Nalbandian Stuns Ferrero at Masters Cup; Clijsters Cruises to WTA Title

Posted on November 12, 2003

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
Argentina's David Nalbandian erased any doubts of injury Monday on the opening day of the Tennis Masters Cup, blowing by world No. 2 Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-1, and blunting the Spaniard's chances of ending the year No. 1.
"It was just one of those days," Ferrero said. "I didn't feel very good at the start, no winners, I didn't serve very well...nothing good. It was my first match of the whole season that I play like this. But it has been a very long year. The last two times I played in the Masters I lost my first match but never this bad. But I will fight in the next game."
Nalbandian pulled from the TMS-Paris event with a wrist injury two weeks ago, but came out firing against the Spaniard. "I didn't play for some time, I am fresh and my mind is perfect," said Nalbandian, who was 4 for 4 on break point chances.
"I feel good, I didn't feel anything strange so I am very happy with the way I played. I don't feel 100 percent with the wrist so I had to be careful. But I focused 100 percent and my tactics were perfect."
In the day's second singles match, Roger Federer came back from a set down and two match points to defeat Andre Agassi in a thriller, with the Swiss knocking down 20 aces in a 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-6(7) comeback win. "At the end, it's separated by so little," Agassi said. "He hit two real good returns when I was serving for the match at 7-6 in the tiebreaker. And then, obviously, hit a great shot to win the match. (At) 3-1 in the breaker I had the sitter forehand that I don't think I've missed since 1989, and I just sort of crushed it and missed it in the tape. I think first match point, I dumped a second serve backhand return in the net. Those are just sort of, I think, the signs of not playing in a few months."
It was a good start for the Swiss, who must go undefeated in the event to finish the year at No. 1.

Today on court in singles at the Masters Cup are (4)Coria vs. (6)Schuettler (Coria leads career meetings 1-0 with a win last year at Roland Garros), and (1)Roddick vs. (7)Moya (A-Rod leads 1-0 with a three-set win at the 2001 TMS-Canada). The question on the minds of many is, how will No. 1 Andy Roddick perform after coming off a whirlwind of activity in the last week including flying to his adopted hometown of Boca Raton, Fl., to accept the keys to the city, flying to and from New York City for his appearance hosting Saturday Night Live, appearing in a fashion show, and the pre-publicity for the Masters Cup in Houston, all of which friends say have left him "stressed-out" and "overwhelmed"?

Masters Cup Singles Standings
Red Group:
(1)Andy Roddick 0-0 win-loss (0-0 sets)
(4)Guillermo Coria 0-0 (0-0)
(6)Rainer Schuettler 0-0 (0-0)
(7)Carlos Moya 0-0 (0-0)

Blue Group:
(8)David Nalbandian 1-0 win-loss (2-0 sets)
(3)Roger Federer 1-0 (2-1)
(5)Andre Agassi 0-1 (1-2)
(2)Juan Carlos Ferrero 0-1 (0-2)

The No. 2-seeded team of Bhupathi/Mirnyi kept their Masters Cup doubles hopes alive Monday, rebounding from an earlier loss to beat the hard-serving Aussie team of Arthurs/Hanley 6-4, 7-6(2) to even their round robin record at 1-1. In the second match of the day, the No. 4-seeded team of Knowles/Nestor elevated their record to a perfect 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-1 pounding of Argentines Etlis/Rodriguez. "I don't think we've officially qualified for the semifinals, so it doesn't really mean that much," said Nestor, who with Knowles finished 2002 at No. 1 on the ATP Team Rankings. "Next match we're playing a team (Bhupathi/Mirnyi) that needs to win, so we have to stay on top of our games. We're in a situation now where if we lose, we could be finished. So from here on in, every match is a must-win match now."

On court today in the Masters Cup doubles are (6)Llodra/Santoro vs. (7)Damm/Suk (Frenchmen leads head-to-head 2-1), and (1)Bryan/Bryan vs. (3)Bjorkman/Woodbridge (B/W leads head-to-head 4-1).

Masters Cup Doubles Standings
Red Group:
(1)Bryan/Bryan 2-0 win-loss (4-2 sets)
(3)Bjorkman/Woodbridge 1-1 (3-2)
(6)Llodra/Santoro 1-1 (3-3)
(7)Damm/Suk 0-2 (1-4)

Blue Group:
(4)Knowles/Nestor 2-0 win-loss (4-1 sets)
(8)Etlis/Rodriguez 1-1 (2-2)
(2)Bhupathi/Mirnyi 1-1 (2-2)
(5)Arthurs/Hanley 0-2 (1-4)

