Srichaphan Out in Flurry of Tears at Bangkok, Clijsters Pulls from Leipzig, Agassi Pulls From Tournaments

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster...unless it's Friday night, and your Thailand's own Paradorn Srichaphan getting bounced by No. 6 seed Ivan Ljubicic 7-5 in the third set. After recovering from losing a 6-0 set in his first match, the No. 4-seeded Srichaphan could not rebound against the large-serving Croatian in the featured night match, and openly wept into his towel after the match. Also advancing into the semis were (1)Ferrero (d. the net-rushing Carraz 7-6 in the third), (5)Nieminen (d. (3)Moya in three), and (8)Dent (d. Thomann, who retired with a foot injury. The oft-injured Dent said he could feel Thomann's pain. "This the first time it has happened to me where somebody has retired during the match," Dent said. "Unfortunately I have retired to a lot of guys because I have gotten some injuries this last year. And you know it is lucky any time some guy retires to you, and I'm sorry that it happened to him, because like I said I have been in the same position."

Top-seeded Jiri Novak (d. (7)Norman who retired with hip pain, a bad sign coming off hip surgery) and No. 3 Mark Philippoussis (d. (WC)Canas) punched into the Shanghai semifinals Friday, joined by 19-year-old unseeded Swede Robin Soderling (d. Draper 6-7, 7-6, 7-6) who saved two match points, and Aussie serving machine Wayne Arthurs (d. Croat serving machine "Dr." Ivo Karlovic 7-6 in the third). Novak, Arthurs, and Karlovic are also alive in the doubles semis. "I picked it (the injury) up in the last match against Verdasco," said Martina Hingis' former boyfriend. "So I had an easy practice but today it was like a knife going through my muscle and was getting worse and worse. I'm still going to Tokyo to test if it's OK. If it's not, I'm going home. It's some sort of muscle strain after I had hip surgery on my left hip. It really is a shame because I felt like my game was coming together and I was feeling comfortable on the court which I haven't felt for a long time." Arthurs has never won a singles title, and Flipper is 0-2 in finals this year.

Only one quarterfinal was completed Friday due to rain in Palermo, with (1)Massu outlasting Spaniard Al Montanes 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. Matches suspended until Saturday were (8)Horna vs. Hernandez, (6)A.Martin vs. Squillari, and (5)Mathieu vs. (Q)Veronelli. "I've been playing very well for about three or four weeks now and I'm just happy to get through to the semifinals," said Massu, who will have to play one match tomorrow compared to his opponent's two. "I felt very tired today, winning 6-4 in the third set, it was very hard and I just tried to stay positive. Let's see how long this winning streak can go on for...when I eventually run out of gas, I run out of gas. I hope I can win again tomorrow. If I play Horna, it will be the third time in as many weeks. I beat him twice in the last two weeks. I've known him for a very long time and it will be tough. I don't know so much about Hernandez, he's a typical Spanish player, who fights hard and never gives up."

Today's semifinals in Shanghai are (1)Novak vs. Arthurs (Novak leads series 2-1), (3)Philippoussis vs. Soderling (first meeting). Lining up in the Bangkok semis are (5)Nieminen vs. (8)Dent (Nieminen Leads 1-0, this year on clay at the TMS-Monte Carlo), (1)Ferrero vs. (6)Ljubicic (Croatian leads 2-0). In Palermo they'll be finishing the rain-delayed quarters in (8)Horna vs. Hernandez, (6)A.Martin vs. Squillari, and (5)Mathieu vs. (Q)Veronelli, then playing the semis in (1)Massu vs. Hernandez or (8)Horna, and (6)A.Martin or Squillari vs. (5)Mathieu or (Q)Veronelli.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
All the favorites moved into the semis Friday at Leipzig, and now we're just one match away from yet another all-Belgian final. (1)Clijsters led the charge with a 6-1, 6-3 spanking of Patty "I'm Close to My Coaches" Schnyder, followed by (2)Henin-Hardenne (d. (Q)Callens in an all-Belgian match-up), (3)Myskina (d. (6)Petrova 6-1 in the third), and (Q)Vento-Kabchi (d. (Q)Kleinova, who retired with a hamstring pull). The semis will be (1)Clijsters vs. (3)Myskina, and (2)Henin-Hardenne vs. (Q)Vento-Kabchi. The doubles semis are Daniilidou/Grande vs. Likhovtseva/Petrova, and Kuznetsova/Navratilova vs. Bartoli/Dokic.

