Canas on the Comeback, Now Faces Philippoussis in Shanghai; Belgians Marching in Leipzig; 2004 Davis Cup Preview

Five of five seeds in action advanced into the quarterfinals at Bangkok Thursday in (1)Ferrero (d. Bogomolov in three), (3)Moya (d. Vahaly), (4)Srichaphan (d. Carlsen), (5)Nieminen (d. Ulihrach), and (8)Dent (d. Ascione). "When you are playing in an atmosphere like tonight it's distracting for him, is it distracting for you as well," said Srichaphan on the boisterous Thai crowds. "I think for both because I feel the pressure in front of my home crowd. For my opponent it's also tough to play the guy from the country. There is a lot of pressure but I think I did well. I felt very lucky to get back in the second set after being down 0-4 in the second set tiebreak." Unseeds moving on included Thomann (d. (Q)Erlich), Ljubicic winning the battle of the Croats (d. Ancic), and the aggressive Frenchman Carraz (d. Popp).

Homecountry fans in Palermo lost their final two Italian hopes Thursday when (4)Volandri withdrew from his match with Franco "The Squirrel" Squillari citing a leg injury, and (Q)Tenconi was beaten by Spain's Oscar Hernandez. "I'm very disappointed," said Volandri about the pull. "I pulled a [leg] muscle in my match yesterday [against Italian wildcard Francesco Aldi] and it got worse this morning. The tournament doctor told me to rest for three days and that I should be fine on Saturday or Sunday to go to Moscow." The other three seeds in action advanced into the quarters in (5)Mathieu (d. (Q)Almagro in three), (6)A.Martin (d. Blanco, who retired in the first set with a shoulder injury), and (8)Horna (d. 1998 winner Puerta). Argentina's (Q)Veronelli also reached his first ATP quarterfinal in his first ATP event with a relatively easy win over Romania's Hanescu. Blanco was another unhappy camper after his pull. "[The shoulder injury] has been bothering me for the last few days," the Spaniard said. "Before the match I couldn't stretch or warm up very well and then in the first game I tried to serve hard at full strength and it got really bad. I couldn't play properly so I had to retire."

Friday's Quarterfinals:

Shanghai: Arthurs vs. Karlovic (first meeting), (1)Novak vs. (7)Norman (Norman leads career series 3-1), Soderling vs. Draper (first meeting), and (WC)Canas vs. (3)Philippoussis (Flipper leads 1-0).

Bangkok: (8)Dent vs. Thomann (first meeting), (5)Nieminen vs. (3)Moya (first meeting), (1)Ferrero vs. Carraz (first meeting), and (4)Srichaphan vs. (6)Ljubicic (Thai leads 2-0).

Palermo: (1)Massu vs. Montanes (Massu leads 1-0), Hernandez vs. (8)Horna (Horna leads 1-0), (6)A.Martin vs. 1998 runner-up Squillari (The Squirrel leads the head-to-head 4-1), and (5)Mathieu vs. (Q)Veronelli (first meeting).

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Thursday was a waffle treat in Leipzig as three Belgians advanced into the quarterfinals in (1)Clijsters (d. Dokic), (2)Henin-Hardenne (d. Chladkova), and surprise qualifier Els Callens (d. Alexandra "Dr. A" Stevenson in three sets). No. 6 seed Nadia Petrova of Russia also moved into the quarters with a three-set win over wildcard Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany. "This is a good start," H-H said. "The first match indoors is not easy, especially after a big win. It's difficult to find your rhythm." If H-H wins the event, she will set herself up with an opportunity to take the top spot in her next event at Filderstadt in two weeks. Martina Navratilova still remains alive in the doubles. "It's great to be in a free Germany," said the former Czech, who drove four hours from her former home in Prague in her mother's car to play in the city for the first time in 30 years. "It's an amazing feeling. It's a feeling of freedom and relief and all the good stuff that comes with it."

Quarterfinal action at Leipzig today includes Myskina vs. Petrova (career series tied 1-1), Clijsters vs. Schnyder (Clijsters leads the head-to-head 2-1), (Q)Vento-Kabchi vs. (Q)Kleinova, and (Q)Callens vs. Henin-Hardenne (H-H leads 1-0).

2004 DAVIS CUP WORLD GROUP DRAW BREAKDOWN
The Tennis-X staff breaks down the Davis Cup draw for 2004 (first round Feb. 6-8):

Sweden at Australia:
The top-seeded Australians will likely be coming off a Davis Cup title after beating Spain on grass in the 2003 final. Swedish tennis is at a low with Thomas Enqvist and Magnus Norman struggling after injuries, and Jonas Bjorkman, Andreas Vinciguerra, and Joachim Johansson trying to fill in the holes. While some may talk it up, this will be a walk for the Aussies on any surface.

