Hewitt Bounced at Cincy, Federer Saves 7 Match Points, No. 1 Clijsters in Action at Toronto

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
The top Aussies were sent home Tuesday at the TMS-Cincinnati as Lleyton Hewitt's summer slump was extended by Xavier "Jen's Ex" Malisse, who took advantage of some horrible serving and forehands by the former No. 1, and then Mark Philippoussis was stunned in three sets by American "B"-teamer Mardy Fish. "I just didn't feel great out there today," said Hewitt, who made over 40 unforced errors in two sets. "Don't really know why. I felt even in the first set, didn't feel like I played great tennis...I haven't played that much tennis. I had a good week in LA and made the final, had a couple doubles matches, then only two matches last week. It would've probably been nice to get a few more matches under my belt, but I won't be playing next week." Sounds good heading into the Open Lleyton, if you take the red eye to Toronto you could probably catch some pointers from Kim, learn how to win again. No. 3-seeded Roger Federer pulled a magician's trick against Aussie qualifier Scott Draper, saving seven match points to win 7-6 in the third. "As John Newcombe would say, I kept asking the questions, and he just came up with the goods," said Draper, who led 6-2 in the final tiebreak, but didn't yell "Answer the question!" across the net, which probably would have helped. "From 6-2 in the breaker, I felt like I played good points. I mean, the topspin lob (match point down from Federer) was amazing. I played a good match. He's a Wimbledon champion. I threw the kitchen sink at him, and I didn't win, so...I can hold my head high, though." Throw in qualifier Wayne "I Need to Retire" Arthurs losing 6-0, 6-4 to David Nalbandian, and the Aussies were 0-4 on the day. Other seeds shown the door were (9)Srichaphan (l. to F.Lopez 7-6 in the third), (10)Grosjean (l. to (Q)Moodie in three), and (14)Kuerten (l. to Zabaleta, bagel in the second). Other seeds advancing were (8)Schuettler (d. (Q)Koubek), (2)Ferrero (d. Davydenko), and (7)Roddick (d. (Q)Verdasco). Other un-seeds of note were former No. 1 Yevgeny "Extended Vacation" Kafelnikov advancing (d. Gambill), Younes El Aynaoui edging Vince Spadea, and Max "The Beast" Mirnyi outlasting Alex "Retirement is Near" Corretja 7-6 in the third.

Matches of note today at the TMS-Cincy are Gaudio vs. (2)Ferrero (JC leads the head-to-head 4-3), (11)Schalken vs. Blake (first meeting), Ljubicic vs. (7)Roddick (A-Rod leads 2-1), Malisse vs. Fish (first meeting), Kafelnikov vs. (6)Coria (first meeting), (WC)T.Martin vs. F.Lopez (first meeting), Nalbandian vs. (3)Federer (Nalbandian leads 3-0, this one a humper for Club Fed), Clement vs. Rusedski (Frenchman has won the last four meetings), (Q)Okun vs. Ginepri, (WC)Enqvist vs. Mirnyi (Tommy E. leads 1-0), (8)Schuettler vs. Nieminen in a Euro-snoozer, and (13)Gonzalez vs. Chela.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
No. 6 seed Magdalena "Call Me Maggie" Maleeva was the highest-seeded casualty Tuesday in Toronto, ousted by Magui "Don't Call Me Maggie" Serna in three sets. She was joined on the early flight by discount seeds (13)Daniilidou (l. to Krasnoroutskaya after winning the first set 6-0), and (16)Kuznetsova (l. to Suarez). Seeds advancing were (7)Coetzer (d. (Q)Obata), (8)Dokic (d. (Q)Widjaja for a rare win), (12)Bovina (d. Sanchez Lorenzo), (14)Petrova (d. Weingartner 6-0, 6-0), and (15)Dechy (d. Tanasugarn, coming back from a set down). Dokic is working hard in Toronto in talking herself into the winner's circle. "I've played very well the last few years; I've just kept on going up," the 20-year-old said after advancing into the third round. "And you get a year where you don't play so well, and this is normal. I just have to keep on working hard and try to get some wins. I think I'm playing better the last few months than I did at the beginning." Among the un-seeds, Aussie Nicole Pratt beat local wildcard Beier "Me" Ko, wildcard Mary Pierce advanced with a win over qualifier Maria Vento-Kabchi, qualifier Mashona "Mal's Little Sis" Washington outlasted local wildcard Marie-Eve Pelletier in three, and Elena Likhovtseva won the battle of the young hot Russians over Maria "Orgasmo" Sharapova in straight sets.

On court today in Toronto are Hantuchova vs. Craybas, Bartoli vs. Henin-Hardenne, Likhovtseva vs. Mauresmo, the No. 1-ranked Clijsters vs. Schiavone, Dechy vs. Zuluaga, Myskina vs. Pratt, Pierce vs. Suarez, Zvonareva vs. Washington, Black vs. Bovina, Husarova vs. Dementieva, Petrova vs. Ruano Pascual, Razzano vs. Krasnoroutskaya, and Srebotnik vs. Loit.

