Henman Wins in Paris; Sharapova, Mauresmo Collect WTA Titles; WTA Championships Begin Wednesday



Posted on November 4, 2003

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEWHenman serves up a winner in Paris (ATP)
Robbed of his best tennis much of his year with a shoulder injury, Britain's Tim Henman made up for it at the last regular-season tournament of the year, beating Andrei Pavel 6-2, 7-6(6), 7-6(2) at the TMS-Paris for his first career Tennis Masters Series title win. En route to the championship, Henman also posted wins over former No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten, 2001 TMS-Paris winner Sebastien Grosjean, current Wimbledon holder Roger Federer, and current No. 1 Andy Roddick. "I couldn't be happier with the week, the way I've played, the people I've beaten and obviously the result, the outcome, to win a Tennis Masters Series," Henman said. "And in Paris, I think it's one of the most prestigious Masters Series events. To finish the year on such a positive and suddenly, you know, my ranking has gone from 40 to 14 I think in a month. It's very, very motivating for me." The Brit was playing in his third career Tennis Masters Series final after 2000 Cincinnati (l. to Thomas Enqvist) and 2002 Indian Wells (l. to Lleyton Hewitt), and won his second ATP title of 2003 after Washington. The doubles final was a preview of next week's Masters Cup doubles, with Aussies Arthurs/Hanley beating No. 4-seeded Frenchmen Llodra/Santoro 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 for their fourth title of the year. "It's a privilege to win a Tennis Masters Series title, it is our second this year after Rome," Arthurs said. "And Paris is a very prestigious event in the series. Paul and I have had a very good year and we hope to put in a strong Masters performance next week and finish the year on a very high note."

The Tennis Masters Cup in Houston begins Saturday, Nov. 8 in Houston, and Tennis-X will bring you analysis and stats this week leading up to the year-end championship. The field will feature the top eight players on the ATP Rankings in Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Guillermo Coria, Rainer Schuettler, Carlos Moya and David Nalbandian, with Mark Philippoussis waiting in the wings as the alternate in case of injury. There is a good chance the Aussie could see action during the event, with Nalbandian suffering from a wrist injury, Moya nursing a sore shoulder, and Federer experiencing some back problems last week in Paris. Only four players return from last year's Masters Cup in Agassi, Ferrero, Federer, and Moya, with Lleyton Hewitt beating Ferrero in last year's five-set final. The draw will be made later this week, with the No. 1 seed placed in the Red Group and the No. 2 seed placed in the Gold Group, and players seeded 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8 drawn in pairs with the first drawn placed in the Red Group. See the Tennis Masters Cup link on this site for additional info.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
No. 2 seed Amelie Mauresmo came back from a set down to beat No. 3 Anastasia Myskina 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 for the Philadelphia title Sunday. The win avenged a loss to the Russian a few weeks back in the Moscow final. "As the match was going on, I could feel my game was going better," Mauresmo said. "I could feel she was getting a little tired. She was not adjusting as well. The second set was perfect, the third set was close to perfect as well." Myskina was coming off a tough three-setter Saturday where she was bothered by cramping and a wrist problem, and found it difficult to sleep Saturday night. "I wasn't ready to beat her today," Myskina said. "I completely lost concentration and couldn't keep focus." It was the second title of 2003 for the Frenchwoman. Martina Navratilova and Lisa Raymond won the doubles title, beating Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs 6-3, 6-4 in their first teaming in nine years. "We both know how to play doubles and it's a pleasure to play out there," said Navratilova, who will team with Raymond in the upcoming Fed Cup semifinals against Belgium. "I'm so much more relaxed."

No. 2-seeded Russian 16-year-old Maria Sharapova won her second title of the year Sunday at Quebec City when Milagros Sequera retired after fracturing her left ankle at the beginning of the second set. Sharapova had won the first set 6-2 when in the first game of the second set the Venezuelan injured herself and was taken to the hospital. "I wanted to say that I am happy for this win, but now I just want to say that I am sad for Milagros," said Sharapova during the trophy ceremony. "I wish her the best and I want her to know that she should be very proud of the great week that she had. It's good to finish the year with a title win, but I didn't want to win like that." In the doubles final, No. 4-seeded Chinese Li/Sun eased by top-seeded Callens/Tu 6-3, 6-3 for their second title of the year.

