Ferrero Retains No. 1 Ranking at TMS-Madrid; Waffles Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne on Collision Course Again in Zurich

Posted on October 18, 2003

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
The leaders in the race for the year-end No. 1 ranking (sans Andy Roddick) moved into the semis Friday at the TMS-Madrid, but not without one seeded hiccup in No. 15 seed Younes "From Tunis" El Aynaoui overpowering No. 6 Sebastien "Skateboard Kid" Grosjean 6-2 in the third. Also into the semis were (1)Ferrero (d. (7)Srichaphan without breaking a sweat) and (3)Federer (d. Lopez 6-4 in the third, down a set and three break points to the crafty lefty), and unseeded Roddick-killer Nicolas Massu (d. Chela from down a set). "It's very important to me to keep being No. 1 in the world, and also because I'm in Spain, I try to show to everybody I'm in a great form and I'm playing good tennis," said Ferrero, explaining why he holds the top spot. "For this reason, I'm No. 1." Thanks for outlining that, now it makes sense. The win allowed the Spaniard to hold on to the No. 1 ranking for yet another week, under threat from Roddick. In doubles, the winner of the Costa/Verkerk vs. Bhupathi/Mirnyi Saturday semi will meet Black/Ullyett in the Sunday final.

The semifinals match-ups at the TMS-Madrid Saturday will be (1)Ferrero vs. (3)Federer (career series tied 2-2), and (15)El Aynaoui vs. Massu (Younes leads 3-0). "He knows I will play aggressive," says Federer of his Spanish opponent. "If he plays a short ball, I'll come in on it. I just have to make sure I serve well. I beat him also on clay but he was a little injured. I played a good aggressive match against him then."

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
The top Belgians moved another step toward the inevitable all-waffle second-in-two-weeks final Friday at Zurich, with both (1)Clijsters (d. (Q)Pisnik) and (2)Henin-Hardenne (d. (7)Zvonareva) moving easily into the semifinals. "It was a good match. I fought hard," said H-H with the generi-quote. "I had to be very solid, much more solid than the score reflected. I haven't played this well since winning at the U.S. Open." In the semis the waffles will face even less resistance, with the advancement of un-seeds Petrova (d. Bovina in an all-Russian), and Dokic (d. Schnyder in an all-crazy 6-0, 6-3). H-H has the chance to ascend to No. 1 for the first time, as she did last week, if she can beat Clijsters in the final. The doubles semis will be Black/Huber vs. Ruano Pascual/Suarez, and Clijsters/Sugiyama vs. Molik/Serna.

Today's Zurich semis match up as (1)Clijsters vs. Dokic (Clijsters leads career series 6-2), and (2)Henin-Hardenne vs. Petrova (H-H leads 4-0).

TENNIS-X.COM ATP BOTTOM 10 RANKINGS
(week of Oct. 13, 2003)
Thomas Enqvist gets a win this week at the TMS-Madrid, but then quickly takes an "L" to hold on to the top spot on the Tennis-X Bottom 10 Rankings, featuring the 10 worst players on the ATP. Spaniards Alex Corretja and Albert Portas retain their solid Top 5 standings, with Corretja adding a win and a loss with a wildcard this week at the TMS-Madrid. The Bottom 8 players at the end of the year qualify for the Tennis-X Masters-of-Disaster Cup, at a public park to be determined (minimum 29 matches):

Player/W-L/Pct.
1. Enqvist, Thomas (SWE) 10-26 .278
2. Beck, Karol (SVK)      9-22 .290
3. Corretja, Alex (ESP) 11-22 .333
4. Portas, Albert (ESP) 10-20 .333
5. Norman, Magnus (SWE)   10-19 .345
6. Vahaly, Brian (USA)   12-22 .353
7. Rochus, Christophe (BEL) 12-21 .364
8. Acasuso, Jose (ARG)    11-19 .367
9. Arthurs, Wayne (AUS) 14-24 .368
10. Kratochvil, Michel (SUI) 13-21 .382

2003 TENNIS-X TOP TITLE CHOKERS (Singles)
Players on the ATP and WTA Tours with more losses than wins in finals this year. Mardy Fish remains the top choker on tour, winless in three finals, ahead of Lindsay Davenport's impressive 1-5 record (minimum three runner-up efforts, through Oct. 12, 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)
Aussie Open champs Llodra/Santoro, who have qualified for the Masters Cup doubles, come in at No. 2 with their weak mark in finals this year (minimum three runner-up efforts, through Oct. 12, 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

NEXT WEEK ON TOUR
ATP Basel
ATP Stockholm
ATP St. Petersburg
WTA Linz
WTA Luxembourg

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Mark your calendar girls, Andy Roddick will apparently host Saturday Night Live on Nov. 8...Italy's Davide Tosi on the Ferrero-Ferreira spectacle at the TMS-Madrid earlier this week: "Tonight was the night of the shame. The Madrid public, a bunch of hooligans coming from football stadiums, completely overtook the end of the Ferrero-Ferreira match. The animals that inhabitate (sic) the zoo called Spain started to whistle, boo and howl during the play, disturbing Ferreira during his serve. He really could not hear the rumour of his racquet and of the ball, so loud was the noise. Of course he lost the serve game and ended up losing the match in the tie-break. After this, ATP must take the rights of organizing a Master Series event away from third-worldish Spain and give it back to a more civilized land." Nice stuff...World No. 2 Justine Henin-Hardenne, still competing in Zurich this week, yesterday pulled from next week's Linz tournament citing exhaustion: "Unfortunately, I have no option but to rest after this week to ensure that I will be 100% for the WTA Championships in three week's time. It's going to take everything I have just to survive and get through this week in Zurich. Since the US Open I have been feeling more and more physically, as well as mentally tired that it has got to the point, where I must take a break from playing." Hey WTA, whatever happened to fines for pulling out of events? For a weak reason? Pity the Linz organizers who've dropped a ton of cash promoting H-H for the event, and she pulls. C'mon H-H, suck it up. Take your countrywoman Kim Clijsters as an example: Clijsters is 81-11 thus far this year. Not since Steffi Graf in 1989 (86-2) has a player won more than 80 matches in a season, and not since 1986 (Martina Navratilova 89-3) has a player competed in over 90 singles matches...No surprise, but Serena has officially pulled from Philly as of Friday, and will also skip the year-ending WTA Championships: "I really miss playing tennis and I can't wait to come back and compete. However, I feel that I need more time to prepare and get myself in the best shape possible." Hey Staples Center, good luck filling those seats in L.A. with Ai Sugiyama and Anastasia Myskina -- No Venus (90% pull likely), Serena, Monica or Lindsay, you guys are f-ed...SI.com's Jon Wertheim says Guillermo Coria is a better all-around player than Tommy Haas? Wow, turn off the TV and actually attend some tournaments...Three-time Stockholm winner Thomas Enqvist, now ranked well outside the Top 100, will receive a wildcard next week at the event...Jennifer Capriati has qualified for the WTA Championships in singles, and Kuznetsova/Navratilova have qualified in doubles...Sweden's Magnus Norman underwent left knee and left hip surgery (again) in Gothenburg at the beginning of October, and is expected back on the practice courts some time next week. Back to work, slacker!...Could match-rigging happen on the WTA Tour? "Absolutely not," says Justine Henin-Hardenne. Like you'd know.