Schuettler Bounced in Opener at ATP Doha

Posted on January 6, 2004

Top 10 player Rainer Schuettler took the appearance money and ran Monday at the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open in Doha, losing in the first round 6-3, 7-6(5) to Russian punisher Mikhail Youzhny. "I wasn't aggressive enough," said the German, who qualified for the Masters Cup in 2003 and by the looks if it, doesn't appear to be back on a return path. "I think I made the mistake of taking the match a bit easy...I didn't make him run which I should have. It's completely different in practice than to play a match but it's the same for everyone." The only other seed in action, (7)Tim Henman, made easy work of Spanish dirtballer David Sanchez 6-4, 6-0. Qualifiers also had their day, with Swiss Ivo "I Dated Martina Hingis" Heuberger beating local wildcard Sultan Khalfan, and Bohdan "Just Say No" Ulihrach making Nicolas Kiefer look bad in allowing only three games.
Today the stars come out in Doha, featuring (Q)Hantschk vs. (4)Grosjean, (WC)Escude vs. (6)El Aynaoui (Frenchman leads 3-1), (1)Roddick vs. Davydenko (A-Rod leads head-to-head 2-0), (3)Philippoussis vs. defending champ Koubek (first meeting), Volandri vs. (8)Calleri, Soderling vs. Gambill, Stepanek vs. Bjorkman, H-T.Lee vs. (Q)Voltchkov, Chela vs. O.Rochus, and (5)Massu vs. Ljubicic.

All four seeds in action punched through in Adelaide Monday, led by Americans (2)Vince Spadea (d. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer) and (5)Taylor Dent (d. Luis "Me So" Horna), and joined by (6)Jarkko Nieminen (d. Moodie in three) and (7)Al Martin (d. Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic 7-6 in the third). In unseeded action, local wildcard Wayne Arthurs beat "Dr." Ivo Karlovic in a three-set battle of serving machines, former Aussie Open winner Thomas Johansson made a successful comeback after over a year off the tour with a knee injury by pounding Christophe Rochus, and Slovak Karol "Littler Cat" Beck eased by American Brian Vahaly. "I saw the ball (big) as a football out there, so it was a lot of fun," Johansson said on his return to action. "I haven't played a match for so long, so I've been looking forward to this moment every single day."
On court Tuesday in Adelaide are (8)N.Lapentti vs. Labadze, Hanescu vs. (3)Clement, (Q)Wawrinka vs. the back-from-injury Rusedski, (4)Ginepri vs. Saulnier, (1)Ferreira vs. (WC)Reid, Canas vs. "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter, (Q)Elsner vs. Sanguinetti, (Q)Benneteau vs. Hrbaty, and (Q)Llodra vs. Burgsmuller.

It was only one-star spicy in Chennai Monday, with two low-rent seeds advancing in (7)David Ferrer (d. countryman Verdasco 6-0 in the third), and (8)Anthony Dupuis (d. Popp 7-6 in the third, saving one match point). Yes, this is a tour event, and not a challenger. In unseeded action, Prakash Amritraj won the Indian wildcard battle (d. Mankad), with other winners including Israel's Harel Levy (d. Portas), Dutchman John van Lottum (d. "Julio &" Galo Blanco), the U.S.'s Paul Goldstein (d. Mutis), Russia's Igor Andreev (d. Ramirez Hidalgo), and France's Jean-Rene Lisnard (d. Pless). "The balls were really flying out there tonight," Amritraj said. "And it's always difficult playing your first match of the year. It's a nice feeling to get a win first up and have a day off tomorrow. I can go out tonight and celebrate." Yup, you can tell the rookies because they always talk about liquoring-it-up after getting a win.
On tap today in Chennai the big boys come out to play in (2)Srichaphan vs. Montanes, (1)Moya vs. (Q)Okun, Tursunov vs. (4)Robredo, Ascione vs. (6)Nadal-Parera, (3)Schalken vs. (Q)Udomchoke, (Q)Vacek vs. (5)Mantilla, (WC)Rastogi vs. (Q)Knowle, and Mathieu vs. Carlsen.


WTA REVIEWS/PREVIEWS
No. 4-seeded Meghann Shaughnessy threw the locals a bone Monday at Gold Coast, bowing out in straight sets to Aussie rookie Samantha Stosur 7-6(3), 6-3, looking a bit sluggish in the Aussie heat. "I went into this match thinking I could win, and I did," said the No. 162-ranked 18-year-old Stosur, who needed a wildcard to get in to the main draw. "I did not doubt myself when I was out there. It's the biggest win of my career. To win here, the first tournament of the year, I don't think things can get much better." The two other seeds in action advanced easily, with (5)Conchita "I'm the Oldest Player in the Field" Martinez beating (Q)Tian Tian Sun, and (3)Vera "Warren" Zvonareva pasting (Q)Barbara "How Was I Once a Top Player?" Schett. Other winners were Hungarian qualifier Aniko Kapros (d. Pisnik 6-0 in the third), and French lefty Emilie Loit downing Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn in straights.
On tap today at Gold Coast are Maleeva vs. Sanchez Lorenzo, Kapros vs. Serna, Krasnoroutskaya vs. Pratt, Sugiyama vs. Loit, and Cohen-Aloro vs. Dinara "Little Sis" Safina.

