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Coria Wins on Grass Again at ATP Ordina OpenView Comments (2) | View Discussions
Posted on June 18, 2004
 Top-seeded Guillermo Coria earned his second consecutive grasscourt win and second of his career Thursday at 's-Hertogenbosch, defeating German wildcard Michael Kohlmann in straight sets.
Also into the quarterfinals at the Ordina Open were (7)Arnaud Clement (d. van Scheppingen who retired in the second set with a groin injury), unseeded Dutchman Martin "Berzerk" Verkerk (d. (6)Youzhny who retired in the second set with the flu), and unseeded Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic (d. Andreev).
"I'm very happy, it feels like a win on clay," Berzerk said. "It's surprising that I play so well this year on grass but on the other hand I prepared well and practiced hard. I'm playing the right way so I'm happy with the win."
On tap in the Friday quarters are (WC)Llodra vs. "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter, Baby Goran vs. Berzerk, (1)Coria vs. (7)Clement, and (8)Verdasco vs. (4)Robredo in an all-Spanish.
Top-seeded Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, relieved to have the claycourt season behind him, gave a workman-like effort in dispatching of No. 7 seed Hicham Arazi in straight sets Thursday to reach the semifinals at Nottingham.
The Thai Fighter was joined in the semis by two unseeded players in Swedes Robin Soderling (d. Saretta) and qualifier Thomas Johansson (d. Rusedski 7-6 in the third), with unseeded American Taylor Dent trailing Victor Hanescu 5-7, 5-5, 40-15 when the match was suspended by rain.
"I think I played better than in my other two matches so that's the positive and the other positive is that I get a little more time to prepare for Wimbledon," said Rusedski, going to the "I'm-glad-I-lost" card.
On tap Friday are (6)Dent vs Hanescu (to finish), (1)Srichaphan vs. Soderling, and (Q)T.Johansson vs. (6)Dent/Hanescu.
WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Unseeded Spaniard Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues (d. (7)Schaul) and Czech Klara "Kouky" Koukalova (d. Schett) advanced to the heinous semifinals at 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands Thursday, joined by seeds (3)Mary Pierce (d. Anne "Cosmo" Kremer) and (8)Lina Krasnoroutskaya (d. Jankovic).
The line-up for the Friday semis are (8)Krasnoroutskaya vs. (3)Pierce, and an unseeded, unappetizing battle in Kouky vs. Funky Cold.
Eastbourne wildcard Daniela Hantuchova showed she is getting her groove on just in time for Wimbledon, Thursday become the only unseeded player into the semifinals with a straight-set upset over No. 3 seed Ai Sugiyama.
The Slovak was joined in the semis by (1)Amelie Mauresmo (d. (8)Maleeva), (2)Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Pisnik in three), and another Russian in (4)Vera Zvonareva (d. Sanchez Lorenzo).
"It's going to be a tough one, she's a very experienced player and grass is one of her favorite surfaces," said Hantuchova on next facing the top-seeded Mauresmo. "It will be a good match and I'm good looking forward to it a lot."
The order of play for the Friday semis in Eastbourne is (1)Mauresmo vs. (WC)Hantuchova, and (4)Zvonareva vs. (2)Kuznetsova.
NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Wimbledon website writer Barry Newcombe, in his Wimbledon men's preview, misread the draw and has Goran Ivanisevic facing a qualifier when he actually faces the player above him, No. 31-ranked Mikhail Youzhny. Doh!...Columnist Dean Juipe of the Las Vegas Sun: "Andre Agassi dropped out of the Wimbledon tennis tournament Tuesday, citing a lingering hip injury that has sabotaged his career for the past two months. Yet a mere three weeks ago he told a reporter he was in perfect health. An obvious rationale: Agassi manufactured the injury excuse not only as a means of explaining his poor play of late, but of covering his lack of confidence going into a prestigious tournament that begins next Monday. For the time being at least, he'd rather not play."...Gustavo Kuerten carried the Olympic Torch in Rio de Janeiro on June 14 as the flame makes its worldwide trek toward Athens. Guga was part of a relay of Brazilian Olympians that was led by Pele. Kuerten said, "I wish that moment could last forever. I have already started to feel a bit of the Olympic spirit in me and I am feeling like a kid who receives a candy bar."...Reebok announced that as part of its global campaign around the Athens Games, the company will unveil sculptures of Andy Roddick, NBA star Yao Ming and heptathlete Carolina Kluft, mirroring the Parthenon Friezes, Aug. 22 at the Reebok Center in Athens...Andre Agassi appeared on FOX TV's show "The Casino" as himself. Agassi is a business partner and longtime friend of Tim Poster. Poster and another partner purchased the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas and have sought financial backing from Agassi. The "reality" show follows the efforts to revitalize the casino...The French Tennis Federation reported that a new attendance record of 413,499 was set during the three weeks of Roland Garros. They also broke the record for the two weeks of the main draw action with 375,425 spectators, compared to 363,550 in 2003. The previous record was 364,501 in 1997...Roland Garros finalist Guillermo Coria will begin working with coach and former ATP pro and countryman Gabriel Markus at Wimbledon. Markus most recently worked with Nicolas Massu and two years ago he helped David Nalbandian to the Wimbledon final...Fat Yevgeny Kafelnikov has entered the Russian amateur golf championships...Thomas Johansson is 8-0 career on the grass at Nottingham...Rafael Nadal and Nicolas Escude pulled from Wimbledon with injuries.
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