Seeds Henman, Schuettler, Philippoussis Upset at ATP Dubai

Posted on March 3, 2004

The Dubai Championships had organizers gnashing their teeth Monday when all three seeded players in action were upset in the opening round. That's a basketful of guarantee cash out the window. Bumped from the Oil Open were (3)Rainer Schuettler (l. to German countryman and qualifier Philipp Kohlschreiber in three sets), (5)Mark Philippoussis (l. to Belgian mini-waffle Olivier Rochus), and (5)Tim Henman (l. to unhearalded Tomas Zib in a third-set breaker). It was the fourth straight loss for Philippoussis, and a surprise for the in-form Henman.

"All credit to Zib, he certainly won the match with some very fine passing shots," said Henman, keeping a stiff upper lip. "I have played a lot worse and won before and it's tough losing such a close match but you have to suck it up sometimes. I'm disappointed but you have to move on from it."

Other unseeded winners on the day were Frenchman Gregory Carraz (who double-bageled (WC)Bahrouzyan), Croatian Ivan Ljubicic (d. Dell'Acqua in three), Romania's Andrei Pavel (d. Ulihrach in three), and Dennis Van Scheppingen (d. (WC)Al Ghareeb 7-6 in the third, saving a match point). On tap for Tuesday are Youzhny vs. (2)Guillermo "El Mago" Coria, (4)Nalbandian vs. Nieminen, (1)Federer vs. (WC)Safin in a rematch of the 2004 Australian Open final, Santoro vs. A.Martin, Robredo vs. Bjorkman, Max "The Beast" Mirnyi vs. Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal, Sargsian vs. (8)Schalken, and F.Lopez vs. Davydenko.

ROGER FEDERER (SUI) vs. MARAT SAFIN (RUS)
Federer Leads 4-1
01 MS-Rome, Clay, R32, Federer 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5)
02 Davis Cup WG Rd 1, Clay, Federer 7-5, 6-1, 6-2
02 MS-Hamburg, Clay, F, Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-4
02 Moscow, Carpet, QF, Safin 7-5, 6-4
04 Australian Open, Hard, F, Federer 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-2

Both seeds on stage during the opening day in Acapulco advanced easily in straight sets in (2)Nicolas Massu (d. A.Hernandez) and (7)Juan Ignacio "Just Say No" Chela (d. Montanes). Un-seeds advancing were French teen Richard Gasquet (d. C.Rochus in three), Austria's Stefan Koubek (d. Levy in three), and Oscar Hernandez (d. D.Norman 7-6 in the third). On the dirt today are (WC)Gallardo Valles vs. D Ferrer, G.Lapentti vs. (4)Zabaleta, (1)Moya vs. Sanchez in an all-Spanish match-up, Ramirez Hidaglo vs. Portas in another all-Spanish, "Julio &" Galo Blanco vs. (8)Volandri, (Q)M.Lopez vs. (WC)Canas, (6)Gaudio vs. Acasuso in an all-Argentine, (Q)Salzenstein vs. N.Lapentti, (5)Mantilla vs. (Q)Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience, and Verdasco vs. Behrend.

No. 7 seed Nicolas Kiefer continues to show there is life left in his career, at Scottsdale Monday kicking things off for the seeds with a straight-set win over American Brian Vahaly. "The last two tournaments I played indoors so it takes a little getting used to play outdoors again" Kiefer said. "I had a good week in Memphis and it did a lot of confidence for my game. I was hitting the ball really well and I just want to continue to play that way." Unseeded winners were Americanized-Russian Dmitry Tursunov (d. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic), Germany's Lars Burgsmuller (d. (LL)A.Kim in three), Russian Igor Andreev (d. Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic in three), former champ Jan-Mike Gambill (d. (WC)B.Evans), and South African Weslie Moodie (d. Dupuis in three). Lucky loser Kim replaced No. 5 seed Taylor Dent, who pulled with a stomach illness.

