Llodra Stops Coria for First ATP Title; Federer Begins Wimbledon Defense

Posted on June 21, 2004

French wildcard Michael Llodra beat top-seeded Guillermo Coria, who had before this week never won a match on grass, 6-3, 6-4 Sunday to win the Ordina Open at ?s-Hertogenbosch.

"This was an incredible week, it's a dream which lasted seven days," said Llodra, whose serve-and-volleying overcame Coria's baseline errors on the Argentine's serve.

"I wanted to win badly," Coria said. "I felt really comfortable on the grasscourt this week...I had a fantastic week beating great grasscourt players such as (Arnaud) Clement and (Mario) Ancic. It was much more than I had expected and could have dreamed about."

Llodra reached his first ATP final in Adelaide in January, losing to Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty.

In the doubles final the top-seeded team of Czechs Martin Damm and Cyril Suk beat the German/Czech squad of Lars Burgsmuller and Jan Vacek 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-3 for their second title of the year.

Wimbledon Men's Draw Analysis
With only Andre Agassi ("hip injury"), David Nalbandian (ab injury) and Gaston Gaudio ("ankle/I hate clay") missing from the Top 20 rankings, a highly-anticipated Wimbledon kicks off today, with Brit favorite "Brave" Tim Henman still trying to shake the clay off his shoes after a Roland Garros semifinal, and last year's runner-up Mark Philippoussis simply trying to shake the blues after a 8-13 win-loss through the first half of the year.

Even after an early loss at Queen's, Henman is expected to be on-mark after an exemplary French Open performance and some extra time to make the grass transition. Dealt a nice draw, Henman will try not to look ahead to a semifinal match-up with No. 2 seed Andy Roddick. But A-Rod will have to work his way through a potentially tough draw, while defending champ Roger Federer has been given time to gain momentum with an easier road.

This marks the first time since 1997 that Pete Sampras nor Andre Agassi appear at a Wimbledon, and it remains to be seen which of the favored new guard step up to fill the void.

Can Federer make it two in a row? Whose cuisine will reign supreme? Here is a look at the four sections of the draw:

Top Quarter
Seeds: (1)Roger Federer, (7)Lleyton Hewitt, (9)Carlos Moya, (13)Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, (18)Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, (19)Marat Safin, (29)Nicolas Kiefer, (31)Mikhail Youzhny
Floaters: "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, Goran Ivanisevic, Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, Thomas Johansson

The toughest section of the draw is at the top, with the defending champ Federer, former champ Hewitt, former champ Ivanisevic, and former No. 1s Carlos Moya (playing Wimbledon for the first time since 2001) and Marat Safin. Club Fed has a sweet draw with his first possible test coming in the third round against the erratic (29)Kiefer, who has beaten him on grass before, with a 3-3 career match-up. Hewitt could have his game tested in an opener against "Tuna" Melzer who has played him close in both their meetings, before another tough second-rounder against Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze who will hold the advantage of firepower over the former No. 1 Aussie. (9)Moya will open against a qualifier, always testy on the grass, while other first round matches of note are (29)Kiefer vs. the grass-seasoned Swede Thomas Johansson, (13)Srichaphan vs. the giant "Dr." Ivo, and (31)Youzhny vs. Ivanisevic. Potential fourth round match-ups are (1)Federer vs. (13)Srichaphan, and (7)Hewitt vs. (19)Safin.

Second Quarter
Seeds: (3)Guillermo Coria, (6)Juan Carlos Ferrero, (10)Sebastien Grosjean, (14)Mardy Fish, (17)Jonas Bjorkman, (23)Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, (27)Robby Ginepri, (28)Ivan Ljubicic
Floaters: Wesley Moodie, Wayne Arthurs, Wayne Ferreira, Arnaud Clement, Jan-Mike Gambill

This would be a rough quarter, on clay. The weakest quarter of the draw will give someone like (10)Grosjean (like last year) or (14)Fish to have a breakout performance at the All-England Club. Tough opening contests for the seeds are (3)Coria against the grasscourt-savvy South African Wesley Moodie, (28)Ljubicic against veteran Wayne Ferreira, (17)Bjorkman versus "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter, (23)The Beast vs. Jan-Mike, and (27)Ginepri facing a battle-hardened qualifier. Potential fourth round encounters coming out of the ugliness include (28)Ljubicic vs. (14)Fish, and (10)Grosjean against (6)Ferrero/(27)Ginepri/roll-the-dice.

