Roddick, Federer Gear Up for Basel Battle; Hantuchova vs. Dokic Today in Luxembourg

Posted on October 22, 2003

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
Both seeds advanced in St. Petersburg (Russia) Monday but not without struggle, with No. 5 Mikhail Youzhny coming back from a set down to beat the resurgent Andrei Pavel, and No. 7 Gaston Gaudio coming back from a set down to best Spain's Al Martin. Un-seeds into the second round were Sargsian (d. Stepanek), Voltchkov (d. (WC)Davletshin), and Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty (d. Ferrer). The final round of qualifying was also completed, with Ram (ISR), Lisnard (FRA), Cermak (CZE), and Vacek (CZE) through into the main draw. This tournament needs some spice, some out-of-the-box marketing -- they will rue rejecting our idea of giving wildcards to Anna Kournikova and Maria Sharipova, and any other hot "ova" that wanted in. And "ring girls," aka professional boxing, between games.

In Stockholm Monday, 19-year-old Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic showed he is ready to assume the mantle of "Next Great Croatian," easily brushing aside big-serving countryman "Dr." Ivo "Remember When I Beat Lleyton?" Karlovic to advance into the second round. Joining him was (4)Gonzalez (d. Beck in three), while Denmark's Carlsen produced the upset of the day (d. (6)Zabaleta). Teen wildcard Robin Soderling gave the homecrowd Swedes something to cheer about with a win over the South African Moodie. "It's different playing this year, because I don't feel like an underdog coming into matches like in the past," said the 19-year-old Swede. "I've practiced a lot with Moodie and I know his game. I had a lot of chances early in the first set and he just had one chance and took advantage, so it was tough to lose that first set. I'm trying not to put expectations on myself, I know I can beat a lot of players when I'm playing well, but you have to be playing your best at this level." The final round of qualifying was also completed with Baccanello (AUS), Benneteau (FRA), Vliegen (BEL), and Andersen (NOR) into the main draw.

The Basel draw was made Monday, and even though would-be top-seed Juan Carlos Ferrero pulled, you couldn't ask for more interesting first round match-ups in this, one of the most storied non-TMS events on the ATP circuit. Top-seeded Andy Roddick will face the Swiss qualifier (and the Swiss crowd) Scherrer in his opener, while No. 2 Roger Federer will compete in an all-Swiss crowd-pleaser against friend and Davis Cup coach Marc Rosset, who received a wildcard. Other match-ups of interest are (8)Robredo vs. Swiss (WC)Kratochvil, Clement vs. Mathieu in an all-French, (7)Martin "Berzerk" Verkerk vs. Henman, Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. Lopez in an all-Spanish, (3)Coria vs. Santoro in an all-wizard, and (6)Philippoussis vs. a returning-to-form Lapentti. The doubles draw gives a Masters Cup preview with three teams that will be competing in Houston in Bryan/Bryan, Knowles/Nestor, and Damm/Suk.

Tuesday's Matches:
Basel -- (5)Novak vs. (Q)Arvind "Remember When I Lost the Davis Cup Tie for Britain?" Parmar, Behrend vs. Blake, (LL)Zib vs. (WC)Wawrinka, (2)Federer vs. (WC)Rosset (Rosset leads 2-1), Henman vs. (7)Verkerk (first meeting), (6)Philippoussis vs. N.Lapentti (first meeting), (Q)Llodra vs. Bohdan "Payback" Ulihrach, Clement vs. Mathieu (Clement leads 1-0), and H-T Lee vs. (Q)Elseneer.

St. Petersburg -- (Q)Vacek vs. (WC)Corretja (first meeting), Koubek vs. (2)Grosjean (Grosjean leads 3-2, this match will be like looking in a mirror), Vicente vs. (8)Safin (first meeting), Vahaly vs. (3)Kuerten (first meeting), (6)Spadea vs. Davydenko (first meeting), Burgsmuller vs. (Q)A.Ram, Sanchez vs. Dupuis, and Hanescu vs. (Q)Cermak.

