Alexandra Stevenson Comes Up Short Again in Filderstadt; Grosjean Bounced in Lyon; Unseeded Henman Beats (4)Schalken in Vienna

Posted on October 10, 2003

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
Seeded players were 2-2 on Wednesday at Lyon, with (1)Schuettler (d. defending champion Mathieu) and (3)Srichaphan (d. Sanchez) moving on without difficulty. "I didn't expect the match to be so easy," said Srichaphan after crushing the Spaniard. "Last time, on clay, he beat me. Today's match was quick, just 40 minutes. It's just what I needed coming all the way from Tokyo...My goal was to finish in the Top 20. I have traditionally done well in the indoor season so I hope to do well here and the rest of the way." Not so lucky were (2)Grosjean (l. to (WC)Mahut, retiring in the second set with an ankle injury), and (5)Fish (l. to Saulnier). "I first twisted my ankle in Tokyo during my quarterfinal match," Grosjean said. "I was able to carry on playing then. I came here expecting to be match fit, but the ankle was just getting worse. I actually injured the ankle two years ago and tore two ligaments. Ever since, I've had to be really cautious with my ankle. I will try to play Madrid if I can, but hopefully I will be able to play St. Petersburg to defend my title." In other unseeded matches, Clement thrilled the home crowd with a win over Saretta, (Q)Malisse edged Pavel in three, and Youzhny outlasted Hrbaty in three.
On court today in Lyon are O.Rochus vs. (3)Srichaphan (first meeting), (1)Schuettler vs. Ljubicic (Schuettler leads 4-2), (Q)Arazi vs. (WC)Mahut, Vicente vs. Clement, Santoro vs. (Q)Rosset in a veterans battle (Rosset leads 7-6), and (Q)Malisse vs. (Q)Enqvist in an all-qualifier showdown (first meeting). "He's got a very good serve and that really is his game," said Schuettler on Ljubicic. "If he's serving well then I am going to be returning well in order to take the match. He killed me in Dubai by serving at such a high level and I have defeated him in the past by returning at a high level." That's some high-level strategizing.

Unseeded Tim Henman showed he has some life left in him, in Vienna Wednesday taking out (4)Schalken 6-2 in the third set. "To beat Sjeng is a really good win," Henman said. "I played two really good sets. The middle one wasn't too good. I tried to over-press in the second set, where I made a few unforced errors. I was serving really well in the first and third set. I'm really pleased with my overall performance. It's a good boost for my confidence and a step in the right direction." The two seeds in action advanced in (2)Moya (d. Gonzalez 6-1 in the third) and (8)Costa (d. Sargsian), while unseeded winners included Mirnyi (d. Gambill), Kiefer (d. (WC)Peya), Koubek (d. Davydenko 7-6 in the third), and Nieminen (d. Chela in three). Today in Vienna features Spadea vs. (2)Moya (Moya leads career series 1-0), (1)Federer vs. (Q)Beck (first meeting), Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer vs. Kiefer, Lopez vs. Koubek, (8)Costa vs. Bjorkman (tied 1-1), and Max "The Beast" Miryni vs. (5)Calleri (first meeting).

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Four out of the five seeds in action at Trash-kent advanced Thursday, with Russian qualifier Lioudmila Skavronskaia ousting No. 7 seed Angelique "I Can't Believe I Was Seeded" Widjaja. Moving into the quarters were (2)Gagliardi (d. Wartusch), (4)Ruano Pascual (d. Foretz), (6)Craybas (d. Beygelzimer in three), and (8)Kostanic (d. Kirilenko). Where is the rain when you need it? Wash this event out, like a stain. Three matches on tap today in Trash-kent in Mandula vs. Parra, Zheng vs. Obata, and Pennetta vs. Ad. Serra Zanetti.

