Henman vs. Federer Rematch in Miami - Miami Men's Draw Breakdown

Posted on March 24, 2004

Tim Henman is on the comeback trail to the Top 5, but you'd think the Brit was losing first round matches with all the negative press coming his way after losing the Masters Series-Indian Wells final to world No. 1 Roger Federer. Truth be told, Henman has reached the final or better in his last two Masters Series appearances, winning in Paris to cap off the end of 2003, and after beating Andy Roddick last week in the desert looks on-form to perhaps have a career year in 2004.

This week at the MS-Miami, Henman will again be forced to prove his worth with a tough draw that features (29)Jarkko Nieminen or Todd Martin in the third round, possibly former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in the fourth round, and a rematch with the world No. 1 Federer in the quarterfinals.

Here is a look at the four sections of the MS-Miami draw and the potholes that await the top seeds in the early going:

First Quarter
Seeds: (1)Roger Federer, (7)Tim Henman, (10)Nicolas Massu, (14)Jiri Novak, (17)Lleyton Hewitt, (21)Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, (29)Jarkko Nieminen, (32)Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal
Floaters: Former Aussie Open winner Thomas Johansson, former Wimbledon winner Goran Ivanisevic, Andrei Pavel, Robin Soderling, Todd Martin, "Dr." Ivo Karlovic

Breakdown: A nice draw for the world No. 1 Federer to emerge into the quarters after likely confrontations with T.Johansson, Nadal/Ivanisevic, Gonzalez/Novak, to then face either Hewitt or Henman. The Brit will face a second-round tester against either the huge-serving Karlovic or the scampering Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, who is coming off the Boca Raton Challenger title. For Hewitt it is a chance to show he will be a contender at the big events in 2004.

Second Quarter
Seeds: (3)Guillermo "El Mago" Coria, (6)Rainer Schuettler, (12)Sebastien Grosjean, (16)Mardy Fish, (23)Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, (24)Arnaud Clement, (25)Juan Ignacio Chela, (30)Gaston Gaudio
Floaters: Wayne Ferreira, cunning Frenchman Cyril Saulnier, Thomas Enqvist, Robby Ginepri, Nicolas Kiefer

Breakdown: Easily the ugliest section of the draw, with the No. 3-seeded Coria looking at a favorable draw into the semifinals. The bottom half of this section is up for grabs, with the struggling Schuettler (still nursing a leg injury) the highest seed, and Grosjean and Ginepri salivating at the chance to take his spot in the quarters. Enqvist could also break out of this section, as could the No. 16-seeded Fish who will face a qualifier, then likely the Clement/Ljubicic winner, then a shot at Coria. El Mago will be kicking himself if he doesn't emerge from this section into the semis.

Third Quarter
Seeds: (4)Andre Agassi, (8)David Nalbandian, (9)Paradorn Srichaphan, (15)Martin "Berzerk" Verkerk, (18)Gustavo Kuerten, (20)Agustin Calleri, (28)Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, (31)Marat Safin
Floaters: Americans James Blake, Vince Spadea and Jan-Michael Gambill, big boomer Joachim Johansson, Aussie comer Todd Reid

Breakdown: Arguably the toughest section with three former No. 1s, and a sprinkling of young Americans looking to prove themselves on home turf. Agassi has a cake-like opener before facing the net-rushing onslaught of The Beast, then more big servers in either Verkerk or Gambill, before a likely match-up with either Safin or J.Johansson in the quarters. That's a tough road. Safin's opener will be against either Blake or Spadea, then (8)Nalbandian who is coming off injury, then the cannon of J.Johansson, if the Swede survives a second-round match-up with Kuerten. This section will offer up guaranteed fireworks from the third round on.

Bottom Quarter
Seeds: (2)Andy Roddick, (5)Carlos Moya, (11)Mark Philippoussis, (13)Sjeng Schalken, (19)Tommy Robredo, (22)Al Costa, (26)Jonas Bjorkman, (27)Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty
Floaters: Guillermo Canas, Tommy Haas, Taylor Dent

Breakdown: A section with few dangerous-floater-type challenges for the seeds, with floaters Canas and Haas facing off first round, but A-Rod could see a tough one in the third round in either (26)Bjorkman, whose return game gives the American problems, or big-serving countryman Taylor Dent who has taken out Roddick before. Moya, the second-highest seed in the section, has a tough road with The Dominator third round and (11)Philippoussis after that. With a few upsets in the making, this section could get real squirrely real fast.

In last year's MS-Miami final, No. 2-seeded Agassi rolled No. 5-seeded Moya 6-3, 6-3 for his record sixth MS-Miami singles title. In doubles, No. 7-seeded Federer/The Beast beat No. 7 David Rikl/Leander Paes 7-5, 6-3. The six-time winner Agassi (1990, ’95-96, 2001-03) is the only returning champion in the field. The men's singles final will also return to the best 3-of-5 sets format in 2004.