Stockholm -- Chela vs. (7)Ferreira, Carraz vs. (8)Nieminen, (WC)J.Johansson vs. (Q)Andersen, Arazi vs. (WC)Enqvist (Swede leads 2-1), (Q)Vliegen vs. Ginepri, Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer vs. (Q)Benneteau, (5)Fish vs. (Q)Baccanello, and in the featured night match, Dent vs. (2)Schalken (Dent leads 3-0, nice draw for the Dutchman).

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Talented French lefty Emilie Loit drew first blood against the seeds Monday at Luxembourg, taking out (8)Sanchez Lorenzo easily to advance into the second round. Venezuela's Milagros Sequera followed with an upset of (6)Srebotnik. The two other seeds in action advanced in (3)Daniilidou (d. Cohen-Aloro) and (4)Tanasugarn (d. (WC)Elke "Sister Of" Clijsters 6-2, 6-3). The younger Clijsters is now 0-6 career in WTA matches, apparently the apple fell a bit far from the tree. The final round of qualifying was also completed Monday with Barbara Rittner (GER), Julia Vakulenko (UKR), Sofia Arvidsson (SWE), and Stephanie Foretz (FRA) into the main draw.

Only one main draw match played in Linz Monday, with Russian Lina "Say My Name" Krasnoroutskaya turning back Italy's Silvia Farina Elia. The final round of qualifying was also completed, with four into the main draw in Maja Matevzic (SLO), the unfortunately-named Ludmila Cervanova (SKV), Klara "Kouky" Koukalova (CZE), and Sonya Jeyaseelan (CAN).

On court Tuesday in Luxembourg are Pennetta vs. Granville, Black vs. Vakulenko, Foretz vs. Rittner, Flipkens vs. Sharapova, Molik vs. Grande, Ruano Pascual vs. Schaul, Gagliardi vs. Weingartner, Tatarkova vs. Medina Garrigues, and Ashley vs. Arvidsson. Today in Linz features Schiavone vs. Bovina, Serna vs. Likhovtseva, Pistolesi vs. The (WC)Bammer, Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova vs. Jelena "Getting My Confidence Back" Dokic, and Sprem vs. Suarez.

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
On Dec. 18, Justine Henin-Hardenne will play an exhibition match against Yannick Noah, where is our Tennis Channel when we need it?...Andre Agassi will again take the big guarantee and play the eight-man Kooyong Classic exhibition in Melbourne from Jan. 14-17, 2004 before the Australian Open...Juan Carlos Ferrero leads Andy Roddick at No. 1 on the ATP Champions Race by a mere four points...How hurting is women's Canadian tennis? Maureen Drake, the top-ranked Canadian, is playing ITF satellite events...Juan Carlos Ferrero pulled from Basel this week citing a sore foot and groin. Tournament director Roger Brennwald was upset at the late withdrawal, but ATP officials covered for the Spaniard, saying he has been injured for at least two weeks and during the Madrid final he twice needed assistance from a trainer...Slozil/Smid (1983-84) is the only team to win the Basel doubles title more than once...Last year the Bryan brothers became the second brother pair to win Basel after the Gullicksons in 1985...Tim Henman is seeking to make some changes so that he doesn't serve like a girl this week at Basel, where he has twice won the title: "I've made a couple of small changes to my serve recently that have helped me to generate a bit more pace on my first serve," said Henman, who was bumped in the first round last week at the TMS-Madrid by Mardy Fish...Will Yevgeny Kafelnikov even get the going-away party from the ATP, the slice of pizza?...How can three-time 2003 title-winner Taylor Dent be unseeded in Stockholm, you ask? Because he gets injured rolling out of bed, and has played only half the matches of many of his compatriots this year...Look for Roger Federer to face either Mark Philippoussis or James Blake in the quarters at Basel, while Andy Roddick has an easy ride to the semis where he will face either Verkerk, Henman, or Clement...If you held a tournament comprised of the women currently out with injury, it would be better than this year's field at the year-ending WTA Championships...Basel, next week's TMS-Paris, and the Masters Cup will be great viewing to see if Andy Roddick has the nutsack to clinch the year-end No. 1 ranking away from Juan Carlos Ferrero and Roger Federer...Venus Williams still hasn't pulled from Philadelphia, c'mon Venus, pull the trigger, you know you want to.