Alexandra "Dr. A" Stevenson seems to have some skills, but bad luck just won't let her shake that "one-tournament wonder" tag. Case in point: Thursday in Filderstadt, pounding No. 8 seed Anastasia Myskina 6-0 in the first set, but eventually retiring with a back injury after trailing 6-0, 1-6, 0-4. "I was a little bit tired. Not a little bit, a lot, and I couldn't really concentrate in the first set," Myskina said, coming off the Moscow win. "Then she started missing a lot and I thought maybe I should try harder. I did, and then she retired." The three other seeds in action rolled into the third round in (5)Mauresmo (d. Shaughnessy), (6)Dementieva (d. Petrova in an all-Russian), and (7)Rubin (d. the Russian Zvonareva in three). Also advancing were un-seeds Sugiyama (d. Pistolesi) and Schnyder (d. countrywoman (Q)Casanova).
On tap today are some real honest-to-goodness-no-sarcasm-here headliners in Kim "Still No. 1" Clijsters vs. Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova (Clijsters leads 3-0), Jenny "I'm Just Big Boned" Capriati vs. Mary "Me Too" Pierce (American leads 3-0), Schnyder vs. Mauresmo (Mo leads 6-4), Sugiyama vs. Davenport (American leads 8-1), Maleeva vs. Rubin, Dementieva vs. Farina Elia, and Myskina vs. Bovina.

ATP MATCH WINS LEADERS
1. Roger Federer 63-8
2. Andy Roddick 63-12
3. Juan Carlos Ferrero 61-10
4. Rainer Schuettler 60-22
5. Guillermo Coria 54-14
6. Carlos Moya 52-13
7. Paradorn Srichaphan 45-18
8. Andre Agassi 44-8
9. Jiri Novak 41-20
10. Sjeng Schalken 41-17

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Eurosport has signed an agreement to broadcast 27 of the 59 WTA Tour events through 2007...Next month, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne will appear on Belgian postage stamps, the first time that non-retired non-royalty will appear on a stamp...Paradorn Srichaphan is playing Lyon for the first time: "I spoke with Sebastien [Grosjean] and Fabrice [Santoro] before the event and they said what a great tournament it was and what a great view we had from the hotel dining room." That's what usually draws us to events. Paradorn on balling after he lost in Bangkok: "There was a lot of pressure on me to do well there. There were a lot of good players and I would have liked to win. After the match I cried, not because I lost but because I looked around at the 9,000 spectators and it was very emotional."...France's Paul-Henri Mathieu is currently without a coach: "I think I am one of the very few French players who could work with a foreign coach, probably because of my time spent in the US, and I would appreciate the different approach it would bring." No wine on court, would have to get used to that...Tommy Haas was pumped to see the election to California governor of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who went to school with Haas' dad in Austria: "I'm very proud to see someone who came from such a small city in Austria like Graz, where I spent several years of my childhood, be able to accomplish so much and achieve the 'American Dream.' He's been a great friend to me, and very supportive when my parents had the motorcycle accident last year. He has frequently supported me when I've played tennis out in L.A., and I'm so excited about him winning, that I may even consider buying a home in his state. I've sent a congratulatory message to his office in L.A., and I hope to celebrate with him in person next time I make it to California." Maybe the two can go out to the bars and grab some ass together...Controversy in Australia, as Lleyton Hewitt is pulling from the one-day "Superset Tennis" exhibition because it is only six days before the Davis Cup final, but Aussie teammate Mark Philippoussis is still playing it. The exo is a best-of-one-set knockout exhibition to be contested in Portland, Oregon on Nov. 22 by an eight-man field headed by Andre Agassi. According to Australia's The Age, the winner of the skins-like competition will collect $362,000, with all participants guaranteed substantial appearance fees. Others scheduled to compete are Todd Martin, James Blake, Jan-Michael Gambill, Taylor Dent and Germany's former world No. 2 Tommy Haas, who hasn't played a match in 2003...Rainer Schuettler has 14 more losses this year than Roger Federer and Andre Agassi...Word is Taylor Dent just sacked coach Brad Stine. Guess winning titles wasn't part of the agreement. Go figure.