Americans Roll in Madrid; With Beckham Watching, Ferrero Saves 2 MP's in Win

Posted on October 17, 2003

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
The U.S. went 4-0 Wednesday at the TMS-Madrid, led by (2)Roddick (d. Mirnyi in three), with upsets by Mardy Fish (d. (14)Robredo, fought off seven set points), Robby Ginepri (d. (4)Schuettler), and qualifier Jan-Mike Gambill (d. (10)Schalken). "I thought I played a great first set. I don't know if I could have played a better one,"A-Rod said. "And second set, I felt like I was playing better than he was, but then he just snuck out the tiebreaker. He made a lot of first serves in the tiebreaker. I don't think I had an unforced error in the breaker, but I still lost it." Spain made a strong showing with three seeds advancing in (1)Ferrero (d. Ferreira in three, down 2-5 in the third, saving two match points), (5)Moya (d. Gaudio, saving one match point), and (16)Mantilla (d. (Q)Enqvist). "I played well. I deserved to win that match,"said Ferreira after blowing the third set amidst a hostile Spanish crowd which included football mega-star David Beckham and wife Posh Spice. "I played better than he did. I had more opportunities. I just didn't win it. I think he had a lot of help from the crowd." Other seeds advancing were (3)Federer (d. (WC)Corretja), (6)Grosjean (d. (Q)Ferrer), (7)Srichaphan (d. Costa in three), (8)Novak (d. Kucera in three), and (15)El Aynaoui (d. Bjorkman). In doubles, the Bryan brothers were dumped by the experienced team of Palmer/Rikl.

On tap Thursday at the TMS-Madrid is (Q)Gambill vs. (7)Srichaphan, (3)Federer vs. Fish, Massu vs. (2)Roddick, Lopez vs. (5)Moya in an all-Spanish, (1)Ferrero vs. (16)Mantilla in an all-Spanish (JC leads series 7-0), (6)Grosjean vs. Spadea, (15)El Aynaoui vs. Minnie Driver's boyfriend (first meeting), and (8)Novak vs. Chela (Chela leads 2-1). "He's a dangerous player,"says Fed of his match-up with the American Fish. "I think he has improved. It was a good showing in Cincinnati. He's got a big game, big serve. He takes chances on the return. You better get that first serve in."

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Two of the three seeds in Zurich made it through Wednesday in (2)Henin-Hardenne (d. Pistolesi) and (7)Zvonareva (d. (Q)Amy "Down Goes" Frazier). "It was a good start but I need to focus on my matches, not on what can happen," said Henin-Hardenne, who is trying to forget dropping the ball last week in the final against Kim Clijsters, who is usually her biz-nitch. "I need to forget what's at stake and just focus on winning a maximum number of matches." Nadia Petrova won the all-Russian battle with an upset of (4)Dementieva, while Jelena Dokic recorded a rare three-set win over American Alexandra Stevenson, the first time the Yugo-Aussie has won back-to-back matches in almost three months.

Four matches on tap today in Zurich in Clijsters vs. Srebotnik, Pisnik vs. Sugiyama, Suarez vs. Bovina, and in the nightcap, Mauresmo vs. Schnyder.

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Among those in the crowd on Wednesday in Madrid for Juan Carlos Ferrero's match were a handful of Real Madrid football players including international stars David Beckham and Roberto Carlos. Beckham, who this past weekend helped England secure and important tie with Turkey, recently joined Real Madrid, the favorite team of Ferrero. On Tuesday, Ferrero got up close and personal with Beckham as he and several other players visited the team's training grounds for some chit-chat and photos...Magdalena Maleeva and Anastasia Myskina pulled from Zurich this week for "rest and recovery"...With all the top Americans pulling with injury, the WTA Philadelphia event will likely go from four Top 10 players to one in Anastasia Myskina, ouch...The eight-team field has been set for the Masters Cup doubles in Houston: the Bryan brothers, Bhupathi/Mirnyi, Knowles/Nestor, Bjorkman/Woodbridge, Frenchmen Llodra/Santoro, Aussies Arthurs/Hanley, Paes/Rikl, and Czechs Damm/Suk. Paes says he is fit and hopes to play if he gets the O.K. from his doctor. It will be the first time since 1985 that the singles and doubles year-end championships are held at the same venue...As of Wednesday in the latest Tennis-X poll, 29% of readers think Andy Roddick is most likely to finish the year at No. 1, with Roger Federer in second with 17%, and 8% not giving a rat...Hey Greg Rusedski, how's the career going? You dumped the critical match against Morocco in Davis Cup, now you're sidelined with injury (again) and your ranking has dropped out of the Top 100, and your protected ranking status (at No. 37) will end in February 2004, forcing you to play qualifying at most events -- give me an r, e, t, i, r, e, m, e, n, t -- maybe you and Anna Kournikova can make a career segue into being presenters at award ceremonies...Pat Cash continues to promote himself for a position with the British Lawn Tennis Association, but insiders say the arrogant loudmouth Aussie is a bad fit: "I've been annoyed by the lack of interest, I don't know why that is," Cash told BBC Radio Five Live. "Maybe I'm a bit too controversial. I believe their hearts are in the right place and they mean well. It's a big, big job and they need an independent person, a consultant, to oversee things and not get tied up with red tape, and I'll be talking to David (Felgate, British tennis performance director) about that." Don't waste your nights waiting by the phone Pat...Could Brit tennis be in more of a freefall?...Coming in 2004, Tennis-X directly to your e-mail, we've got the interns working...When the HELL are we going to get the Tennis Channel? Comcast, get off your ass, there's like eight golf channels and no tennis...Lindsay Davenport had foot surgery Wednesday and will miss the rest of the season. She plans to begin practicing in December for the Australian Open...Wayne Ferreira ripped the Spanish crowd after his three-set loss to Juan Carlos Ferrero yesterday at the TMS-Madrid: "I think people should be embarrassed. It's a disgrace -- classless behavior. I've been on the tour 15 years, played in pretty much every country in the world and never seen anything as disgraceful as this." Ferrero was oblivious to fans shouting out during key times and booing the South African for winning points. "I don't think people talked during points," Ferrero said. "No one disturbed him. I think the people were just really supporting me. If it was in his country they would have done the same, I guess. The crowd were there with me, especially in the bad moments. That was very important to me. It was like the Davis Cup and I thank them." Thanks for not throwing things...Looks like Al Costa will get squeezed out of Spain's Davis Cup doubles line-up for the final, with the Spanish team captains looking at the combo of Alex Corretja and lefty Feliciano Lopez. Sorry Brother Al, they went to the what-have-you-done-for-us-lately card.