Roddick Into Quarterfinals on Dirt at ATP Houston
Posted on April 16, 2004
Andy Roddick slid into the quarterfinals on the red dirt at the ATP stop in Houston Wednesday, overwhelming fellow American Robert Kendrick 6-2, 6-3."It's been pretty mentally draining these last few weeks," Roddick said. "I'm really looking forward to a day off...I didn't feel great when I got here on Monday. I only hit for like 10 minutes." Kendrick had other things to worry about aside from Roddick: "It was a little intimidating maybe with (former) President Bush sitting in the stands there with Brad Gilbert, but I think Barbara was cheering me on at least."
It was the second time Roddick and Kendrick faced each other this year following Roddick's win indoors at San Jose in February.
Also into the quarters were No. 7 seed Luis "Me So" Horna (d. (Q)Robert after losing the first set 6-0), No. 8 Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer (d. Behrend), and graying American wildcard Todd Martin (d. Franco "The Squirrel" Squillari in two tiebreaks). Also winning late first-round matches were No. 5 Andrei Pavel (d. N.Lapentti) and Tommy Haas (d. (6)Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri).
On court today in Houston are Haas vs. Goldstein, Sanguinetti vs. (4)Blake, Tursunov vs. Bogomolov Jr., and (5)Pavel vs. Acasuso.
The seeds went tumbling at Valencia Wednesday, with Al Montanes ousting No. 2 seed Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez in three sets, and last year's runner-up Christophe Rochus upending No. 4 seed Al Costa in straight sets.
"I'm pretty pleased with the victory today," said Rochus, who was 1-6 on the year entering the event. "I knew I had the game to beat him, because I already beat him before (2000 Australian Open). I played a very solid match, I didn't miss many balls. He wasn't playing his best tennis obviously, but I am very pleased with this victory."
Other winners Wednesday were (6)Al Martin (d. Spanish countryman Vicente in three), (7)David Ferrer (d. G.Lapentti), (8)Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (d. Calatrava, saving match points in another all-Spanish), and Spanish qualifier Marc Lopez (d. Corretja in yet another all-Spanish). On tap today are Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic vs. (8)Ramirez Hidalgo, (1)Ferrero vs. Vacek, (3)Ljubicic vs. Verdasco, and "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter vs. (7)Ferrer.
French teen Richard Gasquet pulled a rabbit out of a hat at Estoril Wednesday, losing the first set to No. 2 seed Nicolas Massu 6-0 before storming back for an 0-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(5) win.
"I played very badly at the beginning of the game," Gasquet said. "I was not feeling very good on the court and I was down 6-0, 2-0 and was just hoping not to lose 6-0, 6-0. I was not happy with my game so I tried to put every ball in the court and then everything started to change and I played very well in the third set. I tried to fight on every point, I saved two match points in the second set and played very well on those two points, and then I was full of confidence in the tiebreak."
Other winners on the day were (5)Juan Ignacio Chela (d. (WC)Rocha), qualifiers Florian Mayer (d. Stepanek) and Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience (d. Vanek), Romanian Victor Hanescu (d. O.Rochus), and Spaniard Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal (d. Ivanisevic 6-4, 6-1). On tap Thursday are (8)Safin vs. Ascione, a battle of 17-year-olds in Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. Richard "The French Prodigy" Gasquet (first meeting), Zabaleta vs. (4)Robredo, and (6)Max "The Beast" Mirnyi vs. Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze.
WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Lindsay Davenport led the top seeds with a workman-like win at Charleston Wednesday, with the No. 5 seed grinding past Serbia's Jelena Jankovic 7-5, 6-3.
"It takes a little while to get used to the different conditions. Obviously the weather here is a little cooler, it's a little windier and the court plays a little different," Davenport said. "I was expecting not to be totally perfect with my game. I took Monday off and only hit a little yesterday. She played very, very well. It was a tough first round and right now, I'm just happy to get through."
Other seeded winners were (6)Elena Dementieva (d. Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues), (7)Jennifer Capriati (d. Krasnoroutskaya), (8)Nadia Petrova (d. Morigami 7-6 in the third), (11)Patty Schnyder (d. Amy "Down Goes" Frazier in three), (13)Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi (d. Brandi after losing the first set 6-0), and (16)Conchita Martinez (d. (Q)Ashley). There were two seeded losers on Wednesday in (10)Paola Suarez (l. to (LL)Jidkova in three) and (12)Jelena Dokic (l. to Mandula in three). Unseeded winners were qualifier Dally Randriantefy (d. Sprem in three), Croatia's Jelena Kostanic (d. (LL)Perry), and Aussie Nicole Pratt (d. (Q)Costano in three).
