Roddick a Net Loss to Bjorkman in Doha

Posted on January 8, 2004

World No. 1 Andy Roddick, who has struggled in the past against guys who can actually return his serve and get to the net, was bounced from Doha on Wednesday by doubles specialist Jonas Bjorkman, who preyed on the Roddick backhand and ended points from the net in a straight-set dismissal. "It's always tough to play the No. 1 in the world," Bjorkman said. "I played him twice last year and lost. I think I learned how to play him. I've been struggling with his serve, today I stayed a bit further back. I was a little bit more patient and I tried to work his backhand." Which begs the question, once players figure out taking a few step backwards on the return and giving A-Rod a backhand clinic, will coach Brad Gilbert have his hands full? The American was the only seeded upset victim on the day, with three seeds advancing in (4)Sebastien Grosjean (d. (Q)Bohdan "Out-Of-Court Settlement" Ulihrach), (7)Tim "Spot On" Henman (d. Chela), and (8)Agustin Calleri (d. Arazi in three). Un-seeds into the quarterfinals were French wildcard Nicolas Escude (d. (Q)Ivo "I Dated Martina Hingis" Heuberger), Armenia's favorite son Sargis Sargsian (d. Youzhny in three), the net-rushing Korean Hyung-Taik Lee (d. defending champ Koubek), and Ivan "A-Rod Fan Club President" Ljubicic (d. Soderling).
Today's quarterfinals at the Oil Open get ugly with only three lower seeds remaining, featuring Lee vs. (WC)Escude, Ljubicic vs. (4)Grosjean (Frenchman leads 2-0), (7)Henman vs. Sargsian, and Bjorkman vs. (8)Calleri.

While his 6-0, 6-1 win was against the perpetually-injured top seed Wayne Ferreira, Aussie teen Todd Reid still had something to smile about after some sterling play in his first match of the year in his homecountry event at Adelaide Wednesday. "It's definitely my biggest win for far," Reid said. "I beat Jan-Michael (Gambill) second round of Queen's (in 2003), but this is great." Sure you say, "Who hasn't beaten Jan-Mike Gambill?" but let the kid have his moment. The South African was one of four seeds making an exit, including (3)Arnaud Clement (l. to resurgent Swedish wildcard Thomas Johansson), (4)Robby "That's Mr. Driver to You" Ginepri (l. to French comer Cyril Saulnier), and (8)Nicolas Lapentti (l. to the French qualifier Llodra). Two American seeds managed to escape the upset bug in (2)Vince Spadea (d. (WC)Arthurs in three), and (5)Taylor "Making a" Dent (d. Beck). Other un-seeds with "W"s included back-from-injury Brit Greg Rusedski (d. (Q)Wawrinka), and "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter (d. Guillermo "Go Ahead, Drug Test Me" Canas).
Four matches on the Adelaide slate today in Sanguinetti vs. (6)Nieminen, (WC)Reid vs. Sluiter, Saulnier vs. Rusedski, and Hrbaty vs. (7)A.Martin, but the crowd favorite will be Pat Rafter competing in his first-round match in the doubles.

The wheat was separated from the chaff Wednesday at Chennai, with upper seeds (2)Paradorn Srichaphan (d. Levy) and (4)Tommy Robredo (d. Carlsen) moving into the semifinals, and lower seeds (7)David Ferrer (l. to Andreev) and (8)Anthony Dupuis (l. to Lisnard) moving out of their hotel rooms. "On the first day I arrived, there were a lot of people talking about me defending my title, but I've been trying not to put pressure on myself," said Srichaphan, who speaking of pressure balled into a towel for a half hour after losing in the first-ever ATP event held in Thailand last year. "I'm really happy to come back here every year and try to do well for Asian tennis." With the stands nary half full, you've got to think Chennai is on the chopping block after this year, either moving to another city in India or disappearing from the ATP calendar altogether.
Today four more players will reach the quarters, with matches including local interest (WC)P.Amritraj vs. Ascione, (1)Moya vs. Goldstein, van Lottum vs. (5)Mantilla, and (3)Schalken vs. (Q)Knowle.


WTA REVIEWS/PREVIEWS
Three seeds exited the draw at Gold Coast on Wednesday, led by (3)Vera "Warren" Zvonareva (l. to Russian countrywoman Kuznetsova in three sets), and joined by (5)Conchita Martinez (l. to Dinara "Little Sis" Safina), and (8)Patty Schnyder (a walkover against Nathalie Dechy due to an ankle sprain). The only winning seed on the day was (2)Nadia Petrova, who punished the smack-talking home-Aussie Nicole Pratt in the oppressive heat. "I wasn't feeling great," said Petrova. "I was struggling because it was very hot and I haven't been drinking a lot." Well, you got the "W," time to hit the bars, go hydrate. The only other winner on the day kept Aussie hopes alive when wildcard Samantha Stosur upset Croatian comer Karolina Sprem in straight sets.
Thursday at Gold Coast will feature Safina vs. Petrova in an all-Russian affair, Dechy vs. Kuznetsova, Stosur vs. Serna, and in the night session the top-seeded Sugiyama vs. Maleeva.

