Roddick Wins Two to Reach ATP Indianapolis Quarters

Swede Joachim Johansson also did double duty Thursday, edging Greg Rusedski in three sets before falling to the No. 6 seed Hrbaty 7-6 in the third.

Other seeded players into the quarters were (3)Sebastien Grosjean (d. Malisse), (4)Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan (d. Bogomolov, Jr.), (10)Ivan Ljubicic (d. (LL)Hernych), and (12)Nicolas Kiefer (d. (Q)De Voest).

Un-seeds into the quarters were Israeli qualifier Noam Okun (d. K.Beck), and Frenchman Gregory Carraz (d. (Q)Reid).

On tap for the Friday quarters are Carraz vs. (Q)Okun, (3)Grosjean vs. (10)Ljubicic, (1)Roddick vs. (6)The Dominator, and (4)The Thai Fighter vs. (12)Kiefer.

Top-seeded Rainer "Shine" Schuettler and French Open champ and No. 2 seed Gaston Gaudio survived the 100-plus degree heat Thursday at Kitzbuhel, leading the top eight seeds into the semifinals.

Schuettler was leading No. 13 seed David Sanchez 6-0 when the Spaniard retired with leg pain, while Gaudio outlasted Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-3 in an error-filled match.

"It disappointing for him that he was injured, I am happy to be in the next round," Schuettler said. "Of course I would have preferred to play a normal match, I'm not too happy winning like this."

Other seeds into the quarters were (3)Nicolas Massu (d. (15)Berdych in three), (4)Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez (d. Ventura), (5)Mariano Zabaleta (d. Stepanek), (6)Florian "Oscar" Mayer (d. Monaco), (7)Luis "Me So" Horna (d. (11)Costa in three), and (8)Fernando Verdasco (d. Vassallo Arguello).

Friday's quarterfinal match-ups in Kitzbuhel are (7)Me So vs. (2)Gaudio, (8)Verdasco vs. (4)F-Lo in an all-Spanish,
(1)Schuettler vs. (6)Oscar Mayer in an all-German wiener, and (3)Massu vs. (5)Zabaleta.

All three seeds in action Thursday at Umag advanced, led by four-time champ (1)Carlos Moya (d. Croat local Krajan, who retired in the first set).

"It's a pity what happened to him," Moya said. "What I know is that I won the point, I picked up my towel and got ready to serve when I saw he was on the floor. When I saw his face, I realized it was going to be bad. I feel really sorry for him because he was playing really well. This kind of things happen in tennis and you have to learn to deal with it." Forget Krajan, we just hope YOU can get over it Carlos. Buck up.

Other seeds into the quarterfinals were (5)Al Martin (d. Almagro) and (6)Guillermo Canas (d. Vicente), with one unseeded Spaniard on the day in Alex Calatrava (d. Zib).

The Friday quarterfinal line-up, starting at 4:30 p.m., is (6)Canas vs. Calatrava, (1)Moya vs. (5)A.Martin in an all-Spanish (Moya leads career series 4-1), (4)Volandri vs. Vliegen, and Garcia-Lopez vs. (2)Novak. Don't wait up for that line-up on SportsCenter.

WTA REVIEWS/PREVIEWS
No big surprises at LA Thursday with eight seeds into the quarters in (1)Serena Williams (d. Parra Santonja), (2)Venus Williams (d. Likhovtseva), (3)Lindsay Davenport (d. (15)Amy "Down Goes" Frazier), (4)Elena Dementieva (d. (14)Rubin), (5)Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. (10)Smashnova-Pistolesi), (11)Francesca Schiavone (d. (6)Sugiyama), (7)Nadia Petrova (d. Kostanic), and (8)Vera "Warren" Zvonareva (d. Bartoli).

"I got into the groove and was a lot more comfortable," Serena said. "She changed up her game and I had to adjust."

On tap Friday for the quarterfinals are (4)Dementieva vs. (5)Kuznetsova, (7)Petrova vs. (3)Davenport, (11)Schiavone vs. (2)Venus, and (1)Serena vs. (8)Zvonareva.

Top-seeded Klara "Kouky" Koukalova (d. Nagyova) led three more seeds into the Palermo quarterfinals Thursday, including (5)Flavia "Of the Day" Pennetta (d. Fedak in three) and (8)Ludmila Cervanova (d. Domachowska).

The only unseeded winner on the day was Anna-Lena Groenefeld, who force-fed hapless Swiss Emmanuelle Gagliardi a bagel in a straight-set loss.

On the dirt in the Friday quarterfinals are Kouky vs. Pennetta, An.Serra Zanetti vs. Chladkova, Srebotnik vs. Cervanova, and Groenefeld vs. Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues.