Third Quarter
Seeds: (5)Tim Henman, (11)Mark Philippoussis, (16)Jiri Novak, (20)Tommy Robredo, (24)Fernando Gonzalez, (25)Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, (32)Hicham Arazi, (33)Luis Horna
Floaters: Martin Verkerk, Xavier Malisse, Tommy Haas, Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic

Call this the Sergio Leone section, with The Good (Henman), The Bad (Philippoussis), and The Ugly (claycourters Robredo, Gonzalez, Horna). Were Flipper not in a horrendous slump you would have two legitimate title contenders in this section with (5)Henman. As it is, with the Australian's fragile state of mind entering the All-England Club, wouldn't be a bad idea to put $10 on the qualifier he faces in his opener. Henman was granted a cake draw with a potential tester in the athletic (32)Arazi in the third round, a stretch at best for Brave Tim. Other opening-round testers include (8)Schuettler vs. the hot-handed young Swede Robin Soderling, and (16)Novak vs. the former semifinalist X-Man. Watch out for Haas, who could easily have the draw open before him, and Baby Goran with the pullout of Nalbandian, when-after the draw really opens up. In the fourth round coming out of this section look for Verkerk/(11)Flipper, and Haas vs. Baby Goran. Yeah Verkerk is a grass rookie, but have you seen this bracket? Shudder.

Bottom Quarter
Seeds: (2)Andy Roddick, (8)Rainer Schuettler, (12)Sjeng Schalken, (15)Nicolas Massu, (21)Juan Ignacio Chela, (22)Andrei Pavel, (26)Taylor Dent, (30)Vince Spadea
Floaters: Greg Rusedski, Todd Reid, former QF Thomas Enqvist, former SF Todd Martin, Alexander "My Serve Has" Popp

The bottom quarter has a lot going on, from potential champs Roddick and Dent (were he able to play seven matches without getting injured or tiring), to unseeded giant killers Rusedski, Reid, T.Martin and Popp. Roddick has a tough road with a battle-tough qualifier in the first round, then whoover replaces the injured Nadal who has withdrawn, then a meeting with countryman (26)Dent. (8)Schuettler, who last year reached the fourth round, has the uber-tough draw with the Swedish comer Soderling, then a likely match-up with Rusedski. Other tough first-rounders are (30)Spadea vs. Aussie comer Reid, (21)Chela vs. Burgsmuller in potentially the least-watched first round match, (12)Schalken vs. the crowd-backed Brit Lee Childs, and (15)Massu vs. Popp. In the fourth round look for (8)Schuettler vs. T.Martin, and (2)Roddick vs. a qualifier. What the hell.

Former champs in the field are Federer (2003), Hewitt (2002), and Ivanisevic (2001). In doubles, Jonas Bjorkman/Todd Woodbridge will be shooting for their third consecutive title.

Monday Men's Matches: (1)Federer vs. (WC)Bogdanovic, (31)Youzhny vs. (WC)Ivanisevic, (7)Hewitt vs. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, (3)Coria vs. Moodie, (6)Ferrero vs. Boutter, (19)Safin vs. Tursunov in an all-Russian, (10)Grosjean vs. Ascione in an all-French, (9)Moya vs. (Q)Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience, A.Martin vs. Santoro, (14)Fish vs. (Q)Navarro Pastor, (27)Ginepri vs. (Q)Tipsarevic, Labadze vs. Vliegen, Verdasco vs. (Q)Weiner, (28)Ljubicic vs. W.Ferreira, Knowle vs. Falla, (Q)Mayer vs. Arthurs, Vacek vs. Lu, Koubek vs. Acasuso, Saulnier vs. Llodra in an all-French, Sargsian vs. M.Lopez, Bjorkman vs. "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter, Volandri vs. (Q)Delgado, (29)Kiefer vs. T.Johansson, (23)Mirnyi vs. Gambill, (Q)Bracciali vs. (Q)Hernych in an all-qualifier battle, O.Rochus vs. Carraz, Elseneer vs. (WC)Parmar, Clement vs. J.Johansson, (13)Srichaphan vs. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, (18)Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez vs. (WC)Bloomfield, and if you're out on Court 19 Monday, check out Corretja vs. Stepanek, and Kucera vs. O.Hernandez.

