Roddick, Agassi Lead American Roll at Aussie Open
Posted on January 22, 2004
It was a rare day of no seeded upsets Wednesday at the Australian Open, with top Americans (1)Andy Roddick (d. Bohdan "Out-of-Court Settlement" Ulihrach) and (4)Andre Agassi (d. Berdych) leading the charge without dropping a set.Overall Americans posted a 6-1 record on the day, the best overall U.S. men's effort in five years in Melbourne, with additional winners including (27)Taylor Dent (d. Chela in five), (32)Robby Ginepri (d. Aussie (WC)Chris "Penthouse" Guccione), James Blake (d. N.Lapentti), and Todd Martin (d. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic in three tiebreaks). TM withstood 33 aces from the big-serving Croatian, with neither player dropping serve. "His serve is ridiculous. It's remarkable," TM said of "Dr." Ivo's delivery. "Not the biggest, no. But it's the best...He's 6'10", he serves from a tree, he serves hard. But he is so accurate, is it astounding. It is really -- he has got one heck of a complete serve, first and second serve."
Other seeds into the third round were (9)Sebastien Grosjean (d. the hapless Jan-Mike Gambill), (13)Paradorn Srichaphan (d. Golmard, who retired after the first set), (16)Sjeng Schalken (d. Ferrer), and (19)Gustavo Kuerten (d. Ljubicic, advancing to the third round for the first time). Other unseeded winners included former No. 1 Marat "I'm Healthy" Safin (d. Nieminen), dangerous Frenchman Nicolas Escude (d. Soderling), Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty (d. Gaudio 6-0 in the third, now 12-0 on the year), former runner-up Thomas Enqvist (d. Karol "I'm a Loser Baby" Beck), Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer (d. "Ernest & Julio" Galo Blanco), and Frenchman Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience (d. Davydenko). "I just got a little bit tired and had problems in my legs," Safin said. "I couldn't really, like, couldn't move. I felt a little bit like weak...it's difficult to come back, and it's difficult to play the same level as you used to play, especially if you been out for six months. Then your muscles definitely get a little bit weak."
On tap for Thursday in Melbourne is (3)Ferrero vs. Volandri, (15)Hewitt vs. Kucera, Sargsian vs. (WC)Reid, (2)Federer vs. (Q)Morrison, Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic vs. Corretja, Saulnier vs. Arazi, (22)Calleri vs. Canas in an all-Argentine pee-tester, (10)Philippoussis vs. Fabrice "I'll Cut Ya" Santoro, Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. Ascione, (11)Henman vs. Stepanek, (31)Ferreira vs. D.Sanchez, (8)Nalbandian vs. Mayer, (26)Costa vs. (WC)Arthurs, (14)Novak vs. Vacek in an all-Czech bouncer, (Q)Weiner vs. Pavel, A.Martin vs. (Q)J.Johansson, and in doubles the (1)Bryan brothers vs. Chileans Gonzalez/Massu, and Aussies (WC)Rafter/Eagle vs. South Africans Coetzee/Haggard.
Three low-rent seeds were sent home Wednesday on the women's side in Slovakia's (15)Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova (l. to the Aussie Molik), Russia's (21)Elena Bovina (l. to Schaul), and Bulgaria's (24)Maggie Maleeva (l. to Mandula in three).
Seven seeds moved into the third round on the day in (1)Justine Henin-Hardenne (d. (Q)Pin), (4)Amelie Mauresmo (d. Cervanova with a bagel in the first), (5)Lindsay Davenport (d. Loit 6-0 in the third), (11)Vera "Warren" Zvonareva (d. Czink), (19)Eleni Daniilidou (d. Black 6-1 in the third), (30)Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Serra Zanetti), and (32)Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga (d. (Q)Diaz-Olivia). "I probably played too well at the beginning of the year, so now the expectations are too high for me right now," said Davenport after struggling through in three sets. "After playing really well in the Hopman Cup, playing well in Sydney, I felt like 'This is easy, it's right back there.' Now the last two matches I haven't played my best tennis -- and this is especially the place you really want to be playing your best tennis." Henin-Hardenne says she is also winning while not at her best. "I haven't felt well for two or three days and I was feeling a little bit tired and out of energy," Henin-Hardenne said after the match. "I need some rest for sure." Naps all around.