Today in Charleston features Mandula vs. Capriati, Martinez vs. Serena, Pratt vs. Davenport, an all-American doubles in Ashley/Granville vs. Navratilova/Raymond, Venus vs. Mikaelian, Smashnova-Pistolesi vs. Zvonareva, Petrova vs. Jidkova, and Dementieva vs. Schnyder.
Estoril lost its top two seeds yesterday when Spain's Marta Marrero outlasted (1)Elena Bovina in three sets, and Slovakian Henrieta Nagyova edged (2)Alicia Molik 7-6 in the third. Other winners on the day were (3)Emilie Loit (d. Cervanova), (5)Barbara "Give a" Schett (d. (Q)Groenefeld), and Czech Klara "Kouky" Koukalova (d. (7)Srebotnik). On court Thursday are (6)Benesova vs. Pennetta, (WC)Silva vs. (4)Chladkova, Cohen-Aloro vs. Nagyova, and Camerin vs. Sucha.
GERMANY'S MAYER READY FOR BIG TIME
From ATP
It has been a year to remember so far for young German qualifier Florian Mayer, who advanced to his first career ATP quarterfinal after defeating Radek Stepanek in the second round of the Estoril Open. The 20-year-old from Bayreuth, approximately two hours north of Munich, is playing in just his third ATP main draw this week, having announced his arrival in the big time at the Australian Open in January. It was in Melbourne that he qualified and defeated Richard Gasquet to reach the second round and became the last German standing before eventually losing to David Nalbandian. Despite the loss to the Argentine, Mayer was all the talk among the German media, looking for their next big star. "I qualified and everyone was surprised that I was the last German in the draw after reaching the second round," recalls Mayer. "There were so many journalists wanting to talk to me. It was a little overwhelming at first, but hopefully I will get used to that."
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NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
The French Open will increase their prize money two percent for 2004, a happy note for U.S. players filing those tax returns today...Rainer Schuettler, the top seed at Estoril this week, on crashing out in the first round and falling to 3-8 on the year: "The only thing wrong in my game is that I came from Davis Cup indoors to the clay," Schuettler said, 48 hours after he helped Germany to a 5-0 Davis Cup win over Israel. "I only had an hour to practise on the clay, but I still should have won this match. The third set was close. I'm working hard and trying to do better, and I'm expecting to play better soon." You needed to push for the Wednesday start Rainer, get your top-seed props. You think the Williams sisters would have played Tuesday after just hitting town? More like Friday...The Austrians are likely agonizing on whether to put Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski on clay or hardcourt/carpet for their Davis Cup qualifying round encounter in September. Clay would minimize the serve-and-volley games of the Brits, but Austria's Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer recently beat Henman on the hardcourts at the Masters Series-Miami. Tuna Melt and countryman Stefan Koubek lost to the U.S.'s Andy Roddick and Robby Ginepri in the first round of the Davis Cup World Group in February...Goran Ivanisevic on coming unravelled against Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal: "At 4-5, I played a bad game. I was up 30-0, hit an ace but he heard a let from the machine. Then I lost concentration but still, I was up 40-15 and another game point, then I played a bad game. That was the time I had been playing better and he was starting to get nervous. I had him, he couldn't hurt me anymore. I started to return better and to serve better, but it was a stupid game. I expected it after not playing on clay for two and a half years, I knew it was going to be up and down, but it happened at the worst possible time at 5-4...He?s going to be very, very dangerous. He has an unbelievably heavy forehand. For me, it?s okay because it goes to my forehand, but against a right-hander, he will kill them with his forehand, they?re going to jump out of the stadium."...Justine Henin-Hardenne says she will skip the Fed Cup due to her dizzy spells, while Serena says she will skip it to prepare for the French Open, but others say differently. "Serena approached (Zina) Garrison and told her she was concerned about her knee, and that's why she withdrew," a tennis source familiar with the circumstances told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. Garrison in a press release said: "The health of our players is the most important consideration in selecting a team member to represent the U.S. As captain, I respect Serena's decision to withdraw from this first round of Fed Cup."...ESPN will show Serena vs. Conchita Martinez today at 2 p.m. (EST) in the U.S...Gustavo Kuerten is still standing by his Davis Cup boycott of Brazil after watching the Guga-less team lose to Paraguay: "It (the defeat) was concrete proof that these last seven or eight years have been wasted in terms of our tennis," Kuerten told Globo television on Wednesday. "I'm increasingly convinced that I want nothing to do with this administration. I hope there's a change as soon as possible so I can go back to competing."