Roddick Beats Safin to Lead U.S. Advance at ATP Indian Wells

Posted on March 17, 2004

Andy Roddick tamed the fiery Marat Safin in a battle of former No. 1s at the Masters Series-Indian Wells Monday, leading a host of Americans into the fourth round, including Andre Agassi, Mardy Fish, James Blake, and Taylor Dent. Roddick beat Safin 7-6(6), 6-2, with the Russian showing some of his old moody form in tanking the second set after going down an early break of serve.

"It's a big win," said Roddick. "You know, anytime you beat one of the elite players in the world, it's big. Especially, you know, starting off the way I did, kind of keeping my wits about me, coming back. It was good." Roddick mixed up an attack of big serving and a higher-than-usual number of net approaches to keep Safin off balance, which combined with the heat took the fight out of the big Russian.

Two-time defending champion Lleyton Hewitt was another former No. 1 loser on the day, with the No. 8 seed failing to keep up with the groundstroke onslaught of Argentine No. 32 seed Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.

"He didn't miss a lot of balls," said Hewitt. "Even when I had him on a stretch a couple of times he came up with good defensive shots." Hewitt appeared bothered by the 100+ heat, and melted away easily in the third set. "It was my first match in the heat. I haven't played outdoors for a while. The balls are getting worse and worse by the week. I've never played with balls that are getting that big. There is no reason why they should be that heavy. The players were complaining early on. You know it was a joke."

Other seeded winners were (1)Roger Federer (d. (25)Gonzalez), (4)Guillermo Coria (d. (27)Max "The Beast" Mirnyi), (5)Agassi (d. (31)Hrbaty), (9)Tim Henman (d. (WC)Corretja), (13)Sebastien Grosjean (d. "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter in three), (18)Fish (d. (16)Novak), and (22)Agustin Calleri (d. Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal 7-6 in the third, showing some henceforth unseen hardcourt chops).

Unseeded players into the fourth round were American Davis Cup orange boy Blake (d. Gaudio in three), Dent (d. N.Lapentti), Frenchman Nicolas Escude (d. (21)Spadea 7-6 in the third), Aussie Wayne Arthurs (d. (28)Bjorkman in three), Russian Mikhail Youzhny (d. Luis "Me So" Horna), Irakli Labadze (d. Arazi), and back-in-form former No. 2 and wildcard Tommy Haas (d. (23)Costa in three).

Today's abbreviated men's slate features (WC)Haas vs. (32)Chela, (1)Federer vs. (18)Fish, (4)Coria vs. (13)Grosjean, and Youzhny vs. (5)Agassi. "Dangerous," said Federer on the prospect of facing Fish. "Similar to (Fernando) Gonzalez. He's got a better serve. He comes to the net more. He's got a great backhand, returns well. He's got a very all-around game. I think last year he started to play better, was maybe his breakthrough year. But I think he maybe needs a little more time to really make it to the front of the rankings. But it's definitely a dangerous round. He beat some good players along the way."

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Only one surprise on the women's side Monday, with Barbara "Now I Give a" Schett ousting No. 8 seed Paola Suarez. That's about as exciting as it gets.

Seeds moving into the fourth round were (1)Justine Henin-Hardenne (d. Marrero), (4)Anastasia Myskina (d. (31)Vento-Kabchi in three), (11)Conchita Martinez (d. (18)Raymond), (12)Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. (22)Molik, coming from a set down), (16)Maria Sharapova (d. 14-year-old "nemesis" Karatancheva in three), and (33)Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier (d. Martina "Nurse We Need a" Sucha). The only other unseeded winner was Barbora Strycova (d. Benesova). In doubles second round action, Russians Myskina/Zvonareva beat (3)Navratilova/Raymond 6-2, 6-4.

"This was just a little bump on to the next round. I passed it," said Sharapova after beating the 14-year-old. "You know, I'm really excited. I think Myskina is losing right now, but she might pull it out. I'm looking forward to playing the winner of that next match."

On court Tuesday in Indian Wells are (20)Shaughnessy vs. (3)Davenport in an all-American, (1)Henin-Hardenne vs. (Q)Strycova, (12)Kuznetsova vs. (33)Frazier, (Q)Dulko vs. (Q)Irvin, (6)Zvonareva vs. (19)Dechy, (4)Myskina vs. (16)Sharapova in an all-Russian, (15)Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga vs. Granville, and (11)C.Martinez vs. Schett.

