Coria Loses Lawn Virginity, Baby Goran Wins at ATP Ordina Open

Posted on June 16, 2004

Top-seeded Guillermo Coria earned his career-first grasscourt win in 's-Hertogenbosch Tuesday at the Ordina Open/Den Boesch/whatever you want to call it, easily defeating the grasscourt-adept Slovakian Karol Beck in straight sets.

"****," said Coria, but with no translator we couldn't understand it. No Argentine spoken on the staff.

No. 7 seed Tommy Robredo (d. Burgsmuller in three) was the only other seeded winner on the day, with three seeded casualties in (2)Rainer Schuettler (l. to "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter), (3)Sjeng Schalken (l. to Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic in three), and (7)Arnaud Clement (l. to "Dr." Ivo Karlovic in three).

"I think I played really good tennis," Baby Goran said. "Sjeng won it twice here, playing in front of his home crowd. I expected a very tough match but I'm happy with my service games. It was extremely hard conditions today, very windy."
AHERER
Other un-seeds into the second round were Argentine Guillermo Canas (d. Davydenko), Frenchman (WC)Michael Llodra (d. Lu), and German qualifier Philipp Petzschner (d. countryman Alexander "My Serve Has No" Popp in three).

On the Wednesday schedule in Dem Bones are (8)Verdasco vs. van Lottum, (Q)Petzschner vs. Sluiter, Canas vs. (4)Robredo, and Vacek vs. (WC)Llodra. That's slim pickins.

Two seeds advanced while two fell at the ATP stop in Nottingham Tuesday, with (1)Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan (d. Elseneer) and (6)Taylor "Baby Linebacker" Dent (d. Labadze) into the second round, and (4)Max "The Beast Who Can't Win on Grass" Mirnyi (l. to T.Johansson in three) and (8)Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer (l. to Saretta in two tiebreaks) sent to the sidelines.

Other un-seeds into the second round were three Brits in (WC)Greg Rusedski (d. Kucera in three), (WC)Arvind Parmar (d. Malisse in three) and (WC)Jonathan Marray (d. Arthurs in three), Belgian Olivier "The Roach" Rochus (d. Sargsian), and Romania's Victor Hanescu (d. (LL)Fitz in three).

Today at The Knot features (5)Spadea vs. (WC)Rusedski in a grass rematch of Spadea's losing streak-breaking win a couple years back, (1)Srichaphan vs. W.Ferreira, (WC)Marray vs. Saretta, (3)Bjorkman vs. Soderling in an all-Swedish, (WC)Parmar vs. Hanescu, (6)Dent vs. (Q)Bogdanovic, Gambill vs. (7)Arazi, and O.Rochus vs. (Q)T.Johansson.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Only two seeds in action in Eastbourne Tuesday, with No. 7 Francesca Schiavone outlasting Aussie Alicia Molik 7-6 in the third, and No. 5 Silvia Farina Elia tripped up by Elena Bovina.

Unseeded winners were (WC)Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova (d. Amy "Down Goes" Frazier in three), Tina Pisnik (d. Dokic), (Q)Elena Likhovtseva (d. Safina in a Russian battle), former Wimbledon champ Conchita Martinez (d. Raymond 6-0 in the third), Brit (WC)Amanda Janes (d. (Q)Zheng), Maria Sanchez Lorenzo (d. Magui "Don't Call Me Maggie" Serna), and Maria Vento Kabchi (d. (Q)Black).

On the grass today are Zvonareva vs. Dechy, Vento-Kabchi vs. Kuznetsova, Mauresmo vs. Janes, Sugiyama vs. Likhovtseva, Hantuchova vs. Sprem, Martinez vs. Maleeva, Bovina vs. Sanchez Lorenzo, and Schiavone vs. Pisnik.

Two seeds advanced at 's-Hertogenbosch Tuesday in No. 7 Claudine Schaul (d. Morigami who retired in the third with injury) and No. 3 Mary Pierce (d. Gagliardi), while No. 5 Emilie Loit had a walkover loss against Barbara Schett with injury (right foot).

Unseeded winners were Anne "Cosmo" Kremer (d. Barna), Russian comer Maria Kirilenko (d. Camerin), Milagros Sequera (d. Marrero in three), and Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues (d. Cervanova).

On tap Wednesday are Petrova vs. Jankovic, Funky Cold vs. Schnyder, Sequera vs. Klara "Kouky" Koukalova, Pierce vs. Kirilenko, Chladkova vs. Krasnoroutskaya, and Schett vs. Pennetta.

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Apparently Serena is contemplating debuting her rotund at The Championships, with talk of the mini-micro shorts coming out at Wimbledon. Get ready for some Brit shudders...Andre Agassi's hip injury will cause him to miss Wimbledon for the first time since 1997, with the American winning his lone title in 1992: "In my preparation for Wimbledon I realized the injury was only worsened by the nature of the surface and would prevent me from competing. Clearly, this is a regrettable decision -- I will miss the opportunity to play in the most prestigious tournament in the world."...Daniela Hantuchova can no longer carry the title "The Walking Stick" after looking fit and apparently regaining her health after her skeletal appearance 12 months ago: "I've put the entire last year behind me. I feel great physically and am concentrating on the future." That's what counseling will do...Jelena Dokic hasn't won a match since April: "My game was appalling in general," said a disappointed Dokic after losing in the first round again this week. "She didn't have to do much, I gave everything to her. My confidence is low, but I need to take it onto the practice court and work. I like tennis or I wouldn't be playing it."...For the first time in 26 years, ballgirls at the WTA Eastbourne's famous ladies tennis championships have been ordered to abandon their traditional skirts and wear "trendy" shorts. Oh behave! Retired nurse Jane Norris, 68, from Wales, told The Scotsman: "They certainly look more modern but they look too casual. Skirts are so smart and traditional. It's a shame but things move on I suppose." Easy grandma...Estranged father Damir Dokic says he is ready to proceed with an intervention against his daughter, apparently in response to her losing ways: "I want the WTA to ask for additional psychiatric and doping tests for my daughter to confirm whether she uses illegal substances," Damir told The Telegraph. "I will approach her in a civilized way. If she won't listen, I predict it will be the end of her career." Good stuff. Get those tests on yourself while you're at it..Wimbledon men's qualifying highlights: Bob Bryan d. (2)Olivier "Mucous" Mutis, Andre Sa d. (2)Paul Goldstein, Ivan Navarro Pastur d. (3)Hyung-Taik Lee, Ramon Delgado d. (5)Nicolas Mahut, unseeded Justin Gimelstob into the third round (one match away from qualifying), unseeded Giovanni "Little Bro" Lapentti into the third round, along with (16)"You Say" Potito Starace of Roland Garros qualifying fame...The Superset Tennis exo is at it again, later this year pitting John McEnroe against Goran Ivanisevic, Tim Henman and others.