Spadea Upends Former No. 1 Safin at ATP MiamiView Discussions
Posted on March 29, 2004
 Unseeded Vince Spadea led the American advance at the Masters-Series Miami Saturday, upending former No. 1 Marat Safin 7-6(7), 6-7(4), 6-4.
"He knows where to be at the right moment, the right place, the decision he is making," Safin said. "He's a clever, clever player."
Other American winners were (2)Andy Roddick (d. Beck) and (4)Andre Agassi (d. Zabaleta).
Seeded winners into the third round were (1)Roger Federer (d. Davydenko in three), (5)Carlos Moya (d. countryman Sanchez in three), (9)Paradorn Srichaphan (d. (Q)Mello in three), (12)Sebastien Grosjean (d. N.Lapentti), (14)Jiri Novak (d. (Q)Koubek, (19)Tommy Robredo (d. O.Rochus 7-6 in the third), (20)Agustin Calleri (d. Burgsmuller), (21)Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez (d. Kucera), (26)Jonas Bjorkman (d. Dent), (27)Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty (d. Ulihrach in three), and (28)Max "The Beast" Mirnyi (d. (Q)Franco "The Squirrel" Squillari).
Unseeded winners were Aussie wildcard Todd Reid (d. (15)Martin "Berzerk" Verkerk), Argentine qualifier Juan Monaco (d. (18)Kuerten in three), the Czech qualifier Hernych (d. (11)Philippoussis), Argentine Guillermo Canas (d. (13)Schalken who was defaulted for verbal abuse), Belgian Xavier "X-Man" Malisse (d. (22)Costa), Frenchman Thierry Ascione (d. (23)Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez), and Czech Radek Stepanek (d. Verdasco in two tiebreaks).
On court Sunday are Pavel vs. (17)Hewitt, Ginepri vs. Kiefer, (1)Federer vs. (32)Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal, (3)Guillermo "El Mago" Coria vs. (25)Chela in an all-Argentine, (12)Grosjean vs. Ascione in an all-France, (21)Gonzalez vs. (14)Novak, T.Martin vs. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, and Ljubicic vs. (Q)Benneteau.
WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Venus Williams looked a little rusty but got the job done Saturday in her opener at Miami, beating China's Jie Zheng 6-4, 6-4.
"I just know I feel like the same person, the same player," Williams said. "I just think it will be a matter of time before I get the same results."
Other seeds advancing were (5)Elena Dementieva (d. Dragomir Ilie), (7)Vera "Warren" Zvonareva (d. Garbin), (8)Nadia Petrova (d. Kirilenko), (9)Paola Suarez (d. Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova), (10)Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Kremer), (11)Silvia Farina Elia (d. countrywoman (Q)Santagelo 7-6 in the third), (12)Jelena Dokic (d. Pratt with a walkover), (13)Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi (d. Rita "It Ain't" Grande), (15)Francesca Schiavone (d. Kurhajcova), (20)Lisa Raymond (d. Panova in three), (21)Nathalie Dechy (d. Perebiynis in three), (24)Alicia Molik (d. Amy "Down Goes" Frazier in three), (26)Maria Sanchez Lorenzo (d. Obata in three), (27)Daniela "I Beat Someone!" Hantuchova (d. Tanasugarn 6-0 in the third), and (32)Emilie Loit (d. Diaz-Oliva).
Upset victims were (16)Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga (l. to Perry), (19)Meghann Shaugnessy (l. to Brandi in three), and (28)Lina Krasnoroutskaya (l. to countrywoman Douchevina). Unseeded Gisela Dulko beat Viktoriya Kutusova in the only all-unseeded match.
On court today are (1)Serena vs. (31)Likhovtseva, (4)Capriati vs. (25)Daniilidou, (27)Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova vs. (2)Venus, (17)Maria "Grunt-o-rama" Sharapova vs. (13)Smashnova, Craybas vs. (7)Zvonareva, (10)Kuznetsova vs. Kapros, (WC)Perry vs. (21)Dechy, Brandi vs. (12)Dokic, (24)Molik vs. (11)Farina Elia, (5)Dementieva vs. (26)Sanchez Lorenzo, (8)Petrova vs. (32)Loit, (29)Sprem vs. Vento-Kabchi, (Q)Douchevina vs. Dulko, (WC)teen Tatiana "I Make Russians Cry" Golovin vs. Jankovic, (9)Suarez vs. (18)Serna, and (15)Schiavone vs. (20)Raymond.
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)
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NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Anna Kournikova has been caught smoking (cigarettes, that is) at boyfriend Enrique Inglesias' concerts in Australia over the last few weeks, dancing stage-side in full view of the audience. Go Anna, you need to be dancing in a cage on the stage...Marat Safin railed at the ATP's non-ability to get tennis on TV in the U.S., and at the sport's sad state of popularity: "Nobody (in the U.S.) shows tennis, and if they show it, there are some matches that nobody cares about. So who is going to watch? People don't know who is who and they don't really care because it's not interesting...and because you cannot even see them on TV. They (the ATP) don't promote very well. They don't get enough hours on TV because it's not entertaining any more."...Murphy Jensen's latest foray into the world of acting includes commercials done for Burger King and for the Scandinavian Nordea bank, and he has a part in the movie "Wimbledon" that will be released in August...After ousting Marat Safin Saturday, Vince Spadea continued his campaign to talk himself onto the U.S. Davis Cup team: "I feel like I deserve a chance. If it's not this time, maybe I'll be ranked even higher the next time...It would mean a lot and would be a great thrill."...Sjeng Schalken went ballistic on the chair umpire Saturday while he was getting pounded in his match against Guillermo Canas, and was defaulted: "It was all very strange," Canas said. "I was very surprised because I've known him for years and he is normally such a quiet, nice guy on the court and off the court. I think he was bit unlucky with the umpire but he made a mistake and I think he knew he had to pay."
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