2003 SINGLES TITLE LEADERS (through Aug. 10)
6--Kim Clijsters (BEL)
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5--Guillermo Coria (ARG)
5--Roger Federer (SUI)
5--Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL)
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4--Andre Agassi (USA)
4--Andy Roddick (USA)
4--Serena Williams (USA)
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3--Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)
3--Carlos Moya (ESP)

2003 DOUBLES TEAM TITLE LEADERS (through Aug. 10)
6--K.Clijsters/A.Sugiyama (BEL/JPN)
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5--M.Knowles/D.Nestor (BAH/CAN)
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3--M.Bhupathi/M.Mirnyi (IND/BLR)
3--B.Bryan/M.Bryan (USA)
3--S.Kuznetsova/M.Navratilova (RUS/USA)

ATP TOP 10 WINNING PERCENTAGE (UPDATED)
Andy Roddick climbs and Lleyton Hewitt falls in the Top 10 winning percentages on tour, with all players competing at Cincinnati (minimum 25 matches, through results Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2003):

# Player W-L Pct. (Cincy result)
1. Agassi, Andre (USA) 39-7 .848 (not playing)
2. Federer, Roger (SUI) 58-11 .841 (d. (Q)Draper)
3. Ferrero, Juan Carlos (ESP) 50-11 .820 (d. Davydenko)
4. Coria, Guillermo (ARG) 48-12 .800 (d. Henman)
5. Roddick, Andy (USA) 50-13 .794 (d. (Q)Verdasco)
6. Hewitt, Lleyton (AUS) 30-9 .769 (l. to Malisse)
7. Moya, Carlos (ESP) 44-16 .733 (l. to Santoro)
8. Schuettler, Rainer (GER) 43-21 .672 (d. (Q)Koubek)
9. Philippoussis, Mark (AUS) 28-14 .667 (l. to Fish)
10. Grosjean, Sebastien (FRA) 28-15 .651 (l. to (Q)Moodie)

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Former US Open runner-up Michael Chang hasn't made it past the second round in the last five US Opens: "It's a little bittersweet, but I'm excited about playing the Open. I started my career there as an amateur in 1987. It's a pretty fitting place to finish up." We think you finished up a couple years ago...New No. 1 Kim Clijsters leads all men and women with six singles titles (SF or better in all tournaments this year), and all men and women with six doubles titles (w/Sugiyama)...Prize money at ATP events decreased 10 percent over the past three years, while this year the US Open increased its prize money 6.2 percent to a record $17.07 million, the largest purse of ANY annual sporting event, with the singles champions each receiving $1 million (no wonder Andre took this week off, baby needs a new pair of booties)...Tuesday, for the second year in a row, James Blake met with 15 children from the Inner City Youth Opportunity program in Cincy to talk with them about tennis: "It's just knowing they have plenty of options, that they can do whatever they want," Blake told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "If they see someone like me being successful in tennis, it gives them another option, it doesn't mean they can only look up to Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan." Look up to Kobe? You been watching the news James? Try and keep up...Reportedly Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova is looking better this week in Toronto after hitting the Wendy's drive-thru and working on the diet aspect with her coach: "I have burned off more calories than I have taken in," Hantuchova said. "I have to eat a bit more. I love anything that my mom makes." Well mom's not on tour, so hit the triple cheeseburger...Former No. 1 Thomas Muster beat Henri Leconte 6-3, 6-4 Tuesday in the opening match of the CA Challenge, an ATP Seniors Tour event, further fueling a possible return to the regular tour. "If things go well, I can imagine playing some matches on the ATP Tour again," the 35-year-old Muster told the AP. Muster played his last ATP match in 1999, and is apparently bored after getting a divorce...Since June, Roger Federer has won 20 of his past 22 matches...Andy Roddick is 25-2 since June and it seems he may never lose again....Xavier Malisse on why he usually doesn't win against the big boys: "You just go out there, you don't expect to win; you want to win; you feel like you can win. But still, it's Top 10 on the other side of the net." You need a sports psychologist kid...Remember Ivo Karlovic, who upset defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in the first round at Wimbledon? The 6-foot-10, No. 121-ranked Dr. Ivo is playing the Bronx Challenger this week, and will have to play the qualies at the US Open...The Associated Press' Howard Fendrich is another "tennis writer" who says that Serena's 11 tournament's over the last 52 weeks should be enough to keep her at No. 1. So now we're advocating the top players playing less than once a month? Idiots...David Nalbandian confirmed to SportsTicker on Tuesday that his parents, who reside in his hometown of Cordoba, have received kidnapping threats, with Argentine sports celebrities and their relatives increasingly becoming targets for kidnapping in their crap-bucket economy...On the mental strength chart you've got to give Roger Federer a '10' in his win over Scott Draper, fighting off seven match points, with Lleyton Hewitt coming in somewhere around a '2,' not a good look going into the US Open and trying to barely qualify for the year-end Masters Cup, a title he has won two years running.