Henman Poised for ATP Doha Title, Rafter Bombs at Adelaide

Posted on January 9, 2004

While all the attention at week's beginning in Doha was on world No. 1 Andy Roddick, Tim Henman now looks poised to win his second consecutive title after his season-ending TMS-Paris run in 2003. The highest-ranked player remaining, the No. 7-seeded Brit easily brushed past Sargis Sargsian Thursday to gain the semifinals. "I just felt pleased with the way I played," said Henman, giving his typical scintillating post-match sleeper conference. "I felt very much in control. I tried to put as much pressure on him as I could. I felt like it was a good opponent, I was obviously pleased with the outcome." Henman lost in the 1997 Doha final to Jim Courier, and in the 1999 final to Rainer Schuettler. Joining the Brit in the semis were No. 8 seed Agustin Calleri (d. Bjorkman), and un-seeds Ivan Ljubicic (d. (4)Grosjean in three) and (WC)Nicolas Escude (d. H-T. Lee).
Friday's semifinal match-ups are (8)Calleri vs. (WC)Escude (first meeting), and Ljubicic vs. (7)Henman (tied 1-1). The doubles final will be (3)Damm/Suk (d. (2)Knowles/Nestor in the semis) vs. (WC)Koubek/Roddick (d. Escude/Grosjean in three).

Teen wildcard Todd Reid and Patrick Rafter supplied some excitement on an otherwise dull day in Adelaide Thursday. Reid's scintillating singles run continued, following his win over top-seeded Wayne Ferreira with a straight-set pounding of "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter, while Rafter's doubles return came to an abrupt halt when the former No. 1 and partner Josh Eagle were outlasted by Vince Spadea and Mark Merklein in three sets. "I think the difference is I'm winning the second set this time," said Reid upon reaching his career-first ATP quarterfinal. "Last year I won a few first sets but I'm actually winning some matches this time. I feel I'm playing really well, hitting the ball as well as I ever have and I'm moving pretty well too." Rafter's doubles experience didn't leave him pining for more: "It started off well. It just progressively got worse and worse as the match went along. I could feel it going and I was trying my hardest to work out what I was doing wrong, but the bread and butter things like the volleys just weren't happening...that was embarrassing. Some of the volleys, I was just shaking my head -- where did that come from? My feet got stuck there a few times, I haven't missed that many volleys in a long time." (6)Jarkko Nieminen (d. Sanguinetti) advanced into the quarterfinals, while (7)Al Martin was easily brushed aside by Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty. In unseeded action, Brit Greg Rusedski's comeback run from injury was halted 6-2, 6-2 by French comer Cyril Saulnier. The ever-gracious loser, Rusedski gave credit to where credit was due -- to his crappy play. "I thought he played well but I didn't really do too much today," the Brit-via-Canada said. "I didn't handle the conditions well enough and I hit too many double faults. If I'm not serving well, it puts me in a tough situation." Maybe he needed more 'roids in the Gatorade (see Notes, Quotes below).
On court Friday in Adelaide are (WC)Reid vs. (6)Nieminen, Saulnier vs. Hrbaty, (Q)Llodra vs. (2)Spadea, and a crowd-pleaser in (5)Dent vs. former Aussie Open winner (WC)T.Johansson.

Things went almost perfectly Thursday for tournament organizers in Chennai, with all three seeds in action advancing in (1)Carlos Moya (d. Goldstein in three, saving a match point), (3)Sjeng Schalken (d. (Q)Knowle) and (5)Felix Mantilla (d. van Lottum in three). The cherry on top would have been a win by homecountry favorite and wildcard Prakash Amritraj, who won the first set off Frenchman Thierry Ascione before folding 6-1, 6-2. "I tried to make a minimum of mistakes," said the Frenchman of his comeback. "I tried to run and fight on every point. He was at the net all the time in the first set and it was difficult to always try to come up with passing shots." Hey Prakash, you've got to stay aggressive, you've got to dance with the girl you brought to the party, or something like that.
The Top 5 seeds are involved in the Chennai quarterfinals Friday, featuring Andreev vs. (2)Srichaphan, (3)Schalken vs. (5)Mantilla (Mantilla leads 3-2 in the battle of veterans), (1)Moya vs. Ascione, and Lisnard vs. (4)Robredo.


