Ferrero Chickens Out at ATP Indian Wells; Agassi Calls for Rusedski Apology

Posted on March 13, 2004

No. 2 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain was forced to pull out of the Masters Series-Indian Wells on Thursday with the chickenpox.

"I found out yesterday I had the chickenpox," the 24-year-old Ferrero said. "Sometimes things happen and you can't do anything about it. I am disappointed because I was looking forward to playing here." The illness is a blow for Ferrero, who reached the final on hardcourt at the 2003 US Open.

Ferrero's withdrawal leaves the bottom quarter of the draw open for either No. 16 seed Gustavo Kuerten, No. 17 seed Martin "Berzerk" Verkerk, No. 26 seed Robby Ginepri, fellow Americans James Blake and Taylor Dent, or South African veteran Wayne Ferreira to emerge into the quarterfinals.

See yesterday's Tennis-X Daily Dish for a full preview of the 96-player draw. Today on day one for the men at Indian Wells will feature (WC)Enqvist vs. (WC)Haas, Blake vs. Stepanek, T.Martin vs. Dupuis, Ferrer vs. (WC)Corretja in an all-Spanish match-up, (Q)G.Lapentti vs. Dent, Gambill vs. (Q)van Lottum, Ramirez Hidalgo vs. N.Lapentti, (Q)Tursunov vs. T.Johansson, Burgsmuller vs. Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal, "Dr." Ivo Karlovic vs. Pavel, Mantilla vs. (Q)Larose, Ljubicic vs. Soderling, Moodie vs. Horna, (Q)Levy vs. Vahaly, Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer vs. Hanescu, (Q)Weiner vs. Ulihrach, D.Sanchez vs. Saulnier, Malisse vs. Beck, (Q)Arthurs vs. (Q)Browne, (Q)Hernych vs. Davydenko, Volandri vs. Canas, (Q)Niemeyer vs. A.Martin, H.-T. Lee vs. Youzhny, and Andreev vs. Ferreira. Two Canadians qualified into a Masters Series main draw? Isn't that the first sign of the apocolypse?

Men's Qualifying Singles -- Final Round
(2)Verdasco (ESP) d. (16)Kendrick (USA) 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-2
Larose (CAN) d. Fleishman (USA) 6-4, 6-2
Weiner (USA) d. (24)Sabau (ROM) 6-1, 6-4
(12)Arthurs (AUS) d. (19)Calatrava (ESP) 7-6(3), 7-6(8)
(5)Van Lottum (NED) d. (13)Mello (BRA) 6-4, 6-4
(15)Browne (ARG) d. Odesnik (USA) 7-6(4), 7-6(6)
(7)Ascione (FRA) d. A.Kim (USA) 7-5, 6-3
(10)G.Lapentti (ECU) d. Kralert (CZE) 6-0, 6-4
Hernych (CZE) d. (8)Salzenstein (USA) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
(6)Levy (ISR) d. (18)Galimberti (ITA) 6-1, 1-6, 6-2
(21)Niemeyer (CAN) d. (11)Reid (AUS) 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-3
(3)Tursunov (RUS) d. Armando (USA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Thursday was "qualifier day" at Indian Wells, with 12 in action, and an amazing 11 winning (with the lone loser falling to another qualifier). Qualifiers into the second round were Silvija Talaja (d. Kremer in three), the Aussie Sam Stosur (d. Kleinova in three), Italy's Antonella Serra Zanetti (d. Rita "It Ain't" Grande), Spain's Marta Marrero (d. countrywoman Parra), Americans Shenay Perry (d. Vakulenko) and Marissa Irvin (d. countrywoman Jackson, who retired in the third due to the heat), Czech Barbora Strycova (d. (WC)Haynes), Russia's Alina Jidkova (d. Birnerova), Argentine Gisela Dulko (d. Klara "Kouky" Koukalova), and Germans Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. Ruano Pascual) and Angelika Roesch (d. (Q)Bammer). That's a lot of Q. Other un-seeds advancing were Americans Jill Craybas (d. Callens in three) and Sam Reeves (d. (WC)Kutuzova in three), Austria's Barbara "Don't Give a" Schett (d. Perebiynis in three), Slovak Martina Sucha (d. Bartoli), Italy's Flavia "Of the Day" Pennetta (d. Cervanova), and Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues (d. Randriantefy in three).

The 17-year-old American Jackson was taken off the court in a wheelchair after being overcome by heat. "I couldn't move," said Jackson, the daughter of former NFL player Bobby Jackson. "I couldn't swing. I was terrified I was going to get a full body [cramp]. I've had one of those, and it was the worst feeling I've ever had in my entire life."

