Gonzalez Booted in Brazil, Safina Bails in Bali, Clijsters Still Paper No. 1

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
26-year-old Romanian wildcard Razvan Sabau thrilled the locals by upsetting No. 8 seed and 1999 champion Alberto Martin 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 to advance to his career-first ATP level quarterfinal Wednesday in the featured night match in Bucharest -- that's about as good as it gets the week following the US Open, sorry. "It's a great victory for me and I had to fight a lot," said Sabau, who made his Bucharest debut as a 16-year-old after he won the Wimbledon junior title, apparently not a career-launching win. "I'm very happy to be able to keep up with a Top 50 player. I got very tired in the second set. I gave up the set at 0-3, I realized I was tired and I couldn't do anything." Never hesitate to bail and drop a 6-0 set, it only makes your opponent more pissed when you eventually win. The other three seeds in action advanced in (3)Sargsian (d. (WC)Moldovan), (4)Sanchez (d. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer), and (5)Mathieu (d. Albert "The Drop-Out Dragon" Portas), with the young Frenchman finally showing some spirit after struggling with injuries this year.

All eight seeds were in action Wednesday in Brazil to make up for the rain, with only one casualty in American journeyman Eric Taino serving past (4)Gonzalez on the hardcourts. Advancing were (1)Schuettler (d. Sa), (2)Schalken (d. Saulnier in three), (3)Kuerten (d. Norman), (5)Spadea (d. Canas), (6)Chela (d. Larkham 6-1 in the third), (7)Saretta (d. (WC)Daniel), and (8)Carlsen (d. (WC)Ferreiro 7-6 in the third). After Guga's match, the Brazilian had his whole family join him on court for his 27th birthday celebration, complete with a cake and the Portuguese version of Happy Birthday sung to him by the crowd. "It's always great to play at home, I won here last year and it's great to start with a win like this today," Guga said. "First match is always difficult and I thought it was a step in the right direction."

On court today on the dirt in Bucharest are (Q)Cermak vs. (2)Massu, C.Rochus vs. Hanescu, van Lottum vs. Blanco, and (Q)Andreev vs. Acasuso. Seeds on court in Brazil are (1)Schuettler vs. Goldstein, Ricardo "They Call Me" Mello vs. (6)Chela, Delgado vs. (7)Saretta, (3)Kuerten vs. Eschauer, Carraz vs. (2)Schalken, (5)Spadea vs. Gamonal, and (8)Carlsen vs. Moodie.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Russian teen (the new term for "hot," as in "Wow, that new dress is really Russian Teen") Dinara "Little Sis Of" Safina is among the most talented of the Robo-Russians being mass produced in 2003, but that didn't stop her from choking a bone Wednesday in Bali against Angelique Widjaja. The lanky Russian was serving at 5-3 in the third before losing the next four games in a symphony of unforced errors. "In the past I have often been up in the match, but then I lost. This time I thought I had lost, but I won," said Widjaja. Yeah, your opponent choked, it's not always all about you sweetie. The lone seeded upset on the day was No. 8 Yoon Jeong "I Can't Believe I'm Seeded" Cho losing in three to Anca Barna, while advancing were (1)Rubin (d. Sanchez Lorenzo), (2)Dementieva (d. Groenefeld), and (3)Martinez (d. (LL)Parra). Japan's Saori Obata, coming off the upset of Jelena Dokic, continued her run by pasting the hapless Barbara "I could give A" Schett 6-1, 6-1.

On court today in the terrorist haven of Bali are Vento-Kabchi vs. the stomach-ailing Martinez, Garbin vs. Widjaja, Tanasugarn vs. Zheng, and Abramovic vs. Gagliardi, a line-up unlikely to bring locals out of their bomb shelters.

2003 TENNIS-X TOP TITLE CHOKERS (Singles)
Players on the ATP and WTA Tours with more losses than wins in finals this year. Mardy Fish takes over the top spot after his loss in the TMS-Cincy final (minimum three runner-up efforts, through Sept. 7, 2003):

Position/Player/W-L in finals:
1. Mardy Fish (USA) 0-3
2. Lindsay Davenport (USA) 1-5
3. Venus Williams (USA) 1-3
4T. Agustin Calleri (ARG) 1-2
4T. Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) 1-2

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Kim Clijsters father Leo has insinuated that Justine Henin-Hardenne has been "doping" to augment her physicality. Henin-Hardenne's coach, Carlos Rodriguez, was quoted in the local press as accusing Leo Clijsters of spreading rumors. "In Belgium, what we are trying to do is to start a fight between these two girls," he said. "I swear on the heads of my two sons that she has never taken doping products. In Belgium, we want absolutely to create a fight between the two girls. Justine is better than Kim and will win more often than her. In six months, Justine has become a different player, a lot stronger. I know that she works very hard but she is not the only one. All players, including Kim, work on their muscular force."...All of Thailand is getting hyped for the debut of their ATP event later this month: "The Thailand Open 2003 will be a historic tournament for this country," said Chutchai Wiratyosin, marketing manager of Boon Rawd Trading Co Ltd. "The event will be attended by major stars such as Juan Carlos Ferrero and Andy Roddick -- don't hold your breath A-rod fans! Other participants include Carlos Moya and Thailand's own superstar Paradorn Srichaphan...If you were to go by the rankings to decide the No. 2 spot on the U.S. Davis Cup team, Mardy Fish is at No. 24 while James Blake is at No. 35...The historic match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs will be shown by the Tennis Channel at 8 p.m. on Sept. 20, the 30th anniversary of the exhibition at the Houston Astrodome...The Argentine Davis Cup team was dealt a blow yesterday when Guillermo Coria pulled from next week's semifinal match at Spain, citing a leg injury. He will be replaced by either Agustin Calleri or Gaston Gaudio (or Gaston "Claudio" as the bunglers at the Associated Press called him)...Wimbledon says no one will get them to change their date on the ATP calendar through 2005...So why didn't Andy Roddick thank girlfriend Mandy Moore following his title Sunday? And why did she only show up for the final? And why is Andy in Texas with his bro, and not with Mandy in Cali? Hmmm...Paper No. 1 Kim Clijsters is a sad 6-6 in finals this year, while No. 2 Justine Henin-Hardenne s 7-1 in finals with two slam titles...Apparently international tennis writers (cough, pussies, cough) have come to accept the WTA Rankings as an uncorrectable abomination, since no one is writing about H-H being stuck at No. 2 after her US Open win. Or maybe they're just afraid of the WTA taking them off their Christmas card list if they write a negative story...US Open TV ratings on CBS fell to 1.9, an all-time low for the event. The men's final was down 44% over last year, while the women's dropped 52%. And don't look for a Monday final anytime soon, CBS which is locked into a Sunday final in 2004, apparently is not interested in moving the championships match.