Dokic Slide Continues in Bali; Top-seeded Davydenko, Defending Champion Ferrer Ousted in Bucharest

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
Never give up your secrets on the practice court. That was the moral of the story Tuesday at Bucharest, where the already-struggling event (simply by being in Bucharest) lost it's top seed Nikolay Davydenko when the Russian lost to 20-year-old countryman and qualifier Igor Andreev. "I think I played very good, I'm very happy," Andreev said. "I didn't think about winning, I just played my game and tried to do my best. He missed at some important points in the third set, maybe he wasn't fully concentrated. For the moment it's my biggest victory in my career, beating the No. 1 seed. It's my first win on the ATP circuit." In a slap to the other cheek, the event also lost its defending champion when No. 6 seed David Ferrer was tripped up in another all-countryman affair with Spaniard Galo "Ernest & Julio" Blanco. No. 7 seed Fernando Vicente (l. to C.Rochus) was another upset victim, with (2)Massu (d. Horna) the only seed advancing on the day. Romanians has a lot to cheer about with their countrymen going 3-1 on the day, with those advancing including Hanescu (d. (Q)Waske), (WC)Moldovan (d. Behrend), and (WC)Sabau (d. Ramirez Hidalgo). In Brazil Tuesday, no matches were completed due to rain.

Only four matches scheduled for Wednesday in Bucharest in (4)Sanchez vs. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, Al "The Dropshot Dragon" Portas vs. (5)Mathieu, and on the night tip (WC)Moldovan vs. (3)Sargsian, and (8)A.Martin vs. (WC)Sabau. Seeds in action at Brazil today are, due to rain, everyone in (8)Carlsen vs. (WC)Ferreiro, Daniel vs. (7)Saretta in an all-Brazilian match-up, the U.S. journeyman Taino vs. (4)Gonzalez, (1)Schuettler vs. Sa, (3)Kuerten vs. former No. 2 Norman (Guga leads head-to-head 6-4), (5)Spadea vs. the returning-from-injury Canas, Saulnier vs. (2)Schalken, and Larkman vs. (6)Chela.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Former Top 10 and tour oddity Jelena Dokic continued to play "How Low Can You Go?" in Bali Tuesday, bounced out in her opening round match by No. 100-ranked Tathiana Garbin. The Yugo-Aussie was serving at 5-4 in the first set when she realized she was actually winning a match, and in a panic pulled out the loser script, which read "Kick in three consecutive doubles faults ad lose your serve at love." Dokic lost the next three games then dropped off in the second for a 7-5, 6-3 tally and some extra days to enjoy the Bali resort. "I had big leads and I let them go," said Dokic, who leads 11-0 this year i nthe head-to-head when it comes to beating herself. "I beat myself more than she beat me. It's just up and down, on and off in the match. That's the problem." (7)Loit (l. to (Q)Abramovic) was the other upset victim, while (5)Tanasugarn pasted Aussie Nicole Pratt 6-0, 6-0, enjoy the pool and facilities. In an irony of struggle, Dokic this week is playing doubles with Ashley "Anna v.2.0" Harkleroad. Side note: Al-Jazeera reports that numerous young Saudis have disappeared in recent years to "join Islamist causes from Afghanistan to Chechnya, although many also go to tourist hotspots in Asia (aka Grand Hyatt in Bali) without informing their conservative Muslim families." Check out that cute terrorist by the pool! It was almost a year ago that a terrorist blast killed 202 people in Bali, may be wise to not leave the hotel.

On deck today in Bali are Parra vs. Martinez, Widjaja vs. Safina, Rubin vs. Sanchez Lorenzo, Schett vs. Obata, Neffa-de los Rios vs. Vento-Kabchi in a hyphenated tussle, Groenefeld vs. Dementieva, and Barna vs. Cho.

TENNIS-X US OPEN CHOKE TOP 5
1. Jennifer Capriati -- Serves twice for match in semis but can't close.
2. Kim Clijsters -- Serves at 5-4 in the final then collapses.
3. David Nalbandian -- Leads A-Rod two sets and 4-2 in the tiebreak and can't close.
4. USTA -- Sloppy and disorganized; tried to put an end to tradition of fans bringing food, nice greed.
5. JP Morgan Chase CEO -- Idiot calls Justine Henin-Hardenne "Christine" during trophy presentation.

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe announced Tuesday that Andy Roddick will lead the team that plays at Slovakia this month in the World Group playoff, joined by Mardy Fish, James Blake, Brian Vahaly and twins Bob and Mike Bryan. Whether Blake or Fish will play the No. 2 singles spot remains a mystery. The Slovakian team features Karol Kucera, Dominik Hrbaty, Karol Beck and Michal Mertinak, captained by Miloslav Mecir... Spain’s Virginia Ruano Pascual and Argentina’s Paola Suarez finally won their slam last week at the US Open after finishing runner-up at the Australian Open (l. to Williams sisters), French Open (l. to Clijsters/Sugiyama), and Wimbledon (l. to Clijsters/Sugiyama) this year...Justine Henin-Hardenne is No. 1 over Kim Clijsters in prize money and in the "Porsche Race to the Championships" standings, but not on the WTA Rankings, even though she has two slam wins this year to Clijsters' zero...Kim Clijsters remains a substantial 330 points ahead of Justine Henin-Hardenne on the WTA Rankings, nice system...Jennifer Capriati moved from 7 to No. 5 with her effort at the US Open -- that effort that should have included playing the final after serving for the match twice in the semis...12-year-old Jade Hopper, daughter of Gavin Hopper, is No. 1-ranked in Australia and just signed a contract with Fila...Former Aussie Davis Cup captain John Newcombe says Lleyton Hewitt's success is catching up to him: "Between 18 and 22 have been very tough years for him. He's had two years at No. 1, three Davis Cup finals. His body was just requiring a break."...Single-session seats for the Aussie-Swiss Davis Cup semifinal at Melbourne Park cost between $70-95, that's steep...Andy Roddick credits Brazilian trainer/masseur Cicero de Castro with putting more discipline into his off-court regime...Not accounting for taste, Andy Roddick's beer of choice is "any American lite beer"...SI's Jon Wertheim says Jennifer Capriati "handled herself with uncommon grace after her defeat in he semis," guess he didn't see that half-second limp-wrist handshake she offered H-H...Justin Gimelstob received $20,000 for losing in the first round of the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles at the Open, where do we sign up?