She is a charming girl, even her screaming while serving the ball is fascinating. In a couple of years Maria will become the most charming athlete in the world.
Elena Dementieva is the number three. Two or three years ago the girl might have laid claims to the first position in the rating. However, time goes by and the life changes. Still, now the girl is very attractive and sexual, especially that she knows now how to emphasize it. Nice slender legs are very important for every girl, but for tennis players particularly. Outside the tennis court the blond is really charming and amazing as well.
Lina Krasnoroutskaya is the number four in the rating. Although the girl is not yet 18, she is already called a vamp woman which is incredibly attractive and scary at the same time. Lina is sweet and tender in everyday life, but she turns into an Amazon woman when she steps the tennis court. Her passion in the game enwraps and inspires the audience to become her fans. It is difficult to predict so far, but the girl can get everything she is dreaming of.
Vera Zvonareva goes fifth. This is last but not least position in the rating. The winner of the last Roland Garros is a smiling 19-year-old blond who draws men's attention immediately. Everywhere, on the tennis court and in everyday life she is unbelievably natural. Vera's movements in the game remind of graceful gestures of a panther."

NCAA WINNERS AT ATP WASHINGTON
There are five former NCAA collegiate singles champions in the field and two of them play each other in the first round at Washington. Reigning champion Amer Delic of the University of Illinois takes on Bob Bryan, who won the title in 1998 while at Stanford University. The 6-foot-5 Delic made his ATP debut last week in Indianapolis and lost in the second round to eventual finalist Paradorn Srichaphan in three sets (after holding two match points). Bryan is coming off a career-best semifinal result in singles in Newport earlier this month. The other NCAA winners in the tournament are Sargis Sargsian (1995, Arizona State), Jeff Morrison (1999, Florida) and Alex Kim (2000, Stanford).

2003 ATP CLAYCOURT LEADERS
1. Carlos Moya 35-9
2. Guillermo Coria 33-5
3. Gaston Gaudio 33-13
4. Juan Carlos Ferrero 30-3
5. Agustin Calleri 24-9

ATP THROWS ULIHRACH A BONE SO HE WON'T SUE
Bohdan Ulihrach has been given an entry protection of No. 79 in singles and No. 1051 in doubles by the ATP. This entry protection will last until July 12, 2004 (one year after his first match in the qualifying competition in Amersfoort) or until he has entered and played 15 tournaments using his entry protection, whichever comes first. His entry protection was calculated as a normal entry protection would be for an injured player who is out for a minimum of six months. That is, the average of his ranking the first 13 weeks after his last tournament (Paris qualies on October 28, 2002 - January 20, 2003). However, Ulihrach's entry protection will last 15 tournaments instead of the normal eight, and 12 months instead of the normal nine, whichever comes first. Way to keep it out of court.

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Tim Henman will try and shrug off the injuries and low-wattage efforts that have dogged him over the past months during this week in Washington: "I've been working hard on my fitness, which is vital, as the hot and humid conditions can be brutal and my shoulder felt absolutely fine throughout the summer so that's no longer a concern. I need to keep getting the balance right between consistency and aggression with my game plan, and I want to try and get a few wins behind me to keep building up my confidence and then I'll be in good shape for a run at the Open."...Guillermo "El Mago" Coria has won 10 consecutive matches, and 22 straight sets...Nicolas Massu is 10-1 in his last 11 matches...Brad Gilbert thinks Andy Roddick can eventually hit a 160 m.p.h. serve? Way to promote that arm injury Brad...Interesting to watch Andy Roddick's Gilbert-inspired crazy net rushes, some effective, some of which should be re-run on Comedy Central...Thomas Blake, who played the qualifying in Washington this past weekend, is amused when fans approach him thinking he is brother James Blake: "I try to tell them that I'm not him, but they sometimes don't believe me. They don't know he has a brother."...Check out this week's Tennis-X tournament previews to see who won and lost in the ATP's calendar shake-up...Andy Roddick got a little testy with Bud Collins on NBC when asked if he and actress Mandy Moore are an "item": "Are you and your wife still together Bud?" Andy must be reading Brad Gilbert's book, "How to Appear as a Surly Jerk to the Media"...Andy Roddick is 15-1 since teaming with coach Brad Gilbert, and has won 20 of his last 22 matches, but stays at No. 5 on the ATP Champions Race after the Indy win...An American has won in Washington seven of the last eight years...How the hell does washed-up American Michael Joyce, who is 0-3 at the Challenger level this year and hasn't played a tour event, get a wildcard into LA? We have people on staff who can beat Michael Joyce...Giovanni "Nico's Little Bro" Lapentti won the Campos do Jordao Challenger last week, beating Gouichi Motomura in the final; Martin Verkerk won the Hilversum Challenger, beating countryman John van Lottum in the final...In LA tonight, it's the popular "Night at the Net", which will feature Lleyton Hewitt, Gustavo Kuerten, Tom Arnold, Dr. Phil McGraw and a host of others. The charity event in this its 12th year benefits the MusicCares Foundation.