Top-seeded Paola Suarez, used to being the top seed in doubles, not singles, nonetheless keeps winning at the WTA stop in Auckland, Wednesday thumping American Lindsay Lee-Waters 6-1, 6-3. Rain washed out much of the day's play, but three other matches were completed with winners including American Shenay Perry besting Tathiana Garbin in a battle of qualifiers, France's Marion Bartoli losing only two games to Cara Black, and American Amy "Down Goes" Frazier put on a suicide watch after failing to convert on an amazing nine match points against Kristina Brandi.
Auckland fans will get their money's worth on Thursday during a rain-stressed schedule featuring Barna vs. E.Marama, Daniilidou vs. Gagliardi, Suarez vs. Brandi, Harkleroad vs. Smashnova-Pistolesi, the winner of Barna-E.Marama vs. the winner of Harkleroad-Smashnova, Tu vs. Weingartner, the winner of Tu-Weingartner vs. the winner of Daniilidou-Gagliardi, and Perry vs. Bartoli.

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Kim Clijsters retired yesterday in the third set of her singles match at the Hopman Cup exhibition, and was taken to the hospital for a possible Achilles tendon injury, putting her Aussie Open chances in doubt. The Belgian's fiance, Lleyton Hewitt, rolled his ankle in a match on Wednesday but was wearing an ankle brace at the time and appears to be suffering no long-tern effects. Nice couple..After getting pasted by Aussie teen wildcard Todd Reid yesterday at Adelaide, the injury-ridden Wayne Ferreira says he will retire this year after the US Open and once he has secured Stefan Edberg's record of 54 straight slams (Wayne's at 52 right now)...Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who is not playing but has not announced his retirement either, will reportedly help train the Russian Davis Cup team for their upcoming tie (train in what, tanking matches?)...After getting dumped by her race car boyfriend, Jelena Dokic has now reconciled with her nutty dad Damir, who told Australia's The Age that Jelena will not play any Aussie tournaments in January because of past experiences. "We still think the match to play against Lindsey Davenport (in the opening round of the 2001 Australian Open) was rigged," said Damir. On Jelena returning to the family fold: "She saw that she made a mistake and has come back to the family...they were saying that she shouldn't be with her crazy father. Now see the results." Cuckoo!...The impressive WTA Sydney field next week will include players Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Amelie Mauresmo, Lindsay Davenport, Anastasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva, Chanda Rubin, and Ai Sugiyama of the Top 10 players...Tim Henman has won eight matches in a row stretching from the TMS-Paris in 2003...Brit Greg Rusedski, back on tour after injury, has cut back his on-tour posse (or maybe they cut him): "I don't have such a big team around me now. I'm coach, physio and everything all rolled into one, so that's a little easier to relax because you don't have all those people around you." Hey Greg, give Pete a call, maybe he'd be interested in coaching you...Adelaide top seed Wayne Ferreira on getting his ass handed to him in the first round by Aussie teen Todd Reid: "I never really play that well in the first week of the year ever. Maybe I came in on bad mental side not expecting to win, maybe that negative aspect, with not having played plus a little bit of the conditions. It was about as bad as I could possibly play. I don't think I've played as bad as that in the whole 15 years I've been on tour."...Russian Tennis Federation President Shamil Tarpishchev says Yevgeny Kafelnikov could never be a coach. "Just like most top players, Yevgeny has a big ego inside of him," he told The Age. "And unless he finds a way to channel it properly to help younger players' confidence instead of suppressing their initiative, he will not achieve the same success he has had as a player. I don't think he is ready for that just yet."...Venus Williams says she is completely recovered from her abdominal injury that dogged her through the latter half of 2003, but Serena may not be so lucky after pulling out of a Hong Kong exhibition this week...What's the rush between Ashley Harkleroad and fiance Alex Bogomolov Jr.? Take it easy kids, plenty of divorces in the future...Dinara "Marat's Little Sis" Safina has reportedly split from her coach, also known as her mother. Maybe give Yevgeny a call...Could Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova have a worse start to the season? Here's the recipe for success: Cancel the IMG modeling contract, hit a Burger King, and get back to winning matches.