On court Tuesday on the hardcourts are (Q)T.Phillips vs. (3)Ginepri in an all-American, (4)Spadea vs. (WC)T.Johansson, Vassallo Arguello vs. (6)Blake, (Q)Allegro vs. (2)Martin "Berzerk" Verkerk, (1)Roddick vs. Van Lottum, Corretja vs. Arthurs, (Q)Mamiit vs. Lisnard, (Q)Marcaccio vs. (WC)Bogomolov Jr., and (8)Ferreira vs. Hanescu.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
French veteran Sandrine "Test Tube" Testud pulled off the first seeded upset at Doha Monday, easily downing (8)Magui "Don't Call Me Maggie" Serna in straight sets. "It was very easy. I am quite surprised," said the 31-year-old Testud, who recovered quickly from a stomach muscle pull two weeks ago, returning to the tour after the birth of her child. "My aim is not to play in all events but only the top ones. I don't have the motivation to be in the Top 10 anymore, things have changed." In the only other singles match scheduled for Monday, Petra Mandula pulled from her encounter with Jelena Kostanic with a right thigh strain. The qualifying was also completed with Sun Tian Tian (CHN), Stephanie Gehrlein (GER), Roberta Vinci (ITA), and Li Ting (CHN) into the big dance.

Today's full slate in Doha features Molik vs. Shaughnessy, Barna vs. Martinez, Dokic vs. Pratt, Farina Elia vs. Krasnoroutskaya, Widjaja vs. Kostanic, Kuznetsova vs. Cohen-Aloro, Vinci vs. Likhovtseva, Callens vs. Li, Vento-Kabchi vs. Sun, Douchevina vs. Dechy, and Gehrlein vs. Zheng.

Only three main draw matches kicked off Acapulco on Monday in (5)Marion Bartoli (d. Grande), Spain's Marta Marrero (d. Leon Garcia), and Flavia "Of the Day" Pennetta (d. Reeves in three). The final round of qualifying was also completed with four into the main draw in Samantha Stosur (AUS), Iveta Benesova (CZE), Angelika Roesch (GER), and Mashona Washington (USA). On court Tuesday are Loit vs. Kremer, Vakulenko vs. Fernandez, Czink vs. Diaz-Oliva, Parra vs. Jidkova, Kurhajcova vs. Vaidisova, Perebiynis vs. Washington, Sequera vs. Stosur, Cervanova vs. Garbin, and Roesch vs. Benesova.

ATP SCOTTSDALE MULTIPLE WINNERS
4--Andre Agassi, USA (1993-94,'98,'02)
2--Lleyton Hewitt, AUS (2000,'03)
2--Mark Keil/Dave Randall, USA (1992-93)
2--Rick Leach/Jim Pugh, USA (1987,'89)

TENNIS-X WEEKLY TOP 10 "HOT LIST"
The 4-1-1 on what's hot in men's and women's professional tennis, compiled by the Tennis-X staff (week of March 1):

1. Anna Kournikova in the 2004 S.I. Swimsuit Issue
Who needs to win titles, or even hit tennis balls? Russian Kourni-clones, pay attention.
2. World No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne
Three tournaments, three titles, 14-0 in 2004. Cashing in while the Williams sisters slide.
3. Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty
Three titles already looks like first Top 10 (8?) year for Slovak; "Houston, you have a problem."
4. Kim Clijsters
14-1 on the year, ready to go head-to-head with H-H next week at Indian Wells with no Williams sisters.
5. Lleyton Hewitt
At 14-1 with two titles already, returning to No. 1 spot is no joke for the tenacious Aussie.
6. Roger Federer
World No. 1 is 11-1, with upcoming Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami a good yardstick for domination.
7. Gustavo Kuerten
Guga wins first clay title in over two years, could be the needed confidence boost for a hardcourt run.
8. Lindsay Davenport
10-1, laying low until Indian Wells, healing the foot and enjoying married life. An underrated commodity.
9. Andy Roddick
An OK start to the year, but people are asking us, "What about the reality series?" Try and hit a 160 mph serve.
10. Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga
Finally something hot comes out of Colombia that isn't against the law, or costs $4 at Starbucks.