ATP TOP 10 AT MS-INDIAN WELLS
1. Federer (4th rd. vs. (18)Fish)
2. Ferrero (withdrew w/illness)
3. Roddick (4th rd. vs. Escude)
4. Coria (4th rd. vs. (13)Grosjean)
5. Agassi (4th rd. vs. Youzhny)
6. Schuettler (l. to (Q)Arthurs)
7. Moya (l. to Labadze)
8. Nalbandian (withdrew w/injury)
9. Hewitt (l. to (32)Chela)
10. Henman (4th rd. vs. (Q)Arthurs)

WTA TOP 10 AT INDIAN WELLS
1. Henin (4th rd. vs. (Q)Strycova)
2. Clijsters (withdrew w/injury)
3. Mauresmo (withdrew w/injury)
4. Davenport (4th rd. vs. (20)Shaughnessy)
5. Myskina (4th rd. vs. (16)Sharapova)
6. Capriati (withdrew w/injury)
7. S.Williams (withdrew w/injury)
8. Dementieva (withdrew w/injury)
9. Rubin (withdrew w/injury)
10. Sugiyama (withdrew w/personal)

TENNIS ON TV TODAY (Times EST)
ESPN2 05:00P 07:00P  LIVE  FEDERER-FISH
ESPN2 10:00P 12:00A  LIVE YOUZHNY-AGASSI

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
The Boca Raton (Florida) Challenger has reaped the benefits of some early-round exits last week at the Masters Series-Indian Wells, with this week's field including Felix Mantilla, Todd Martin, Guillermo Canas, Thomas Enqvist, Joachim "Stop Calling Me Pim-Pim" Johansson, "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, 19-year-old Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, and Jerome Golmard of Boca Raton, the expatriate Frenchman attempting a comeback after injury...The future of Canadian tennis, Frank Dancevic, continues to stumble in his attempt to consistently qualify for Challenger draws. Last week Dancevic lost in the first round at the Wrexham (Britain) Challenger, and this week takes a step further down to compete at the France F5 Futures event, a far cry from upsetting Gustavo Kuerten last year in Davis Cup play. Meanwhile, Canucks Simon Larose and Frederic Niemeyer qualified at Indian Wells last week before getting pounded in the opening round...Speaking of Canada, the women's Hamilton (Ontario) Challenger has forwarded Anna Kournikova a chunk of cash to show up in June and play an exhibition during the event. "Anna has a great affection for Canada and is particularly pleased to be able to play a match that will boost interest in the BC Decker tournament and in tennis in Hamilton and Southern Ontario," said Phil de Picciotto, president of Octagon, the management firm which represents Porn-ikova. "She is excited about her appearance there and hopes that this is only the first of many visits to the event and to the city." She is excited all right, by the thought of some more digits added to her bank account, not by appearing at a Canadian challenger event...Serena Williams, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Lindsay Davenport, and Amelie Mauresmo have committed to the Amelia Island field during the week of April 5 following Miami...How hilariously biased is ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe toward his Davis Cup charge Andy Roddick? Pat Mac says Roddick has a "relatively easy road to the quarterfinals" at the MS-Indian Wells after beating Marat Safin, even after examining the draw on-air and potential next opponents Vince Spadea (who Roddick lost to in their last encounter) and Tim Henman (who has owned Roddick in most of their encounters)...From The Guardian: "The ATP is an expanded players' union. The players are the membership, so the administration of its drug-testing programme is clearly compromised. The conflict of interests is self-evident. The ATP simply cannot both represent and prosecute its own players at the same time without serious questions being asked continuously regarding its integrity. It should emphatically not be seen as judge and jury."...After 16-year-old Maria "Grunt-o-rama" Sharapova beat the smack-talking 14-year-old Sesil Karatancheva, Sharapova's father could be seen stabbing his finger angrily in Karatancheva's direction...Greg Rusedski is currently bargaining with the ATP for an out-of-court settlement, likely to include seven figures and a protected ranking for a handful of months: "I knew I was innocent from day one," Rusedski said at a London news conference. "I came out fighting. I knew I'd done nothing wrong...We need to think about my future. We're trying to come to an agreement which hasn't happened yet. We've been discussing it the last few days. They have to be able to do something to get my career back. We have to come to something satisfactory. It's still in discussion. I hope it can be resolved in the next two days to a week. I need to get on with my tennis." In response the ATP put the spin machine in motion, issuing a press release that said in part: "The ATP welcomes Greg Rusedski's willingness to assist the ATP in getting to the bottom of the contamination situation in men's tennis, and we also look forward to continuing discussions to help him get back into the game. As Mr. Rusedski acknowledged today, this has not been a pleasant experience for anyone involved, and that includes the ATP and its player and tournament members...Like Mr. Rusedski, the ATP looks forward to returning to promoting the talent of the players who have sparked a growing interest in the ATP circuit." Get out the checkbook ATP...Kim Clijsters could miss up to six weeks with her wrist injury.