Capriati Crumbles in Filderstadt; Top Seeds Federer, Schuettler Survive

Posted on October 11, 2003

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
The pretenders walked Friday in Vienna, with (8)Costa (l. to Bjorkman) and (5)Calleri (l. to Mirnyi) falling by the wayside, and (1)Federer (d. (Q)Beck in three) and (2)Moya (d. Spadea easily) moving into the quarterfinals. Beck was 4-2 up in the third set before Federer won four straight games to close out the match. "I knew he was a good player," said Federer of his Slovak opponent. "I always expect a good match from a good player. He had his chances. I wasn't looking very good in the third set. I wasn't happy with my game today. I was down 4-2 and I just tried to hang in there. I'm just happy to get through." Other un-seeds into the quarters were Kiefer (d. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer) and Lopez (d. Koubek).
The order of the quarters today in Vienna is Bjorkman vs. Henman in an old-school duel (Bjorkman leads 5-3), Lopez vs. Mirnyi, (1)Federer vs. Nieminen (Fed leads 3-0), and Kiefer vs. (2)Moya (German leads 2-1).

No big surprises in Lyon Thursday, with seeds Schuettler (d. Ljubicic in three), and Srichaphan (d. O.Rochus) into the quarterfinals, along with un-seeds Ginepri (d. Saulnier), (Q)Arazi (d. (WC)Mahut), Clement (d. Vicente), Santoro (d. (Q)Rosset in three), and (Q)Malisse (d. (Q)Enqvist). "It's definitely a good start to the indoor season, especially since I've been off for the past six weeks," Ginepri said after a weekend with Minnie Driver. That is a good start. "It's really gotten me motivated. Getting used to the indoor courts here hasn't been a problem at all -- I've been working out at the indoor center at Georgia Tech." The quarters Friday line up as Youzhny vs. Ginepri (first meeting), (1)Schuettler vs. (Q)Malisse (German leads 2-1), Santoro vs. (3)Srichaphan (first meeting), and Clement vs. (Q)Arazi.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Petra Mandula's first time as a top seed ended Thursday in Tashkent, ousted in straight sets by Spain's Arantxa "Not That Arantxa" Parra. Also into the quarterfinals were (3)Obata (d. Zheng) and the unseeded Serra Zanetti (d. (5)Pennetta). Does it really matter who's seeded at a Tier XIVX event like this? Someone please kill us. On court Friday in the quarters at Trash-kent are Kostanic vs. Obata, Ad.Serra Zanetti vs. Gagliardi, Ruano Pascual vs. Craybas, and Parra vs. Skavronskaia.

Jennifer Capriati is tired of playing tennis, and it showed in a listless 6-4, 6-2 loss to the erratic wildcard Mary Pierce Thursday in Filderstadt. "It's been a long year for me. I want to take a break," the No. 4-seeded Capriati said. "To be honest I'm not in the mood to fight like I usually do." Other seeded casualties were (7)Rubin (l. to Maleeva), and (8)Myskina (l. to fellow Russian Bovina). Other seeds into the quarters were (1)Clijsters (d. Hantuchova 1 and 1), (3)Davenport (d. Sugiyama), (5)Mauresmo (d. Schnyder), and (6)Dementieva (d. Farina Elia). Today's quarters of good quality line up as Dementieva vs. Henin-Hardenne (H-H leads 5-1), Clijsters vs. Mauresmo (Belgian leads 4-2), Bovina vs. Davenport (American leads 4-0), and Pierce vs. Maleeva (Maleeva leads 3-1).

2003 TENNIS-X TOP TITLE CHOKERS (Singles)
Players on the ATP and WTA Tours with more losses than wins in finals this year. Rainer Schuettler finally gets his first title of the year (minimum three runner-up efforts, through Oct. 5, 2003):

Position/Player/W-L in finals:
1. Mardy Fish (USA) 0-3
2. Lindsey Davenport (USA) 1-5
3. Venus Williams (USA) 1-3
4T. Agustin Calleri (ARG) 1-2
4T. Jennifer Capriati (USA) 1-2
4T. Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) 1-2
4T. Jiri Novak (CZE) 1-2
4T. Mark Philippoussis (AUS) 1-2
4T. Rainer Schuettler (GER) 1-2

2003 TENNIS-X TOP TITLE CHOKERS (Doubles)
Zimbabwe's Black/Ullyett make the board after losing the Moscow final (minimum three runner-up efforts, through Oct. 5, 2003):

Position/Player/W-L in finals:
1. Frantisek Cermak/Leos Friedl (CZE) 1-5
2. Michael Llodra/Fabrice Santoro (FRA) 1-3
3. Wayne Black/Kevin Ullyett (ZIM) 1-2

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Lleyton Hewitt officially pulled from next week's TMS-Madrid after minor surgery on his foot, but also citing no interest in playing tour events while concentrating on the upcoming Davis Cup final against Spain...The AP reported that Lleyton Hewitt won the TMS-Madrid last year -- WRONG!...Kim Clijsters is still looking to test her ankle in a match, but didn't get the test she wanted Thursday in mowing over Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova 6-1, 6-1 in Filderstadt: "I want to see how it reacts to a match. That's the first thing I will worry about when I wake up tomorrow. I don't think No. 1 is on my mind. I just feel lucky to be able to play this tournament."...Nicolas Kiefer is now working with coach and former player and Swede Thomas Hogstedt.