Agassi Spanked by Tuna Melt at ATP Masters Series Canada

Posted on July 30, 2004

No. 61-ranked Austrian Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer upset three-time champ and No. 10 seed Agassi 6-3, 6-3 in the second round Thursday at the Masters Series-Canada.

When asked if he would be back to Toronto, Agassi said...maybe.

"It's always possible," Agassi said. "I'm never thinking about a year later so it never occurs to me."

Eight players did double duty Thursday, winning two matches on the day due to the rain-backed-up schedule, including (1)Roger Federer (d. Soderling and Max "The Beast" Mirnyi), unseeded German Nicolas Kiefer (d. Ferrer and (4)Moya), "Tuna" Melzer (d. (10)Agassi then Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez), Czech qualifier Jan Hernych (d. (Q)Reid and "Guga" Kuerten in three), unseeded Frenchman Fabrice Santoro (d. Ljubicic and (9)Hewitt in three), lucky loser and former champ Thomas Johansson (d. Andreev and Horna in three), (2)Andy Roddick (d. Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez and Chela), and unseeded Swede Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson (d. Carraz 7-6 in the third and (LL)Saulnier 7-6 in the third, that should be overtime pay).

"I was happy I played Max (Mirnyi) in the second match because I knew there were not going to be any rallies," Federer said. "It was close. It could have gone either way but I think, again, like in the first match, I won the big points. It's tough to play two matches the same day. But that's OK now that I'm through and didn't lose too much energy."

Other winners in second round matches (including eventual third round losers) were (4)Carlos Moya (d. (Q)Bogomolov Jr.), Mirnyi (d. (14)Srichaphan in three), (9)Hewitt (d. Novak), Gonzalez (d. Spadea), Kuerten (d. (5)T Henman), (16)Chela (d. Robredo), (LL)Saulnier (d. Youzhny in three), and Luis "Me So" Horna (d. (WC)Niemeyer in three).

On court Friday in the quarterfinals are (1)Federer vs. Santoro, (LL)T.Johansson vs. J.Johansson in an all-Swedish, all-Johansson match-up, (Q)Hernych vs. (2)Roddick, and Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer vs. Kiefer.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
American Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier (d. Molik) was the only unseeded player advancing into the quarterfinals Thursday at the WTA stop in San Diego, joined by seeds (1)Serena Williams (d. Bovina), (3)Anastasia Myskina (d. Rubin), (4)Lindsay Davenport (d. Martinez), (5)Elena Dementieva (d. Russian countrywoman Likhovtseva), (6)Maria "Grunt-o-rama" Sharapova (d. Gisela "Sgt." Dulko), (9)Ai Sugiyama (d. Bartoli), and (12)Vera "Warren" Zvonareva (d. Russian countrywoman (7)Kuznetsova).

"It boiled down to who could hold serve, but my serve carried me throughout the match," Serena said after her straight-set win. "This is the best I've played in the last few weeks. Baby steps, but I'll get there."

On court in the Friday quarters are Dementieva vs. Joltin' Joe, Sugiyama vs. Davenport, Serena vs. Zvonareva, and an all-Russian in Myskina vs. Sharapova.

"It's going to be very tough for me. Now she's playing much better," Myskina said of Sharapova. "I want to prove that (the) French is not only one tournament I was playing good."

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Those in the know say the way to beat Roger Federer is to be the aggressor right off the bat, force him to be more passive. Here is the Swiss ruminating after his first-round match with Hicham Arazi, almost falling into the trap: "In the beginning I tried to come more to the net but then I decided it's not the right thing to do and so I played him from the baseline. I should have played a little more aggressive from the baseline instead of spinning the ball so much."...Marat Safin says he is maintaining his spirits despite an early-round loss to Nicolas Kiefer at the MS-Canada: "Yeah. Yeah. I'm still there. You know, it's a long way to go and it's a difficult month. So, I have to be focused and, I mean, try to go for it. Why not? Still many tournaments left."...Prince Sports has partnered with Universal Pictures to promote the upcoming film "Wimbledon." Prince will be the official racquet of the movie, and will offer a national on-line sweepstakes through the film's Sept. 17 release on both PrinceTennis.com and the movie's website, www.wimbledonmovie.com. The winner will receive a trip for two to the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida. "Wimbledon" is the first movie Prince has sponsored. Prince VP/Sports Marketing Linda Glassel, who described the commitment as low-six-figures, said, "We haven't done a lot of these kind of promotions, but we are putting a significant amount of dollars into a project that is once in a lifetime." The main character -- portrayed by Kirsten Dunst -- plays with a Prince racquet, and Dunst was coached by Prince endorser and former ATP player Murphy Jensen. That's a lot of free pub, now send us a check...Russian Elena Dementieva said that Maria Sharapova is "not really Russian" while Anastasia Myskina suggesting the Wimbledon winner's mentality was American. "We've had totally different ways of growing up and developing our careers," Sharapova said. "Even though I train in America, I'm still Russian. That's where I come from. No one is going to tell me where I'm from because I know where I'm from...Just because I made the decision to develop my tennis somewhere else...I think I made the right decision." Despite her comments, Myskina said she would welcome Sharapova in the Russian Fed Cup team next year.