Austria at United States:
Austria beat the Belgians in the qualifying round to gain this World Group berth. The Austrians are led by Stefan Koubek and Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, neither currently ranked in the Top 50, an underwhelming squad in both singles and doubles. Look for the host U.S. to go with a standard hardcourt, or maybe indoor carpet to highlight the thundering Andy Roddick game. While only seeded No. 7, the U.S. will be the team to watch in 2004 with Roddick, either James Blake, Mardy Fish, Taylor Dent or Robby Ginepri in the No. 2 spot, and the Bryan Brothers covering the doubles. Don't get too excited though, as Australia looms in the second round.

Russia at Belarus:
Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov may be retired by Feb. 2004, and Marat Safin is a question mark with his host of injuries. Russian "B"-squad Nikolay Davydenko and Mikhail Youzhny may be called on to challenged Max "The Beast" Mirnyi and Vladimir Voltchkov, who will be pumped after relegating Germany to zonal play in the 2003 qualifying round. Slight nod to Belarus here at home on the fast courts, with Safin the wildcard in the mix.

Argentina at Morocco:
The Moroccans were able to overwhelm the Brits on their home clay in their last tie, but this will be a different story. The powerful Argentine clay machine will roll into town with Guillermo Coria, David Nalbandian, and Guillermo Canas, so the underdog Moroccans will think about possibly (gasp) not hosting on their favorite clay. How about putting up nets in the parking lot? It is going to take something extraordinary for Younes and crew to pull this one out.

Switzerland at Romania:
This should be a walk for "Team Roger Federer" against Victor Hanescu and his no-name crew, no matter what the surface.

Croatia at France:
An intriguing match-up, with the French likely to put the Croatians on the slow red clay. Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic will likely lead the Croatian invasion, with Sebastien Grosjean and Arnaud Clement (if healthy) defending for France. Croatia could throw a curve with Goran Ivanisevic, who is still wrestling with a shoulder injury but has not yet announced his retirement.

Canada at Netherlands:
Canada wanted a big stage for their first World Group appearance in 11 years, but instead they travel to The Netherlands where they will be not even a blip on the world media radar. Look for Sjeng Schalken and Martin Verkerk to pound the ragtag Canuck team back into World Group qualifying for 2004. Nice run while it lasted for the Canucks.

Spain at Czech Republic:
This will be a tough one for the homecourt Czechs, who probably want to put this one on a fast indoor hardcourt or carpet. Some combination of Jiri Novak, Radek Stepanek, and Bohdan Ulihrach will defend against the Spanish Armada, who seemingly have between 15-20 players they could pull on, all of whom could win this tie.

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Could that Martina Navratilova "I'm going into politics in 2005" announcement have gotten more media pub on Thursday around the world, on TV and on the web? Everybody loves Martina...Why is the ITF doing their nonsensical "Davis Cup Rankings," where France is ranked No. 1, then they come out with the 2004 Davis Cup draw, and Australia is the top seed and Spain is No. 2? Hey ITF, thanks for adding to the confusion of professional tennis...For the Davis Cup draw the ITF announced on their website "Draws Live on the Web," then proceeded to say "You will be able to view the draws on news articles, all of which will appear on the homepage, on Thursday as the draws happen, from 11:30 hrs UK time (10:30 hrs GMT)." Last time we looked, "live on the web" didn't mean you'd be posting an article...American Brian Vahaly on his hero Michael Chang: "I watched him play as early as I started playing, and we have very similar game styles. I run a lot of balls down and try and be consistent and win a lot with my mind. I just had so much respect for the way he played. I was actually a pretty late bloomer. I was still about 4'10 or 5' until I was about 16, so I was small and he was a very small player in comparison to the other players, so I looked up to him a lot."...Russian Nadia Petrova is one win away in Leipzig from moving into the Top 10 on the WTA Rankings for the first time in her career -- this time last year Petrova was ranked No. 169...Neale Fraser, former Australian Davis Cup player and captain, likes the Aussie Davis Cup draw for 2004: "We've got the match at home, and it's the week after the Australian Open so they will be acclimatized," he told the AP. "It's probably good for Sweden in a way too that they'll be out there (Australia) already. But at least Australia has a home tie, and that's a great thing. Sweden might not be the easiest team, but Belarus in Belarus would have been tough. Morocco in Morocco would have been tough."...Juan Margets, chairman of the Spanish Davis Cup Committee, is wary of Spain's 2004 draw, with a first round tie at the Czech Republic, probably on hardcourt or carpet: "For me, Spain has a draw that is very risky in the first round," he told the AP. "Spain is a country where the home advantage is more important than the strength of the opposing team. The challenge for Spain is to perform better away. They have not lost many matches at home, but they have not won many matches away."...If the U.S. can win against Austria in the first round of the 2004 Davis Cup, the young team would get to prove their manhood against likely-2003 winner Australia.