ATP YEAR-END NO. 1 SCENARIOS
Andy Roddick will clinch No. 1 at the Masters Cup if Juan Carlos Ferrero goes 0-3 regardless of Roddick's results, or Roddick reaches semifinals and Ferrero doesn?t, or Roddick defeats Ferrero in the final. Ferrero will clinch No. 1 if he goes 3-0 in round robin and Roddick goes no better than 1-2 and fails to reach semifinals, or Ferrero goes 2-1 in round robin and reaches the final while Roddick fails to reach semifinals, or Ferrero defeats Roddick in the final. Roger Federer will clinch No. 1 if he is the undefeated champion, or Roddick goes 0-3 and Ferrero goes no better than 1-2 and does not reach the semifinals. Get out your calculator.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
In an anti-climactic blowout Monday night, Kim Clijsters thumped Amelie Mauresmo 6-2, 6-0 to successfully defend her title at the WTA Championships in what journalists could eventually vote as the 'Greatest Un-Watchable Match Ever.'
"You want to focus on yourself and not let her back in the match," said Clijsters, the first woman to successfully defend the year-end championship since Steffi Graf seven years ago. "I saw the ball like a football, I was seeing it really well. It's nice to know you can do whatever you want with the ball. Last year was a great memory beating Serena in the final, but this year was a new challenge with the new formula (round robin) and stuff. It's a great feeling." And stuff.
Mauresmo for her part couldn't get the engine started. "I did my best today but it wasn't good enough," said the No. 4-ranked Frenchwoman. "I was a little bit tired. I wasn't finding my rhythm today and she didn't make any mistakes. I think the last matches took a lot out of me physically and mentally."
It was the tour-leading ninth title for Clijsters, topping Justine Henin-Hardenne's eight, and her 90th match win. The final attracted an announced crowd of a paltry 8,925 at the Staples Center -- 1,307 less than last year's ratings-sucking final, also on a Monday night, but more than a WNBA game.

In the WTA Championships doubles final, Kim Clijsters came up just short of sweeping the event, losing with partner Ai Sugiyama to the No. 2-seeded team of Ruano Pascual/Suarez 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Ruano Pascual/Suarez finish the year with five titles, behind the seven of Clijsters/Sugiyama, but end the year at No. 1 on the WTA Team Rankings. Hey WTA, rethink that horrible four-team single elimination draw, give some respect to the dubs like the ATP (eight-team round robin draw).

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
ATP CEO Mark Miles was overheard by Tennis-X staff to remark he thinks Andy Roddick has Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD); Roddick for his part says he doesn't need to slow down: "I have trouble sitting still. Some players have the mind-set that they work better when they have 100% focus on tennis all the time. But I'd go nuts if I was inside for two weeks straight."...Mandy Moore was not too surprised that boyfriend Andy Roddick pulled off his SNL hosting gig: "He's just perfect at everything," Moore told USA Today. "It makes me so frustrated sometimes. I'm like, 'Can't you just be bad at something?'"...Andre Agassi is the only former champion in the Masters Cup field, and that win came 13 years ago...Even with every session this week sold out in Houston, with only 7,500 seats, this year's finale at the Masters Cup will not come close to matching the attendances the last two years in Shanghai and Sydney...The 2001 Masters Cup finale in Sydney provided the largest crowd for a tennis match in Australia in 50 years with 16,800 fans watching Lleyton Hewitt defeat Pat Rafter...Notice how Andy Roddick bailed on the opening monologue on Saturday Night Live last weekend, with John McEnroe and Andre 3000 of Outkast filling in most of the time slot? Hand it to McEnroe for stealing the show...More Andy Roddick on his SNL experience: "I walk in and there's the whole cast sitting at a round table, 20-some odd writers, all the producers and I have a seat at like the head of the table. My knees were shaking."...While Andy Roddick is all the buzz, Andre Agassi sees someone else dominating in the years to come: "(Roger) Federer is a guy with a lot of potential. He's had a great year. More people are talking about him as the player of the future more than anyone else."...Billie Jean King likes to play psychologist to the Williams sisters, which had to be pretty damn annoying: "I've talked to them and most importantly I ask them questions. 'What do they really want? 'Is it important for you to be No 1, Serena?' Those are the kind of the questions I would ask, for them to search their own souls and their own minds." We can hear the messages on BJK's answering machine -- 'Stop calling us, old woman! We've got TV shows to do!'...From a WTA press release: "One of (WTA CEO Larry) Scott's most important successes in 2003 is the rejuvenation of the Bank of America WTA Tour Championships presented by Porsche, which recorded increased attendance and attention this year." Then why didn't we see any numbers in the press release? How COULDN'T you have an improvement in attendance over last year?...A Staples Center official said last year's WTA Championships attendance was corrected to 41,260 instead of the originally announced 56,862, which was padded to include complimentary tickets -- nice one...Kim Clijsters became the first woman in sporting history to win over US$4 million in a single season after winning the single largest cheque in women's tennis history (US$1,000,030) at the WTA Championships...Amelie Mauresmo was the only player to defeat Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and Justine Henin-Hardenne this year.