Federer Ends Coria Streak in ATP Hamburg Final

Posted on May 17, 2004

World No. 1 Roger Federer won his fourth title of the year with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 victory over second seed and defending champion Guillermo "El Mago" Coria in the final of Masters Series-Hamburg Sunday, capping a week that also included wins over former Roland Garros winner Carlos Moya, and another former No. 1 in Lleyton Hewitt.

Federer captured his second Masters Series title of the year and his second in Hamburg after 2002, ending Coria's 31-match winning streak on the dirt.

"Two years ago I played unbelievable tennis as well (to win Hamburg)," Federer said. "I played an unbelievable match against (Gustavo) Kuerten, (and) against Marat (Safin) in the final."

Federer has won titles this year at the Australian Open, Dubai, the MS-Indian Wells, and now the MS-Hamburg.

Coria was appearing in his third consecutive Masters Series final after losing to Andy Roddick at Miami and winning Monte Carlo, and was troubled during the final by a blister on his hand.

"I'm a bit sad because the final is the only match you're not supposed to lose," said Coria, who also said fatigue was a factor. "The matches I played before this final went against me a little because they were pretty long."

Federer is 9-1 on clay this year, while El Mago is now 16-1.

In the doubles final No. 7 seeds Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett defeated world No. 1s Bob and Mike Bryan 6-4, 6-2 for their second win of the year.

ATP PREVIEWS

The World Team Cup, or World Team Championship, or whatever the hell you want to call it (the ATP changes the name every couple years, then back again) is this week in Dusseldorf, Germany, where the eight "top" countries face off in a one-week Davis Cup-like competition. We say "top" because the countries qualify by the rankings of their top two players, but who they show up with is another matter. Teams bringing their big guns are Australia (Mark Philippoussis, Lleyton Hewitt), the Netherlands (Sjeng Schalken, Martin "Berzerk" Verkerk), defending champs Chile (Nicolas Massu, Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez), the Czech Republic (Jiri Novak, Radek Stepanek), and Germany (Rainer Schuettler, Nicolas Kiefer, Tommy Haas); countries that went in the tank were the U.S. (Vince Spadea, Robby Ginepri), Argentina (Mariano Zabaleta, Gaston Gaudio), and Spain (Al Costa, Feliciano Lopez). There will be some good doubles to be had, with the U.S. fielding the Bryan brothers, and the Aussies bringing Wayne Arthurs and Paul Handley, among the other teams in attendance. Former champs in this year's field are Chile (2003), Argentina (2002, '80), Australia (2001,'99,'79), Germany (1998,'94,'89), and four-time title leaders Spain (1997,'92,'83,'78), and the U.S. (1993,'85-84,'82).

Play began Sunday at Dusseldorf, with Germany sweeping Spain 3-0 (Schuettler d. Lopez, Haas d. Costa, Schuettler/Kiefer d. Corretja/Costa), and the Chileans beating the Czechs 2-1 in a match decided by the doubles (Novak d. Massu, Gonzo d. Stepanek, Gonzo/Massu d. Novak/Stepanek in three).

Monday at the WTC features Australia vs. U.S., and the Netherlands vs. Argentina.

No. 7-ranked Andre Agassi took it to the bank this week at St. Poelten, graciously accepting the big under-the-table fee to headline what is otherwise a sick pre-slam field, and not sick in a good way. The second seed is No. 46-ranked Sargis Sargsian, followed by seeds Nikolay Davydenko, Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze, Joachim Johansson, David Sanchez, "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, and Filippo Volandri. Unseeded players of mild interest in the field are Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, the clay-impaired Jan-Mike Gambill, "Julio &" Galo Blanco, and Greg Rusedski vs. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer in the first round (that will be 0-3 for Rusedski on clay entering the French, no surprise). No returning champions are in the field. While this is his first and only pre-French warm-up, Agassi should boost the retirement date if he can't take home this title.

Sunday's first round results in St. Poelten were (WC)Koellerer d. Sanguinetti in three, (6)Sanchez d. Gambill, (8)Volandri d. Berdych, Sluiter d. Zib in three, Hanescu d. Popp, and Andreev d. (5)J.Johansson.

On court Monday are Koubek vs. (Q)Soderling, (1)Agassi vs. (Q)Zimonjic, Ancic vs. Blanco, (7)Karlovic vs. (Q)Stoppini, (3)Davydenko vs. Tursunov, (Q)Malisse vs. Beck, Behrend vs. (LL)Armando, and Levy vs. O.Rochus.

The rockin' Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui was to make his return from a foot injury this week at his home event in Casablanca, playing his first match since this year's Australian Open, but the big man pulled at the last minute. But that's OK, you've still got world-class wildcards Mounir El Aarej, Mehdi Ziadi, and Mehdi Tahiri! Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty is the top seed, joined by Anthony Dupuis, Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, Cyril Saulnier, Dennis Van Scheppingen, Thierry Ascione, and Oscar Hernandez. SportsCenter is on alert. This draw wouldn't make the Top 10 Challenger fields for 2004. Former champions in the draw are Julien Boutter (2003) and Fernando Vicente (2000).

First round results Sunday at Casablanca were Calatrava d. Elseneer in three, Boutter d. (WC)Ziadi in three, (1)The Dominator d. Kohlschreiber, C.Rochus d. Vicente, and (5)Saulnier d. Pescosolido.

