Moya Wins Two to Gain ATP Rome Semifinals, Roddick Pulls from Hamburg

Posted on May 9, 2004

No. 6 seed Carlos Moya had to win two matches in the rain-backed-up Masters Series-Rome schedule Friday, outlasting qualifier "Dr." Ivo Karlovic in three sets, then clay veteran Andrei Pavel to reach the semifinals.

"It's been a great day for me," Moya said after posting the two wins. "This morning I had great trouble to beat Karlovic, but I think that gave me a lot of confidence to go on the court tonight and play well. I think it was a perfect match."

Pavel was also playing his second match of the day after dispatching of Spain's David Sanchez in two tiebreaks. Other players into the semifinals were (5)David Nalbandian (d. Spadea, who led 3-0, 40-0 in the second set before losing six straight games), fellow Argentine Mariano Zabaleta (d. (8)Massu), and Spain's Al Costa (d. (12)Novak).

Advancing into the doubles semis Friday were (1)Bryan/Bryan (d. Argentines Canas/Chela), (2)Bjorkman/Woodbridge (d. (8)Black/Ullyett), (3)Bhupathi/Mirnyi (d. Frenchmen (5)Llodra/Santoro), and Aussies (6)Arthurs/Hanley (d. (4)Knowles/Nestor in three sets).

It's Spain vs. Argentine in the Saturday singles semis, with a line-up of Costa vs. (5)Nalbandian (Nalbandian leads meetings 1-0), and Zabaleta vs. (6)Moya (Moya leads 5-1).

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
American Jennifer Capriati provided the lone upset in the Berlin quarterfinals Friday, with the No. 6-seeded American rolling past No. 4 seed Anastasia Myskina 6-3, 6-2.

No. 3 seed Venus Williams (d. (11)Suarez in three) made it two Americans in the semis, joined by No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo (d. (10)Kuznetsova 6-1 in the third) and unseeded Croat Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem (d. Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga).

Saturday's semis line up as (6)Capriati vs. (2)Mauresmo, and Sprem vs. (3)Venus.

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NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
To all the readers that hammered us on the message boards when we threw out Andy Roddick possibly pulling from the Masters Series-Hamburg after he lost early at the MS-Rome this week -- it's bow-down time. The Hamburger draw just came off the grill this morning, and we don't see Andy's name in there, what's up with that? How can you develop into a top claycourter if you skip all the ATP's Masters Series events on clay? Beating all the scrubs at the Houston clay stop each year isn't going to prepare you to win a French. On A-Rod's website, it says he withdrew from Hamburg due to "soreness in his knee" -- when did he place that withdrawal call, while flying over the Atlantic heading home? Did he bump his knee on the seat in front of him? Sounds real shaky. Notice the common link, no men's players currently or formerly coached by Brad Gilbert in the Hamburg draw, they should have offered Brad some guarantee money to show up, and bring his player(s)...Kim Clijsters announced on her website she is pulling from the French open due to her injured wrist, and will rest up to then concentrate on the grasscourt season...John McEnroe kicked off the 2004 Delta Senior Tour of Champions on Friday night in Rome with a drubbing of Italy's Omar Camporese. The players will be divided into two groups of four, with McEnroe, Thomas Muster, Cedric Pioline and Camporese contesting the Red Group, and Mats Wilander, Pat Cash, Petr Korda and Paolo Cane (nice local wildcard, yikes) fighting it out in the Blue Group. After Rome, the Tour is scheduled to make stops in the Algarve (Portugal), Graz (Austria), France, Frankfurt (Germany), Eindhoven (Holland), and Monte Carlo (Monaco). To be eligible to compete on the Delta Senior Tour of Champions, players must have been a world No. 1 during their competitive playing careers, a Grand Slam singles finalist, a singles player in a victorious Davis Cup team, and no longer active on the ATP tour. Each event can also invite two players of its choice to take wildcards (in other words, anyone can play)...American James Blake slammed into the net post during practice Thursday in Rome, sending him to the hospital with head and spine injuries that will sideline him two to five weeks...Lleyton Hewitt will apparently boycott the Masters Series-Rome tournament next year after what he considered poor scheduling, and with tournament officials giving his coach Roger Rasheed the brush-off after he made complaints...This is the first time since 1981 (then it was Jose-Luis Clerc, Guillermo Vilas) that two Argentines have advanced to the semifinals in Rome, with David Nalbandian and Mariano Zabaleta achieving the feat this week...Spaniard Al Costa says his sessions with the head shrink are paying dividends: "In Barcelona (last week) I had a difficult period and I just had to change a few things. I have talked with a lot of people, the people who work with me, and I talked also to a therapist just to try to find a way out. She counselled me to try to find motivation inside myself and to do the best, to try to find the best inside myself."...Vince Spadea on being up 3-0, 40-0 on David Nalbandian before losing six straight games and the match: "I just didn't have it today, didn't move well. It was a good chance to go to the third set if I could win one of those points (at 3-0), and here I went and lost six straight games, which is really the most disappointing part about the match. But I just didn't combine enough offense with the right amount of grinding. I don't think I had my legs with me today. My left hamstring has really been bothering me the last two days. I felt like I had to be too offensive today to win, when normally I would have waited for more chances. I think I kind of pressed too much. That's what happened in those games -- in those points, actually." Take note Fantasy Tennis players, left hamstring...John McEnroe is at it again, throwing out some out-of-the-box ideas that actually make sense in making the men's game more exciting: "I don't see the sport of tennis using their older players in the way that golf does, for example. Arnold Palmer is 75 years old, or something like that, and he is still welcomed with open arms. You know, it's still 'Arnie is the greatest'. It's a tradition people like. And yet, if, God forbid, I went up there and said I'd like a wildcard at Wimbledon, the ATP would be up in arms because I'd be taking the spotlight away from the No. 115th guy in the world who could still get in by qualifying. Now admittedly there is a physical difference and most (older) players wouldn't do it unless they honestly believed they could do it. They (the ATP) have these outlets available and they should use them. I think that tennis should think a lot more seriously about it." If you had Johnny Mac playing singles this year on a Wimbledon wildcard, so many people would clamor to see that, that could be a pay-per-view. On a Tennis-X staff poll, approximately 73% of staffers said they would pay $49.95 for pay-per-view to watch McEnroe play at Wimbledon, especially if he drew Guillermo Coria (but not Roger Federer).