Rusedski, Guccione Out at ATP Sydney, Teen Reid Continues Hot Streak

Posted on January 15, 2004

Hot-handed Aussie teen Todd Reid pulled another upset Wednesday at Sydney, beating Spanish veteran Felix Mantilla, while fellow outback teen Chris "Penthouse" Guccione saw his run come to an end with a loss to South African vet Wayne Ferreira. Guccione had opened up the Sydney draw on Tuesday when he upended top-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets. It is the second consecutive QF for Reid, who reached his career-first last week in Adelaide. Also into the quarterfinals on Wednesday were unseeded Tommy Robredo (d. (5)Srichaphan), unseeded Arnaud Clement (d. (Q)J.Johansson), and seeds (3)Carlos Moya (d. Llodra), (4)Mark Philippoussis (d. Rusedski in three), (7)Lleyton Hewitt (d. Kucera), and (8)Martin "Berzerk" Verkerk (d. Mirnyi 7-6 in the third). "I felt I played better today than I did in my first match," Rusedski said. "So even though I lost, I'm pleased with the performance today. It was one break point in the first set. That was the first set, 6-3.  Second set, I played almost immaculate tennis.  No unforced errors, 6-1. Was excellent. All credit to him. He did it when it counted today." Earlier in the day, Srichaphan completed his rain-delayed match with Jonas Bjorkman, winning two games to compete the three-set affair 6-1 in the third.
Thursday's quarterfinal line-up includes three Aussies and two Spaniards in (7)Hewitt vs. Clement (Hewitt leads career meetings 3-0), Ferreira vs. (WC)Reid (Reid leads 1-0), (8)Verkerk vs. (4)Philippoussis (Flip leads 1-0), and (3)Moya vs. Robredo in an all-Spanish clash (Moya leads 1-0). Ferreira will look to avenge the ass-kicking he had laid on him by Reid last week in Adelaide, where the South African managed to win one game.

Auckland lost its top seed Wednesday when Guillermo Coria failed to step on the court against Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty due to the dreaded abdominal muscle strain, putting his Australian Open hopes in jeopardy. One other seed was lost on the day in (6)Gaston Gaudio, served off the court by German qualifier Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets. Joining them in the quarterfinals were (2)Jiri Novak (d. (Q)Muller), (3)Gustavo Kuerten (d. A.Martin), (5)Vincenzo Spadea (d. (Q)Hemmes, Jr.), and un-seeds "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter (d. D.Sanchez), Frenchman Gregory Carraz (d. countryman Santoro), and Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal (d. (Q)Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic in two tiebreaks). "Beating Todd [Martin] was a great win, but today was possibly even more satisfying because I was able to consolidate that win," said Spadea, who says his up-and-down ranking of late is "like the stock market." Vincenzo bringing the funny.
The Thursday Auckland quarters line up as Sluiter vs. (2)Novak (first meeting), Carraz vs. Nadal (first meeting), defending champ (3)Kuerten vs. (5)Spadea (Guga leads encounters 5-1), and Hrbaty vs. (Q)Kohlschreiber (first meeting, with the qualifier in his first ATP QF). "He can get some rhythm on his serve and get some aces going," said Spadea on his upcoming Guga encounter. "I'll try to attack his second serve. But when he sets up he's really hard to beat so I think I have to keep him moving and not let him take his big fluid strokes where he just pounds the ball and you're on the run. This court plays quick and it's hard to get out of trouble."