On Friday the women's seeds finally come out to play in (24)Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova vs. (Q)Irvin, Santangelo vs. (3)Davenport, (Q)Roesch vs. (2)Clijsters, Leon Garcia vs. (9)Dokic, (6)Zvonareva vs. Mikaelian, (19)Dechy vs. (Q)Perry, (27)Mandula vs. Granville, (WC)Kleibanova vs. (10)Smashnova-Pistolesi, (15)Zuluaga vs. Kapros, Medina Garrigues vs. (20)Shaughnessy, (26)Sprem vs. (Q)Stosur, (7)Petrova vs. (Q)Groenefeld, (Q)Dulko vs. (25)Sanchez Lorenzo, (14)Schiavone vs. Brandi, Schaul vs. (28)Obata, and (Q)Talaja vs. (21)Pisnik.

ATP MS-INDIAN WELLS TOP 10 (ACTIVE ONLY)
Former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt holds the top win-loss percentage among active players (and all-time) at the Masters Series-Indian Wells, edging countryman Mark Philippoussis, the only non-former-No. 1 in the Top 5. Notice the absence of the "Three Kings" in Roger Federer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Andy Roddick from the list (since the inception of the Masters Series in 1990, stats through 2003, minimum 15 matches):

1. Hewitt, Lleyton (AUS) 18-4 .818
2. Philippoussis, Mark (AUS) 15-6 .714
3. Kuerten, Gustavo (BRA) 14-6 .700
4. Agassi, Andre (USA) 23-11 .676
5. Rios, Marcelo (CHI) 16-8 .667
6. Martin, Todd (USA) 15-8 .652
7. Henman, Tim (GBR) 11-6 .647
8. Corretja, Alex (ESP) 12-7 .632
9. Gambill, Jan-Michael (USA) 10-6 .625
10. Enqvist, Thomas (SWE) 14-9 .609

ATP CAREER MASTERS SERIES TITLE LEADERS
There have been 34 different winners of the ATP Masters Series events since 1990. Sixteen of those have won more than one title. Andre Agassi heads the list with 16 titles, most recently Miami in 2003 (players listed with four or more titles, active players in bold):

16--Andre Agassi
11--Pete Sampras
8--Thomas Muster
7--Michael Chang
5--Boris Becker
5--Jim Courier
5--Gustavo Kuerten
5--Marcelo Rios
4--Juan Carlos Ferrero
4--Stefan Edberg
4--Andrei Medvedev

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Lindsay Davenport sums it up: "The ATP possibly looks bad for losing a battle like that. Men's tennis doesn't look great for another guy (Greg Rusedski) getting cleared."...Yesterday Andre Agassi went off on the drug crisis: "I got news for you. You got guys scared to death to drink out of a Gatorade bottle. I am scared to death to take anything. I can't afford at this stage in the sport to make any mistakes accidentally...Players need to be on the court knowing that if they are playing against somebody who has enhanced their performance illegally, they are going to get caught. There is a lot of concern. Players don't take anything anymore they are not fully aware of. And if you do, you take it with a risk."...The WTA's surprise sponsor announcement on Thursday was -- Whirlpool Europe! Free washers and dryers for all players!...In the last ITW newsletter, the ATP left off the Masters Series-Paris in the list of last year's Masters Series winners -- check it fellas...Andre Agassi also says the ATP needs to issue Grinning Greg Rusedski an apology: "The ATP has put this in the hands of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) to make sure that the appropriate things are done. I believe you should go above and beyond in supporting your players. Assuming there was a cross-contamination, there should definitely be an apology...They had an investigation that found he should be exonerated."...Juan Carlos Ferrero was forced to pull from Indian Wells with chickenpox...British lawyers are speculating it would be a lay-up in court if Greg Rusedski decides to sue the ATP for a chunk of cash. Estimates are that Rusedski's legal costs were almost three-quarters of a million dollars. It is also estimated that the ATP will soon be dropping off wheel barrels full of money at Rusedski's flat to settle this quickly and out of court (see: Bohdan Ulihrach fiasco)...Looks like the toughest opponent in Indian Wells this week could be Mother Nature, with on-court temperatures over 100 degrees on Thursday...When does the Greg Rusedski ass-kissing festival start from all the people that wrote him off (like, er, us) -- like maybe Pat Cash? Half the Brit newspapers?...Since U.S. politicians now see the need to solve the steroid problem in baseball, when will they help the ATP get their act together in tennis? Mickey Herskowitz writing for the Houston Chronicle: "I must have been out of town the day Congress solved the problem of cocaine abuse in pro sports, got the troops home safely from Iraq, fixed the economy and created 2 million jobs. We ought to feel reassured, knowing our political leaders have the time to investigate the use of steroids in baseball." Tennis, you've got next...When did Serena's six-to-eight weeks out for injury turn into six-to-eight months?