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Patrick Rafter made his World Team Tennis debut for his Philadelphia Freedoms a successful one Wednesday night. The popular Aussie easily beat countryman and Springfield star Andrew Kratzmann in the singles 5-2, and won the mixed doubles with Lisa Raymond. But oddly, the two-time US Open champ reunited with former ATP partner Josh Eagle only to lose in the doubles to unkown Jalal Chafai and Kratzmann. The duo played better Thursday night defeating Delaware's Paul Goldstein and David Wheaton. Rafter also beat Goldstien in singles, but lost in the mixed doubles. 17-year-old Karan Rastogi of India, a former practice partner to Maria Sharapova (who he used to beat) as told to the Times of India: "He (her dad) would shout at her all the time, take her off court. She herself was determined. Tennis apart, nothing existed for her. You could see the intensity. She was also confident."...Serena and Venus Williams' book, "How to Play Tennis," will be released in U.S. bookstores prior to the US Open. Venus gave a preview earlier this week when she said her strategy was basically to just try and hit the ball harder...Does Serena Williams deserve to be seeded No. 1 this week in LA under a protected injury ranking? Discuss...Unknown assailants attacked a government building in Olympic Host city Athens early Thursday with two gasoline bombs, causing no damage or injuries, local media reported. Who's looking forward to the Olympics! Get ready for the Serena pull...Speaking of Serena, here's MSN Entertainment's unnamed fashion guru on her self-styled outfit at the ESPY Awards: "Double Fault: Would you buy a dress from this woman? Didn't think so. Serena Williams hits the red carpet at the ESPY Awards in a -- and we use the following word loosely -- dress of her own design. The itty-bitty mini is a mistake on many levels, from the Tang-meets-Halloween marshmallow Peep color to the oddball criss-crossing, cut-out bodice with sweetheart neckline and thin straps (all wrong for her muscular shoulders). But the greatest crime committed by this craptacular creation is that instead of making Serena appear confident and comfortable, as a good dress should, it makes her seem self-conscious, which we guess is understandable considering she's courting a misdemeanor if she tries to sit down."...Things aren't looking up for Gavin Hopper, according to The Age: "A high-profile tennis coach accused of starting a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old schoolgirl admitted the affair to one of her friends, a court heard yesterday. But Gavin Hopper -- a former coach of tennis stars including Mark Philippoussis -- brushed off the relationship and told the girl's friend: 'It could have been one of you.'...Other witnesses yesterday included a former Wesley student who testified that she overheard Hopper talking about the girl's age. 'I heard Gavin Hopper tell (a teacher) that he couldn't wait till (the girl) was 16 because she would be legal,' the woman said." Not good...Tim Henman is well rested and ready for the TMS-Canada next week: "It was really nice to spend some time away with Lucy and Rosie as I definitely needed it...I've made no secret of the fact that I want to qualify for Houston and the next few weeks may prove crucial."...Here's the stupidest thing we've seen this week, from the L.A. Times: "The Williams sisters of 2000 would beat John McEnroe of 1980, that is how far the progress of women's tennis has come, says Bob Ogle, the tournament director at the 15th annual Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club junior tennis tournament. 'The level of play is just so phenomenal,' Ogle said. 'It's coming all the way from the young girls. Their level of play is pretty impressive.'"...The German media is pumped after Tommy Haas beat Nicolas Kiefer in the ATP LA final, the first time two Germans had met in an ATP final since Markus Zoecke beat Hendrik Dreekmann in 1994. "This final was very good for German tennis, things are heading uphill," Haas said. Yeah, talk to us when you're back in the Davis Cup World Group...With the depleted state of German tennis, Florian "Oscar" Mayer is happy to be playing the Olympics: "I'm happy that it ended well. It will be an unbelievable experience for me, I'm so excited to take part in it. I'd like to play well and who knows, maybe something great is possible." And he already has an acceptance speech. "I'd like to thank the DTB, ATP and ITF. It is unbelievable how they were fighting for me. I know that Mr. Klosterkemper was very involved in the process."...In a ceremony on Tuesday, Carlos Moya was recognized by the Croatia Open for his outstanding play in Umag over the past 10 years. The four-time winner was honored on centre court after Moya's first round singles match, with both ATP CEO Mark Miles and Croatia Open Tournament Director Slavko Rasberger present...Mardy Fish was impressed by how many rednecks come out to watch auto racing while visiting the Indy 500 speedway: "They told me 400,000, 500,000 people at one track, and that's ungodly for how many people come and watch. It's huge. Words can't even describe how big it is. You see a car all the way down there at the end of the track on the straightaway and in less five-tenths of a second it's here. That's amazing."...After downing countryman Nicolas Kiefer in the final of the Mercedes-Benz Cup in Los Angeles, German Tommy Haas went to the house of actor and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Haas' father, Peter, attended school with Schwarzenegger in Austria. "(Schwarzenegger) said he would have loved to come out and watch the match against (Andre) Agassi, but if he went to events people would think he isn't doing his job."...Don't see any US Open Series logo on the front of the ATP website, nor on the WTA website (not even under the partners logo section, ouch)...Indy will be on NBC on Sat. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. (EST), while LA will be on ESPN2 Friday at 11 p.m., Sat. at 10 p.m., and Sunday at 4 p.m...The Top 100-ranked women are entered for the US Open.