WTA REVIEWS/PREVIEWS
Six of the eight seeds moved into the Sydney quarterfinals Wednesday, led by (1)Justine Henin-Hardenne (d. Martinez), and joined by (3)Amelie Mauresmo (d. Shaughnessy), (4)Lindsay Davenport (d. Zvonareva in three), (5)Anastasia Myskina (d. Coetzer 6-3, 6-0), (6)Elena Dementieva (d. Bovina), and (7)Chanda Rubin (d. Krasnoroutskaya). "I'm very happy to win my first match -- it wasn't pretty, but the first match of the season is never easy," H-H said. "There were problems, but I can work on it for sure." Not much time to work on it with five days until the Aussie Open H-H, you're late on the job. Two unseeded players joined the all-Top 10 seed party in Italy's Francesca Schiavone (d. (WC)Dechy 6-0, 6-4), and Israel's Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi (d. Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova 6-1 in the third). The upset hammer came down in the doubles with three seeds making exits in (1)Navratilova/Raymond (l. to Davenport/Morariu in three), (2)Huber/Sugiyama (l. to (WC)Safina/Shaughnessy), and (4)Hantuchova/Maleeva (l. to Bovina/Martinez in three).
Thursdays semifinals see (1)Henin-Hardenne vs. (7)Rubin (H-H leads head-to-head 4-2), (4)Davenport vs. (6)Dementieva (American leads 7-3), (5)Myskina vs. (3)Mauresmo (Frenchwoman leads 4-1), and an all-unseeded battle in Schiavone vs. Smashnova-Pistolesi (Schiavone leads 2-0).


The Canberra curse reared its head again Wednesday at the WTA stop when No. 7 seed Marlene Weingertner of Germany was forced to retire before stepping on the court against unseeded Spaniard Arantxa "Not That Arantxa" Parra due to an abdominal strain, putting her Aussie Open chances in further doubt. No. 4 seed Tamarine Tanasugarn was also bounced from the event at the hands of Flavia "Of the Week" Pennetta in straight sets, leaving only three seeds alive in the quarterfinals. Other winners were No. 6 Emilie Loit (d. Conchita "Not That Conchita" Martinez Granados), No. 9 Maria Sanchez Lorenzo (d. Gagliardi in three), and Croatian comer Karolina Sprem (d. Ruano Pascual in three).
Friday's quarters will feature Pennetta vs. Vakulenko, Farina Elia vs. Sanchez Lorenzo, Loit vs. Sprem, and Parra vs. Suarez.

Three unseeded players advanced into the Hobart semifinals Wednesday, including Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier (d. Camerin), Puerto Rico's Kristina Brandi (d. Morigami), Argentine qualifier Maria Emilia Salerni (d. (7)Barna), and joined by the lone remaining seed in No. 6 Shinobu Asagoe of Japan (d. (4)Zuluaga). "I don't really know what it is about Hobart, maybe it's just luck," said Frazier upon reaching her third semi at the event. "I enjoy coming here and I've always played well here. The people are so nice and it's a great preparation for Melbourne." Brandi was recently off the WTA Tour for 18 months because of tendinitis in her wrist.
Thursday's semis line up as Brandi vs. (6)Asagoe, and Frazier vs. (Q)Salerni.