ATP TOP 10 SCHEDULES FOR REMAINING 2003
(Does not include wildcard entries, TMS events "manditory")
1. Ferrero, Juan Carlos (ESP) -- Vienna, TMS-Madrid, Basel, TMS-Paris, Masters Cup
2. Roddick, Andy (USA) -- TMS-Madrid, Basel, TMS-Paris, Masters Cup
3. Federer, Roger (SUI) -- Vienna, TMS-Madrid, Basel, TMS-Paris, Masters Cup
4. Agassi, Andre (USA) -- Masters Cup?? (pulled from all events due to birth of child)
5. Coria, Guillermo (ARG) -- Vienna, TMS-Madrid, Basel, TMS-Paris
6. Moya, Carlos (ESP) -- Vienna, TMS-Madrid, Basel, TMS-Paris
7. Hewitt, Lleyton (AUS) -- TMS-Madrid, TMS-Paris
8. Schuettler, Rainer (GER) -- Tokyo, Lyon, TMS-Madrid, St. Petersburg, TMS-Paris
9. Nalbandian, David (ARG) -- TMS-Madrid, Basel, TMS-Paris
10. Grosjean, Sebastien (FRA) -- Lyon, TMS-Madrid, St. Petersburg, TMS-Paris
* Top 4 have qualified for Masters Cup

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Kim Clijsters withdrew from Leipzig after spraining her right ankle in Saturday's semifinal against Anastasia Myskina. Clijsters, who would likely have met countrywomen Justine Henin-Hardenna in the final, was leading 7-5, 4-4...Juan Carlos Ferrero, who by advancing to the final in Bangkok will maintain the No. 1 ranking, said that if he does finish the year No. 1 and win the Davis Cup, he may take a pass on the Australian Open...After retiring with a hip injury this week in Shanghai, former No. 2 Magnus Norman says he will hang it up if the hip problems continue into the 2004 season...The non-profit USTA still refusing to FULLY disclose where all those millions from the US Open go (besides into the pockets of their top million-dollar earning executives). May have to raise the cost of a hamburger at the US Open to $50 to pay those salaries next year...How hard has Swedish tennis fallen, with doubles specialist Jonas Bjorkman the only Top 50-ranked Swede in singles?...Tommy Robredo, where are you?...James Blake's star is falling rapidly, left off the singles roster when the U.S. faced Slovakia in Davis Cup, and now ranked behind Mardy Fish, Vince Spadea and Robby Ginepri...With eight players in the Top 50, Spain should be allowed to field two Davis Cup teams, then Spain-"A" could face Spain-"B" in the 2004 final...Will Roger Taylor be canned as the Brit Davis Cup captain now that his contract is up? We say...hmmm...no. What can you do with two played-out old men, an out-of-shape and choking Greg Rusedski and an injured Tim Henman who serves like a girl? Give him another couple years, and for heaven's sake Britain, work on developing some juniors rather than stealing players from other countries...While Britain last won the Davis Cup in 1936 when they were one of the few nations competing, they haven't gotten a sniff during the Open Era (since 1968)...Between powerhouses Germany, Britain, Belgium, and the Slovak Republic in the Europe/African Zone Group I, some big countries will unhappily remain in zonal competition through 2005...Boris Becker for one is shocked at Germany's Davis Cup tennis status: "We are all shocked," said the shocked Becker. "We now have to start all over again just like in football. Perhaps with (the injured Tommy) Haas on the team it would not have come to this." We don't live in a world of "perhaps" Boris...The WTA has signed on Bank of America as the new title sponsor for their year-end championships...Taylor Dent, in the semifinals at the rowdy ATP Bangkok event, says bring on the crowd noise: "It makes it more fun for me playing out on the court. One of the most memorable matches for me I ever played was in India, Chennai, and the crowd was absolutely going crazy. They were shouting out names, they were calling me names, they were calling my opponent names. And you know it's just a fun atmosphere to play in when the crowd's into the match, so I enjoy it. The more noise the better."...Croatian Ivan Ljubicic appears somewhat confused about life on tour: "There is not much of a social life for us touring professionals, but it's like being in a big family." A dysfunctional family apparently...For you ladies looking for info on Ivan Ljubicic, he is an avid mystery novel reader, and enjoys playing chess on the Internet...Following his loss to Ljubicic, local hero Paradorn Srichaphan broke out into tears (and then proceeded to make out with some hottie -- just kidding!)...Andre Agassi has pulled from all his pre-Masters Cup events due to the birth of his second child thus giving up any chance at finishing No. 1.