US Open Begins With Thin Day One Schedule and Sampras Retirement; Srichaphan Wins Long Island

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
Paradorn Srichaphan won his first career ATP title last year at Long Island, and Sunday successfully defended said title with a 6-2, 6-4 win over unseeded James Blake. The win was a big shot in the arm for the Thai who has struggled compared to his 2002 break-out year, and a boost for Blake who has seen his career moving in the opposite direction than that of "Next Generation" countrymen Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish and James Blake. "My plan was to hold my serve throughout the match and then be able to break him just once," said Srichaphan, who won his second title in three finals in 2003. "If I could do that, that's all I would need to win the match. I wanted to finish him off so bad that he was able to break me at 5-3. But I was able to win the next four points to close it out." Blake was appearing in his first final of the year. "I never felt comfortable out there today," said the man struggling to hold on to his No. 2 spot on the U.S. Davis Cup squad. "It was a bit windy and I didn't really move my feet at the beginning. I thought I might have a chance to get back in there in the second set. I know it's hard to serve it out." In the doubles final, Robbie Koenig and Martin Rodriguez, teaming for the first time, beat No. 3 seeds Martin Damm and Cyril Suk 6-3, 7-6(4).

Seeds on court today at the US Open are (24)Fish vs. J.Johansson, (6)Hewitt vs. Hanescu, (3)Ferrero vs. Vacek, (31)Clement vs. Vahaly, (16)Verkerk vs. Bogomolov, (9)Grosjean vs. Delgado, (5)Coria vs. Puerta, (17)Robredo vs. Verdasco, and (18)Mirnyi vs. Davydenko. That has got to be the ugliest men's opening day schedule in the Open Era.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
No WTA play on Sunday, as Jennifer Capriati won the Saturday New Haven final when Lindsay Davenport retired in the second set with a recurring foot injury. It was the first title for JenCap, who also received a retirement from Amelie Mauresmo in the semis, since the 2002 Australian Open.

Seeds on court Monday at the US Open are (8)Rubin vs. Vento-Kabachi, (3)Davenport vs. Callens, (1)Clijsters vs. Liu, (9)Hantuchova vs. Bartoli, (5)Mauresmo vs. Widjaja, (24)Suarez vs. Roesch, (18)Schnyder vs. Bielik, (26)Krasnoroutskaya vs. Barna, (17)Shaughnessy vs. Sprem, (25)Daniilidou vs. Casanova, (28)Raymond vs. Poutchek, (13)Zvonareva vs. Kurhajcova, (19)Petrova vs. Castano, (12)Martinez vs. Taylor, (14)Coetzer vs. Lastra, and (27)Kuznetsova vs. Pennetta.

2003 SINGLES TITLE LEADERS (through Aug. 24)
6--Kim Clijsters (BEL)
6--Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL)
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5--Roger Federer (SUI)
5--Andy Roddick (USA)
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4--Andre Agassi (USA)
4--Guillermo Coria (ARG)
4--Serena Williams (USA)
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3--Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)
3--Carlos Moya (ESP)

2003 DOUBLES TEAM TITLE LEADERS (through Aug. 24)
6--K.Clijsters/A.Sugiyama (BEL/JPN)
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5--M.Knowles/D.Nestor (BAH/CAN)
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4--B.Bryan/M.Bryan (USA)
4--S.Kuznetsova/M.Navratilova (RUS/USA)

TOP 10 US OPEN MEN'S WIN PERCENTAGE LEADERS (ACTIVE PLAYERS)
Lleyton Hewitt holds the best winning percentage at the US Open among active players, followed by Marat Safin and two-time winner Andre Agassi (minimum 10 matches, through 2002):