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Mark Philippoussis describes countryman Chris "Penthouse" Guccione as a carbon copy of Wayne Arthurs (a.k.a. awesome serve, average volley)...Wayne Ferreira, spokesman for the anti-ATP breakaway players' union the International Men's Tennis Association (IMTA), is backing the ATP's drug policy, and says Greg Rusedski can expect a fair hearing when he goes before a tribunal on February 9. "They have a board which makes the decision which has nothing to do with the ATP, who are an independent council, so you've got to trust them," Ferreira said. "They don't have any affiliation with tennis, so you would expect them to be fair and honest." Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi have also come out as pro-ATP and anti-Greg during the last couple days...After dealing with the break-up with her race car boyfriend and the stress involved in reuniting with her estranged wacko dad, Jelena Dokic says she will now miss her third consecutive Australian Open: "I'm really disappointed not to be able to make the trip down to Melbourne (a.k.a. 'I'm disappointed my dad won't let me.')...I was really looking forward to playing there for the first time in three years (a.k.a. 'I thought I was going to start the season normally without controversy like other players.')," Dokic said in a statement released by Australian Open organizers. "Above all I'm most disappointed for the fans as it was one of my main goals the last couple of months to play there and try and get my ranking back into the Top 10 (a.k.a. 'I was hoping to get back to the point where Australian fans didn't despise me.'). Unfortunately my game is not where it needs to be to compete at the highest level and feel I definitely would not be able to do myself justice in such a major event (a.k.a. 'I'm mentally circling the drain once again.'), but I can assure you that I will do my best to be there next year (a.k.a. 'No chance.')." Tournament Director Paul McNamee put his blinking bullshit detector in his pocket, bit his lip and said "We certainly look forward to seeing her back here in the future."...Dick Pound, the man with the unfortunate porn star-like name and chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), says the ATP has been slow to accept WADA's code, though the International Tennis Federation has done so, and that the ATP is paddling down "Da Nile" when it comes to drugs in tennis: "Their major concern is not unlike soccer and cycling; that is, if you get a positive drug case and there are no extenuating circumstances, the sanction would be two years," Pound told the LA Times. "The ATP, for some reason, is uncomfortable with that. You would think an association of players would not want any of their members to be cheating and stealing money from other players by having enhanced results. Most sports go through a period of denial. They can't believe it is happening to them. They eventually come around. The problem is, quite often, they've waited so long that the situation has bordered on being out of control."...The opening-round loss for Juan Carlos Ferrero at Sydney was his seventh tour loss in a row dating to 2003...U.S. Davis Cup Patrick McEnroe is having a tough time picking his No. 2 singles player from the line-up of Mardy Fish, James Blake, Taylor Dent and Robby Ginepri, and says the decision will be made during the Aussie Open for their upcoming match-up with Austria: "I've got to look at all the guys and see how they're doing," he told the AP. "It's important to see all of them, how they look and how they're playing. Mardy and Taylor are the front-runners based on how well they finished last year and their success indoors. They all know the deal. At some point we'll probably need all of them this year or next year or whenever." Yeah, you guys will play, whatever...Andre Agassi, trying to tow the ATP line over drug testing, wishes John McEnroe would shut his pie hole after coming out with an admission that he used steroids during his playing days, this in the face of Agassi saying tennis is a clean sport: "Well, you try to find the understanding in why some people choose to say the things that they do and in reference to those specific quotes or admissions, I am not quite sure who that benefits. I just find myself (at) a bit of a loss for words when it comes to that sort of stuff being expressed. I'm not sure what to say about that." How about giving him your endorsement for Commissioner of Tennis?...Paul Goldstein (vs. Karanusic) is the top seed in the Aussie Open qualifying, with other notables (2)Harel Levy (vs. Saoudi), (3)Kenneth Carlsen (vs. Marach), (6)Alex Bogomolov, Jr. (vs. Fleishman), (7)Michael Llodra (vs. Etlis), (8)Giovanni Lapentti (vs. Garcia-Lopez), (29)Jeff Morrison (vs. Sa), (13)Salzenstein (vs. Wang), and (21)Calatrava (vs. Dancevic)...Pity the poor Canberra and Hobart WTA events, so low that the WTA chose not even to write match notes for the media this week...World No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne has created her own charity, Justine's Winners' Circle, and invited members of CanTeen (children with cancer) to a day at the adidas International on Wednesday, January 14. Approximately 10 young people with cancer attended H-H's match against Conchita Martinez and were then treated to a VIP "Behind the Scenes Tour" of the Sydney International Tennis Centre. The children also had the opportunity to meet and speak with Justine, as she handed out autographed adidas items. Through her charity, Justine hopes to provide children suffering from cancer some experiences that will bring joy and hope to their lives...The nandrolone levels found in Greg Rusedski's system are almost identical to those that earned Czech Bohdan Ulihrach a two-year ban, according to the Herald Sun. Ulihrach, subsequently exonerated after an investigation found he received contaminated products from ATP trainers, returned a reading of 5.2 nanogram/ml. Rusedski last week revealed he had tested positive with a 5ng/ml measure at Indianapolis on July 23, 2003...Carlos Moya has begun the year thus far with seven straight wins.