Roddick Sizzling Again at ATP Indianapolis

"It went behind me and I thought it was OK, but it followed me. All of a sudden I hit a forehand, I missed it and then I felt a sharp pain," Ljubicic said.

Saturday's semis line up as (1)Roddick vs. (10)Ljubicic (watch for potential fireworks after last year's US Open run-in), and (12)Kiefer vs. Carraz.

Top-seeded German Rainer "Shine" Schuettler continued his domination of countryman Florian "Oscar" Mayer Friday at Kitzbuhel, taming the No. 6 seed in straight sets to gain the semifinals.

Joining the German in the semis were French Open champ (2)Gaston Gaudio (d. Luis "Me So" Horna in two breakers), (3)Nicolas Massu (d. (5)Zabaleta in two tiebreaks), and (8)Fernando Verdasco (d. Spanish countryman Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez).

"I played very well," Verdasco said upon winning the all-Spanish encounter with F-Lo. "I know that against Feliciano I have to play at my best since he is a great, great player. The only bad feeling I have today is to defeat him since he is my best friend. But I guess one had to win and this time it was my turn. I hope I can make it to the final and also dedicate to him part of the moment."

On court Saturday on the dirt are Czechs Damm/Suk vs. Argentines Arnold/Garcia in the doubles semis, (8)Verdasco vs. (2)Gaudio (first meeting), (1)Schuettler vs. (3)Massu (Chilean leads 2-1), and Czechs Cermak/Friedl vs. the American-Czech pair of Palmer/Vizner.

Top-seeded Carlos Moya stayed on track to win a fourth consecutive Umag title Friday, beating fellow Spaniard and No. 6 seed Al Martin in straight sets.

Also into the semis were (4)Filippo Volandri (d. Vliegen), (6)Guillermo Canas (d. Calatrava), and unseeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (d. (2)Novak).

Saturday's line-up will be (1)Moya vs. (4)Volandri (Moya leads meetings 3-0), and (6)Canas vs. Garcia-Lopez (first meeting, first career SF for G-L).

WTA REVIEWS/PREVIEWS
A high-powered line-up was formed for today's LA semifinals on Friday when (1)Serena Williams (d. (8)Zvonareva in three), (2)Venus Williams (d. (11)Schiavone), (3)Lindsay Davenport (d. (7)Petrova), and (4)Elena Dementieva (d. countrywoman (5)Kuznetsova in three) advanced.

"I had a really good win last week and I'm doing well so far," Davenport said. "Right now I cannot be anything but really happy with where I'm at and what I've been able to do the last few weeks. Wimbledon was a huge step because I finally feel I started to play good tennis."

On the hardcourts Saturday in the semifinals are (3)Davenport vs. (2)Venus (Venus leads meetings 12-11, a rematch of last week's final), and (1)Serena vs. (4)Dementieva.

Top-seeded Klara "Kouky" Koukalova was toppled Friday on the dirt in the high heat at Palermo, dismissed in straight sets by No. 5 seed Flavia "Of the Day" Pennetta.

Three other seeds joined her in the semis in (2)Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues (d. Groenefeld), (3)Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova (d. Ant. Serre Zanetti), and (4)Katarina Srebotnik (d. (8)Cervanova).

On the dirt Saturday are Chladkova vs. Funky Cold, Pennetta vs. Srebotnik, and the doubles final of Funky Cold/Sanchez-Vicario vs. Kurhajcova/Nagyova.


NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Gavin Hopper is holding his own in his sexual misconduct trial, according to The Age: "Hopper, 48, of, Hope Island, Queensland, is accused of having a four-year sexual relationship with the girl from 1985, when she was a year 9 student and he was a teacher at Wesley. He has pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexual assault and eight counts of gross indecency. When asked in the police interview how he knew it was the girl making the phone calls, Hopper conceded it was an assumption and could be wrong. The woman behind the claims previously gave evidence that Hopper had instructed her to hang up if his wife answered."...The Toronto Star on the new stadium for next week's ATP Masters Series-Canada: "The Sky Lounge at the newly built $38 million Rexall Centre will host up to 38 privileged guests for the final of the Tennis Masters Canada tournament -- at an equally stunning cost of $15,000. That doesn't include food...Tennis Canada is still searching for a title sponsor. Rexall paid an undisclosed amount for naming rights to the facility, but Tennis Canada lost its title sponsor in 2001 when European marketing company ISL went bankrupt."...Carlos Moya is appearing in his fifth consecutive semifinal at Umag (winning the last three titles)...Jennifer Capriati has pulled from next week's WTA Carlsbad event because of a nagging right hamstring injury that forced her out of this week's event in Los Angeles. Can more of the WTA top players be injured? Could the WTA Tour seemingly care less about it?...Israel's Noam Okun was the first qualifier to advance to the Indy quarterfinals since Tommy Ho in 1997...Carlos Moya is attempting to become the first player to win four titles in a row at an ATP tournament (Umag) since Yevgeny Kafelnikov won a total of five consecutive from 1997-2001...SI.com announces Jim Courier as the best tennis-player-turned-announcer? Writer Jon Wertheim: "Jim Courier: Far and away, the best of the former players. Courier, a four-time Grand Slam champion, is insightful, articulate, thoughtful and knows when to get out of the way. Though he is only a few years removed from playing, he is honest and forthright and isn't afraid to step on toes. It's just a shame we don't get more of him." Wrong. Johnny Mac is head and shoulders above that. And Wertheim says Bud Collins' patented exclamation is "Let-Court!", but isn't the expression "let-cord"??...Lindsay Davenport can see herself making the Tennis Hall of Fame: "I imagine I would make it. I have no idea how soon it would happen. Would I put myself in there? I hope. It would be a great honor. Three singles and three doubles Grand Slam titles. A total of 70 titles with singles and doubles -- I think that would do it."