Monday Women's Matches: (2)Myskina vs. Kurhajcova, (3)Venus vs. Mikaelian, (WC)Navratilova vs. Castano, (5)Davenport vs. Radriantefy, (11)Sugiyama vs. (WC)Janes, (31)Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier vs. Kirilenko, (20)Bovina vs. Gallovits, Widjaja vs. (Q)Mashona "Little Sis" Washington, Weingartner vs. Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova, Beltrame vs. (WC)Webley-Smith, Granville vs. Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem, Obata vs. Birnerova, Craybas vs. Black, Groenefeld vs. Tanasugarn, Jugic-Salkic vs. Kapros, Mandula vs. (Q)Llagostera Vives, (12)Vera "Warren" Zvonareva vs. Stosur, (16)Pistolesi vs. Srebotnik, (32)Shaughnessy vs. Irvin in an all-American, (13)Maria "Grunt-o-rama" Shapova vs. Beygelzimer, (21)Maleeva vs. Douchevina, (17)Rubin vs. Bartoli, Pisnik vs. Ashley, Jankovic vs. Klara "Kouky" Koukalova, Brandi vs. benesova, (28)Loit vs. Tatiana "The Pocket Baseliner" Panova, Camerin vs. Barna, (27)Molik vs. Melinda "The Element" Czink, (23)Dokic vs. Gisela "Sgt." Dulko, (WC)Keothavong vs. Pratt, and getting dissed with the "TBA" are (6)Dementieva vs. Sandra "Calvin" Kleinova, and Hantuchova vs. Reeves.

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Not surprisingly Roger Federer is the top pick among oddsmakers in London. He's list at even, followed by Andy Roddick at 3-1, Tim Henman at 5-1 and Lleyton Hewitt at 10-1. What's shocking is Mario Ancic is next at 20-1, ahead of 33-1 Grosjean. Huh? On the women's side, Svetlana Kuznetsova at 25-1 and Daniela Hantuchova at 40-1 are good picks...Now that Serb Jelena Dokic is being stalked by her crazy dad, she says she once again wants to become an Australian citizen, the further away the better: "It's something that I feel like I should do, that's a feeling I have. I spent a lot of my years there, I played for Australia and maybe I should go back. I want to try and play the Australian Open again, hopefully next year, so I'm trying to make up my mind and I would really like to go back." As the Aussies say, sorry mate. Won't be throwing a shrimp on the barbie for you. Won't be saving you a Fosters. No "G'Day" for you...Here's the full pull list from Wimbledon: David Nalbandian (ab injury), Rafael Nadal (medical reasons), Nicolas Escude (shoulder), Andre Agassi (hip injury), Gustavo Kuerten (hip injury), Mariano Zabaleta (knee injury), Paul Henri Mathieu (consecutive wrist injury), Jarkko Nieminen (broken wrist), Younes El Aynaoui (right foot), Gaston Gaudio (foot injury), Kim Clijsters (chronic wrist injury), and Justine Henin-Hardenne (medical reasons), Amanda Coetzer (R.E.T.)...Patrick McEnroe agrees that tennis is in trouble: "We have big problems. Clearly, the tennis establishment is taking some minor steps with the US Open Series, and that is a good, positive step, but it's a small step. We, and I mean everyone in tennis, needs to get together and figure out how we can pull this thing together. We need one office overseeing every level of tennis from the Slams to world team tennis to recreational tennis, one office promoting the entire sport of tennis."...U.S. TV commentator Dick "Oh My!" Enberg: "I was talking about this very issue with the chaps from the BBC, and we compared tennis to golf. Almost all of my friends have migrated from tennis to golf. Golfers does a good job of reaching out and touching the galleries. We have to involve the players. They are the caretakers of the game and they have to make people care. They need to take more responsibility than just going to the bank and cashing their checks. I also like the idea of a commissioner instead of all these individual duchies looking out for their own interests." Now now, no need to get vulgar...Pat Mac also says the U.S. tennis media (presumably excluding Tennis-X) is also killing tennis: "There is an attitude permeating American sports journalism that tennis isn't cool. It's become cool to bad-mouth tennis. I see guys writing that they'd rather watch poker than tennis. It irritates the heck out of me." Watch that mouth Opie...Jennifer Capriati is working with former U.S. Davis Cup captain Tom Gullikson at Wimbledon, canning coach Heinz Gunthardt after the French Open: "She knew I was going to be here, she asked me to help her out and I said, 'Sure, why not?'" Gullickson said...Former Wimbledon champ Boris Becker: "To me there are only five possible winners -- three in the opposite side of the draw to (Tim) Henman -- (Roger) Federer, Lleyton Hewitt and, with a little less chance than the others, Sebastien Grosjean. In Henman's half, there is (Andy) Roddick. Do not disregard Hewitt."...Writes The Independent: "The Lawn Tennis Association has taken an annual pasting for failing to develop talent for most of that period. It has often been deserved. As one former high-ranking LTA official said: 'The LTA thought they'd cracked it when Tim (Henman) and Greg (Rusedski) came through. What they'd really got was a foreigner and an accident.'"...Wimbledon Forecast: Sun much of Monday, with rain/wind/cold entering late in the evening continuing into Wednesday.