Roddick, Federer Pound On at ATP Masters Series Canada

Posted on July 29, 2004

No. 2 seed Andy Roddick pounded French qualifier Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau into submission Wednesday at the Masters Series-Canada, forcing the Frenchman to play the final set out with a neck injury in a 6-4, 6-2 loss.

Roddick had the match well in hand even before scampering to the net to retrieve a drop shot and drilling the ball at Benneteau, who ducked to get out of the way, in the process straining a neck muscle.

"It's unfortunate that he got hurt because I think it was pretty high level of tennis up until then," said Roddick, who has no problem with playing two matches during Thursday's rain-backed-up schedule. "It's part of it -- who is it, Ernie Banks, used to play for the Cubs said, 'Yeah, let's play two.' You know, what's better than one baseball game, it's two baseball games, so let's do it." Easy there Andy.

On the whole seven of the 16 seeds, almost half, were uprooted as the weather finally cleared Wednesday, with the fatalities including (3)Guillermo Coria (l. to Luis "Me So" Horna, retiring with a shoulder injury at 1-5 in the first set), last year's runner-up (6)David Nalbandian (l. to Youzhny after leading 4-1 in the third), (8)Rainer "Shine" Schuettler (l. to Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez in three), French Open champ (11)Gaston Gaudio (l. to (Q)Reid in three), (12)Sebastien Grosjean (l. to countryman Carraz), (13)Nicolas Massu (l. to (LL)T.Johansson), and (15)Marat Safin (l. to Kiefer in three).

Seeds advancing were (1)Roger Federer (d. Arazi), (4)Carlos Moya (d. countryman Verdasco in three), (5)Tim Henman (d. Zabaleta), and (9)Lleyton Hewitt (d. Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal in three).

"Today I just tried to serve a little more consistent and it worked out," Federer said. "He played better from the baseline I thought today and made it tougher for me the second set. A strange break in the end but turned out well so I'm happy."

Un-seeds into the second round were Vince Spadea (d. the Canuck Dancevic), Jiri Novak (d. Bjorkman 6-0 in the third), Croat Ivan Ljubicic (d. Beck in three), Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer (d. Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty 7-6 in the third), Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez (d. Escude), and Canuck surprise Frederic Niemeyer (d. D.Sanchez).

Lots of double-duty matches on court Thursday at the Masters Series-Canada to make up for the rain in (1)Federer vs. Soderling, Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer vs. (10)Agassi, Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez vs. (2)Roddick, (16)Chela or Robredo vs. winner of F-Lo vs. (2)Roddick, Max "The Beast" Mirnyi vs. (14)Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, (5)Henman vs. Kuerten, Luis "Me So" Horna vs. (WC)Niemeyer, (Q)Bogomolov Jr. vs. (4)Moya, (9)Hewitt vs. Novak, Andreev vs. (LL)T Johansson, Kiefer vs. Ferrer, Gonzalez vs. Spadea, Carraz vs. J.Johansson, (Q)Hernych vs. (Q)Reid, Ljubicic vs. Santoro, (LL)Saulnier vs. Youzhny, (16)Chela vs. Robredo, (1)Federer or Soderling vs. The Beast or (14)The Thai Fighter, Gonzo or Spadea vs. Tuna Melt or (10)Agassi, Kiefer or Ferrer vs. (Q)Bogomolov Jr. or (4)Moya, (5)Henman or Kuerten vs. (Q)Hernych or (Q)Reid, Horna or Neimeyer vs. Andreev or (LL)T Johansson, (9)Hewitt or Novak vs. Ljubicic or Santoro, and Carraz or J.Johansson vs. (LL)Saulnier or Youzhny.

Hang around long enough on site today and you can see Federer play twice during the day session. That's your money's worth even in Canadian dollars.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Unseeded Aussie Alicia Molik came of age Wednesday at San Diego, shocking (2)Amelie Mauresmo in three sets to advance to the third round.

"I expected to come away with a win today, honestly," said the confident Molik, who had a chance to serve out both sets in their previous meeting in a losing effort. "To serve it out against Mauresmo, I can pat myself on the back for that."

The 6-foot Molik lost no points on serve in her last three service games.

"She played great, especially on her service games," Mauresmo said. "I didn't play a bad match."

The only other seeded upset was (9)Paola Suarez (l. to Bartoli), while winners were (4)Lindsay Davenport (d. Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem), (7)Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova), and (8)Ai Sugiyama (d. countrywoman Asagoe).

Un-seeds in the winner's circle were Spain's Conchita Martinez (d. Benesova), Russian Elena Likhovtseva (d. Strycova), Gisela "Sgt." Dulko (d. Pierce), Elena "Lena" Bovina (d. Daniilidou), and American Chanda Rubin (d. Kostanic).

Thursday at San Diego features Dementieva vs. Likhovtseva in an all-Russian, Myskina vs. Rubin, Martinez vs. Davenport, Dulko vs. Sharapova, Serena vs. Bovina, Zvonareva vs. Kuznetsova in another all-Russian, Sugiyama vs. Bartoli, Frazier vs. Molik, and an all-Russian doubles in Dementieva/Myskina vs. Likhovtseva/Zvonareva.

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
The "overly famous" Serena Williams bobblehead quote was told exclusively to Matt Cronin and www.tennisreporters.net, did not mean to bite your rhyme there...Roger Federer on adjusting from the grass (Wimbledon) to the clay (Gstaad) to the hardcourts (MS-Canada) in three events: "Coming to hardcourt you have to be again it's the slowest of all surfaces for me right now. So, I have to adjust and be mentally prepared for longer rallies and be more patient, and that's what I'm working on."...The talented Guillermo "El Fragile" Coria seems to be breaking under the weight of a large amount of tennis on his skinny frame. Get that kid into the weight room before those twig-like limbs snap. Take a tip from the Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal camp, that kid is the travelling gun show...Who is hotter, Daniel Nestor's girlfriend or Andy Roddick's? Apparently the ESPN2 cameras had a tough time deciding Wednesday night.