The WTA Championships changes its format this year, copying the ATP Masters Cup with two groups of four playing round robin, and the top two from each group advancing to the semifinals. The eight qualifiers beginning play Wednesday in L.A. will be Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Jennifer Capriati, Amelie Mauresmo, Elena Dementieva, Anastasia Myskina, Ai Sugiyama, and Chanda Rubin. In last year's WTA Championship final, No. 5-seeded Kim Clijsters ousted top-seeded Serena Williams 7-5, 6-3.

For some horrible reason the WTA holds a minor tour event in Thailand this week, going up against their WTA Championships. The Pattaya City event is so prestigious, the WTA had no media notes out as of Monday morning EST. In last year's Pattaya City final, Indonesia's Angelique Widjaja beat Korea's Yoon Jeong Cho 6-2, 6-4 in the all-unseeded final.

WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS ON ESPN2 IN THE U.S. (EST)
Wed., Nov. 5, 10:30 PM - 12:00 AM
Thurs., Nov. 6, 5:00 PM - 06:30 PM, and 10:30 PM - 12:00 AM
Fri., Nov. 7, 5:00 PM - 06:30 PM
Sat., Nov. 8, 12:30 AM - 02:00 AM, and 4:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Sun., Nov. 9, 1:00 AM - 02:30 AM, and 3:30 PM ? 06:30 PM
Mon., Nov. 10, 10:00 PM - 12:00 AM

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Before last week, Tim Henman had never reached the quarterfinals at the TMS-Paris in seven appearances...As expected, Venus Williams pulled from the WTA Championships with her abdominal injury, and is replaced by Chanda Rubin. The WTA, announcing the pull in a media release, could not get a statement from Venus...In speaking to the World Federation of Advertising Conference recently, WTA CEO Larry Scott tried to put a positive spin on the WTA's past Big Tobacco connection: "Like Virginia Slims in women?s tennis, this advertising and promotional support has enabled sporting organizations, with their advertising partners, to extend the positive values associated with sport and broaden sport?s ability to bring benefits to people?s lives." Yeah, positive values, keep on puffing...British No. 1 Anne Keothavong (ranked outside the Top 150) has split from her coach James Trotman, and is expected to continue working with Tony Pickard, former coach to Stefan Edberg and a past British Davis Cup captain...Tim Henman is happy going it alone on tour: "I'm pretty certain that I will never have a full-time coach again. I definitely wouldn't want someone travelling with me all the time."...Check out Tim Henman beating Grosjean, Kuerten, Federer, and Roddick at the TMS-Paris last week, who says the serve and volley is dead?...Time for the top players to roll in the dough at the Masters Cup, with each player receiving $90K for qualifying, earning $120K for each round robin win, with an undefeated champion earning $1.52 million...Martina Navratilova has won seven WTA Tour doubles titles for 2003 for a record 173 career; Navratilova plans to play all next year with countrywoman Lisa Raymond: "I'm so excited about next year that I can't even stand it. Playing with Lisa is just a pleasure. I'm so relaxed playing out there."...Did you know that Robby Ginepri's girlfriend, actress Minnie Driver, plans to work in Cambodian sweatshop to put a spotlight on their plight? Did you know that ESPN commentator Pam Shriver is the fourth cousin of California first lady Maria Shriver, and is married to the one-time James Bond-playing George Lazenby since last year? Betcha didn't...Almost half of the best players (Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport) will be missing from the eight-woman field at the WTA Championships...WTA Tour choker Jennifer Capriati is the only player in the Top 15 with a losing record in tiebreaks...Mark Philippoussis has passed Lleyton Hewitt in the ATP Rankings to become Australia's new No. 1 player...Giovanni "Nico's Brother" Lapentti won the Waco (Texas) Challenger last week...Miss seeing Pete Sampras and Anna Kournikova on court? Not to worry tennis fans as you can enjoy the two stars and much much more on Miscrosoft's new tennis video game, Top Spin, which is set to be released November 15 on the major game platforms.