1. Hewitt, Lleyton (AUS) 19-3 .864
2. Safin, Marat (RUS) 17-4 .810
3. Agassi, Andre (USA) 62-15 .805
4. Kafelnikov, Yevgeny (RUS) 22-8 .733
5. Chang, Michael (USA) 43-16 .729
6T. Federer, Roger (SUI) 8-3 .727
6T. Roddick, Andy (USA) 8-3 .727
8. Clement, Arnaud (FRA) 13-5 .722
9. Johansson, Thomas (SWE) 12-5 .706
10T.Kuerten, Gustavo (BRA) 14-6 .700
10T.Philippoussis, Mark (AUS) 14-6 .700

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Pete Sampras will formally announce his retirement tonight at 6 p.m.; Pete completes his 15-year career with 762 victories and 64 titles (No. 4 on the all-time list), including a record 14 slams (two ahead of Roy Emerson) and 11 Tennis Masters Series. The 32-year-old American finished No. 1 in the world a record six years in a row (1993-98, one year total ahead of Jimmy Connors) and also holds the record for the most weeks at No. 1 with 286 (16 weeks ahead of Ivan Lendl).....Lindsay Davenport skipped her scheduled Sunday practice with the bad foot, but still intends to play today; Davenport says she will have surgery following the tournament...Leander Paes is suffering from a parasite, hospital officials and his family said Sunday in Orlando, Fla., according to the AP. Tests found that Paes has neurocysticercosis (a tapeworm -- not cancer, not a tumor) -- got to watch that Indian food...Belgian soon-to-be-No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne seems to be getting a little testy with all the talk about the Serena and Venus-less US Open: "Women's tennis is not only about Venus and Serena. You have other players behind them. It's very important to accept that." Why?...Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt are the only men's past champions in the field this year...Each of the past seven slams has been won by a different man, the second-longest streak in the Open Era (since 1968)...The mild-mannered Roger Federer is ramping it up with the Open about to begin: "You have always got to fix new goals after a big title. I have been very close to No. 1. I'm No. 2 now so my next goal is No. 1 and to win more titles." Nice to see you awake...Jim Courier will still fulfill his broadcast duties in the USA Network booth, despite a broken left arm suffered in a golf cart accident, as he told the Florida Sun-Sentinel: "There was a ditch on the golf course that I didn't know about. I'd never played that course before. It was one of those lucky/unlucky things. Unlucky that I got hurt. Lucky that my friend was completely uninjured. No blood at all. I was trapped under the cart, but he got me out real quick."...Petr Korda is at the Open coaching fellow Czech Radek Stepanek, and he's got a new hair do -- no more spikes...Can NCAA champ Amer Delic beat Sargis Sargsian, the man who ousted Andy Roddick in the first round of the French Open, in his opening match?...Roger Federer is trying to become only the sixth man to win Wimbledon and the US Open back-to-back, the first since Pete Sampras in 1995...The US Open is truly "open" to Roger Federer: "I wouldn't see one guy who is the absolute favorite. I think there are three, four, five guys who really have the best chance. You have to come through the early rounds, see who is left in the quarters."...Notice that the Open put a fairly crappy schedule on today to keep the focus on the evening Pete retirement party?...16-year-old Russian Maria "Grunt-ilicious" Sharapova also designs her own tennis outfits, and says she is a big girl who looks at the entire draw: "When I look at the draw, it's not like I hide the second and third round. I know this is the US Open. It's not a Tier V (event) in Asia somewhere. It's not like I'm here playing with Barbie dolls." Simmer down Russian tennis Barbie, results first, then big-girl talk...It is mathematically possible for Justine Henin-Hardenne to take over No. 1 from Kim Clijsters at the US Open if H-H beats the highest-ranked players in her path (big bonus points) and Clijsters loses before the semis...The WTA Rankings still utilize bonus points, while the ATP Rankings made the mistake of dumping them a few years back, making a win over Andre Agassi and same as beating Justin Gimelstob...Doubles specialist Neville Godwin has announced his retirement, as has Fredrik Johnsson, they will be missed...Andy Roddick is well and away the ace leader on the ATP circuit, with 698, almost 150 ahead of No. 2 Mark Philippoussis...Italian Andrea Agazzi got a wildcard into the men's Manerbio Challenger last week (we kid you not).