WTA REVIEWS/PREVIEWS
No. 3-seeded Eleni Daiilidou and unseeded Ashley "Anna 2.0" Harkleroad both did double duty at Auckland Thursday, winning two matches each due to the rain-backlogged schedule in reaching the semifinals. Daniilidou beat Swiss Emmanuelle Gagliardi and American qualifier Meilen Tu in straight sets, while H-Road ousted No. 2 seed Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi, then No. 8 seed Anca Barna. "It was tough," said the teenage Harkleroad. "My legs are tired. It's been a long day but I've had two great wins. I'm glad to get through and now I just want to take a rest and come back fresh tomorrow." Also into the semis were (1)Paola Suarez (d. Brandi) and unseeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli (d. (Q)Perry). Earlier in the day in other rain make-ups, (8)Barna had beaten (WC)E.Marama, while (Q)Tu had upset (8)Marlene Weingartner 7-6 in the third.
Today's semifinals line up as Bartoli vs. Harkleroad (H-Road leads 1-0), and (1)Suarez vs. (3)Daniilidou (Danny the Greek leads 1-0).

Russians made up almost half of the quarterfinalists at Gold Coast Thursday, but only one survived into the semifinals in No. 2 seed Nadia Petrova. Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to France's Nathalie Dechy, while Petrova held back another countrywoman in Dinara "Sister Of" Safina in straight sets. "I was feeling really fit and fresh," said Dechy, who in the latter part of 2003 was sidelined with a bad wrist. "It's good sometimes to take a break, we never get to do it on tour." Aussie wildcard and Gold Coast native Samanthat Stosur (d. (7)Serna) gave locals something to cheer about by reaching her first career WTA semi, while (1)Ai Sugiyama completed the foursome with a win over Bulgarian Maggie Maleeva.
The Friday semifinals shape up with (2)Petrova vs. Dechy (Dechy leads 1-0), and (WC)Stosur vs. (1)Sugiyama (first meeting).

ATP DOHA PAST CHAMPIONS
Stefan Edberg and Petr Korda are the only players to win twice at the Oil Open:

2003 Stefan Koubek (AUT)
2002 Younes El Aynaoui (MAR)
2001 Marcelo Rios (CHI)
2000 Fabrice Santoro (FRA)
1999 Rainer Schuettler (GER)
1998 Petr Korda (CZE)
1997 Jim Courier (USA)
1996 Petr Korda (CZE)
1995 Stefan Edberg (SWE)
1994 Stefan Edberg (SWE)
1993 Boris Becker (GER)

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Britain's Greg Rusedski has tested positive for the banned substance nandrolone from the 2003 ATP event in Indianapolis, Sky Sports News reported Thursday. Rusedski made a statement saying he was convinced he would be cleared when the matter came to a tribunal next month: "In response to media inquiries I confirm that I have been advised by the ATP anti-doping administrator that a sample I provided tested positive for a low concentration of nandrolone metabolites. I wish to make it clear that I do not and never have taken performance-enhancing drugs. This is a very complex situation which once understood will clearly demonstrate my total innocence. There is a hearing to be held in Montreal on February 9 which I shall attend. I fully expect to be found innocent." And he's not even an Argentine...Former No. 1 Pat Rafter lost in the first round Thursday in doubles at Adelaide (to Vince Spadea/Mark Merklein, ouch) with Aussie partner Josh Eagle, with the two also planning on competing together at the Australian Open...Pat Rafter with the 411 on golf as a sport: "...that's not a sport, that's fun."...Pat Rafter on Roger Federer: "I think he's the greatest, most complete player I've ever seen. He's going to be awesome."...Pat Rafter on new technologies: "I know a lot of guys are using a string called Big Banger, or something like that. It's a string that allows them to hit very, very hard and the ball sort of drops into the court all the time. It creates a lot spin. No, I haven't played these guys and I'd like to go out their and see if I can play them with my gut (string), just as a bit of fun, see what the ball does."...Pat Rafter on making a comeback in singles: "No."...Forget Pat, and check out 19-year-old Aussie Todd Reid, who reached his first career ATP quarterfinal in Adelaide, and has now won 16 of his last 17 pro matches... New speculation is that the fan-challenged ATP Chennai event will move to Hyperbad next year. That could be hyper-bad for the event's chances of finding a new sponsor...Next week in Auckland, Guillermo Coria will be the top seed at a tournament for the first time in his career...The Tennis Channel and the WTA Tour have reached a three-year programming deal, providing the channel with U.S. telecast rights for the singles finals, semifinals and earlier matches for 13 tournaments: Tokyo, Antwerp, Dubai, Doha, Warsaw, Berlin, Rome, Eastbourne, Montreal, Filderstadt, Moscow, Zurich, and Linz. "We couldn't be more excited that The Tennis Channel is going to be the U.S. home of these premium, international tournaments, featuring the best female athletes in the world," said Steve Bellamy, president and founder, The Tennis Channel. "We appreciate the continued support of the WTA Tour, and look forward to continuing our relationship with them as we work together to promote and grow women's professional tennis."...Aussie Alicia Molik had to retire against Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova leading 6-3, 3-0 during the Hopman Cup exhibition after rolling her ankle.