Spadea Gets Thru Rain, and Blake; Serena Set to Return
Posted on March 27, 2004
ATP REVIEW/PREVIEWThe big winner Thursday at the Masters Series-Miami was the weather. Wind and rain banded together to create havoc on the day's play.
In between Mother Nature's fury, Vince Spadea and James Blake played the match of the day, or really the night. "My Cousin" Vinnie, who has enjoyed a storied history playing under the lights in his pseudo-hometown event, posting victories over Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Andre Agassi and Patrick Rafter, added Blake to the list Thursday night. Blake appeared to be undaunted as the former Harvard No. 1 weathered a five-hour first set rain daily and then raced out to a set and a 5-3 lead, before Spadea, who resides in nearby Boca Raton, found the form with three crisp passing shots to get back on serve. Just as Blake did last week at Indian Wells against Irakli Labadze, he went away in the third, eventually falling to his countryman 6-7(12), 7-6(4), 6-1. While Spadea now gets Marat Safin on Saturday, Blake gets a few weeks off as a D-cup invite sure ain't happening after this meltdown.
Also advancing of note were Taylor Dent, who found the form again Russian Mikhail Youzhny; Lars Burgsmuller, a straight-set winner over Jan-Mike Gambill; and, in the completion of a Wednesday night match suspended due to loss of power (electrical power, that is), Nicolas Lapentti finished off Tommy Enqvist in three sets. Guillermo Canas was leading Tommy Haas 6-1, 4-3 before rain suspended play.
On court today are half of the men's 32 seeds including No. 1 Roger Federer (vs. Davydenko), No. 3 seed Guillermo Coria (vs. Ferreira), No. 7 seed Tim Henman (vs. Melzer), No. 17 seed Lleyton Hewitt (vs. Soderling) and No. 32 seed Rafael Nadal (vs. Ivanisevic).
WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
With the weather ruling the day, about the only interesting thing that happened on the women's side was the withdrawal of third-seeded Anastasia Myskina, who pulled due to a bad left toe. C'mon, a bad left toe. Who doesn't have that from time-to-time. Suck it up and go out there. Geez. Just what the event needed, another pull. Back on court, among the few completed matches, that young Russian (yeah that one), Viktoriya Kutuzova beat Marissa Irvin and Amy "Down Goes" Frazier punched-out the blue-collar Cara Black.
All eyes today will be on the long-awaited return of Serena Williams. The 22-year-old Williams has been off the circuit since her Wimbledon title last July. Serena underwent surgery August 1 to repair a partial tear in her left knee. In addition to rehab while away from the game, Serena continued her foray into the Hollywood acting scene leaving many to question her true interest in tennis. The answer to that question figures to become clearer in Miami this week as Williams takes the court at 11am to play Spain's Marta Marrero.
With the weather ruling the day, about the only interesting thing that happened on the women's side was the withdrawal of third-seeded Anastasia Myskina, who pulled due to a bad left toe. C'mon, a bad left toe. Who doesn't have that from time-to-time. Suck it up and go out there. Geez. Just what the event needed, another pull. Back on court, among the few completed matches, that young Russian (yeah that one), Viktoriya Kutuzova beat Marissa Irvin and Amy "Down Goes" Frazier punched-out the blue-collar Cara Black.
All eyes today will be on the long-awaited return of Serena Williams. The 22-year-old Williams has been off the circuit since her Wimbledon title last July. Serena underwent surgery August 1 to repair a partial tear in her left knee. In addition to rehab while away from the game, Serena continued her foray into the Hollywood acting scene leaving many to question her true interest in tennis. The answer to that question figures to become clearer in Miami this week as Williams takes the court at 11am to play Spain's Marta Marrero.
Also in action today are No. 4 seed Jenny Capriati, No. 6 Ai Sugiyama and in the evening No. 17 and budding queen Maria Sharapova will be featured.
NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Bad luck has plagued Goran Ivanisevic at the MS-Miami event. Ivanisevic reached the final in 1996 but could not play after he woke up that morning with a stiff neck, and last year while walking on a beach in Miami he stepped on a shell and cut his foot, forcing him out of action for more than two months...No. 8 seed David Nalbandian has withdrawn from Miami with an ankle sprain as his injury-plagued season continues...Goran Ivanisevic says the shoulder is not fully healed: "It's up and down. It depends. When I start to force, it hurts. At least I can hit the serve. Last year, I couldn't hit the serve."...Todd Martin is working with a new coach in Jose Higueras: "He's inspiring as far as he had a tremendous work ethic. Just hearing stories of what his training was like. He's helped me a little with my training. Now I do things every day of every week and it makes a difference."...The delicious brew Stella Artois gave British tennis a huge boost by announcing a new agreement worth £10 million with the British Lawn Tennis Association to continue its sponsorship of the Stella Artois Championships (Queen's) for a further five years. Bottoms up. Callum Mackay, Head of Media and Marketing Services for Interbrew UK, said: "During the past 25 years, the tournament has established itself as the important form guide to Wimbledon and has helped us drive Stella Artois to the number one Premium Lager in the UK with four in every 10 pints consumed being Stella Artois." That's a lot of Stella...As always, it looks like the PGA Tour will beat the ATP to the punch, this time with getting a "reality show" on the air. What will it be, following Davis Love III around with a camera, listening him whine that the gallery isn't quiet enough?...In the poll to determine the most incompetent sports organization, the ATP came out on top with 25% of votes from Tennis-X readers, followed by Major League Baseball with 21%, "Who Cares" with 19%, the WTA with 16%, the National Hockey League with 7%, and the rest scraping out minimal numbers. "Who Cares" needs to get its organization in order...Justin Gimelstob has the all-time worst record at the MS-Miami at 0-5...Serena and Venus Williams have been practicing off-site in Miami...Serena and Venus Williams will represent the U.S. Fed Cup team for next month's first-round match at Slovenia on April 24-25, joined by the doubles team of 47-year-old Martina Navratilova and Lisa Raymond, and featuring the debut of captain Zina Garrison...Top-ranked Roger Federer has more points than No. 8 Tim Henman, No. 9 David Nalbandian, and No. 10 Paradorn Srichaphan combined...Former No. 1 Patrick Rafter has committed to play World Team Tennis, so don't be surprised to see him pop up afterwards during the U.S. summer circuit for some doubles or singles: "It'll be a bit of fun. I want to play a bit at the start of the year and do something in the middle of the year. That way I can keep my arm in shape and stay fit."...26-year-old American Lindsay Lee-Waters has bettered her ranking more than 800 spots since giving birth in January 2001, and has won three of her past five challenger tournaments...Jennifer Capriati says Justine Henin-Hardenne should be able to sit out this week at Miami without scrutiny: "Most of the time you are playing in every tournament, every week. It shouldn't be so much on your shoulders to have to feel like you carry the tournament or carry the tour. I mean, you shouldn't be the only one that has to make up for (others not) being there. It should be a strong enough field and I think it is."...Fabrice Santoro is the only Top 100-ranked singles player with more than one doubles title this year (3)...Andre Agassi is no longer bashing the ATP after meeting with the ATP Drug Task Force, and is once again towing the ATP line: "What would be required to somehow cheat in my opinion is nearly an impossibility. We test so often -– I got tested 20 times last year, (Roger) Federer 23 times, Andy (Roddick) 20 times –- we test so extensively that we've absolutely removed the possibility of somebody taking drugs to obtain a strategic advantage...If there was ever a question, I was convinced and assured they would be caught." If there ever was a question Andre: Why can't the ATP say why so many players are turning up positive for nandrolone?