On court Tuesday are (WC)Tahiri vs. Ascione, (WC)El Aarej vs. (8)O.Hernandez, (Q)Di Pasquale vs. (3)Dupuis in an all-French, (6)Van Scheppingen vs. Heuberger, Taino vs. Guzman, Portas vs. Mutis, Mahut vs. (LL)Rehnquist, (Q)Ventura vs. Sabau, (Q)Vagnozzi vs. Lisnard, and (Q)Krajan vs. Browne.

WTA REVIEW

Fourth time was the charm Sunday at Rome, where Amelie Mauresmo edged Jennifer Capriati 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) for her first Rome title in four finals.

Capriati led 4-2 in the third set and again at 5-4 when Mauresmo saved one match point, with Capriati losing to the Frenchwoman for the second time in two weeks.

"This match couldn't have been any closer," Mauresmo said. "The level from both of us was unbelievable right from the first point."

Capriati, though on the losing end, was pleased with her performance after getting blown out by Mauresmo 6-2, 6-0 last week in Berlin.

"I didn't lose, she had to win the match," Jen-Jen said. "The difference between last week's score and this week's was I am a different player now."

Mauresmo lost in the final to Monica Seles in 2000, Jelena Dokic in 2001, and Kim Clijsters in 2003.

In the doubles final, the Russian/American tandem of Nadia Petrova and Meghann Shaughnessy won their fourth consecutive title of the year with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 1 seeds Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez.

WTA PREVIEWS
American Lindsay Davenport is taking a page out of Andre Agassi's book this claycourt season, sitting out for a good spell until the week before the French with her appearance in Strasbourg this week. The lone Top 10 player in the draw is joined among the seeds by Ai Sugiyama, Silvia Farina Elia, Emilie Loit, Tina Pisnik, Dinara "Little Sis" Safina, Maria Sanchez Lorenzo, and Meghann Shaughnessy. In last year's final, Farina Elia beat qualifier Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem in three.

On court Monday in Strasbourg are Gehrlein vs. Cohen-Aloro, Tanasugarn vs. Strycova, Sanchez Lorenzo vs. Beltrame, Schett vs. Bartoli, Santangelo vs. Nagyova, Grandin vs. Martinez Granados, Granville vs. Brandi, Morigami vs. Bacsinszky, Svensson vs. Sequera, Medina Garrigues vs. Mikaelian, and Obata vs. Srebotnik.

Chanda Rubin attempts to shake off her recent spat of injuries this week as the top seed at Vienna, joined by seeds Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi, Lisa Raymond, Maria Vento-Kabchi, Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier, Alicia Molik, Magui "Don't Call Me Maggie" Serna, and Jelena Kostanic. Daniela Hantuchova is one among three "ova"s in the draw. Last year No. 6 seed Paola Suarez beat qualifier Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem in the three-set final.

On court Monday at Vienna are Grande vs. Pastikova, Talaja vs. Kucova, Zheng vs. Raymond, Meusburger vs. Camerin, Frazier vs. Ivanovic, Jidkova vs. Yakimova, Blahotova vs. Stosur, Kurhajcova vs. Cervanova, Jurak vs. Blahotova or Stosur, Pratt vs. Chladkova, Sucha vs. Molik, Yan vs. Groenefeld, Li vs. Jugic-Salkic, Jidkova or Yakimova vs. Yan or Groenefeld, and Grande or Pastikova vs. Li or Jugic-Salkic.

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NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Indian doubles expert Mahesh Bhupathi might be out of the French Open after suffering groin/calf injuries in Hamburg...The St. Poelten event was first held in 1994, and boasts an illustrious list of former No. 1 champions in local favorite Thomas Muster (1994-95), Marcelo Rios (1996,'98-99), and last year Andy Roddick...WTA CEO Larry Scott, who earlier in the year said there was nothing unusual about the ridiculous amount of injuries to Top 10 players, is now changing his tune: "I'm definitely concerned about it," Scott said. "In talking to people who have been around women's tennis for a long time, they said it's bizarre to see so many flukish injuries and illnesses among top players so early in a season...Nothing is more important than having our players healthy and able to play their best tennis. It's at the top of my priority list." Never has something so important had nothing done about it, eh?...From the ATP: "Roger Federer confirmed his standing as the most dominant player on the planet and firmed as Roland Garros favorite..." Nothing like firming right before the French...Amelie Mauresmo joined Steffi Graf (1987) and Monica Seles (1990) in winning the German and Italian Opens in the same season. Both Graf and Seles went on to win Roland Garros also in that same season...Jennifer Capriati: "I really want to be ready for the Grand Slams and bring out the 'real' Jennifer there. My goal for Roland Garros is to keep doing what I have been doing and keep working hard." Then hit the treadmill, she's in there somewhere...Rainer Schuettler and Nicolas Kiefer are shooting for playing the Olympics doubles together...The ATP announced that on February 7, 2004, that Czech David Sebok (who?) tested positive for four (good effort!) prohibited substances after a first-round qualifying match of the 2004 ATP tournament in Milan, Italy. The four substances prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list were stanozolol, clenbuterol, nandrolone and ephedrine. Stanozolol and nandrolone are anabolic androgenic steroids. Clenbuterol is a substance with anabolic properties. Ephedrine is a stimulant. Sebok admitted that he had committed a doping offense under Tennis Anti-Doping Program rules. He elected not to appeal the maximum penalty of a two-year suspension from any ATP or Challenger Series event or other activity authorized or organized by the ATP. Sebok, whose career-high singles ranking is No. 1,005, also must forfeit the prize money (all $13 of it) won since the date of his positive test...Lleyton Hewitt rose to No. 12 in the latest rankings, surpassing Mark Philippoussis to again become the No. 1-ranked Aussie.