ATP MS-MIAMI MULTIPLE WINNERS
6--Andre Agassi, USA (2003-01,'96-95,'90)
4--Todd Woodbridge/Mark Woodforde, AUS (2000,'97-95)
3--Pete Sampras, USA (2000,'94-93)
2--Paul Annacone/Christo Van Rensburg, USA/RSA (1987,'85)
2--Ivan Lendl, USA (1989,'86)

WTA TOP 10 THIS WEEK
Half of the Top 10 will miss Miami this week due to injury or disinterest:

1. Henin -- not playing (rest)
2. Clijsters -- not playing (injury)
3. Mauresmo -- not playing (injury)
4. Davenport -- not playing (rest)
5. Myskina -- Miami
6. S. Williams -- Miami
7. Capriati -- Miami
8. Dementieva -- Miami
9. Rubin -- not playing (injury)
10. Sugiyama -- Miami

MIAMI USA BROADCAST SCHEDULE (EST)
Sun., March 28, Tennis Channel, 11am-11pm (live)
Sun., March 28, ESPN, 2-4pm (tape)
Mon., March 29, Tennis Channel, 12am-10am (tape)
Mon., March 29, ESPN, 1-5pm (live), 9:30-11:30pm (tape)
Tues., March 30, ESPN, 1-5pm (live)
Wed., March 31, ESPN, 1-5pm (live), ESPN2, 12:30-2:30am (tape)
Thurs., April 1, ESPN, 1-5pm (live), ESPN2, 11pm-1a, (tape), 12:30-2:30am (tape)
Fri., April 2, ESPN 3-5pm (live), ESPN2 7-9pm (live)
Sat., April 3, CBS, noon-2pm (live)
Sun., April 4, CBS, noon-3pm (live)

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Lindsay Davenport says that like Justine Henin-Hardenne, she has pulled from Miami, not one of her favorite stops: "I've gotten hurt there about six of the last nine years. I'm not fond of the conditions. You don't have a lot of time to get used to them if you do well in Indian Wells. It's quite humid and windy there." Way to tough it out. Seemingly there is no penalty for the top players pulling from the top tier of events on the women's tour on a whim? It's anarchy on the WTA Tour!... Flavio Saretta and Ricardo Mello will join Brazil's Davis Cup team now that the Brazilian Tennis Confederation president has decided to step down, but no word if Gustavo Kuerten and Andre Sa are back in the picture yet...Dear Guga, James Blake, please grow your hair back...Andy Roddick is not real happy about his No. 3 ranking: "The thing about tennis is that no one cares about what you did yesterday or last summer. You're constantly searching every day. That's what makes it enjoyable. Plus I hate losing."...Andy Roddick says he nixed the reality show because it would be too intrusive, and refuses to talk about his reportedly on-the-rocks relationship with Mandy Moore...Andy Roddick has a 54-9 record with five titles since hiring Brad Gilbert as his coach...34-year-old Todd Martin says there's plenty of tennis in him: "If I didn't still have the fire, I wouldn't be here. I enjoy playing and when that's the case, it's easy to stay focused. I do the same thing most of the guys do as far as staying fit. For me, one of the most important things is how I manage my schedule and not playing so much that I break my body down. I still feel I can compete with the players who are leading the game. Hopefully, I'll continue to improve and assert myself a little more as a viable threat. I just love to compete."...Juan Carlos Ferrero withdrew from Miami with the same chickenpox that kept him out of Indian Wells, and Chanda Rubin also pulled on Sunday with a recurring knee injury. Also out are Patty Schnyder, Felix Mantilla and Filippo Volandri...Nine Russians are among the 32 women's seeds in Miami...Former doubles specialist and current USTA coach Francisco Montana has been helping Taylor Dent. A diet needs to be the first order for Dent, who no doubt is getting injured all the time under the strain of rushing that 200 pound frame to the net...When is the engine going to get started on that Martina Navratilova/Lisa Raymond partnership? With their level of play in 2004 thus far, that could be a one-and-one if they meet the Williams Sisters...Reports that World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) head Dick Pound has been approached about doing a soft-porn movie titled "Dick Pounds Russian WTA Hotties" are totally unfounded...Monica Seles played an exhibition match last night in Virginia against Martina Navratilova, the first step on her comeback to competitive play after injury...Justine Henin-Hardenne has now won five straight Tier I titles in events she's contesteted, a Tier I winning streak of 25 matches, with her last loss at a Tier I event coming nearly 12 months ago in Miami where she fell to Chanda Rubin in the quarterfinals. She has won Tier I trophies in the last year at Charleston, Berlin, Toronto, Zurich and now Indian Wells...Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Likhovtseva have enjoyed an impressive start to their doubles partnership in 2004, reaching the final of all five tournaments contested so far, winning Gold Coast and Doha, and finishing runners-up in Melbourne, Dubai and now Indian Wells...From the WTA: "The WTA Tour has granted a special ranking and seeding to Serena Williams and Venus Williams under the tour's Special Ranking Rule for injured players. At the first eight tournaments (excluding Grand Slam events and the WTA Tour Championships) that Serena enters upon her return to the WTA Tour, she will have a special singles ranking of No. 1 and a special doubles ranking of No. 22; Venus will have a special singles ranking of No. 4. In addition, for her first four non-Grand Slam tournaments, Serena will have a special singles seeding of No. 2 and Venus will have a special singles seeding of No. 3. Depending upon their results, their special seeding may be extended for the remaining four tournaments of their special ranking status. In tournaments where the No. 2-ranked player (currently Kim Clijsters) is in the field with Serena, that player would be seeded ahead of Serena. Likewise, when the No. 3-ranked player is in the field with Venus, that player would be seeded ahead of Venus."...Other Miami pulls include Elena Bovina (foot), Maja Matevzic (wrist), Younes El Aynaoui (foot), and Maria Elena Camerin (shoulder)...Will Rainer Schuettler pull with the bad calf?...All five of Andy Roddick's losses this year have come to players ranked outside the Top 10.