Mentally-Fragile Henman Ousted at ATP Hamburg

Posted on May 14, 2004

Only one "upset" at the Masters Series-Hamburg Wednesday, with claycourt veteran Andrei Pavel having no trouble with No. 5-seeded serve-and-volleyer Tim Henman 6-2, 6-2 on the slow red dirt.

"You prepare yourself mentally and say that it's going to be better, but then you play a couple of long games," said the mentally-fragile Henman. "I felt I was struggling after the first four or five games. It's disappointing and no fun trying to play when you are not 100 percent."

Seeded winners on the day were (1)Roger Federer (d. N.Lapentti), (2)Guillermo Coria (d. Luis "Me So" Horna in three sets, extending the clay win streak to 28), (7)Carlos Moya (d. A.Martin, fitness not an issue after winning Rome last week), (13)Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez (d. (Q)Knowle in three after dropping the first set 0-6), (16)Tommy Robredo (d. Zabaleta), and (17)Lleyton Hewitt (d. Haas, coming back from 1-5 for a straight-set win).

Other un-seeds into the third round were former No. 1 Marat Safin (d. Sargsian in three), Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer (d. Labadze, losing one game), Flavio "Of the Day" Saretta (d. (LL)O.Hernandez), Nalbandian-killer David Ferrer (d. Hrbaty), Russian Mikhail Youzhny (d. Schuettler-killer Burgsmuller), former French winner Al Costa (d. O.Rochus), Ivan Ljubicic (d. Hanescu in three), German wildcard Florian Mayer (d. Al "My Dropshot's Draggin'" Portas), and Spaniard Fernando Verdasco (d. J.Johansson).

On court Thursday are Tuna vs. Safin, (WC)Mayer vs. Youzhny, (1)Federer vs. (13)Gonzo (Fed leads meetings 1-0), Verdasco vs. (7)Moya in an all-ESP, (16)Robredo vs. (2)Coria (El Mago leads 2-1), Ferrer vs. Costa in another all-ESP, Pavel vs. Ljubicic, and (17)Hewitt vs. Saretta.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
The WTA stop in Rome lost three name players on Wednesday in (3)Anastasia Myskina (l. to countrywoman Likhovtseva in three), (4)Nadia Petrova (l. to Flavia "I'm Dating Moya" Pennetta in three), and (11)Patty "Handshake" Schnyder (retired in the third set against Bovina).

(2)Amelie Mauresmo (d. Dechy) led the seeded winners, joined by (5)Jennifer Capriati (d. Vento-Kabchi), (7)Ai Sugiyama (d. Pierce), (8)Vera "Warren" Zvon-areva (d. Safina in three), (9)Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Marrero), (12)Paola Suarez (d. Golovin), (13)Conchita Martinez (d. Sprem in three), (14)Francesca Schiavone (d. Reeves), and (16)Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi (d. Camerin). One match was cancelled due to rain, with (10)Silvia Farina Elia vs. Meghann Shaughnessy scheduled for Thursday. There was only one all-unseeded match, with Dally Randriantefy beating Vera Douchevina.

On court Thursday are Shaughnnessy vs. Farina Elia, Martinez vs. Mauresmo, Schiavone vs. Likhovtseva, Sharapova vs. Shaughnessy or Farina Elia, Serena vs. Randriantefy, Pennetta vs. Smashnova-Pistolesi, Suarez vs. Capriati, Americans Navratilova/Raymond vs. Russians Likhovtseva/Myskina, Kuznetsova vs. Sugiyama, and an all-Russian in Zvonareva vs. Bovina.

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