Other un-seeds advancing into the third round were Hungarian riser Aniko Kapros (d. Aussie (WC)Stosur), Spain's Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues (d. (Q)Fedak in three), American Jill Craybas (d. Jankovic 8-6 in the third), qualifier Mara Santangelo of Italy (d. Schett in three), Aussie crowd-pleaser Nicole Pratt (d. Morigami in three), and American Laura Granville (d. (WC)Dominikovic 6-1 in the third). "When you lose the first set 6-1, pretty easily, you get a little dejected," said the Aussie Pratt. "But obviously you try to hang in there. Certainly when you hear the crowd, you know, pushing you, wanting you to do better, the eagerness there gets the emotions going. My strength is to stay mentally tough. The crowd helps me to do that."
On court Thursday are (2)Clijsters vs. Camerin, (3)Venus vs. Douchevina, (6)Myskina vs. Gagliardi, (8)Sugiyama vs. Obata in an all-Japanese encounter, (18)Schiavone vs. Likhovtseva, (25)Raymond vs. Barna, (28)Sharapova vs. Lee-Waters, (22)Schnyder vs. Bartoli, (14)Smashnova-Pistolesi vs. Golovin, Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier vs. Brandi, (20)Farina Elia vs. Ruano Pascual, (23)Krasnoroutskaya vs. Strycova, and (27)Coetzer vs. Dinara "Little Sis" Safina.
AUSSIE OPEN MULTIPLE WINNERS (OPEN ERA)
4--Andre Agassi -- 1995, 2000, 2001, 2003
4--Margaret Court -- 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973
4--Evonne Goolagong -- 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 (Jan.)
4--Steffi Graf -- 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994
4--Monica Seles -- 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996
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3--Martina Hingis -- 1997, 1998, 1999
3--Martina Navratilova -- 1981, 1983, 1985
3--Mats Wilander -- 1983, 1984, 1988
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2--Boris Becker -- 1991, 1996
2--Jennifer Capriati -- 2001, 2002
2--Jim Courier -- 1992, 1993
2--Stefan Edberg -- 1985, 1987
2--Chris Evert -- 1982, 1984
2--Johan Kriek -- 1981, 1982
2--Ivan Lendl -- 1989, 1990
2--Hana Mandlikova -- 1980, 1987
2--John Newcombe -- 1973, 1975
2--Pete Sampras -- 1994, 1997
2--Guillermo Vilas -- 1978, 1979
NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
David Nalbandian says his wrist is now "perfect," but we'll hold judgement until after a couple rounds of four or five-setters...Todd Martin is 22-14 in grand slam five-set matches after his first round win at the Aussie Open...Check out Robert Woodward's b.s. Reuters story "Playing Doubles Damages Your Ranking, Ladies," to see a prime example of someone who writes about the game but doesn't know (or play?) the game. Ever hear of players cutting back on the practice court because they play both singles and doubles? That actually does happen. You cited Jennifer Capriati and the Williams sisters' injuries, and they don't even play much doubles. And why didn't you cite un-injured players like Lisa Raymond or Paola Suarez who play a great deal of both singles and doubles? Get a clue...Venus Williams says her first hero was Gabriela Sabatini...This will be the third week in a row that Lleyton Hewitt has faced Karol Kucera...Bjorn Borg on skipping the Australian Open: "When I boycotted the Australian, I was trying to make a statement. I had made my mind up. My point was that a player requires some time to himself, he can't keep rushing from one court to another all the time without a break. They all heard me say that, but no one did anything about it. So I did it myself, I skipped the Australian and gave myself the time I needed."...Spain's Al Costa on doping: "Everybody's afraid -- everybody is talking. My feeling is that you can't even drink electrolytes. I don't believe 40 people are injecting nandrolone. Maybe someone put something in the food or in the water. The ATP has to change something...It's not fair, we're playing five sets in 35 degrees (celsius). You can't do that on only pasta and bread."...Hey ESPN commentators, good call on saying that the Venus vs. H-Road first round confrontation "could be a real match!"...James Blake is a fan of the Todd Martin patented five-set comeback: "I'm like, 'You know what, that's incredible.' If this was 10 p.m. at the US Open, I'd put all my money on Todd Martin right now. (But) Australian Open, middle of the day, I'm not sure if it's dramatic enough for him. At his age, the amount of time he took off, it's incredible. It's inspiring to see him enjoying tennis that much to want to fight hard."