Andy Roddick Pull Fall-Out; Magnus Norman, Daniela Hantuchova Win a Match

Only three matches played Monday on the dirt in Palermo, with (8)Horna stopping Andrei Pavel's comeback from injury, veteran Franco "The Squirrel" Squillari beating the Italian wildcard Di Mauro, and Al Montanes winning the battle of the Spaniards with an upset of (7)Ramirez Hidalgo. We want to say it gets better, but it doesn't. "I want to dedicate this win to my recently born daughter (Luna)," said Horna, who also bettered Roger Federer at the French Open. "I knew it was going to be difficult since Andrei (Pavel) is one of the best tennis players out there. Although he has been some time out due to his injury, it is always difficult to play someone like him." After you upset someone, always talk them up as one of the best players ever. Singles qualifying was also completed, with Tenconi (ITA), Giner (ESP), Veronelli (ARG), and Almagro (ESP) moving into the main draw.

Only three results in Bangkok Monday, with the German giant Popp downing Eschauer, and two Croatians advancing in Ancic (d. (Q)Chiudinelli in three), and (6)Ivan "Andy Roddick Fan Club President" Ljubicic (d. Saulnier 7-6 in the third). "I started great," said Ancic, who collected his first win since Queen's on grass. "In the second set he served a little better and I let him in a little, and then closed the third set out. I have been here three years ago, playing Futures events and now I'm playing an ATP event, so it's good. I'm happy to be in Bangkok again." Ancic is another low-motivator who needs to stop feeling happy he's no longer playing Futures events, and remember that he used to post wins over Roger Federer -- at Wimbledon. Raise the bar a little Baby Goran.

Seeds in action at Shanghai Tuesday are (1)Novak vs. van Scheppingen, and (6)H-T. Lee vs. Taino. Matches of interest on the dirt in Palmero are (Q)Veronelli vs. (2)Davydenko, (5)Mathieu vs. Portas, (WC)Corretja vs. (Q)Almagro in an all-Spanish match-up, (1)Massu vs. C.Rochus, and (6)A.Martin vs. Ferrer. Sorry, maybe those aren't really of interest. If you're thinking about attending Bangkok, save your money for Wednesday, as Tuesday features another light day in (Q)Erlich vs. (LL)Ratiwatana, Vahaly vs. (Q)Crabb, (5)Nieminen vs. (WC)Udomchoke, and Miranda vs. Ascione. Perhaps Bangkok should have taken baby steps and started out as a Challenger.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Four matches were slated Monday in Leipzig, with two seeds advancing in (5)Daniela "Double Cheeseburger" Hantuchova (d. Kuznetsova), and (8)Farina Elia (d. Daniilidou in three). Patty "Under Evaluation" Schnyder is unseeded, and struggled past Russia's Elena Likhovtseva in three, while unseeded Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova advanced past Magui "Don't Call Me Maggie" Serna in straight sets. The Chladkova-Serna match was suspended for an hour because of air bubbles on the carpeted court. In an electrical problem of indescribably idiotic proportions, the court would bubble with the air conditioning turned on, but the problem went away when they turned it off. "It was like we were on the sea, like we were flowing," Chladkova said. "It was hardly possible to even walk." The final round of qualifying was also completed, with Maria Vento-Kabchi (VEN), Sandra Kleinova (CZE), Els Callens (BEL), and Jelena Kostanic (CRO) moving into the main draw.

Today in Leipzig features Dokic vs. Kostanic, Shaughnessy vs. Callens, Schett vs. Groenefeld, Srebotnik vs. Petrova, Mikaelian vs. Stevenson, Zuluaga vs. Krasnoroutskaya, Schiavone vs. Kleinova, and 18-year-old E. "Not K." Clijsters vs. Vento-Kabchi.

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
The ATP announced this week that Argentine player Martin Rodriguez tested positive for the Class 3 substance caffeine (ooh!) during the 2002 ATP event in Basel, Switzerland. Under the ATP rules for a Class 3 violation, Rodriguez will receive the mandatory penalty of a public warning and the forfeiture of $6,725 in prize money and 60 Doubles Entry Ranking points that he won while competing with a caffeine level above the Tennis Anti-Doping Program cutoff. Gotta watch that second cup of coffee Martin, ya druggie...Former ATP pro Alex O'Brien married Margaret "Meg" Marmaduke Sept. 13, in Amarillo, Texas on the O'Brien family ranch, with those in attendance including Chuck Adams, Steve Bryan, Jonathan Canter, Jim Grabb, Tom Gullikson, Tommy Ho, Mark Knowles, Jared Palmer, and Jonathan Stark. Jim Courier, Brian MacPhie, and Tim Trigueiro were groomsmen. Also, Andrew Ilie and Jeanie Tsang got married on Wednesday, September 17 at a ceremony in Hong Kong...Austria's Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer on his ideal dinner date: "I think Cameron Diaz would be an ideal dinner guest because I like the way she looks so it would be good."...This week's field at the ATP stop in Palermo looks suspiciously like last week's field at the Szczecin Challenger, nice quality...Hyung-Taik Lee won the singles and doubles (w/Alex Kim) titles last week at the Seoul Challenger, beating out three other "Lees" in the singles draw...Mashiska Washington put a rare win on the board last week (d. (5)Simoni) at the Mexico Challenger...Last week the place to pick up some points was the Tehran Challenger, where all the qualifiers were Iranian, and the last direct acceptance to the main draw was a guy ranked No. 1,670 according to the draw sheet...Magnus Norman improved his record to 11-0 career in Shanghai on Monday...At last weekend's Davis Cup match in Slovakia, Andy Roddick continued to make friends on tour, yelling disparaging remarks across the net at opponent Karol Beck during the pivotal Sunday match: "I was trying to create a flow," Roddick said. "The other day (in his previous Friday loss) it was all about the Slovaks and the crowd. I definitely wanted to get on top and impose our energy on the match." Our Ugly American export energy, thanks for representing...Here's the Andy Roddick Thai-pull press statement in full: "In my first Davis Cup match on Friday I pulled a hamstring muscle, and it continued through my match yesterday. I have been advised that I shouldn't play tennis for the next week or two, a week or ten days, so unfortunately that means for the tournament in Thailand as well. But hopefully I will get back there next year. I will now go home and meet with my doctors, get treatment for my injury and then just relax as there is not much I can do right now. I'm very sorry I couldn't be in Thailand this year but it is pretty much out of my control and hopefully I will be there next year." Get well Andy, and stop entering tournaments that everybody and their mother knows you're not going to post for...By the way, correction from yesterday Roddick will become the new No. 1 player should Juan Carlos Ferrero fail to reach the finals in Bangkok...Nike CEO Phil Knight and John McEnroe staged a pre-set comical verbal sparring at the latest Nike shareholders meeting, possibly to distract detractors of the company who say Nike is profiting from running sweatshops in Asia...The Sports Business Journal released a list of the Top 10 female athletes in terms of marketability, and three tennis players made the list in Serena Williams at No. 1, Venus at No. 4 and Anna Kournikova at No. 6; did they know Anna is no longer a tennis player?...Check out the latest edition of "Us" magazine for a great photo spread of Anna Kournikova and boyfriend Enrique Iglesias dry-humping on a bench in the middle of a crowded walkway in New York with his hand down her pants, nice stuff kids...Kim Clijsters made the trip to Australia to support boyfriend Lleyton Hewitt in his Club Fed-beating Davis Cup win over the Swiss.