Fish Swallows Soderling for First Title; Kuerten, Coria, Clijsters, Sugiyama also winners; TMS-Paris to Determine Last TMC Spot

Posted on October 28, 2003

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
Former No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten came back on-line in St. Petersburg Sunday, beating unseeded Sargis "Sarge" Sargsian 6-4, 6-3 in the former-hip-surgery battle for his second title of the year in his first appearance at the Russian event. "For me it's a great moment and it came in a good time too," Kuerten said. "I needed this result to keep my motivation going on." In the doubles final, Knowle/Zimonjic beat Kohlmann/Schuettler for their first title as a team.

The Fish wins in Stockholm (ATP)

19-year-old Swedish wildcard Robin Soderling gave his homecountry fans their money's worth Sunday in his career-first ATP final at Stockholm, but in the end came up just short in a third set tiebreak loss to No. 5 seed Mardy Fish. "It feels great to win my first title," said The Fish, who is 1-3 in finals this year. "It's been a dream ever since I've been playing. It's a relief because I might have started questioning myself a little after losing in those other three finals." In the doubles final, Todd Woodbridge made history by capturing the title with partner Jonas Bjorkman and tying Dutchman Tom Okker atop the all-time doubles titles list in the Open Era with 78 wins. Bjorkman and Woodbridge beat Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley of Australia 6-3, 6-4 for their fourth title of 2003.

Guillermo Coria won his fifth title of the year Sunday at Basel without even stepping on court, receiving a walkover when countryman David Nalbandian was unable to play with a wrist injury. "My wrist felt terrible this morning," Nalbandian said. "I tried to hit some balls but I couldn't hit a backhand. It's hurting when I try to his the ball, I cannot use my left hand. Everyone wants to play a final but what can I do. It's not a great moment for me. I'm so, so sorry for everybody, the crowd has supported me during the whole week." In the doubles final, Knowles/Nestor won their sixth title of the season with a straight-set win over Hood/Arnold.

Everyone who's not injured or nursing babies is at the TMS-Paris this week, the final regular-season stop on the ATP circuit. Last year Marat Safin (who this year pulled with injury) beat Lleyton Hewitt (who this year pulled with lack of interest) in the final. This year the ATP is following the WTA's horrible lead by giving the Top 16 seeds byes in the opening round, but a couple good first round match-ups are on the docket in Gonzalez vs. Blake, and Fish vs. Kuerten. Potential second round match-ups are (14)Novak vs. Mirnyi, (8)Srichaphan vs. Ginepri, (4)Coria vs. Youzhny, (15)Mantilla vs. Pavel, (5)Schuettler vs, Gonzalez, (7)Grosjean vs. Henman, (9)Philippoussis vs. Fish/Guga, (6)Nalbandian vs. Bjorkman (that's a Nalbandian retirement with the wrist problem), (16)Robredo vs. Gasquet/Gaudio, and (2)Roddick vs. the red-hot Wayne Ferreira. Wildcards went to Frenchmen Fabrice Santoro, Paul-Henri Mathieu, and Richard Gasquet.
On court Monday at the TMS-Paris are Stepanek vs. (Q)Carraz, Davydenko vs. Henman, (Q)Arazi vs. (WC)Mathieu, (WC)Gasquet vs. Gaudio, Max "The Beast" Mirnyi vs. (WC)Fabrice "El Mago Senior" Santoro, Gonzalez vs. Blake, Ginepri vs. (Q)Beck, Costa vs. Zabaleta, (Q)Mahut vs. Nieminen, (Q)Hanescu vs. Ferreira, Chela vs. (Q)Ascione, and Pavel vs. Kucera.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Top-seeded Kim Clijsters collected yet another title and re-took the No. 1 ranking from countrywoman Justine Henin-Hardenne Sunday in Luxembourg, rolling over No. 2 seed Chanda Rubin with some resistance in straight sets. "I can't believe I've won this tournament now four times," Clijsters said. "I came here as a 16-year-old, just starting out on the tour and ever since it has been a big part of my career. And it sounds weird to say I've won eight titles this year. I've played a lot, but I've managed to stay consistent pretty much the entire season, so for me I'm just hoping I can continue that in a couple of weeks in LA (WTA Championships). After the first set Chanda really picked up her game; she took advantage of her opportunities, while my level might have dropped a little bit. But I kept my focus even when I was down 4-1 and I told myself I still had a chance to win that set." Clijsters ties H-H for the tour lead with eight titles, while Rubin drops to 2-3 this year in finals. It was the fourth Luxembourg title for Lleyton's girlfriend in the last five years. In the doubles final, Sharapova/Tanasugarn rolled over Tatarkova/Weing䲴ner for their second title of the year.