...Struggling through a post-match interview with David Nalbandian in English is like nails on a chalkboard man, we're reaching a breaking point...Juan Carlos Ferrero says he can't smile during a match of he'll lose his concentration: "I smile when I finish the match, you know. I think for me, to be positive, to be concentrate, I have to be focused on my game, you know. I don't have to smile to somebody, say something. You know, it's difficult because you have to be concentrate. For me, if I smile to anyone or everybody, you know, it's difficult for me just to still concentrate. I take it this way." Hey JC, lighten up...Pat Cash has riled Roger Federer, saying he is ill-prepared without a coach, and that his girlfriend/manager/former player Miroslav Vavrinec has too much influence on his career: "What Pat Cash really says, you know, I don't really care," Fed said...Juan Carlos Ferrero ended his seven match losing streak by destroying fellow Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-0 6-1 6-1...Former accused doper Guillermo Coria says he will take the stand if he has to in helping out Greg Rusedski at his drug tribunal in February...Mark Philippoussis confirmed that his cousin suffered a heart attack in the Rod Laver Arena toilets during his win against Thomas Johansson...Maria "Orgasmo-grunt" Sharapova appeared on People magazine's list of "20 teens who will change the world" (through noise pollution?)...Engaged couple Ashley "Baby Phat" Harkleroad and Alex Bogomolov Jr. didn't win a set or serve an ace in their first round losses...Who is the idiot official at the Australian Open who insists on keeping the sticky ankle-twisting Rebound Ace courts year after year?...How green is Aussie Chris "Penthouse" Guccione? He walked on center court for his match against Robby Ginepri still wearing his credential around his neck. At least he took it off in the warm-up...At age 29, Rhode Island resident Jill Craybas has reached his first career Slam third round, that's slow cooking...Court 3 was packed for Nicole Pratt's win over, umm, someone else. Who cares. Really, why was it packed?...Can you name the only qualifier to beat Andre Agassi at a Grand Slam? Hint: he played and won Wednesday. Answer tomorrow (Andre is 29-1 vs. qualifiers in Grand Slams)...Andy Roddick has won nine straight slam matches...Just an observation, Chris Guccione does not volley well -- at all...Speaking of volleys, Pat Rafter will be in doubles action Thursday night in Melbourne...Albert Costa says the ATP should make available legal and approved drinks and supplements so the players don't get screwed. Hey Al, the ATP already tried that and the messed it up, maybe you should open a store or something...Along those same lines, Andre Agassi says he needed to sign three documents and get a note from his mom before he put some skin lotion on a hand irritation...Also, Andre Agassi says he is still shook up over star cricketer David Hookers, who was murdered late Monday night outside a St. Kilda hotel, which is just a few miles away from Melbourne Park. Agassi, impressed by Hookes' skills, was interested in addressing the cricket team at some point during the event...Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty has won 11 consecutive matches (12 if you could a walkover) dropping just two sets...Andy Roddick lost just three points on his first serve Wednesday...Juan Ignacio Chela is now 0-6 in five set matches...Ivo Karlovic went six straight sets without dropping serve or breaking serve, winning one in three tiebreaks and losing one in three breakers...Amelie Mauresemo is looking good losing just three games in her first two matches...The match between 6'10" "Dr." Ivo Karlovic and 6'6" Todd Martin was the tallest match ever, we think...There are two Hungarians in the third round of the women's draw: Kapros and Mandula who play each other...Roger Federer says his mind was made up long before the Masters Cup about dumping Peter Lundgren...Who is only player to play in all 16 Melbourne Park Australian Opens? Rachel McQuillen...What's with those wacky Kangaroo-suited people jumping around the grounds? Time to grab the baseball bat...Pat Rafter was on-site today chatting-up former partner Jonas Bjorkman...With the loss of Bohdan Ulihrach, all the druggies -- or alleged druggies -- are out (Chela, Coria and Rusedski the others)...According to London's Daily Telegraph, Greg Ruesedski may not have to go to Montreal after all. The former Canadian may only need to ring up the drug council instead, tell some stories, and done deal...Some great match-ups approaching, including Andre Agassi vs. Thomas Enqvist, and Andy Roddick vs. Taylor Dent...Taylor Dent's serve was broken 10 times in his five-set win over Juan Ignacio "Just Say No" Chela...Wayne Ferreira is competing in his 14th consecutive Aussie Open...Like last year, the ESPN website daily Aussie Open results are omitting some matches, what the hell fellas? Fix that...Todd Martin thinks countryman Taylor Dent has finally settled on the right strategy: "I think a few years ago I felt like he finally made the decision that he didn't need to hit groundstroke winners. And it looks, when I practice with him or when I've seen him play, it looks like his only desire is to end up at the net. I think that's right where he should be. I think with a lot of young players, that's the most important thing to realize, is how you're supposed to play, how do your talents and skills best fit into the game of tennis. Taylor's figured that out."...Right now you can buy some of James Blake's shorn-off hair on eBay, with the proceeds going to charity.