Moya Clay Arsenal Shows Cracks Against Gaudio at ATP Barcelona

Posted on May 1, 2004

Last week it was a loss to the then-slumping Rainer Schuettler at the Masters Series-Monte Carlo; on Thursday at Barcelona, Carlos Moya, the once-pronounced "King of Clay," suffered another setback when the No. 2 seed fell in straight sets to No. 13 seed Gaston Gaudio.

"I played well and tried to keep him back and move him around," said Moya, who felt the effects of the 4-1/2 hour rain delay to begin the day. "The balls were very heavy today though and I struggled to impose my game. He played very well and on his day he can beat anyone."

Gaudio for his part says he was just happy to get a win, with Moya again providing a launching pad for another player to get his slumping game together.

"It's a long time since I played as well as that," Gaudio said. "It was a very equal game today but I played great and felt comfortable out there. Moya is very tough, especially on clay, so it is a big win for me especially as I've been lacking in confidence recently and haven't won many matches."

Last week Moya reached the semifinals at the Masters Series-Monte Carlo before bowing out to Schuettler.

The other top players held their seedings Thursday, with winners including (3)David Nalbandian (d. (WC)M.Lopez), (5)Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez (d. (16)Zabaleta in three), (6)Gustavo Kuerten (d. Canas in three), (7)Agustin Calleri (d. (10)F.Lopez), and (8)Tommy Robredo (d. Spanish countryman Verdasco in three). Two un-seeds also moved into the quarterfinals in Belgian (Q)Kristof Vliegen (d. (Q)Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience), and Spaniard Al Montanes (d. countryman A.Martin).

Today's Barcelona quarters line up as (5)Gonzo vs. (8)Robredo (Gonzalez leads meetings 2-1), (3)Nalbandian vs. (Q)Vliegen (first meeting), (6)Kuerten vs. (13)Gaudio (Guga leads 3-2), and (7)Calleri vs. Montanes (first meeting).

In Munich Thursday, top-seeded Rainer Schuettler showed the resurgent Tommy Haas he is still his bitch-boy with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win, raising his career record versus his countryman to 4-0.

"It's tough to play in Germany against another German -- we are friends so it was a really difficult match," said Schuettler, who had to overcome a bee sting on his elbow from the previous day. "I think he is playing great tennis again and I am happy for him that he has such a successful comeback and I'm sure he will get up high in the rankings."

Three unseeded players moved into the quarterfinals in Czech Radek Stepanek (d. countryman (3)Novak), Peru's Luis "Me So" Horna (d. (7)Dent who retired with injury), and Russian Nikolay Davydenko (d. Hanescu in three).

Quarterfinal match-ups Friday in Munich are not the prettiest sight in (Q)Kratochvil vs. (4)Martin "Berzerk" Verkerk (Kratch leads meetings 1-0), (1)Schuettler vs. Davydenko (Davydenko leads 2-1), (Q)Waske vs. O.Rochus, and Stepanek vs. Horna.

WTA REVIEWS/PREVIEWS
Veteran Maggie Maleeva became the only unseeded player to punch through to the quarterfinals at Warsaw Thursday, ousting No. 7 seed Patty "Handshake" Schnyder 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.

Seeds filling out the final QF spots for Friday were (1)Mauresmo (d. Daniilidou), (3)Vera "Warren" Zvonareva (d. (LL)Nemeckova), (4)Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. (WC)Douchevina), (6)Silvia Farina Elia (d. (WC)Domachowska in three), and (9)Francesca Schiavone (d. Bovina).

The Friday Warsaw quarters line up as (4)Kuznetsova vs. (6)Farina Elia, (1)Mauresmo vs. (9)Schiavone, (8)Smashnova-Pistolesi vs. (3)Zvonareva, and Maleeva vs. (2)Venus. Wake us for the Mauresmo-Venus final.

One upset at Bucharest Thursday, with Slovak Martina "Nurse, Hand Me a" Sucha ousting No. 7 seed Arantxa Parra 6-4, 6-0. Stop the presses.

Others into the quarters were (6)Iveta Benesova (d. Vakulenko in three), (3)Aniko Kapros (d. Stosur), Croatian qualifier Sanda Mamic (d. Garbin in three), and (2)Petra Mandula (d. (LL)Meusburger). Today's QF line-up sees Mamic vs. Pennetta, Benesova vs. Kapros, Sucha vs. Mandula, and Cervanova vs. Jankovic.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
James Blake is among the "B"-squad Americans competing in Munich on the European claycourts this week.

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NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
This week in Warsaw is the tournament where Venus Williams first injured her ab muscle in 2003...Kentucky Derby jockeys will be allowed to wear advertising patches for the first time after a judge just blocked a state rule that barred ads this week -- welcome, join the ad-ugly world of pro tennis. Whatever happened to the clean uni look?...How boring is this week in tennis? Munich? Warsaw? Where is a good ol' Marat Safin post-match when you need it?...Here's a Fed Cup redux from last weekend courtesy of the ITF: "Argentina reached the Fed Cup quarterfinals after Ai Sugiyama was forced to retire in the third set against Paola Suarez in Sunday's opening rubber...In the dressing room afterwards, Suarez comforted her Japanese friend, and the pair even cried together, in a real display of sportsmanship."...In a carefully-worded statement, we'll note that top Americans Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi and Mardy Fish have yet to set foot on the European red clay during the ATP pre-French claycourt swing, currently in its third week...Rainer Schuettler is tearing up the dirt this year after posting a middling 12-7 on the pre-French clay swing in 2003...Hey Carlos Moya, thanks for sending our Fantasy Tennis team circling the drain Thursday...Food for Thought: The ATP Euro tournament directors are angry at ATP CEO Mark Miles for not telling them about the "US Open Series" until it was practically unveiled, but what if Miles really had no say in the matter? This smells like the beginning of a hostile ITF/USTA-led takeover. The ATP tournaments, much like the players, are pretty much independent contractors, and can sign a TV agreement or become part of a mini-tour (apparently) without Miles' or the tour's say-so. The US Open Series was a USTA deal, and if the USTA came to Miles and told him this was happening with the U.S. summer circuit events, was there anything he could do to stop it? We sure haven't seen any of the normal happy press releases from the ATP trumpeting the US Open Series, and the ATP Euro directors are stewing over the mini-tour development. Discuss.