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Dubai wildcard Omar Bahrouzyan was beaten 6-0, 6-0 in less than 45 minutes by Frenchman Gregory Carraz yesterday. With Bahrouzyan's loser's prize money of $7,580, he earned more than $175 per minute for his effort (thanks Agence France-Presse for the math)...As predicted, German Rainer Schuettler is imploding under the pressure of following up on his Top 8 break-out year in 2003 when he qualified for the year-end Tennis Masters Cup. Thus far in 2004 the German is 2-5 on the year with four first-round losses. "I think I am potentially playing to the same standard as last year -- I am playing well in practice," said Schuttler after bombing out yesterday in the first round at Dubai against a qualifier. "If I knew why I am not playing to my normal standard I would at least be a step towards it." Perhaps because, at 4-5 in the third set, you made two unforced errors and double faulted? Is that the standard? Yikes...Have the top players on the ATP tour come out to play in 2004? Of the current Top 10 on the ATP Race Standings, eight are current or former Top 10 players...Karina Habsudova, who has only played one match since partially rupturing her Achilles tendon at the 2002 Australian Open, has retired according to the Slovensky Sport newspaper...Jennifer Capriati, who was instrumental in the WTA establishing an age-limitation rule after her drugs/shoplifting spree and career implosion in the early '90s, has sided with Martina Hingis in saying the WTA Tour has no right to limit the number of tournaments that young players can compete in: "I don't think that it is the WTA's responsibility. I don't think they should hold a player by the hand and guide them. That is the job of family and friends...First of all, where are the so-called child prodigies (on tour)? I don't see anybody on the horizon. Maybe there could be one or two exceptions but that doesn't mean that you should stop someone from going forward by denying them the opportunity to play and learn from a young age. I think they should be allowed to play as much as they want. They should know their limits and emotional support and protection is the job of their family and friends, certainly not the WTA." Ummm, no comment, too easy...Mark Philippoussis is on a four-match losing streak, including two Davis Cup singles matches against Sweden, his fourth-round match with Hicham Arazi at the Australian Open, and first round yesterday at Dubai...Dubai German qualifier Philipp Kohlschreiber really likes his girlfriend: "At the moment, nobody believes it, but it's my girlfriend who helps me the most. Most of the tournaments I have my girlfriend, and I played good every time she is in the stands. She helps me with my tennis; she talks to me before the match, she inspires me during the match with "c'mon," she's like a coach. She played about six years ago but then quit, her name is Lena Alberti. She's from Munich."...Martina Hingis is still suing Sergio Tacchini, her former shoes and clothing sponsor, claiming that his company's shoes damaged her feet. "The case is still going on, but my lawyers take care of it."...Andy Roddick doesn't sound too confident coming off his back injury suffered at Memphis recently: "If I said I was 100 percent confident, I would be lying to you. But I'm here (in Scottsdale) and I'm ready to play and I'm going to give it my best shot, that's for sure."...Jan-Mike Gambill has an 8-1 career record in Scottsdale...Monica Seles talking to SI.com: "I've come out from the hard cast [on her left foot] and I've been in this thing for four and half weeks [points to an imposing boot-like contraption on her foot]. I go for an MRI next week, they'll send it over and we'll see what happens after that. So I've been immobile for about three months. [My return] depends on the MRI, how the bone has grown back. It's not a bone you can put a screw in. I'm wearing this boot and have special taping so it doesn't really bother me. But I wear a bone-stimulating machine just to keep things strong. I'm not hitting on the court but I sit on a bench and hit just to keep my feel, my touch and keep my calluses. I started doing swimming and weight training. You know, after the stabbing I didn't do anything for two-and-a-half years; but I think at this stage in my career I can't do that and expect to be back."