No. 2-seeded Ai Sugiyama won her second title of the year in Linz Sunday, beating down Russian youngster and No. 4 seed Nadia Petrova in straights. Petrova was appearing in her first WTA final. "I had a great preparation all week and my discipline really paid off," said the Japanese No. 1. "It's a mental game out there. You have to be really tough on the important points and every game was close. Nadia played really well too today. She's very strong and I had to use my best weapon -- my footwork -- to be ready for every ball and be mentally tough. I know I'm in a good position for the championships now, so I just have to focus on Philadelphia now and see what happens there." The top-seeded team of Huber/Sugiyama won the doubles title with a 6-1, 7-6(6) win over the unseeded team of Bartoli/Farina Elia.

Venus Williams pulled from Philadelphia Sunday as everyone expected, leaving a no-Belgian, no-Williams, no-interest "B"-level field with seeds Mauresmo, Myskina, Rubin, Sugiyama, Zvonarova, Petrova, Shaughnessy and Pisnik. Not good for the TV ratings as the hangers-on attempt to qualify for the last remaining spots at the WTA Championships. (4)Rubin could play Alexandra "Dr. A" Stevenson second round, and first-rounders include (7)Petrova against Amy "Down Goes" Frazier, and (6)Zvonareva vs. Raymond. Ashley "Anna 2.0" Harkleroad also takes to the court to see if she can stay uninjured for a week running. Wildcards went to Marissa Irvin (USA), Mauresmo (FRA), and Shenay Perry (USA). In the 2000 final (last year this event was played), Lindsay Davenport (currently out with injury) beat Martina Hingis (now retired) in straight sets.
On court today in Philly are Cohen-Aloro vs. Kapros, Jankovic vs. Perry, Lee vs. Pisnik, Black vs. Sucha, Garbin vs. Irvin, and Harkleroad vs. Likhovtseva.

This week in Quebec City is a throw-away event, with No. 35-ranked Mary "I Could Have Been a Contender" Pierce filling in the top slot, followed by a shaky seeded line-up featuring Sharapova, Granville, Bartoli, Barna, Klara "Kouky" Koukalova, Grande, and the No. 76-ranked Samantha Reeves. Drop a bomb on this Canadian stinker.

ATP OPEN ERA DOUBLES TITLE LEADERS
1. Tom Okker (NED) -- 78
1. Todd Woodbridge (AUS) -- 78*
3. John McEnroe (USA) -- 77*?
4. Frew McMillan (RSA) -- 74
5. Mark Woodforde (AUS) -- 67
*Active players

WTA DOUBLE TROUBLE
Ai Sugiyama is one of 12 players in the last 20 years to win a singles title while ranked No. 1 in the world in doubles:
Navratilova (45 titles: 1984/86-90)
Shriver (1985 Filderstadt)
Sukova (1991 Brisbane)
Novotna (1991 Oklahoma City)
G. Fernandez (1991 Albuquerque)
Sanchez-Vicario (four titles: 1995/96)
Davenport (five titles: 1998/99)
Hingis (four titles: 1998/99/00)
Raymond (2002 Memphis)
Suarez (2003 Vienna)
Clijsters (2003 Los Angeles)
Sugiyama (2003 Linz)

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Gustavo Kuerten's last seven tournament finals have come on hardcourt or carpet...Guillermo Coria became only the third South American to win Basel after Nalbandian (2002) and his namesake Guillermo Vilas (1978)...David Nalbandian, if he qualifies, could be iffy for the Masters Cup after the reoccurrence of his wrist injury. Look for him to probably pull from the TMS-Paris in a couple days: "It's the same injury I had at the US Open. If I had played today maybe I would need to have surgery. I will see doctors tomorrow. I don't think it will be much better in 2-3 days."...Mardy Fish was the first American to win at Stockholm since Todd Martin in 1998...Mardy Fish is the sixth different American to win an ATP title this year, the most in a year since 1995...Swedish wildcard Robin Soderling served 81 percent in the second set of the Stockholm final and 75 percent throughout the match in a losing effort...After reaching the ATP final in Stockholm, Swede Robin Soderling says it's back to the Challenger circuit: "I'm still playing another Challenger this season and it's good that next year I will be able to play a lot of ATP events. I'm trying not to set too many goals, but I think breaking into the Top 50 would probably be my next."...In Luxembourg, Kim Clijsters was appearing in her 14th tour singles final this year, the most of any woman on the WTA Tour since Steffi Graf in 1993, who went 10-4 in 14 finals (Martina Hingis reached 13 finals in 1997, 1999 and 2000)...Any one of David Nalbandian, Mark Philippoussis, Sebastien Grosjean, Paradorn Srichaphan and Younes El Aynaoui can mathematically qualify for the eighth spot at the Masters Cup this week at the TMS-Paris.