At Auckland Monday, only two of the four seeds in action advanced in (3)Eleni Daniilidou (d. Kostanic) and (8)Anca Barna (d. the unfortunately-named Ludmila Cervanova), with (5)Shinobu "I Was Just Amazed to be Seeded" Asagoe falling to Kristina Brandi, and (4)Maria Vento-Kabchi losing to veteran Cara Black. Daniilidou failed to find her "A"-game but was happy to put one in the "W" column. "In the second set, I was not moving well or hitting the ball well," said Daniilidou, who looked to be struggling in the hot conditions. "I just tried to fight and finally, at the end of the (second) set, for the tiebreak, I was moving again and finding my game...I'm happy it went only two sets because of the heat." Eden Marama won the New Zealand wildcard battle 6-4, 6-3 over fellow local Shelley Stephens. "It means a lot to me, not only for my WTA points but beating Shelley because she's the New Zealand No. 1," Marama said. "If I can keep my form up, I'm confident I can be No. 1 here sometime." Wow, reach for the stars -- No. 1 in New Zealand, that's like being No. 1 in Greenland. In unseeded play it was a good day for the Americans as Ashley "Anna 2.0" Harkleroad beat fellow American Teryn Ashley, Amy Frazier outlasted Marie-Gayane Mikaelian 6-0 in the third, and Lindsay Lee-Waters outlasted Italy's Rita "Make that a" Grande in three. The final round of qualifying was also played, with Shenay Perry (USA), Meilen Tu (USA), Tathiana Garbin (ITA), and Tara Snyder (USA) into the main draw.
On court today in Auckland are Granville vs. Garbin, Vakulenko vs. Smashnova-Pistolesi, Bartoli vs. Medina Garrigues, Suarez vs. Taylor, Parra vs. Weingartner, Klara "Kouky" Koukalova vs. Gagliardi, Perry vs. Ruano Pascual, and Tu vs. Morigami.

ATP CHENNAI PAST CHAMPIONS
2003 Paradorn Srichaphan
2002 Guillermo Canas
2001 Michal Tabara
2000 Jerome Golmard
1999 Byron Black
1998 Patrick Rafter
1997 Mikael Tillstrom
1996 Thomas Enqvist
* Bhupathi/Paes won the doubles five times, in 2002, and '00-97

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Roger Federer was awarded the "ATP European Player of The Year Award" for 2003 as voted by the European ATP tournament directors. The diverse criteria for the award is based on the final ATP Champions Race position of the player, attitude towards media and sponsors, and cooperation and support of the European events. Spain's Carlos Moya won the inaugural award last year (totally overlooking the contributions of Yevgeny Kafelnikov)...The ATP stop in Chennai has no sponsor for 2005, saying "ta-ta" to 2004 sponsor Tata, and may be canned...The ATP is now demanding that players become more accessible to the media, or pay large fines. In 2004, players must: take part in television interviews as they walk on to court for matches (up to an hour); take part in pre-match interviews with television during court walk-on before a match (not to exceed two minutes); a five minute interview with the host broadcaster after winning a match; and 30 minutes to appear at a post-match press conference...What's up with American women tennis players? Does anyone have a pulse?...Much to the chagrin of the Spaniards, Wimbledon will not change its calendar date for 2005 nor add an extra "vacation week" between the championships and the French Open...In 2005 the ATP Delray Beach event will move from September to immediately following the Australian Open, a more desirous date (sort of), and the event has secured a deal with The Tennis Channel...The British government has threatened to cut funding for the Lawn Tennis Association if it can't start attracting more youngsters...Australian Open wildcards have gone to Todd Reid, Alun Jones, Nicolas Escude, Vadim Kutsenko, Samantha Stosur, Trudi Musgrave, Tatiana Golovin, and Chuang Chia Jung...Yevgeny Kafelnikov has officially withdrawn from the Australian Open, but still refuses to pull the trigger on the official retirement announcement...Marat Safin looked to be back in form Monday at the Hopman Cup exhibition, beating nemesis Fabrice Santoro 6-3 6-3, his first win in nine months after the wrist injury: "It feels great to be back. I am happy. I mean, playing Fabrice is not so nice for me...he was leading 7-1 in (tour) matches we'd played, so I am happy to be back and to win....My ranking has dropped to 77 so it is a difficult time for me. But I will be trying my best to get back into the Top 10."...Romania will lay down an indoor claycourt for their Davis Cup first round match against Switzerland next month, and Andrei Pavel will be back on the team after injury to face the Roger Federer-led squad...Kim Clijsters on skipping the Athens Olympics this year: "Tennis does not feel like an Olympic sport. I don't think they get the publicity or the crowds they get at grand slams." Maybe because the top players skip it, eh Kim?...Jennifer Capriati has withdrawn from an exhibition in Hong Kong and is now in doubt for the Australian Open with a back injury, serious doubt...Also in doubt, serious doubt, for the Australian Open is Tommy Haas, who's still not 100% confident in playing with his healed shoulder.